Teachers’ Perspectives on Performance Character Education

Recent trends in education reform have brought renewed attention to performance character strengths such as grit, growth mindsets, and self-control. In this article, we explore how secondary teachers (Grades 5-12) in a variety of school types understood character education generally, and performance character education specifically. Research questions included how teachers defined the components of character (i.e., what strengths, values, and habits were emphasized), why they were important, and how they taught them. The findings reveal diverse understandings of character. Study participants varied in the extent to which they highlighted moral, civic, or performance character strengths and whether they viewed character primarily as an intrinsic or instrumental good. While participants generally agreed on the importance of teaching strengths like grit and growth mindsets, they brought markedly different levels of enthusiasm to this work and expressed different ideas about the role of behavioral controls in supporting or undermining performance character goals. Reflecting on our findings, we consider how definitions of character map onto beliefs about behavioral control, explore theoretical and practical tensions between character development and behavioral control, and raise questions for further research in character education and teacher education.