What happens when we ask teachers and parents what they think about character education and compare their answers?
That’s the question at the heart of new research conducted in schools in Madrid, now published in the British Journal of Educational Studies.
Character education (CE) is gaining renewed attention as education systems around the world look beyond academic performance toward the fuller development of young people. Frameworks like the OECD Learning Compass 2030 and the growing literature on flourishing, encompassing character virtues, sense of purpose, and personal agency, point toward a vision of schooling that is both academically rigorous and deeply human.
Realising that vision requires something the research has largely overlooked until now: empirical evidence on how teachers and families understand CE, and whether those understandings converge or diverge.
The Madrid study found that teacher and family perceptions converge more than expected. Both groups recognise CE’s positive influence on emotional, social, and academic outcomes that contribute to flourishing for students and the wider school community. Both identify honesty, responsibility, and compassion as priority virtues. And both acknowledge that character formation is a shared responsibility between school and home.
However, meaningful differences remain. Perceptions diverge when it comes to who is responsible for cultivating those virtues, and importantly, who bears responsibility when they are absent. Differences also emerge in how each group perceives the other’s priorities, particularly the balance between character development and academic achievement.
The findings suggest that effective character education depends on curricular integration and institutional commitment as well as relational trust between schools and families. Pursuing character development together, intentionally, dialogically, and with as little ideological imposition as possible, remains one of the central challenges for educators seeking to help young people flourish.
For Professor Ann Brewer, Dean of Professional Practice and Strategic Projects, one of the most encouraging findings is the degree of agreement between teachers and families. At a time when educational debates are often framed in terms of conflict, the study points to more common ground around character development than is sometimes assumed.
If you are interested to find out more, we invite you to watch Professor Brewer’s Balmoral Lecture – ‘Character at the Centre’.
Source: Fernández-Espinosa, V., Redondo-corcobado, P., & Velázquez Gil, M. (2026). Differences Between Teachers’ and Parents’ Perspectives on Character Education in Schools in the Community of Madrid. British Journal of Educational Studies, 1–27.
This article was first published on Queenwood’s LinkedIn.
