What Is It?
Character Lab is an organisation and website that is dedicated to using science and evidence-based methods to mould critical characteristics in children and young adults to help them increase their likelihood of becoming happy and successful adults. It’s aim is to bring together world-class scientists working on the concepts of character and how to develop it, with world-class educators who can help translate the scientific understanding into practical actions that can be applied by parents and educators as part of their everyday lives. It is a non-profit organisation that was founded in 2013 by Angela Duckworth (author of the best-selling book Grit), David Levin and Dominic Randolph.
Character Lab is a non-profit organisation and website dedicated to using scientific and evidence based methods to encourage the development of key characteristics in children that will contribute to their general happiness and success.
Why Is It Useful?
The Character Lab website provides a one-stop shop for parents and educators who wish to find out about the most recent scientific discoveries about how elements of character can contribute to success and future happiness and how to translate these findings into everyday actions that you can successfully apply to children’s lives.
What Will You Find On The Site?
There are three main sections to the website. These are Tools, Measures and Research. In the Tools section, you will find information about the main character tools (a similar idea to our own core life skills) which researchers have identified as impacting the likelihood of happiness and success in life. These are collected into three basic groups (strengths of heart, strengths of mind and strengths of will) and include things like curiosity, grit, growth mindset and gratitude.
Character Lab has identified a range of key tools, or life skills, which are critical to the development of happy, successful adults. These include curiosity, grit, growth mindset and gratitude.
In the Measures section, you’ll find the Character Growth Card, which has been created to give students feedback on how they and their teachers perceive their current strengths and weaknesses. It’s not designed to provide a formal measure of character, but rather, it’s meant to act as a starting point for a conversation about character development and which elements individual children and their teachers can work on, if they so wish.
Finally, in the Research section, you can find information about the latest research being carried out by Character Lab.
About The Author: This post was written by Colin Drysdale, the creator of How To Raise A Happy Genius.
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