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The intersection of teacher knowledge and motivation with organizational culture on implementing positive psychology interventions through a character education curriculum

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The intersection of teacher knowledge and motivation with organizational culture on implementing positive psychology interventions through a character education curriculum

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Content Running head: POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 1

The Intersection of Teacher Knowledge and Motivation with Organizational Culture on
Implementing Positive Psychology Interventions Through a Character Education Curriculum

by
Amanda Rodrigues

A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

December 2018

Copyright 2018 Amanda Rodrigues
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 2

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Over these last few years, I have had fully committed USC professors, staff, and cohorts
that have been an enormous part of my growth and success as a student and professional. My
course instructors each provided different insight that helped me look at the content of this
program through a new lens. My student support specialist, Reginald Ryder was a wonderful
soundboard and always sent the perfect email at the moments I needed someone to check in.
It is also absolutely necessary to acknowledge my Cohort 5 peers. Without the famous
bitmojis and the notorious Whatsapp, I don’t think I would have had the laughs needed to
survive the most challenging moments. I learned from my cohorts, who I now consider my
friends, that we can be serious scholars and still have fun with all of our personality. To Nadia
Assaf and Dee Masiello, you will both be forever in my heart as my sisters.
Dr. Samkian, your ongoing feedback and support, and the non-stop email exchanges of
information will never be forgotten. I often reflected on work from 6 months earlier and would
be in disbelief at how you were able to help me develop my writing so quickly. Without that
level of consistent communication, I never would have been able to survive those times of
struggle, nor would my confidence have improved continuously as I wrote this dissertation. To
my committee members, Dr. Robles and Dr. Cash, your classes in the area of leadership,
diversity, and accountability have been the areas that I feel had some of the largest influence
over my thinking. Additionally, your insight during proposal defense helped this project to be
better then good. The ideas you both offered during the process helped to make this work
something I am proud of. I also must give many thanks to Dr. Ferguson for her invaluable
insight and assistance during my time in this program, but more importantly, for her genuine
belief in me when I did not have it in myself.
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 3

DEDICATION
It is with deepest thanks and appreciation I am able to write this dedication to those who
were a huge part of my doctoral degree completion. I have never-ending gratitude to my
husband, Kaman, for pushing me to apply to this program despite feeling I would never be
accepted into this prestigious school. Your understanding of the marathon days of writing that
kept me from being an active member of our relationship will never be forgotten. When my
research and commitment to this project became a top priority, you always supported me doing it
despite the time taken from what our home needed. Your belief in my ability and determination
to take on and rise above challenge is the reason for this achievement. I only hope that I was
able to provide you half the support you have given me as you also complete your doctoral
degree.
Many thanks to my family, specifically, my father who was without a daughter for two
summers and many weekends over the last two and half years due to my commitment to this
endeavor. Dad, you were one of the reasons why I understood one of my doctoral course reads;
Killer Angels. Your passion for history and your deep knowledge of the Civil War and
Gettysburg became doctoral work we were able to talk about and enjoy together. Let me remind
you that we are all capable scholars if you believe in yourself.
Though a difficult road most of the journey, my husband, father, and all of my family
members made contributions to this process, even if just a phone call saying “You can do it!” In
times when they couldn’t, my mother was watching over me, nudging and pushing me to
remember her 30 years of commitment to literacy, children, and education. In my moments of
reflection on my doctoral dissertation process, I only hope that I can make a fraction of the
impact my mother had made on others, through my work in education.
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 4

TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENT ............................................................................................................... 2
DEDICATION ............................................................................................................................... 3
LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................... 7
LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... 8
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................... 9
Introduction of the Problem of Practice ...................................................................................... 9
Organizational Context and Mission ........................................................................................ 10
Organizational Context of Character Education in The East Coast School District ............ 12
Character Education and Positive Psychology ......................................................................... 14
Organizational Goal .................................................................................................................. 15
Related Literature ..................................................................................................................... 15
Importance of the Evaluation .................................................................................................... 17
Description of Stakeholder Groups ........................................................................................... 17
Stakeholders Groups’ Performance Goals ................................................................................ 18
Stakeholder Group for the Study .............................................................................................. 19
Purpose of the Project and Questions ....................................................................................... 19
Methodological Framework ...................................................................................................... 20
Definitions ................................................................................................................................ 20
Organization of the Project ....................................................................................................... 22
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE .......................................................... 23
School Change .......................................................................................................................... 23
Historical Background of Positive Psychology ........................................................................ 26
Well-being of Children and Adolescents in Today’s Society ................................................... 28
The School’s Role in Building Well-being in Students ............................................................ 30
Current Positive Psychology Interventions Practiced in Schools ............................................. 31
Character Strengths .............................................................................................................. 32
Mindfulness .......................................................................................................................... 33
Resiliency ............................................................................................................................. 35
Gratitude .............................................................................................................................. 36
Service Learning .................................................................................................................. 38
Clark and Estes’ Knowledge, Motivation and Organizational Influences Framework ............ 42
Knowledge and Skills .......................................................................................................... 43
Knowledge influences ..................................................................................................... 43
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 5

