Intellectual Character Development Policy - All Hallows School
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Reviewed: September 2022
Review: October 2023
Intellectual Character Development
Policy
Page 1 of 9
Reviewed: September 2022
Review: October 2023
Table of Contents
What do we mean by Intellectual Character? ............................................................................. 3
Moral character ............................................................................................................................... 3
Intellectual character ...................................................................................................................... 3
Character Development – Not a new debate.............................................................................. 3
Can you teach Character? ............................................................................................................... 3
Why is Character Important? .......................................................................................................... 4
1. Tomorrow’s World...................................................................................................................... 4
2. Right here, right now .................................................................................................................. 4
3. Promoting Wellbeing .................................................................................................................. 5
4. Overcoming Obstacles ................................................................................................................ 5
Cultivating Character ................................................................................................................. 5
What does an effective learner look like? .................................................................................. 6
Intellectual Characteristics ........................................................................................................ 7
How will we seek to develop Intellectual Character?.................................................................. 8
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What do we mean by Intellectual Character?
Traditionally we may think about the different qualities we might wish to nurture is to sort them into two
broad categories – Moral and Intellectual Character – but we do not believe that it is that straightforward,
as there is bound to be a considerable overlap between the two.
Moral character
Dispositions we associate with being ‘a good person’, e.g.: kindness, fairness, gratitude, integrity,
responsibility, patience and humility.
Intellectual character
Attributes that help you to be ‘a good learner’, e.g.: persistence, curiosity, good judgement, originality,
initiative and collaboration
Nineteenth century educationalist Horace Mann said:
‘Habit is a cable; we weave a thread of it each day, and as last we cannot break it.’
Whilst this policy will be focusing predominantly on weaving the threads of intellectual character, many of
the same principles apply to both sets of dispositions. The development of Moral Character is also
developed as part of the school’s culture and is of equal importance.
Character Development – Not a new debate
Debates about character and its development are not new. Around 350BC Aristotle described what make
for a ’life of excellence’, arguing that it takes practice to grow valuable habits such as courage, generosity
and wisdom. Over the centuries since, views have come in and out of favour, with an increasingly secular
and pluralist world throwing up questions like:
• How can I be sure which values are we should be seeking to develop?
• Are absolute values possible to support anyway?
More recently, educationalists and psychologists have been thinking again about the character traits that
seem to be most helpful throughout a person’s life. These are sometimes referred to as personal, social
and emotional skills, sometimes (misleadingly) as ‘soft’ or non-cognitive skills, sometimes as learning
dispositions, habits of mind or virtues.
Can you teach Character?
Antony Bourdain (2019) author asserts that, “Skills can be taught. Character you either have or you do not
have.”
As a school, All Hallows fundamentally disputes this statement. As with every other aspect of children’s
development, we believe that character is not fixed at birth, nor genetically determined. Whilst it may be
difficult to teach discrete characteristics in the same way as we do skills, knowledge or understanding,
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Character can be developed, fostered, nurtured and cultivated. Even with a very similar upbringing, twin
studies show that close siblings can be incredibly distinctive people, with very different strengths and areas
for development. As neuroscientists explain:
‘The activity of our billions of neurons is shaped by the internal and the external world: both our genetics
and our environment collaborate to build our brain and thereby steer our behaviour…And this in turn
defines who we have the chance to become.’ The Brain, David Eagleman, PBS Series Episode 3
Neural pathways are formed and reinforced in a complex and dynamic way, shaped by how we live our
lives. For instance, a young person might be naturally cautious, but their experience may have taught them
to respond more bravely to new situations. Another child’s instinct could be to dive straight in, but they
might have been prompted to develop the habit of thinking things through first.
For many of us, the development of character will have been a hit-and-miss process as part of our
education, but it doesn’t need to be. At All Hallows we believe that Character Development should be part
of the children’s journey through the school and therefore needs to be part of our school culture and
supplemented by its curriculum, rather than specifically taught as distinct part of its curriculum. If this is to
be the case, there needs to be consistency in our vocab and practice to some degree – just as in other
language we use e.g., “High performing” vs. “Able” or “Gifted”.
