‘We’ve forgotten how to be nice’: Education expert Lucas Walsh says teaching character is the missing link in Aussie schools

Few Australian schools are teaching teenagers lessons in character – or how to be a good person. This leading educator says that has to change. Do you agree?

Professor Lucas Walsh of Monash University says Australian schools need a focused, concerted effort to build character in students.

As a person who works in education, two things mystify me. The first is the lack of importance given of careers education, given most people who finish school will get a job.

The second mystery relates to the development of a person’s character and virtue. At a time of great social division and animosity, it seems critical that we develop in young people basic competency to engage with others in respectful and civil ways.

And while the Australian Curriculum modestly aims for students to “develop personal and social capability as they learn to understand themselves and others, and manage their relationships, lives, work and learning more effectively”, Australian schooling in general lacks a focused, concerted effort to build character in students.

This is done overseas. In the UK, for example, the Jubilee Centre at the University of Birmingham published A Framework for Character Education in Schools, which is used by educators, policymakers and the public globally.

It highlights the aims of character education to make individuals better persons and create the social and institutional conditions in which all people can flourish and basically get along.

It rightly suggests that “Schools do and should aid students in knowing the good, loving the good and doing the good”.

Character education can be integrated into all subjects, wider school activities and the school’s ethos.

The virtues of character draw from a common morality, and this is where it gets unnecessarily tricky. Identifying what “common morality” means can make people uncomfortable. Who decides what constitute morality in our diverse society?

But developing character can be stripped back to core virtues, such as civic friendship and civility, kindness and respect, how we can live well in our communities and feel like we belong.

In light of local challenges, such as addressing racism and bullying, and wider challenges such as globally working together to adapt to climate change, the cultivation of these virtues seems more important than ever.

Schools themselves face immediate challenges that character education could help. According to the OECD, Australian classrooms are “among the world’s most disorderly”.

A recent report found that a staggering half of the 2182 school leaders surveyed reported experiencing violence during 2024. Another survey of 8293 teachers showed that around a quarter felt unsafe in their schools. Increasing threats by parents is one reason why.

It seems like we’ve forgotten how to be nice.

This extends to online interactions. Our own research of young Australians found 14 per cent of young Australians agreed or strongly agreed that writing insulting things online was not bullying, while 17 per cent felt that there were no rules online.

Current government efforts to regulate social media focus on the means, but what about targeting one key source: the social norms and character of young people themselves?

Educators and researchers have been calling for character education for the last decade, based on solid concepts and evidence-based strategies. Some schools are already doing this, but we need to make exceptional practice, common practice.

So, while it seems like common sense to expect most students to get fulfilling work, shouldn’t we also be paying greater attention to building character?

Professor Lucas Walsh is director of the Centre for Youth Policy and Education Practice at Monash University.

Originally published as ‘We’ve forgotten how to be nice’: Education expert Lucas Walsh says teaching character is the missing link in Aussie schools