Teachers need to know what character education is ................................................. 44
Teachers need to know what the five components of the character education
curriculum are ............................................................................................................ 45
Teachers need to know how to incorporate character education curriculum that can
foster social and emotional learning .......................................................................... 46
Teachers need to reflect on their personal SEL abilities and how it influences their
ability to develop students SEL through teaching the character education curriculum
.................................................................................................................................... 47
Motivation ............................................................................................................................ 50
Self-efficacy .................................................................................................................... 51
Teacher self-efficacy ................................................................................................... 52
Expectancy value ............................................................................................................ 53
Teacher expectancy value .......................................................................................... 54
Organizational Influences .................................................................................................... 55
Cultural Models and Cultural Settings ............................................................................ 55
Cultural Model 1—The organization needs to encourage stakeholders to embrace
changes with new curriculum ..................................................................................... 56
Cultural Model 2—The organization needs to ensure teachers are trained in the new
curriculum .................................................................................................................. 56
Cultural Setting 1—The organization needs to ensure that all stakeholders have an
equitable workload ..................................................................................................... 57
Cultural Setting 2—The organization needs to provide training opportunities on
enhancing reflective teaching ..................................................................................... 58
Conceptual Framework: The Interaction of Stakeholders’ Knowledge and Motivation and the
Organizational Context ............................................................................................................. 61
Conceptual Framework ............................................................................................................. 62
Influences from Conceptual Framework that were Present in the Themes of the Findings ..... 65
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 67
CHAPTER THREE: METHODS .............................................................................................. 68
Participating Stakeholders ........................................................................................................ 68
Interview Sampling (Recruitment) Strategy and Rationale ................................................. 69
Criterion 1 ....................................................................................................................... 70
Criterion 2 ....................................................................................................................... 70
Observation Sampling (Access) Strategy and Rationale ..................................................... 71
Data Collection and Instrumentation ........................................................................................ 71
Observation .......................................................................................................................... 71
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 6

Interviews ............................................................................................................................. 74
Data Analysis ............................................................................................................................ 76
Credibility and Trustworthiness ............................................................................................... 77
Ethics ........................................................................................................................................ 79
Limitations and Delimitations .................................................................................................. 80
CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS ................................................................................................. 82
Findings .................................................................................................................................... 83
Teachers had the basic knowledge of the curriculum content but had not been trained how
to respond and facilitate discussions with students about difficult and controversial topics.
.............................................................................................................................................. 84
The character education curriculum was viewed as an extra addition to the day to meet
state standards and not as something that was woven throughout all aspects of the school
environment. ........................................................................................................................ 92
The scheduling and the lack of continuity of lessons was reported to have negatively
influenced teacher motivation to teach the character education curriculum ........................ 99
Teacher motivation to teach the curriculum was primarily internal, as teachers didn’t view
administration to be supportive of their motivation ........................................................... 104
Synthesis ................................................................................................................................. 109
CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION ............................................................................................ 112
Implications for Practice ......................................................................................................... 112
Students .............................................................................................................................. 112
Teachers ............................................................................................................................. 113
Administrators .................................................................................................................... 114
Recommendations for Practice ............................................................................................... 115
Knowledge Recommendations .......................................................................................... 115
Motivation Recommendations ........................................................................................... 117
Organization Recommendations ........................................................................................ 119
Future Research ...................................................................................................................... 122
Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 124
REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................... 126
APPENDIX A: INTERVIEW PROTOCOL ........................................................................... 134
APPENDIX B: OBSERVATION PROTOCOL ..................................................................... 138

POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 7

LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Organizational mission, global goal and stakeholder goals ............................................ 18
Table 2: Knowledge Influences on Stakeholder ............................................................................ 49
Table 3: Motivational Influences on Stakeholder .......................................................................... 54
Table 4: Organizational Influences on Stakeholder ...................................................................... 61
Table 5: Observations of Participants ............................................................................................ 73
Table 6: KMO Influence Type ...................................................................................................... 83

POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 8

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Middle School Character Education .............................................................................. 14
Figure 2: Conceptual framework ................................................................................................... 63
Figure 3: Updated Conceptual Framework to Show Validated Influences ................................... 65

POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 9

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Introduction of the Problem of Practice
The day-to-day challenges humans face in our society is already taking a significant toll
on the well-being of our youth (Waters, 2011). Common family issues and problems that occur
between peers almost seem menial compared to the global issues of terrorism, school shootings,
environmental strain, global warming, and the uprise of natural disasters (Waters, 2011). These
global issues are not only present and real in our everyday society, but are more visible than ever
due to our constant and readily available reporting media. The negative impact of these issues
can have enormous implications for our youth. The level of international concern about the state
of mental health amongst children and youth is climbing as fast as the mental health epidemic
itself (Bernard and Walton, 2011).
Childhood mental health problems are an increasing concern for educators and
researchers because they exacerbate peer relational problems, school dropout, and even the
disruption of other students in a school setting (Schonert-Reichl & Lawlor, 2010). Students’
well-being can also affect academic achievement, physical health status, family dynamics, and
overall lifelong wellness (Shoshani & Steinmetz, 2014). Well-being is defined merely as the
level of happiness and life satisfaction an individual has (Compton & Hoffman, 2012). There is
an alarming increase of depression and distress levels in our youth. Recent evidence shows there
is a dramatic increase in behavior modifying prescriptions for children as young as pre-school
aged, demonstrating the growing wellness problem with our youth (Shonkoff et al., 2004).
Recommendations through the 21
st
-century education movement to incorporate student well-
being as a focus of learning are being made to provide the tools in the areas of social and
emotional skills, as well as build up higher order cognitive function, so they are able to connect
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 10

to their communities (Waters, 2011). Educational settings can no longer rely on out-of-school
programs to provide mental health services. Programs that focus on early childhood years, for
example, must make it a priority to spend as much time on emotional and social development as
they do on cognition and literacy (Shonkoff et al., 2004).
Positive psychology programs are one type of support that may provide youth with the
necessary tools to support their social and emotional development. Positive psychology
emphasizes strengths so people can utilize them and thrive (Compton and Hoffman, 2012).
These programs have been shown to have a positive effect on student well-being, their
relationships, and academic performance (Waters, 2011) as well as help youth to enhance their
strengths and develop their potential for overall happiness and life satisfaction (Compton &
Hoffman, 2012). For schools to implement such programs, educators must have the necessary
knowledge, skills, motivation and organizational support to do so. The more managers enable
people to learn and use new knowledge and skills, while also providing support of the
application of the new knowledge and skills, the more the enthusiastically people will apply their
new knowledge (Clark & Estes, 2008). The problem examined in this study details how teachers’
knowledge and motivation interact with organizational support to improve the well-being among
children in a K-8 educational setting through positive psychology interventions in a character
education curriculum.
Organizational Context and Mission
The East Coast School District is a K-8 school district whose mission states they will
provide a safe and challenging environment where all students shall receive a high level
education that fosters academic excellence, healthy social and emotional development, and a
lifelong interest to learn. The district emphasizes students completing their formal K-12
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 11

education feeling confident in their ability to think critically and independently and to succeed as
students and productive citizens both in the community and globally. Instilling confidence,
critical thinking, and learning to be productive citizens are all aspects that students can build
through curricula emphasizing positive psychology interventions. Although the East Coast
School District is K-8, this study took place solely in the middle school because it was the only
school in the district which had a character education curriculum.
During the 2015-2016 school year the East Coast School District consisted of
approximately 1,700 students in grades kindergratern through eighth grade as noted by the state’s
Department of Education database in 2016. An approximate breakdown of the student
population were 1,100 white, 25-50 African American, 150 Hispanic, between 300-400 Asian,
and fewer than 100 students classified as two or more races. The population was spread over
five elementary schools inclusive of grades K-5, and one middle school that houses grades sixth,
seventh, and eighth graders. Data on certificated staff shows the district had a total of 250
employees of which 97.5% were white: 10 administrators, approximately 40 support service
workers, and just over 200 teachers (State Department of Education, 2016).
The East Coast School District is located in a suburban township of nearly 16,000
residents (United States Census Bureau, 2017). The township is home to residents with higher
educational and socioeconomic status, with 96% of the population (over the age of 25) holding a
high school diploma or higher, and nearly 63% have a bachelor’s degree or higher. The median
value of owned residences is under of $700,000, and the median household income is close to
$150,000 (United States Census Bureau, 2017).
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 12

