Exploring Character in Community: Faculty Development in University-Level Communities of Practice

A significant majority of faculty at U.S. colleges and universities believe that character is an important aim of university education, but many do not know how to support students in developing their character. This article presents a mixed-methods study that examined the effectiveness of two cross-disciplinary communities of practice (CoPs) in promoting faculty dialogue and development around character in institutions of higher education. Findings highlight that the month-long CoP increased participants' understanding of the meaning of character education, how to develop character in students, and how to assess character. The results point to the pedagogical potential of an intentional CoP to support faculty development focused on educating character at the university level.