The Barker Character and Enterprise program seeks to address this shortfall by developing an intentional, curricular approach to giving students experiences in which they develop a better understanding of their values and of their ability to contribute to society through work with a charitable Partner Organisation.

Brooks argues that happiness and wellbeing are linked not only to material security but also to the health of the society in which we live. He asserts that community connection, a sense of purpose, and an awareness of and willingness to fulfill obligations to society are also critical, especially in affluent nations, where these aspects of education can sit a distant second to more utilitarian vocational knowledge.

Traditionally, a “more is caught than taught” approach has applied to spiritual or character education.

Experiences like camps, ropes course challenges, and experiential and service learning have all sought to provide purpose, connection, and resilience. Chapel and pastoral programs have long provided spiritual and cultural knowledge. While they certainly have certainly had programs and encouraged student reflection, these programs have not taught character within a curricular framework quite the way the Barker program aims to.

The Barker Character and Enterprise program, on the other hand, operates within a curricular framework. Rather than taking place as a series of one-off programs or in timetable slots not normally allocated to classes, the Barker program meets every fortnight in an academic period. Careful timetable planning has cleverly captured time without diminishing resources for the academic programming, and teachers have either used space in their own timetables or gone over their loads to teach the Program to our Year 10 students.

Lessons have clear structure and learning outcomes, and a Scope and Sequence provides structure.

Logistics, however, are the least of the steps in establishing a character curriculum. Students learn thinking frameworks like utilitarianism, deontology, and value ethics. These systems provide students with ways to think about and make sense of the world. As students develop their own sense of self and values, the details of these scaffolds may erode, but the hope is that the structure endures. Critically, value ethics posits that we can build character through effort and engagement both with hard questions and good works. 

The enterprise aspect of the curriculum involves engagement with partner organisations who are involved with social enterprise. As active participants in real life examples of good works, the partner organisations provide students with a window into authentic problems and solutions. As with character, the enterprise curriculum provides a scaffold for students to engage with these programs in a meaningful way. Not only do they participate in traditional service learning, they also actively engage with the logisitics of their own program.  They identify a problem their partner organisation faces and develop a business plan to resolve the issue.

The overriding curriculum provides a clear framework for this work to develop organically but provides appropriate guiderails to keep the learning on track.

The Barker Character and Enterprise program aims to shift how character education is approached within the curriculum. By integrating spiritual and social knowledge into a structured academic framework, the program addresses the shortcomings David Brooks identified. The intentional design of the program, with its clear structure, learning outcomes, and engagement with real-world social enterprises, provides students with the tools to develop their character and values in a meaningful way. The hope is that the frameworks and experiences provided by the Barker program will endure, guiding them towards a life of purpose, connection, and resilience.

Philip Mundy

Philip Mundy is the Director of Curriculum Strategy at Barker College, and serves a teacher of the Year 10 Character & Enterprise Program.