Organizational Context of Character Education in The East Coast School District
The East Coast School District is in an affluent area which allows for many programs and
opportunities to be part of the school experience for its students. The character education
program offered to the students during the school day is one such experience. The program has
been part of the district for approximately 10 years, but has been given many different titles, and
the structure of the program has evolved over time.
At its inception, the development and objective of the Teacher Assistance Program (TAP)
was based on the need to to connect students and teachers in the building so students had a safe
person to go to as a form of emotional safety and support. Approximately 10-12 students were
assigned to each teacher in the building, and they would connect with each other approximately
twice a month to discuss varying topics such as stress, academics, relationships with family and
friends, and even play icebreaker and teambuilding games. In that year, students were in mixed-
grade level groups, such that 6
th
, 7
th
, and 8
th
graders were in one group. The teachers accepted
responsibility during lesson planning, and were given a topic to discuss or some games to foster
group bonding. The program was a welcome idea, however, the design stressed teachers and
created feelings of burnout due to the time-consuming preparation and additional class
management requirements. Avanzi et al., (2018) illustrates how teachers choose to leave the
profession during their first few years from a combination of added workload, student
misbehavior, and eventual burnout. After a few years, the TAP program was upgraded,
rebranded, and redesigned. It was renamed “Character Education” and student groups were
adjusted to accommodate homogenous grade levels within groups to decrease student dynamics
issues. Teachers were provided structured pre-designed lesson plans and were given access to a
complete curriculum specifically developed to align with the new state anti-bullying legislation
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 13

that came into effect in 2011. The State’s Department of Law and Public Safety (2018) now had
an anti-bullying bill of rights that made it mandatory for schools to provide ongoing instruction
to prevent harassment, intimidation, and bullying (HIB) throughout the school year. Today, the
character education program still exists, but has gone through iterations throughout its existence
to cover a greater number of topics on not only building character and reinforcing model
citizenship, but also on the importance of overcoming the bystander effect and accepting
behaviors which fall under the umbrella of HIB. The State’s Department of Law and Public
Safety (2018) recommends in its anti-bullying bill of rights that educating students in smaller
groups will help foster engagement in age appropriate discussions, develop skills in social
emotional learning, and provide opportunities for student questions and teacher responses to
reinforce what is learned. Currently the character education program in the East Coast School
District is comprehensive, covers additional topics, and the school district continues to develop
its curriculum to create a safe and happy school environement while promoting the importance of
well-being in all students.
The present Character Education program operates during the school day and students are
grouped according to their assigned homerooms along with their homeroom teachers. Teachers
without assigned homerooms are dispersed to other classrooms to co-teach the lessons. This
allows for different perspectives from the facilitators, but also allows coverage of the lesson in
case a homeroom teacher is absent. The lessons occur a few times a month and last 40 minutes
with some lessons being half-day or full-day events. A week prior to the Character Education
lessons, administrators facilitate the topics to teachers as a form of training so teachers are
comfortable and familiar with what they are expected to teach. Although the topics are uniform
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 14

across all grade level lessons, the activities and discussions are slightly different depending on
classroom climate, and individual group needs.
Character Education and Positive Psychology
Fostering student well-being is one of the main goals of the East Coast School District.
The middle school character education curriculum is the framework that drives the district’s
efforts towards sustainable student well-being. Character education may also be referred to as
social-emotional learning (SEL), as they are often used interchangeably in the literature. Students
are taught various positive psychology interventions through weekly lessons, which make up the
overall curriculum. The interventions in this study focus on the positive psychology skills. The
components or skills taught included: service learning, mindfulness, gratitude, resiliency, and
character strengths. Each of these lessons were facilitated by teachers during scheduled
character education sessions, and there were also efforts to weave them into the daily school day
functions. Figure 1 shows how these positive psychology components or skills are embedded in
the middle school character education curriculum.
Figure 1: Middle School Character Education

