School of Professional and Continuing Studies

When: TBD
Where: UMSL, J.C. Penney Conference Center

The workshop has reached capacity. If you wish to be placed on a waiting list call Jennifer Clemente at (314) 516-5994.

About | Faculty | Registration | Credit Option

This five-day Institute provides an intensive overview of character education. It is designed for teachers and other educators from schools that are committed to fostering character development in students, ranging from preschool to high school.

Ideally, this Institute should be attended by teams of educators that will be instrumental in shepherding the character education initiative in their facility. The Institute also is appropriate for individual educators who are interested in learning more about effective, quality character education.

The emphasis of the Institute will be on:
Participants will be expected to:
The Institute will feature:

Faculty Profile

Marvin Berkowitz

Marvin W. Berkowitz, PhD, is the inaugural Sanford N. McDonnell Endowed Professor of Character Education and codirector of the center for Character and Citizenship at the University of Missouri–St. Louis.

Before arriving at UMSL, he was the inaugural Ambassador Holland H. Coors Professor of Character Development at the United States Air Force Academy (1999), and professor of Psychology (1979-1999) and director of the Center for Ethics Studies at Marquette University. He earned his PhD in Life-span Developmental Psychology at Wayne State University in 1977, after which he served as a research associate at the Center for Moral Development at Harvard University. He has taught throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe, serving as Visiting Professor at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and Education in Berlin (1987-8), Visiting Scholar for the Gordon Cook Foundation in Scotland (1995), Ethicist in Residence at the University of South Florida (2002), and Visiting Scholar at Azusa Pacific University (2001-2).

He is the inaugural Sanford N. McDonnell Endowed Professor of Character Education and co-director ofthe Center for Character and Citizenship at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. His research interestsare character education, moral development, adolescent development, and risk-taking. He is authorof Parenting for Good (2005) and more than 100 book chapters, monographs, and journal articles,and editor of Moral Education: Theory and Application (1985) and Peer Conflict and PsychologicalGrowth (1985). He serves as a board member of the Character Education Partnership and the Centerfor Social and Emotional Education, and as co-editor of the Journal for Research in Character Education.In 2006, he was awarded the Character Education Partnership’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Amy Johnson

Amy Johnston has been in the field of education for 28 years and has earned Master’s Degrees in Education Administration and Counseling. She taught high school, served as a middle school counselor, and has been in administration for the past 14 years at Francis Howell Middle School.       

In 2001, Mrs. Johnston became interested in Character Education.  She spent a year with Dr. Marvin Berkowitz in his Leadership in Character Education Academy and the knowledge she gained there helped her transform her school.  Students, staff and parents adopted core ethical values of respect, responsibility, honesty and compassion and these values drive learning, discipline, relationships and success.  In four years, suspensions decreased by 30%; in school suspensions decreased by 41%; detentions decreased by 56%; and, failing grades decreased by 59%.       

Mrs. Johnston has shared the FHMS Character Education Journey at Tom Lickona’s Character Education Conference in New York, the Character Education Conference in St. Louis, Wisconsin,  at the Character Education Partnership Conference in Houston and as a speaker in Colorado Springs. Her efforts have earned her the St. Louis Area Middle School Principal of the Year and the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Character Education. In 2007, her school was named a Missouri School of Character and in 2008 Francis Howell Middle was named a National Schools of Character.

Registration

Register Online | If registering for more than one person, please call (314) 516-5994, or complete the Summer Institute in Character Education Registration Form

Cancellation Policy:

The University reserves the right to cancel any program. In the event of cancellation, you will be notified immediately, and all program fees will be refunded or applied to a future program at your request. If you must cancel a registration, please call (314) 516–5994.

Credit Option

Participants have the option to attend the Institute for two or three graduate credit hours.

For two graduate credit hours:

For three graduate credit hours:

Participants taking the Institute for credit will pay UMSL credit fees. Please call (314) 516-5994 for fee information and credit course application.