CViL in Kenya

Cultivating Virtue in Kenyan School Leaders

TWCF Project Number: 0508

Project Duration: May 1, 2020 – June 30, 2022

The Center for Character and Citizenship partnered with the Centre for Character and Leadership (CCL) in Kenya to support the development of servant leadership among school leaders. This collaboration focused on strengthening leadership practices that foster positive school cultures and support the character development of both educators and students.

The project adapted and implemented Cultivating Virtue in Leaders (CViL), a professional development program based on the CViL framework developed at the Center for Character and Citizenship. The program is grounded in the principles of servant leadership, which emphasize leading through service, humility, and virtuous action.

Educational leaders in Kenya have identified a growing need for more collaborative and values-based leadership practices in schools. In response, the project introduced CViL to leadership teams from thirty public secondary schools, supporting principals and their teams as they explored how virtues can guide leadership decisions and school practices.

The program included several key components:

A leadership academy focused on developing virtues such as humility, compassion, courage, and stewardship
Monthly school-based coaching, supporting leaders as they applied these ideas in their schools
A regional network of educators and stakeholders, fostering collaboration and shared learning through events and discussions

Throughout the program, school leaders reflected on their leadership practices and developed plans for integrating virtue-based leadership into their schools. The project also examined participants’ experiences with the program and explored how it influenced leadership attitudes and practices.

By engaging more than 100 school leaders, the initiative helped build capacity for values-based leadership within Kenyan schools. Over time, programs like CViL have the potential to influence leadership practices across the education system as participating leaders continue to grow in their roles and contribute to broader educational change.

Ongoing Collaboration

The partnership between the Center for Character and Citizenship and the Centre for Character and Leadership in Kenya has continued to grow since the completion of the CViL project. Building on the success of the original program, the two organizations have expanded their collaboration to further support school leaders through coaching, mentorship, and research dissemination.

In 2024 and 2025, the Centre for Character and Leadership, in collaboration with researchers from the Center for Character and Citizenship, launched a Coaching and Mentorship Speakers Series focused on cultivating virtues for leadership among school principals and educators. The program included eight virtual sessions exploring virtues central to servant leadership—such as humility, gratitude, courage, stewardship, empowerment, and integrity—and their role in fostering flourishing school communities. In September 2025, participating principals were recognized for successfully completing the program.

The collaboration has also engaged key education stakeholders in Kenya, including the Teacher Service Commission (TSC), the Kenya Secondary Schools Heads Association, and the Kenya Education Management Institute (KEMI), highlighting the growing interest in virtue-based leadership development within the Kenyan education system.

More recently, the Centre for Character and Leadership received a Strategic Initiative Development (SID) grant from the Association for Moral Education to support the dissemination of research from the CViL program and to continue professional development opportunities for school leaders. This initiative will support workshops and additional coaching sessions focused on servant leadership, character education, and human flourishing.

Together, these efforts reflect a deepening partnership committed to supporting school leaders in cultivating virtuous leadership and strengthening character education in schools across Kenya.

Resources

Learn more about the project and related materials:

Publications and research reports from the project:

Bier, M. C. (2021). Servant leadership for schools. Journal of Character Education,17(2), 27–46.

Bier, M. C., O’Reilly, D. S., Kingori, P., Samtani, S., & Berkowitz, M. W. (2024). Changing the character of schools: Promoting servant leadership virtues to solve internationally relevant problems in education. In M. D. Matthews &R. M. Lerner (Eds.), Multidisciplinary handbook of character development (pp.121–139). Taylor & Francis. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003251248-8

Bier, M. C., O’Reilly, D. S., Salas-Rodriguez, F., Samtani, S., & Kingori, P. (2026). Pilot testing the Cultivating Virtues for Leadership (CViL) model of servant leadership with Kenyan secondary school leadership teams. International Studies of Management & Organization, 56(3), 270–292. https://doi.org/10.1080/00208825.2026.2642250