A Cohort of Secondary School Principals from Nairobi County have completed a series of 8 virtual coaching and mentorship sessions on Cultivating Virtues for Leadership (CViL) as they wait for an online graduation. The purpose of CViL Coaching and Mentoring sessions is to help guide the school Principals on a personal and professional development journey. This is a journey of self-discovery and appreciation, a deep understanding of servant leadership virtues,
character education, and skills necessary to lead school transformation. The mentorship sessions were being hosted by the Centre Director for the Character Education Programme, Peter King’ori, in collaboration with stakeholders from the Center for Character and Citizenship (CCC), University of Missouri-St. Louis, Kenya Secondary School Heads Association (Nairobi County) and Teachers Service Commission (TSC) Regional Director in Nairobi County.

The Sixth coaching and mentorship session on ‘Believing in Yourself and Others: The Role of Self-Efficacy in Effective School Leadership’ was facilitated by Dr. Fatima Salas-Rodriguez, Post-doctoral Fellow, Center for Character and Citizenship, University of Missouri-St. Louis. Dr. Fatima presentation focused on the concept of self-efficacy as a core competency in the Competency Based Education. The discussion covered the importance of self-efficacy beliefs for Principals and teachers as well as their impact on school culture and student learning outcomes. The session concluded with practical advice for leaders to cultivate trust and build self-efficacy in educational settings, emphasizing the significance of growth mindset in leadership and providing feedback towards shaping students’ academic motivation, well-being and academic achievement.
The seventh coaching and mentorship session on ‘Leadership for Social Emotional Character Education’ was facilitated by Kim Bilanko, Principal, Ella Baker Elementary School, Lake Washington School District, USA. Ella Baker Elementary is recognized as a National School of Character. Ms. Kim urged the school Principals to practice the habit of listening as its helpful in knowing existing barriers in school culture. The discussion covered strategies for implementing character education, fostering positive school environments, integration of Social emotional learning skills and developing servant leadership approaches. The session concluded with insights on community service learning and its application in schools, emphasizing the importance of intentional role modeling and critical thinking in character development.
The eighth coaching and mentorship session on ‘Insights on Character Education Leadership from a Principal’ was facilitated by Brandi Hallemeier, Assistant Principal, Child of God Lutheran School. Brandi, a doctoral student at University of Missouri-St. Louis shared about her school Character journey which led to an award and recognition as ‘2024 Missouri State School of Character.’ She advised school Principals to prioritize on Character Education and embed it in school culture by even having a 5-year action plan as she said ‘ensure that Character Education is not just an abstract concept, but a continuous journey of self-Improvement.’ The discussion covered the PRIMED Framework which stands for: Prioritize Character Education, Build Relationships, Foster Intrinsic Motivation, Modeling, Empowerment and Developmental Pedagogy.

The Centre Director for the Character Education Programme, Peter King’ori, together with stakeholders from the Ministry of Education organized a capacity building and research dissemination workshop that was hosted by the Kenya Education Management Institute (KEMI). The workshop brought together over 65 Principals from Nairobi County working and managing public secondary schools under Teachers Service Commission. Other stakeholders included speakers from Kenya Methodist University, Center for Character and Citizenship (CCC) and Cohort 1 representative pilot schools.

The ultimate goal of the workshop was to communicate research results of the ‘Cultivating Virtues in Kenyan School leaders’ (CViL) project and promote open science practices among the Heads of institution. The principal is the most responsible person in the education system for establishing the vision and overall ethos of the school. Thus, CViL was designed to guide and support educators on a personal and professional journey of growth and development through the cultivation of servant leadership virtues.

The occasion was graced by Wycliffe Wasike on behalf of Executive Director, KEMI. Speaking during the event, Mr. Wasike urged the school principals to become moral exemplars as he said ‘you have two critical roles, the role of being a good example to the staff that you lead and the role of being a good example to the young people who are learning in your respective institutions.’ He added that ‘they want to see good character, values and virtues in us so that we can be able to impart something in them.’ Additionally, Dr. Hellen Boruett from the Ministry of Education shared about the 8 National Goals of Education and emphasized that a school leader should always aim to ‘foster nationalism, patriotism and promote national unity.’

