Narnian Virtues: How Parents, Teachers and their 11 to 13 year-olds Learn to Cultivate Good Character through Engagement with the Novels by C.S. Lewis

This project investigates how good parenting, good teaching and reading good books help children develop good character. We will refine, expand and widely disseminate a Narnian Virtues curriculum initially designed and field-tested, with positive outcomes, in a 1-year pilot project funded by JTF. The revised curriculum includes a family component and more attention to helping students act on the virtues in their lives. The 3-year project will study how teachers and parents can work together to help 11- to 13-year-old children acquire 6 ‘Narnian’ virtues (wisdom, love, humility, courage, self-control, justice) through a 12-week curriculum based on 3 Narnia novels by C.S. Lewis in school and character activities engaged in with parents at home. The project will contribute to research and best practice in character education in 6 ways. It will: (1) develop and continually refine a methodology for helping students translate their understanding of virtues into virtuous behaviour; (2) use a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods to evaluate students’ growth in understanding and applying the virtues; (3) investigate the extent to which parents’ involvement makes a difference in student character outcomes; (4) demonstrate the benefits of Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia as a character education resource; (5) pursue these goals in high-need schools in poor areas where parental involvement and student achievement have been historically low; and (6) produce case studies, involving 500 students, in a sub-sample of schools and homes while doing broad-scale evaluation by pre- and post-testing 5000 children in all schools using the curriculum. A DVD and website will enable homes and schools anywhere to use the Narnian Virtues curriculum after the project. Global dissemination includes digital and print media, articles for academics and educators, a book for parents/teachers, a book for academics, a book by children 'Letters to Lewis', and conference presentations.