Routledge PRIMED for Character Education: Six Design Principles for School Improvement

In PRIMED for Character Education, renowned character educator Marvin W Berkowitz boils down decades of research on evidence-based practices and thought-provoking field experience into a clear set of principles that leaders, administrators, and teacher-leaders can implement to help students thrive.The author’s original six-component framework offers a comprehensive guide to shaping purposeful learning environments, healthy relationships, core values and virtues, role models, empowerment, and long-term development in any PreK-12 school or district.This engaging and heartfelt book features tips for practice, anecdotes from award-winning schools, and straightforward tenets from moral education, social-emotional learning, and positive psychology. Review "If good character education is good education―and I agree with Marvin that it is―then you are holding in your hands a blueprint for good school design. Lucid, research-based, and practical―I recommend this to anyone who cares about the future of our children." ―Angela Duckworth, Rosa Lee and Egbert Chang Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, USA, and author of Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance "In PRIMED for Character Education, Marvin Berkowitz unpacks character education in a way to understand our personal responsibility to the future of our societies: the diversity of youth who cross our paths along the K-12 corridor. Through multiple personal and professional examples, he clearly points out to adults the power of our personal presence upon others. Dr. Berkowitz brings decades of teaching and mentoring of K-12 leaders to the academic landscape, and in this book he offers proof that ‘Character education embraced and lived out lays the foundational requirements for creating a better world.’" ―Clifton L. Taulbert, President and Founder of The Freemount Corporation and author of Eight Habits of the Heart for Educators "In my last endorsement of his writing, I wrote, ‘This is Berkowitz at his best.’ I was wrong. This is. The PRIMED framework is one of the most important developments in character education in a long time." ―Thomas Lickona, Director of the Center for the 4th and 5th Rs at SUNY Cortland, USA, and author of Character Matters and How to Raise Kind Kids "Marvin Berkowitz has dedicated his life to the flourishing of young people and, in this most recent of books, provides a reliable guide on how to get ‘PRIMED for Character.’ Clear, thorough, and readable, this is a very accessible book written from long and tested experience. This book is a must for educators and parents and will stir debate on why character matters so that young people can flourish regardless of what life brings." ―Professor James Arthur OBE, Director of the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues at the University of Birmingham, UK "Marvin Berkowitz is our world’s foremost character educator and his new book overflows with useful tools and spot-on ideas. PRIMED for Character Education is nothing short of an evidence-based roadmap for educators to help their students understand, care about, and practice the character strengths that will enable them to flourish in school, in the workplace, and as citizens." ―Arthur Schwartz, President of Character.org "I believe that there are no silver bullets or shortcuts in character education. Educators, parents, and children must ‘do the work’ if we are to build a better world in which human goodness can flourish. Having said that, Marvin Berkowitz has spent decades breaking down the code of what this looks like in real, practical terms, and here we have the result. The PRIMED model strikes the difficult balance between academic rigor and user-friendliness, and this book serves as a field guide for anyone in education who wants to make character education happen. Marvin's stories, sense of humor, and simple steps towards character have been transforming schools across the world." ―Henry May, CEO and Co