Dr. Melinda, research scientist and developer of CViL model from CCC, University of Missouri-St. Louis shared a keynote presentation on ‘Cultivating Virtues for Leadership Model as Professional Development for Educators.’ She challenged the principals to embrace servant leadership as she claimed that the ‘model theorizes that servant leaders are motivated by compassionate love which encourages moral emotions and strengthens virtuous attitudes which in turn motivate leadership behaviors that lead to the well-being and development of followers.’  The CViL Model encompasses learning and modelling 9 virtues namely: noble purpose, humility, courage, gratitude, forgiveness, integrity, empowerment, foresight and stewardship.

Furthermore, Daniel Kerandi from Kenya Methodist University shared a presentation on ‘Promoting Research Uptake Through Open Scholarship.’ He emphasized on the need for school principals and academic scholars to embrace Open Scholarship as it has the ‘potential to lower barriers to knowledge by making the processes and products of scholarship more distributed, transparent, and accessible.’ He added that embracing different forms of openness in the scholarly and research environment such as Open access, Open science, Open research and open education stimulates and enhances a culture of open scholarship at the institutions of learning.

Lastly, participants were informed that the CViL pilot program was delivered to two cohorts with a 7-month gap between each cohort.  The findings of the pilot study showed that school leaders and teachers who participated in the CViL program reported that the training was worthwhile and informative, and that it improved their understanding and appreciation of servant leadership virtues. Also, participants found the CViL program appealing and relevant to their contexts, and shared positive feedback on training personnel, activities, and logistical support. The evaluation also found that participants’ understanding and appreciation of servant leadership improved post training.

The CViL pilot project was supported with funding from Templeton World Charity Foundation. The Cultivating Virtue for Leadership Through Open Scholarship workshop was supported with the Open Scholarship Seed Award granted by the Open Research Funders Group.

The Centre for Character and Leadership (CCL) had the privilege of hosting a day-long leadership and mentorship training session at Dandora Secondary School. Over 70 members of the student council from this esteemed Public, Mixed Day Secondary School, situated in Nairobi County, participated in this transformative event.

At the heart of CCL’s leadership and mentorship program for student council members lies the servant-leadership model that emphasizes on ethical decision-making, sense of community building, and holistic character development. Student councils serve as vital links between the school administration, teachers, and students, that contribute to a conducive learning environment within the school community.

The training sessions were interactive and educational, covering topics such as servant leadership, virtue development, and the pivotal role of student leaders in supporting the school management. A notable exercise led by the facilitator was a virtue-reflection session, where participants identified their most and least developed character traits and crafted personalized improvement plans. Emphasizing character development’s importance in enhancing leadership capacity, students were encouraged to cultivate virtues like noble purpose, humility, responsibility, and courage.

Cooperative learning activities engaged students in team tasks, such as defining the roles of School Captain, deputies, prefects, and other leadership positions, aligning them with the school’s vision, mission and core values. Discussions also delved into leadership qualities, role models, and conflict resolution techniques, alongside strategies for emotional regulation.

The training culminated in a circle session where student leaders pledged to apply the virtues they learned as echoed by their testimonials.
“I’ll work on my least developed virtues such as integrity and forgiveness in order to become an effective leader;
“I have learnt to be a good mentor and I will commit myself to mentor other students in my class.”

The training was facilitated by the Centre’s Director Mr. Peter King’ori, together with Concepta Muthoni. In attendance was the school principal, deputy principal among other teachers.

The Centre for Character and Leadership in partnership with the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues was privileged to host the Africa Regional Platform Conference under the theme ‘Global Innovations for Character Development.’ The conference was held from October 4-6, 2023 at Sarova Panafric Hotel, Nairobi.

Sponsored by the Templeton World Charity Foundation (TWCF), the conference brought together delegates who included researchers and practitioners in character development from 9 African countries as well as the USA and Bahamas. Dr. Tracey Farquharson and Andrica Smith-Munroe represented the TWCF and spoke about the commitment of the foundation to fund innovative research in order to build and expand the field of character development.

Global innovations for character development (GICD) was created by TWCF as an initiative that seeks to promote character strengths across the world. Character strengths includes attributes or virtues that enable individuals to lead better lives such as gratitude, compassion, integrity, forgiveness, hard work, humility, empathy, noble purpose and self-control.
Throughout the 3 days conference, delegates had an opportunity to meet, learn and network with each other. The training sessions were facilitated by the GICD platform managers.

Sessions included contextualizing character constructs and measures; Cognitive interviewing for measures development, program and evaluation life cycles and using theories of change to communicate with stakeholders and funders among others. The GICD facilitators were from Montclair University and Tufts University.