Middle School Character Education
Service
Learning
Mindfulness Gratitude
Resiliency
Character
Strengths
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 15

Organizational Goal
The Board of Education accepts responsibility for guiding every pupil’s growth towards
becoming a self-respecting individual who can function effectively in society. Objectives and
goals are listed for both students and staff, but there are no timelines for meeting the desired
goals. Specifics listed or outlined as to how to meet the listed goals and objectives are also not
available.
The organizational goal created for this project was by the end of the 2017-2018 school
year all students in the East Coast School District Middle School will have been taught the basic
principles of positive psychology and how these principles impact overall well-being. The
inclusion of positive psychology skills, such as: gratitude, hope, resiliency, mindfulness, and
character strengths were the main focus of the curriculum.

Related Literature
Positive psychology interventions (PPIs) are effective at developing well-being in
students (Waters, 2011). Schonert-Reichl and Lawlor (2010) argue that preventing and
proactively dealing with problems before they manifest is more powerful than repairing
weaknesses. Shonkoff et al. (2004) discuss how social and emotional characteristics of children
are tied to their environments—including home, families, and communities, which supports the
importance of positive school environments for all students and stakeholders of the educational
system. Bernard and Walton, (2011) state that schools are viewed as the proper setting to have
wellness-promotion programs because preventive health promotion has greater impacts on
students than reactive initiatives to combat problems.
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 16

The importance of school as a place for preventative programs targeted to improve well-
being is particularly evident at the middle school level. The transition to middle school from
elementary school is a complex time period due to the various changes in adolescent behavior
and physiology. These various changes may have negative effects on student health due to an
increase in academic and social demands often causing declines in self-esteem and confidence,
lower academic achievement, and increases in anxiety (Shoshani & Steinmetz, 2014). Middle
school students who start the year displaying strengths such as perseverance, hope, gratitude, and
fairness usually end the year with higher grades than students who did not demonstrate those
strengths (Shoshani & Slone, 2013). Waters (2011) states that middle school student who show
character strengths such as honesty, love, and persistence have lower levels of anxiety,
depression, and aggression. Numerous studies support the idea of Positive Youth Development,
or pathways that guide adolescents through young adulthood by fostering stress relief strategies
and provide resources for coping skills (Compton & Hoffman, 2012). Helping youth develop
these personal resources is critical for students on the path to well-being and is the collective
responsibility of that those that are in position of guidance and mentorship, such as teachers and
counselors. In addition to teachers knowledge and motivation, organizational support of teachers
is also crucial in efforts to help students build upon the hidden resources they have. Schools
possess the ability to assist student well-being and research demonstrates it is important to
consider how stakeholders in a school can affect the success of positive psychology interventions
included in character education curricula. A deeper examination of stakeholders and
organizational support for programs and curricula may create greater understanding of how
schools may continue their efforts to combat declining student well-being.

POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 17

Importance of the Evaluation
It is vital to evaluate the organization’s performance in relation to the performance goal
that by the end of the 2017-2018 school year, all students in the East Coast School District
Middle School will be taught the basic principles of positive psychology and how they impact
overall well-being. Shonkoff et al. (2004) state that efforts in social and emotional development
of children in training and professional education programs need greater attention. More
educators are coming to terms with the importance of school-based interventions and programs
that help to build children's social and emotional competence in the hopes they build resiliency
and keep aggressive behavior and mental health issues at bay (Schonert-Reichl & Lawlor, 2010).
If the organization lacks programming to develop the well-being of students then they may not
be able to achieve their maximum potential educationally.

Description of Stakeholder Groups
The East Coast School District desired improvement of the overall well-being of students
in the school district. To achieve the organization’s goal, there were three core groups of
stakeholders involved in this initiative: the students, teachers, and administration of the East
Coast School District. Each of these stakeholder groups had specific roles in reaching the goals
set forth by the school district. The contributions made by administration was to set the timeline
and provide initiatives for the new character education curriculum. Administration had to
organize curriculum writing, yearly professional development and training for staff, and handle
parent and community questions and concerns about all the new changes. The teachers were
responsible for implementing the new curriculum as well as attending the trainings created by the
administrators. Not only did staff need to turnkey the lessons with their students, but they were
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 18

also expected to engage in many of the new practices and model behaviors recommended to
them for their own well-being improvement. It was important for staff to model what they
taught to the students so the students could observe concrete examples in practice. Students were
the final stakeholder group of the district goal; they were the ones who had to learn the the new
curricular lessons.

