Services For Schools
Every school community is different, and every school is at a different stage of growth. Open Mind Ed. can help you assess your community’s priorities and implement virtue education at a variety of levels.
We offer services in the following areas:
Services For Non-Profits
A key aspect of community-connected virtue education is learning from organizations doing good work in areas that may or may not be obviously associated with traditional school subjects. We all have things we can learn from such organizations, and Open Mind Ed. can help non-profits craft educational programs for all sorts of audiences, including those they may not have previously considered.
Whether you are an organization with a true regional focus or one seeking global impact, Open Mind Ed. can help you make connections between your work and communities seeking deeper understanding.
We offer services in the following areas:
Designed for Schools:
The Virtue Profile – Who Are You?
What are the virtues that define your school community? Are the virtues witnessed by the students, parents, faculty, and staff consistent with those named in the school’s writings and website and pursued through the school’s programs and culture?
We will conduct a survey of your immediate and (if desired) extended community utilizing both inquiries into actual experiences and judgments around hypothetical situations. Questions will be drawn from a list of over 50 different virtues; the list of virtues assessed can be narrowed at a school’s discretion.
When the survey is concluded, we will prepare a final report identifying four virtues seen as most important by those in your school. The report will break down the results by constituency, in order to point out any inconsistencies or tensions. Additionally, the report will indicate those virtues that, while not in the top four, still received noteworthy attention.
ADDITIONAL – If desired, qualitative surveying (i.e. individual or group interviews) can be conducted to develop a deeper understanding of the survey results and to provide more specific context and clarity. Interviews would be conducted prior to the preparation of the report, with qualitative data included in the write-up.
The Virtue Continuum – Where Are You?
Like many schools, you have begun virtue education work. How integrated has this work become? Where does it stand among all the other priorities of your school that require attention, personnel, time, and resources?
We will conduct a “pulse check” of your virtue education status. Evidence will be collected from your website, school handbooks, curriculum, and other print documents; we will also do short, randomized surveys of all segments of your school community. Where necessary, we will conduct brief follow-up conversations for clarity and precision.
Once the evidence and survey data are assembled, we will provide a short write-up locating your school on our Virtue Education continuum, from Phase 1 (initial naming of shared virtues) to Phase 6 (serving as an institutional model that other schools and organizations consult to emulate). Bearing in mind that such positioning work can be “blurry,” the report will identify a dominant or average phase placement, with explanations regarding outlier elements that sit more comfortably within other phases.
This project is intended to be executed quickly (2-4 weeks from initial evidence gathering to submission of final report); however, timing will be contingent on a broad range of factors, including but not limited to size of school, availability of documentation, and survey response rate.
The Virtue Evaluation – How Successful Are You?
Your school has identified its core values, but how do you determine whether or not you’re successful in promoting/cultivating/teaching them? Are the methods you use achieving your aims?
We will conduct a survey of your community to explore the experiences of students, parents, faculty, staff, administrators, and (if desired) alumni, to measure the perceived effectiveness of character education at your school. The survey will be designed to look for areas where school policy/practice seem at odds with its stated values.
When the survey is concluded, we will prepare a final report assigning a score to each virtue identified in your school’s profile. Where the scores are lower than hoped, we will provide details from the survey (including screening by constituency) to help explain. The report will also provide recommendations for improvement.
ADDITIONAL – If desired, qualitative surveying (i.e. individual or group interviews) can be conducted to develop a deeper understanding of the survey results and to provide more specific context and clarity. Interviews would be conducted prior to the preparation of the report, with qualitative data included in the write-up.
The Strategic Virtue Plan – How Will You Do Better?
If you know of areas that need improving, what measures will you take to make corrections? On the other hand, if you’ve accomplished your existing virtue education goals, how will you target and arrive at your next “virtue plateau”? Perhaps you’ve had a recent accreditation team recommend enhancements to your character education program – what is your mechanism for addressing their recommendation?
We will work with school leadership and key community members to clearly quantify your school’s current virtue position and to determine new, specific goals. With these established, we can coordinate meetings with the appropriate departments and groups to create timelines and action plans. Particular focus will be placed on measurable, achievable standards and thoroughness of approach.
When the work is concluded, an extended written action plan will be provided to school leadership, with a condensed version created for distribution among the various school constituencies. Recommendations for communicating the plan can also be provided.
ADDITIONAL – If desired, periodic check-in sessions can be scheduled across the months/years of the plan’s implementation. On these occasions, quantitative/qualitative assessments can be done to ascertain progress.
