Teaching Character in KIPP Schools

In this District Management Journal interview with KIPP co-founder Mike Feinberg, John J-H Kim asks how KIPP schools teach character. “No one is born gritty,” says Feinberg. “No one is born learning how to be a good teammate. Those things, somehow or someway, are taught or not taught; later in life, you are either able to do it or not able to do it.” KIPP teachers use a seven-step process to teach specific character traits the school focuses on (grit, zest, self-control, optimism, gratitude, social intelligence, and curiosity):

• Believe it and model it. “You’re not going to get kids to do their homework if teachers don’t do their lesson plans,” says Feinberg. “You’re not going to get kids to play nicely together on the playground if the teachers go into the teachers’ lounge and gossip about one another.”
• Name it. Intangible and unnamed qualities need to be clearly identified.
• Find it. Students should be introduced to real-world or fictional examples of each character trait.
• Feel it. Students and adults need to feel the positive effects of focusing on and developing their own character strengths. 
• Integrate it. Create dual-purpose experiences and lessons involving the traits.
• Encourage it. Students need specific, growth-mindset praise around character.
• Track it. Regularly record and discuss progress with character traits.

Feinberg says it’s more difficult to instill character traits in adults than in children. By trial and error, he and his colleagues decided the best thing was to hire people who already shared KIPP’s core beliefs. “They must firmly believe that there are no shortcuts,” he says; “that all children not just can but will learn; that there is value in creating a strong team and family… As long as you start with a platform of shared core beliefs, values can be taught.”

Asked if KIPP has been successful replicating its essence in 125 sites around the country, Feinberg says mostly, yes, but he’s not so sure about the J-factor – joy. “Are the kids truly enjoying themselves?” he asks. “Beyond being pushed, beyond learning, are they happy and having fun? There are direct and indirect things that teachers and leaders can do or not do that cause the classroom or school to be more fun or less fun, more enjoyable or less enjoyable. I don’t know how well we’ve done that.”

“Be the Change: An Interview with Mike Feinberg” by John J-H Kim in The District Management Journal, Spring 2013 (Vol. 13, p. 4-11), http://bit.ly/14S8wF6 

From the Marshall Memo #480