The delegates also had an opportunity to participate in a tree planting activity that was being hosted by the Dandora Secondary School. They all planted a giant bamboo seedling with the help of a student and jointly tagged a virtue on the tree. The students committed to nurture and model the virtues as they take care of the trees. The bamboos’ are intended to purify the heavy smoke that emanates from the dumping site which is located next to the school. The activity was part of the Centre’s work of promoting character development and climate smart solutions in learning institutions through the ‘Adopt a tree and tag a virtue initiative.’
“Those of us who value good character, quality of life and human flourishing, we should dare to dream big dreams with the hope that through education and service; the heart, soul and conscience of man can be re – ignited in realizing sustainable development goals,” said Peter Kingori during the tree planting event.
Towards the end of the conference, the delegates committed to establish an association that will bring together different stakeholders working in the field of character development within the horn of Africa.

School leaders are largely responsible for establishing the climate and culture of a school (Bier, 2021). They have a significant impact on the well-being and achievement of both teachers and students. However, the rising cases of school unrest, cheating in exams, teenage pregnancies and abuse of drugs across the Country is an imminent threat to democratic community, a thriving economy, and a flourishing society. Nationally, there is a recognized need for new approaches to school leadership to meet the current needs of our schools and students (Levin, Bradley; Scott, 2019)

In this background, the Centre for Character and Leadership (CCL) in collaboration with the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) conducted the Cohort 2 training targeting secondary school principals and teachers. The four days’ workshop was held from July 4-7, 2022 at KICD with the theme ‘Cultivating Virtues in Kenyan School Leaders’ (CViL). The purpose of CViL workshop was to help guide the school leaders on a personal and professional development journey of self-discovery and commitment to leadership that promote excellence and well-being of all stakeholders and the flourishing of school communities – holistically.

Speaking during the Workshop, Grace Ngugi, Deputy Director, Department of Special Programmes at the KICD shared the opening remarks on ‘Virtues and Leadership in Curriculum Development’ on behalf of Prof. Charles O. Ong’ondo, Chief Executive Officer, KICD. She emphasized on the need of implementing Values Based Education through whole school approach as entrenched in the newly developed Competency Based Curriculum for both Primary and Secondary Schools. The participants were engaged through interactive sessions on Servant Leadership, Character Education, and virtue development. Greenleaf (1977) conceptualizes Servant-leadership as a virtue-based philosophy and style of leadership in which leaders focus on relationships and persuasion rather than command and control. The servant-leaders take a holistic approach to work and see themselves as stewards of the  people and the resources entrusted to them (Van Dierendonck, 2011). The individual virtues workshops included noble purpose, integrity, humility, gratitude, forgiveness, courage, empowerment, foresight, and stewardship.

The facilitators integrated participatory teaching methods in order to keep the training lively and interactive. In addition, participants had an opportunity to listen and learn some of the best practices in servant leadership and virtue development from the CViL Cohort 1 schools i.e Ruai Boys Secondary and Buruburu Girls Seconday School. Some of the documented best practices included use of talking notice board where students write and post individual virtue transformation narratives; virtue of the week initiative, talking walls and pillars which are branded with virtues as well as the ‘adopt a tree and tag’ a virtue initiative.

The educators testified that the training was timely and impactful: “From this workshop, I was so touched when my colleague said that I am her role model…let’s be servant to our clients,” said an inspired teacher.
“I cannot regret those days I have attended the workshop…I am going back wealthier than I came. In fact, this is what we need to change the world – Character!” said a transformed participant.
“Learning is so important…the more we learn, the more we are empowered, the more we become humble and simple…your methods of teaching were great,” said an elated teacher as he shared about his leadership transformation.
“This is very important for me as an individual, school and our families… As parents, we need to instill and cultivate virtues in our children,” said an inspired School Principal.

“Transformation start with us …let’s go back to our schools and make a difference. Start small and you will grow,” asserted Dr. Christine Obaigwa, CCL Council member from the Kenya Education Management Institute as she officially closed the workshop. All the participants were awarded with Certificates. This training was supported with the funds from Templeton World Charity Foundation and facilitated by the CViL developers research consultants from the Center for Character and Citizenship – University of Missouri St. Louis, USA led by Dr. Melinda Bier and Deborah O’Reilly. Other members of the Character and Leadership Council who addressed the workshop included: Dr. Hellen Boruett from the Ministry of Education and Dr. Dimba from Strathmore University. Mr. Peter Kingori, CViL Project Leader appreciated the support of all stakeholders and commitment of School Principals and teachers for attending the workshop despite it being a short school holiday.