Why is Character Important?
1. Tomorrow’s World
No one can perfectly predict the future. The children of today will experience a life that’s beyond
anything we can imagine. Issues such as globalisation and economic uncertainty, income inequality
and environmental change, the rise of technology and synthetic intelligence are all likely to play a part.
It’s vital that we do our best to prepare young people to flourish in the very competitive, fast-paced,
fast-changing world that lies beyond the classroom. Key to this, according to multiple reports and
research, is character. Collaboration, adaptability, creativity, aspiration, initiative, empathy,
confidence, resilience, flexibility of mind…These traits will be increasingly valued and valuable, and
sought after by employers. They also help people more generally to respond positively to whatever
challenges and opportunities lie ahead, which can contribute to their happiness and wellbeing
2. Right here, right now.
Developing character is not just for the long term. Children who…
• Are genuinely curious and ask deep, probing questions
• Are persistent and enjoy grappling with difficult problems
• Demonstrate originality through their perceptive ideas and responses
• Show initiative and focus, taking responsibility for their learning
…are more likely to engage with their subjects in an active, thoughtful and enthusiastic way,
developing a more profound and lasting understanding.
This is backed up by a growing body of research that shows a clear link between character and
performance in school. Hence, if we want to encourage our children to become more active,
independent, skilful learners, then taking a step back and looking at the qualities that underpin should
provide another powerful and effective tool to achieve this outcome.
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3. Promoting Wellbeing
The development of character is also strongly correlated with the social, emotional and physical
wellbeing of all out children – both now and as they grow up.
Character matters ‘for the things people care about in life, including adult mental health and life
satisfaction, socio-economic, labour market, health and health related outcomes.’ Early Intervention
Foundation (2015)
Character development is not only important on an individual level but for leading productive lives
within families, communities and society in general. We want our children to become happy,
welladjusted, responsible adults who believe that their actions will make a difference and who know
how to take care of themselves and others.
4. Overcoming Obstacles
‘Whatever qualifications you might have, where you are on the character scale will have a big impact
on what you can achieve in life.’ APPG on Social Mobility, 2014
While no one would want to underplay the very real obstacles that young people might experience as
part of the life, helping children develop a broad range of valuable personal qualities is one of the most
important ways that we can improve their life chances.
Research published in 2015, jointly funded by the Early Intervention Foundation, the Cabinet Office
and the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission supports this view, as does author and
broadcaster Paul Tough, who asserts:
‘There is no anti-poverty tool we can provide for disadvantaged young people that will be more
valuable than the character strengths…conscientiousness, grit, resilience, perseverance and optimism.’
“How Children Succeed” (2015)
Although our pupils are less likely to experience poverty as part of their childhood, many of the young
people may experience family breakup, bereavement, illness and other Adverse Childhood Experiences
(ACEs) as part of the childhoods.
Cultivating Character
“The evidence makes clear that people are not just born with or without character and resilience
traits…They can be developed and learnt at all stages of life…policymakers and practitioners have a key role
to play.” APPG on Social Mobility, 2014. At All Hallows we intend that all members of the community are
part of this process
If we’re going to engage young people in developing their naturally positive qualities, in challenging
themselves on less useful patterns of behaviour, and beginning to grow a few dispositions they hadn’t
even thought of – then we’ll need to adopt a gentle but purposeful process of encouraging, modelling,
discussing, valuing, noticing and reflecting with our pupils.
If we are to maximise the development Intellectual Character as our pupils progress through our school,
there needs to be a clear model of the traits to which we are all referring, a school-wide consistency in the
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language we use, and, taking into account pupils age and individual profiles, a degree of uniformity in our
practice.
What does an effective learner look like?
The model below borrows heavily from Simister’s (2011, 2015) ‘Future-Smart’ template.
In essence...growing from the roots up and set in the ‘soil’ of a Growth Mindset (Dweck, 2018)…
• The branches... Skilful Thinking = Do our pupils have the inclination and experience to make use of
what they have learnt?
