Session 6
Integrating Character Development into Course Content
Nancy Winfrey, Assistant Director, Curriculum and Pedagogical Design Program for Leadership and Character in the Professional Schools, Wake Forest University School of Law
Underlying the application of any course content is a foundational worldview of the student who is doing the work. This workshop explores a simple method, WISE Interventions, for integrating traits of character, in a non-prescriptive way into existing course design. Targeting students at the moment where the affective learning domain is best addressed, and when that interior work is relevant to performing at a high level with personal integrity, students see the rationale for, and practice using tools toward, aligning who they are with the work they will ultimately do.
Dr. Nancy Winfrey, PhD is Director of Curriculum and Pedagogical Design, Program for Leadership and Character in the Professional Schools, at Wake Forest University. Her experience spans 25 years of work with adults in Nonprofit Management, Leadership Development, and Higher Education. She holds a PhD in Adult Learning and Development, an MEd in Training and Organizational Development, a BA in English and American Language and Literature, and Graduate Certificates in Counseling in Education, Advanced Dialogue Education, and ACUE Effective College Instruction. She is currently pursuing an MA in Character Education and designs and delivers DEI training for Inspirus Consulting. Her teaching and research interests include Dialogue Education, small group processes, authentic leadership, and designing for brain-based learning. Her work has been published in two edited volumes and in academic journals such as Deeper Learning Journal of Practice, Learning and Teaching Journal, New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, and Adult Learning. She was also the Founding Director of a 501©3 nonprofit supporting education in a Guatemalan squatter community for fourteen years and led humanitarian service projects in five additional countries. Her primary volunteer work has been with Girl Scouts USA as a National Volunteer Partner in Adult Learning and Organizational Development.