Stakeholders Groups’ Performance Goals
Table 1: Organizational mission, global goal and stakeholder goals
Organizational Mission
The mission of the district is to provide, through a safe, nurturing yet challenging environment, all
students with an outstanding education that fosters academic excellence, healthy social and
emotional development, and a lifelong passion for learning. In partnership with family, community,
and staff, our strategic goals will guide our programs and actions so that students can exceed the
State Core Curriculum Content Standards at all grade levels and leave the district confident in their
ability to think critically and independently and to succeed as students and productive citizens of the
community and world.
Organizational Performance Goal
By the end of the 2018 school year, all students in the East Coast School District Middle School will
be taught the basic principles of positive psychology and how they impact overall well-being.
Administrators Teachers Students
By the start of the 2017-2018
school year, administrators and
teachers will complete new
character education curriculum
emphasizing positive
psychology interventions for
students.

By the end of the 2017-2018
school year, all staff will
facilitate character education
lessons with an emphasis on
positive psychology
interventions which include
service learning, character
strengths, resiliency, gratitude,
and mindfulness.
By the end of the 2017-2018
school year, students will have
the opportunity to take part in
various class lessons
emphasizing basic principles of
positive psychology as part of
the new character education
curriculum.

POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 19

Stakeholder Group for the Study
Although a complete analysis would have involved all three stakeholder groups, for
practical purposes only teachers were targeted as the focus in this study. This stakeholder group
was selected because of the immense role they play in facilitating the new character education
curriculum which incorporated positive psychology interventions. The stakeholder group in this
study was vital to the success of the new curriculum. A teacher’s own understanding of positive
psychology interventions directly affects student understanding and application of the skills
taught through new curricula. The goal stated that by the end of the 2017-2018 school year, all
students in the East Coast School District Middle School will be taught the basic principles of
positive psychology and its impact overall well-being was created because it was a part of the
new character education curriculum developed by both teachers and administrators. Without the
teachers implementing the character education curriculum, students could not take part in class
lessons emphasizing basic principles of positive psychology, and therefore would not be able to
meet the organizational goal. The teachers’ goal stated that by the end of the 2017-2018 school
year, all staff will facilitate character education lessons with an emphasis on positive psychology
interventions which include: service learning, character strengths, resiliency, gratitude, and
mindfulness.

Purpose of the Project and Questions
The purpose of this project was to examine how the East Coast School District teachers
implemented a new character education curriculum that is grounded in the field of positive
psychology. The questions that guided this study were the following:
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 20

1. What are the teachers’ knowledge and motivation to implement a new character education
curriculum emphasizing positive psychology interventions?
2. What is the interaction between organizational culture and context and teacher knowledge
and motivation to implement a new character education curriculum?

Methodological Framework
This project used a qualitative approach for gathering and analyzing data. The primary
focus of the study was to determine how teacher knowledge and motivation shaped the
implementation of a new character education curriculum and how the organization supported the
teaching staff. Teachers were interviewed and observed in this study in order to explore their
knowledge and motivations and how their knowledge and motivations contributed to the
implementation of the new curriculum. The interaction of the organizational culture with the
teachers was also studied through the interview process with the teachers. As a qualitative study,
it yielded detailed explanations of the phenomenon of interest (Maxwell, 2013; McEwan &
McEwan, 2003). The focus was on collecting rich data from the teachers as they implemented
positive psychology interventions.

Definitions
Character Education: broad range of educational topics such as whole child, service learning,
social-emotional learning, and civic education that share a commitment to helping young
people becoming responsible caring and contributing citizens (character.org, n.d.).
Character Strengths: The tools an individual uses when conducting themselves in society
(Compton & Hoffman, 2012).
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 21