• The trunk... Effective Learning = Have we equipped our pupils with a broad range of independent
and collaborative learning skills?
• The roots... Intellectual Character = What are we doing to foster the essential dispositions that
underpin success and achievement?
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Hence, at All Hallows believe the most effective learners…
• …attitudes to learning are decidedly positive, and they are highly productive in individual work and
in collaboration with others...
• …they draw knowledge from a wide range of sources and display sophisticated study skills...
• …they think for themselves, confidently hypothesise, accurately analyse data and text, synthesise
information...plan and organise their work effectively, read critically and reflect on the knowledge
gained...
• …most have extremely good focus, and they spontaneously ask higher-order questions…
• …they are quick to...make perceptive links with other areas of study…
• …they debate and reason logically…
• …they are creative and persistent in finding solutions to problems…
• …they are self-reflective and have an awareness of their strengths and weaknesses…
• …they are self-confident and hence show notable resilience…
• …they are self-disciplined and informally assess risk without being overly fearful in everyday life…
• …in the face of difficulty or when challenged intellectually, pupils show strong persistence…
• …pupils understand that decisions they make can be instrumental in determining their own future
success and well-being…
• …they collaborate well and support each other in communal enterprises, achieving common goals
and solving problems…
• …they think critically, are adaptable and show high levels of emotional maturity…
• …by the time they leave All Hallows, pupils have developed the skills necessary for the next stage
of their lives…
Intellectual Characteristics
At All Hallows, we have selected the following intellectual characteristics as those we are seeking to
develop in our pupils:
1. Collaboration – contributing, working constructively, productively and fairly with others.
2. Curiosity – asking questions, investigating, exploring and seeking understanding.
3. Drive – aiming high, setting goals, being conscientious and putting in lots of effort.
4. Empathy – understanding others’ feelings and points of view.
5. Flexibility of mind – being ‘porous’: open to new evidence, ideas and arguments.
6. Focus – concentrating, avoiding distractions and being careful, accurate and thorough.
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7. Good judgement – the ‘stop and think’ factor; using reason and thinking critically.
8. Initiative – being independently minded, resourceful and strategic.
9. Originality – generating ideas, making connections, approaching problems creatively.
10. Persistence – having self-discipline, grit and determination to stick with a challenge.
11. Reflectiveness – being willing to review and learn from experience.
12. Resilience – dealing positively with mishap, disappointment and failure.
13. Risk-taking – stepping out of your comfort zone to push yourself and try new things.
14. Self-belief – believing in your ability to manage a range of situations.
How will we seek to develop Intellectual Character?
If we are to be successful in our aim to develop our pupils’ intellectual character, we need to engrain this
thinking in our school community. Staff, Parents, Governors and children should all be actively involved.
This process is founded growth mindset ethos (the ‘soil’ in our model).
Character development can be cultivated in every area of school life – in classrooms, Science Labs, sports
pitches, music rooms, on stage, in our Creative Centre, in Forest School, on trips and in the playground.
Staff, pupils and parents can all engage in the processes of encouraging, modelling, discussing, valuing,
noticing and reflecting with our pupils, for example:
• In the classroom - The key is to grow a classroom culture where the attitudes, processes and skills
involved in being an effective l learner are made ‘an object of attention’, as well as ‘an object for
conversation’.
• Outside the Classroom opportunities - Consolidating learning habits through active interactive
activities designed to encourage learning habits.
The process of character development may be fostered by a wide range of activities, but it should feature
as a regular part of a child’s time in school e.g.
• Displays
• Pasting the model of an effective learning in books, prep dairies, etc, so that it can referred to
easily
• Assemblies and Form Tutor time
• Reports
• Feedback and Marking
• Merits, awards and certificates
• Word mats, sound cards and vocab sheets
• Parent seminars
• Pupil reflection
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Although the model of an effective learner applies across the school, teachers are encouraged to use their
professional judgement to ensure children understand each aspect of the model. For instance, this may
include focusing upon a few intellectual characteristics each term, or in each topic/theme. EYFS also has
well-defined ‘Characteristics of Effective Learning’ that they look for in this part of the school.
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