References

Bier, M.C. (2021). Servant Leadership for School Principals: A Virtue Cultivation Model. Journal of Character Education Special Issue, 16, (2). Greenleaf, R. K. (1977). The Servant as Leader. Retrieved from http://media.johnwiley.com.au/product_data/excerpt/52/07879745/0787974552.pdf
Levin, S., Bradley, K., & Scott, C. (2019). Principal Turnover: Insights from Current Principals.
Report from The National Association of Secondary School Principals.
Van Dierendonck, D. (2011). Servant leadership: A review and synthesis. Journal of Management, 37(4), 1228–1261.

Throughout history, and in cultures all over the world, education rightly conceived has had two great goals: to help students become smart and to help them become good. Through formal education, schools are entrusted with the responsibility of shaping children’s social, emotional and ethical lives as well as their cognitive development. In the real sense, school leaders are largely responsible for establishing the climate and culture of a school. They have a significant impact on the well-being and achievement of both teachers and students. Besides, the rising cases of school unrest across the Country is a clarion call for school leaders to implement interventions that address students character and virtue development.

With this background, the Centre for Character and Leadership (CCL) in collaboration with the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) organized a four days Cultivating Virtues in Leaders (CViL) Academy Workshop which was held between December 27-30, 2021. The workshop brought together a team of Principals and teachers from 18 randomly selected Secondary Schools located in 11 Counties across the Country. The purpose of CViL workshop was to help guide the school leaders on a personal and professional development journey of self and other awareness and appreciation, a deep understanding of servant leadership virtues, character education, and skills necessary to lead school transformation.

Speaking during the Workshop, Grace Ngugi, Deputy Director, Department of Special Programmes at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development shared the opening remarks on ‘Virtues and Leadership in Curriculum Development’ on behalf of Prof. Charles O. Ong’ondo, Chief Executive Officer, KICD. The participants were engaged through a series of nine individual virtues workshops which included noble purpose, integrity, humility, gratitude, forgiveness, courage, empowerment, foresight, and stewardship. The training was supported with the funds from Templeton World Charity Foundation and facilitated by the CViL developers research consultants from the Center for Character and Citizenship – University of Missouri St. Louis, USA led by Dr. Melinda Bier, Deborah O’Reilly and Dr. Thomas Hoerr.

“Who was the worst boss you’ve ever had or known and who was the best leader you’ve ever known?” Dr. Melinda asked the participants as she shared on servant leadership and noble purpose. She emphasized on the need for educators to individually establish an imaginary board of directors. This may include good role models or moral exemplars who have a direct or indirect positive influence on a person’s life purpose. “The Principal must be the School’s Chief Empathy Officer,” asserted Dr. Thomas as he shared on the ‘Formative Five Success Skills’ which included Empathy, Self-Control, Integrity, Embracing Diversity and Grit. He reiterated that exceptional school Principals use empathy to create an environment in which everyone grows.

The facilitators integrated participatory teaching methods in order to keep the training lively and interactive such as circle time, short videos clips, group discussions and presentation, Live Zoom Webinar, Character strengths surveys and sharing of best practices. The best practices included a session where participants learnt on how to enhance students character formation through adopt a tree and tag a virtue initiative. The teachers appreciated and testified that the training was timely and relevant to their daily teaching work in school.

“I have learnt that kids don’t learn from the people they don’t like. When I go back to school, I will put a smile and encourage students to do their best including low performing students,” said an inspired teacher.

“I have never thought of a creative way of using our school stair. As I leave this place, our staircase will be full of virtues,” said a committed teacher.

“I have been telling girls that I am busy when they come to ask questions and it happens I don’t see them again after turning them away. I will practice to be more listening and creating time for them.” said a transformed CViL Academy participant.

“I will no longer practice – teach and go home. Instead, I will aim in nurturing positive and friendly relationships with the students,” said an elated teacher as she shared about her leadership transformation.

The CViL Academy workshop ended by awarding certificates to the participants. Mr. Peter Kingori, CViL Project Leader appreciated the support of all stakeholders and commitment of School Principals and teachers for attending the workshop despite it being a Festive season. Other speakers who addressed the workshop included members of the Character and Leadership Council: Dr. Helen Boruett from the Ministry of Education; and Dr. Christine Owinyi from the Kenya Education Management Institute. In attendance were CCL board members and staff.