Talks and Interactive Experiences Concerning Virtue Education
Chris speaks frequently to large and small groups of students, parents, and fellow educators on topics intended to help communities rethink and/or reaffirm not only their shared values but also their approach to giving those values life.
Discussions have included the importance of virtue education in preparation for the college process, the dangers of arrogance, methods for parents to introduce (and even assess) virtue education at home, the power of hope, the need for adults to model collaboration for young people, ways to understand and strengthen relationships, and more. For a sample of Chris’ thoughts, please visit the Resources page, where you will find a selection of virtue-related articles he’s written over the years.
Chris has also created many interactive experiences to encourage groups to truly reflect on their understanding of specific virtues and to engage with that understanding in order to strengthen it. These activities range from day-long events that address team-building, creativity, and/or community values to shorter (30-90 minute) projects with a tighter focus and more specific targets. While virtually all of these experiences involve some degree of collaboration, activities can also have a small competitive element. For samples of prompts for these activities, please visit the Resources page, where you’ll find examples of open-ended virtue discussion questions Chris has tested and used in small and large groups.
Designed for Non-Profits:
Your Virtue Position – What is Your Influence?
Most NGOs, non-profits, and charities are created in order to do good in the world. But what is the specific shape of that good, and with which virtues does it intersect? How does your specific influence encourage people of all ages to become service-dedicated adults?
We will conduct an audit of your website and other print documents, as well as surveys of your staff and other valued stakeholders to ascertain which virtues (drawn from our list of over 50) your organization most strongly promotes; the list of virtues assessed can be narrowed at the discretion of your organization’s leadership. The survey can also be amended and extended to include members of your donor list.
When the audit and survey are concluded, we will prepare a final report identifying four virtues most represented and promoted by your organization, with details related to the strength and consistency of your virtue identity, as revealed in the data. Additionally, the report will indicate those virtues that, while not in the top four, still received noteworthy attention.
ADDITIONAL – If desired, qualitative surveying (i.e. individual or group interviews) can be conducted to develop a deeper understanding of the survey results and to provide more specific context and clarity. Interviews would be conducted prior to the preparation of the report, with qualitative data included in the write-up.
The Virtue Curriculum – What Can Others Learn From You?
UNESCO has stated, as its Education Target 4.7, the expectation that by 2030, schools worldwide will
“equip learners with the knowledge, values, and skills needed for global citizenship, sustainable development, and a culture of peace…fostering attitudes and competencies that enable individuals to…promote human rights and contribute to peaceful and inclusive societies.”
NGOs, non-profits, and charities are well-positioned to contribute to this work, dedicated, as they typically are, to the goals of inclusivity, sustainability, and peace. Most charities, however, are established to raise awareness of concerns in the adult world, in order to urge those adults to provide money, time, and energy for a local or global benefit. The overwhelming majority of such organizations do not have any sort of education division or arm, and those that do tend to focus their education efforts on adult learners.
Approximately one-third of all schools in the US have a dedicated, structured service-learning program. More than 160 countries host more than 6200 International Baccalaureate schools, all of which require students to complete a month-long CAS (Creativity, Activity, Service) project. Establishing formal relationships with these schools would not only promote communication with a large audience of potential parent supporters, it would also help build the next generation of mission-ready adults seeking to extend the work of your organization.
We will work with your staff to create prospectuses and activity rosters for after-school programs as well as formal curricular components (with lesson plans and articulated standards) suitable for a range of age levels and disciplines. Wherever possible, we will seek to align these standards with existing curriculum in your desired area.
ADDITIONAL – Once the programs/curricula are constructed, we can conduct outreach to schools where your work might be best received. We can also produce educational materials and presentations for school personnel and parents to introduce the work of your organization and its virtue and academic benefits.
Bespoke Strategies Supporting Missions of Virtue
Chris has spent a great deal of his career crafting stories and messages to communicate – effectively and creatively – the mission and values of non-profit institutions.
These projects have ranged from themed email campaigns to personalized webpages to original poems of gratitude for donors and volunteers to collaborative quizzes and scavenger hunts as fundraising activities.
In all instances, Chris works to put the values promoted by the institution first, and he takes time to find a form for his messages that suits the occasion: a sonnet to wrap up a fundraising event at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre; a welcoming gift of pillows rebranded as “brain protectors” for students new to a school noted for its academic challenge and warm community; the name, mission, and values of an institution worked into a series of famous movie posters for a Hollywood-themed community event.
If you would like to brainstorm an idea with Chris, please contact Open Mind Ed.