Karen Bohlin on Education & Character
As part of the Virtues & Vocations webinar series, Education for Flourishing: Pursuing Purpose in the Professions, we are pleased to welcome Karen Bohlin to discuss her book Educating for Character: Why Practical Wisdom Matters. Dr. Karen E. Bohlin is a recognized thought leader in applied virtue ethics and character education. Senior scholar at Boston University's Center for Character and Social Responsibility and director emerita of BU's Center for the Advancement of Ethics and Character, she served as assistant professor of education and then as head of school at Montrose in Medfield, MA, where she founded the LifeCompass Institute for Character & Leadership, a lab school community of practice.
Meet the Speaker: Karen Bohlin
Karen E. Bohlin is a Senior Scholar at the at Boston University and founder and director emerita of the LifeCompass Institute for Character & Leadership. Dr. Bohlin is also head of school at the Montrose School in Medfield, MA and senior scholar at Boston University’s Center for Character & Social Responsibility. Before serving as head of school, she was a high school English teacher, executive director of the CCSR and assistant professor of education at Boston University School of Education. A veteran educator and school leader, she has taught at both the secondary and university level and is the author of The Practical Wisdom Framework: A Compass for School Leaders and several books on applied virtue ethics and the power of literature to educate the heart. Her current work focuses on leadership education in practical wisdom aimed at shaping formative institutions committed to individual and collective flourishing. She is the director of the Practical Wisdom Project at Abigail Adams Instititute.
Fostering Courageous Dialogues
Language is a powerful tool. It can be used to express one’s feeling and viewpoints. The best way to learn how to understand others though is through a back and forth dialogue. And when tougher issues are discussed in a calm and rational way, these are called courageous dialogues. This episode of Education Counts Michiana: Fostering Courageous Dialogues features Dr. Karen Bohlin and Barbara Whitlock. For more stories about education, check out https://www.wnit.org/EducationCounts.
How to Build Practical Wisdom
In our beautiful, diverse, and often tumultuous world, there is remarkable consensus about the strengths of character we admire in others and strive to develop in ourselves.
- We value habits of mind that allow us to pursue professional and academic excellence — including tenacity, thoroughness, creativity, and intellectual honesty and humility.
- We embrace habits of heart that strengthen our friendships, family relationships, and communities — including empathy, compassion, respect, and gratitude.
- And we honor habits of character that allow us to face challenges and embrace opportunities — including courage, temperance, responsibility, and integrity.
So how do we develop these strengths? To read more, please click here.
View the Event
Monday, March 20, 2023 12:00 pm
As part of the Virtues & Vocations webinar series, Education for Flourishing: Pursuing Purpose in the Professions, we are pleased to welcome Karen Bohlin to discuss her book Educating for Character: Why Practical Wisdom Matters. Dr. Karen E. Bohlin is a recognized thought leader in applied virtue ethics and character education. Senior scholar at Boston University’s Center for Character and Social Responsibility and director emerita of BU’s Center for the Advancement of Ethics and Character, she served as assistant professor of education and then as head of school at Montrose in Medfield, MA, where she founded the LifeCompass Institute for Character & Leadership, a lab school community of practice.
This event was recorded on March 20, 2023.