Curriculum: planned learning experiences that include the content, hands on activities, and the
reflection that helps build a learners understanding in a specific subject area (Glathorn,
Boschee, Whitehead, & Boschee, 2016).
Gratitude: A felt sense of wonder, thankfulness, and appreciation for life (Lyubomirsky, 2008).
Mindfulness: paying attention in a particular way, on purpose, in the present moment, and non-
judgmentally (Fredrickson, 2009).
Positive Psychology: the study of ordinary human strengths and virtues and enhancing them so
an individual can reach his/her potential and thrive (Compton & Hoffman, 2012).
PPI: positive psychology interventions; ways to increase a person’s well-being (Waters, 2011).
Resiliency: A broad array of abilities for constructively and positively adapting to risk, adversity,
or even an enormous negative event (Compton & Hoffman, 2012).
Service Learning (SL): process of involving students in community service activities combined
with facilitated means for applying the experience to their academic and personal
development (Billig, 2000).
Social Emotional Learning (SEL): children’s ability to learn about and manage their own
emotions and interactions in ways that benefit themselves and others, and that children
and youth succeed in schooling, the workplace, relationships, and citizenship (Jones &
Doolittle (2017).
Well-being: the level of happiness and life satisfaction an individual has (Compton & Hoffman,
2012).
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 22

Organization of the Project
This study is organized into five chapters. Chapter one provided the background and
context for the problem of practice related to youth well-being. It also introduced key concepts
and terminology commonly found in a discussion about positive psychology curriculum and
interventions in education said to support youth well-being. The organization’s mission, goals
and stakeholders, as well as a summary of the study’s purpose, research questions, and
methodological framework were also provided.
Chapter two provides a review of current literature surrounding the scope of the study.
Topics of positive psychology, positive psychology interventions (PPI), curriculum, well-being
of adolescents, and the teachers’ role in implementing curriculum changes are addressed.
Additionally, details about the knowledge, motivation and organizational elements examined are
presented.
Chapter three outlines the research methods used, the choice of participants, data
collection methods, and the analysis. It also speaks to strategies used to ensure the study was
conducted ethically, credibly and was trustworthy.
In Chapter four the findings and results are presented. Chapter Five provides solutions
and recommendations, based on the study’s findings and literature, as well as possible options
for future research.
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 23

CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
The literature suggests that inclusion of positive psychology interventions in K-8 grade
levels are critical in the effort to develop children’s well-being. The literature review to follow
will take a look at organizational change in schools, the role school change plays in influencing
students, the decline in childhood well-being in recent decades, and an in-depth look at research
that supports PPIs for children. PPIs to be discussed will include: character strengths, gratitude,
hope, resiliency, mindfulness and service-learning. This review shows how evidence supporting
PPIs will help to enhance child well-being. In addition to the wide variety of content that falls
under the umbrella of PPIs, literature covering teacher knowledge and motivation and
organizational culture will be incorporated because of the direct role these elements play in the
successful implementation of these interventions. Before the specifics of PPIs, student well-
being, teacher knowledge and motivation, and organizational influences over stakeholders are
addressed—the area of school change will be discussed. School change is not only relevant
because the study focused on curriculum change and implementation, but also because school
change and the implementation of those changes have an influence on stakeholder relationships.

School Change
Fullan (2004) tells us, “Although change is unpredictable, you can set up conditions that
help to guide the process” (p. 39). An eight-step process by John Kotter is described by Fullan
(2004): (1) establish a sense of urgency, (2) create a guiding coalition, (3) develop a vision and
strategy, (4) communicate the change vision, (5) empower broad-based action, (6) generate short
term wins, (7) consolidate gains and produce more change, and (8) anchor new approaches in the
culture. Many of these steps require the people in an organization to accept and commit to
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 24

something new. Organizations are a collective of the people within, so if the inidivuals do not
change, neither will the organization (Schneider, Brief, & Guzzo, 1996). In many situations the
improvements are not what is intended, resources are wasted and employees become burned out,
scared, and frustrated (Kotter, 1996).
Kotter (1996) addresses the difficulty of permanent change if people refuse to commit
and believe that transformation is impossible. A belief in long-term change is easily undermined
if leaders proposing the change only communicate it with words, but do not support words with
action and behavior (Kotter, 1996; Schneider et al., 1996). Looking at the eight-step change
process, Kotter (1996) describes how empowering action from a large number of people is
needed but there are obstacles such as the organizational structure or employees that think there
are obstacles when there are none. These two types of obstacles support the importance of a good
organizational climate and how it influences organizational culture. Emphasis on climate (the
organizational policies, practices, and procedures) and culture (employees beliefs and values)
when organizations are in a change process are needed due to their relationships and heavy
influence on stakeholder support of changes (Schneider et al., 1996).
Effective organizations ensure that organizational messages, rewards, policies and
procedures that govern the work of the organization are aligned with or are supportive of
organizational goals and values (Clark and Estes, 2008). In schools, having values and reaching
goals is critical as they not only impact staff members, but also influence the education and well-
being of children. Maxwell (2005) reports that good leaders intentionally connect to the people
who follow them by finding out who they truly are, becoming a model who they can follow, and
by helping them discover and reach their full potential. Lewis (2011) states that stakeholders can
serve various roles and have a heavy influence during a change effort while Maxwell (2005)
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 25

