Canyon Center for Character Education Framework for Purposeful Cultures of Character
The Canyon Center for Character Education (CCCE)
Framework for Purposeful Cultures of Character aims to guide, inform and support organizations in developing a culture centered on character formation and practical wisdom, leading to human and societal flourishing. Reference and inspiration have been taken from the following to develop this framework: GCU’s Mission Statement, GCU’s Statement on the Integration of Faith, Learning and Work, College of Education (COE)’s Conceptual Framework, COE’s Dispositions and the CCCE Academic Program Competencies.
USING THE FRAMEWORK
The CCCE framework for Purposeful Cultures of Character is structured to allow organizations to deepen the support and guidance needed beginning with a high-level overview of the framework’s three main components for creating a culture centered on character through Individual Learning, Leading a Community with Character and Serving with Character. Each of these components can support the cohesive and continuous formation of cultures of character and enhance character formation with organizational stakeholders.
Following the high-level overview, the framework document provides further details of the three main framework components through associated explanations and actionable steps and provides practical strategies for completing those actionable steps. The framework components of Individual Learning, Leading a Community with Character and Serving with Character have been developed with an understanding that character can be caught, taught and sought by others, empowering transformative leaders to change their communities.
- Character can be caught by others as individuals model their own character in their actions, words and choices. Thus, Individual Learning sets the foundation for understanding how one models for others implicitly and explicitly. Leading a Community with Character includes recognizing how others “catch” one’s character and empowering others to participate in individual learning to bring together diverse perspectives in a shared vision and selection of core values unique to the organization.
- Together, the community built can develop a shared plan for teaching character (taught character).
- With an action plan for caught and taught character, Serving with Character is the deployment of the plan and intentions to empower stakeholders to seek character formation (sought character).