Cultivating Character in the University: Implications for Policy and Practice

In 2020 the Oxford Character Project and Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues published a Framework for Character Education in Universities, drawing on input from academics and administrators at universities in the UK, USA, Asia, and Europe. The Framework lays out what character education is and why it is needed in contemporary higher education but doesn’t address important questions regarding policy and practice.

How might we move from a theoretical understanding of the importance of character in universities to a coherent approach to implementation and a set of university policies and practices? What examples are there of universities or university programmes that have been successful in placing a focus on values and character? What can we learn from these approaches and initiatives? How might the efficacy of character education in universities be assessed?

Implications for Policy and Practice serves as a companion piece to the Framework. Whereas the Framework lays out the arguments for why universities should focus on character education and provides some key principles, this publication considers how universities might actually work out a commitment to character education in practice.