On 21 st September 2021, the Centre for Character and Leadership (CCL) commemorated the International Day of Peace themed “Recovering better for an equitable and sustainable World’ through planting trees and offering  students mentorship. The day is purposed to promote the ideals of peace to the human race by providing opportunities to build a peaceful world where all humanity can live together without enmity regardless of their skin color, religion, nationality and ethnicity. Throughout human history, the yearning for lasting peace has remained to be a universal dream. However, true peace can only be realized by raising individuals of outstanding character. It is in this  background that CCL inspired the students of Highway Manyatta Mixed Secondary School to strive to be peace loving citizens and environmental stewards.

The 2021 peace theme aimed to inspire humanity from across the world to think creatively and collectively about how to transform our world into one that is more inclusive, sustainable and healthier.

Speaking during the tree planting activity, the School Principal urged the students to be agents of peace as he said, “always strive in developing peace within the self as a foundation of your character growth and harmonious existence within the school.”

The school leadership together with the students has committed in planting and taking care of trees as part of their environment responsibility. The activity was exciting as students, parents’ representatives and teachers took turns to plant the trees and water them. Students were also urged to each adopt a tree, tag a virtue and nurture the virtue within self as the tree grows. During the mentorship session, students were engaged on an interactive learning lesson with a focus on helping them to develop a positive attitude, reading culture and goal setting as they prepare to sit for the end of term exams. Guided by the school motto which says ‘Education is Power’ the students were encouraged to pursue their dreams and keep trusting in God. Also, students were challenged to believe in the self, manage their time well, set SMART goals, avoid the dream killers, love their teachers and school, complete assignments and submit for marking, develop personal time table, use of peer teaching and possess a winners’ spirits among others.

On developing a positive attitude, the speaker emphasized that “embrace a positive attitude since it’s the most important factor in determining success or failure.”

Towards the end of the lesson the students chanted that “I believe in myself because I know I am the best.” CCL appreciates the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) for the donations of trees and the school for taking ownership in environment conservation.

The Centre Directors delivered presentations at the 48th Association for Moral Education (AME) Annual Conference which took place between 20 th – 23 rd July 2022 at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. The theme and title of the conference was ‘Moral Education and Moral Development in Global Transition.’ The conference was hosted in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Journal of Moral Education and in collaboration with the Asia-Pacific  Network for Moral Education.

In his welcoming message, the joint Conference Chair and Chair of Journal of Moral Education Trust, Professor James Conroy stated that “as we confront the enormous political, cultural, economic and social challenges that have emerged from financial turmoil, the pandemic, social unrest and political instability, there has rarely been a time when our deliberations on moral education have been more important and prescient.” The AME President, Professor Doret De Ruyter affirmed that hosting of the in-person conference after 2 years of the COVID 19 pandemic and virtual conferences will “help us to rebuild the collegial spirit by providing a physical space where old academic friends can meet and newly members quickly feel to be part of the community.”

The conference brought together researchers, practitioners and activists who engaged in critical, academic dialogue in order to understand the relevance of social, political, religious and cultural interactions with philosophy, psychology, sociology, and moral education at this time of global transition.

The discussions were spurred by questions such as:

• Is ethical sensitivity in teaching culturally bound?
• How do public and private values inform a social ethos of moral responsibility, agency, and citizenship, and can they do so across cultural borders?

The conference garnered a series of speakers to explore the ‘politics of moral education’ and how current moral education practices guide civic engagement and pedagogy towards public good. For instance, Dr. Kirsi Tirri delivered the Kohelberg Memorial lecture on ‘the Moral Teacher in a Global Transition “Educating students for their purpose calls for purposeful teachers,” she said. She emphasized on the need of raising moral citizens who are well equipped with the 21st Century skills by teaching all components of morality through the combination of excellence with ethics.
During the conference, Peter Kingori presented a paper on the ‘promoting virtue development among students’ based on his current work of engaging schools to implement the Cultivating Virtues in Leaders (CViL) project. Dr. Mwangi presented a paper on ‘the nexus between provision of Character Education and the effectiveness of student councils in public secondary schools in Kenya.’

He emphasized that Character education is attributed to the ability of student councils to pacify potential students’ unrests, provide a healthy link between students and the school administration, and above all foster a sustainable positive school climate. More information about the conference can be found here.

Compiled by Dr. Boniface Njuguna Mwangi, PhD-CCL Board Member and a Senior Lecturer at Africa Nazarene University, Nairobi, Kenya.