adds that strong leaders get more out of their people because they provide everyone with a place
and a purpose allowing everyone to be part of a win. How teachers perceive and respond to
actions and attitudes of the school leader will play a role in their own behaviors and attitudes
(Tschannen-Moran, Salloum, & Goddard, 2014), which can influence how they approach
changes brought about by leadership, such as teaching new curriculum. During the change
process if leaders have not communicated well, included teachers in discussions of new ideas
and possibilities, and built relationships, teachers will feel anxious, fearful, confused, and
overwhelmed, causing resistance to change (Fullan, 2004). In the context of an educational
organization, teachers have reported that the stronger they believed their school principal’s
leadership skills were, the more likely they were engaged in frequent and formal collaboration in
to improve instructional practice (Tschannen-Moran, et al., 2014). Leaders who acknowledge
the complexities that come with the change process will be more successful (Fullan, 2004).
Understanding the rationale for change is vital if all stakeholders are willing to cooperate
to achieve change (Lewis, 2011). Anticipating and embracing resistance from stakeholders is a
critical element of leadership. Fullan (2004) offers numerous positives to listening to what
resisters have to say such as: they may have different ideas that have been missed by leadership,
they can take a toll on the change process so it is in the best interest of the organization to allow
them to share their thoughts, and they may offer perspective from their own positions that leaders
can not possibly gain from their own.
When change is implemented in pedagogy, it is critical for educators to be motivated as
this will help them to learn and understand the new curriculum they are teaching (Mayer, 2011).
Pink (2011) discusses characteristics of motivated people; he states that they all have a will to
reach and work towards a cause larger than themselves, they also have a specific purpose they
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 26

are working towards. Teachers from all levels: early childhood, elementary, middle school, and
high school are always in search for curricula that are relevant, challenges students, purposeful,
engaging, and forward-thinking (Mutch, 2012). If educators are specifically looking at
curriculum geared towards non-academic student development such as: well-being, SEL, and
positive psychology, motivation will be critical since these topics will have an effect on students
throughout their lifespan. For changes in an organization to stick, they have to be part of the
fabric of the people, the way things are always done, and become the social norms and shared
values of everyone involved (Kotter, 1996).

Historical Background of Positive Psychology
Positive Psychology (PP) draws from a variety of sources, including Greek philosophers,
to different religious traditions, and even modern day thinkers and writers. Many may feel that
much of what these theorists have stated are common sense, but these ideas and traditions are all
empirically tested and validated making them scientific principles that are valuable (Achor,
2010). The empirical work is more recent and despite PP being in its nascent stage as a formal
area of study, literature in the area provides large amounts of information about how to unlock
positivity for people (Fredrickson, 2009). Seligman (2002) says that the time has come for
science to look to understand positive emotions, how to build peoples’ strengths and virtues, and
to formally lay out the steps for what Aristotle called the “good life.”
Positive Psychology came to the forefront of the psychology field in 1998 when Dr.
Martin Seligman urged psychologists to go back to the roots of what psychology’s original
mission was; to build human strength and develop genius through the study of strengths, virtues,
happiness, and optimal functioning, helping individuals and whole communities to thrive
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 27

(Compton and Hoffman, 2013). Seligman, one of the greatest contributors of the positive
psychology movement, argued that psychology had adopted a disease model which only focused
on fixing or improving human suffering as opposed to building human flourishing (Fredrickson,
2009). For the last half century the field of psychology was not only consumed by the topic of
mental illness, but on figuring out ways to relieve the several dozen major mental illnesses
(Seligman, 2002). However, more recent studies, have found that emotions and moods can have
a significant impact on almost any psychological process, such as memory, attention, perception,
and even a person’s experience of themselves (Compton and Hoffman, 2013), thus the
importance of focusing on how to enhance mood and emotion, as opposed to trying to fix it
thereafter.
Seligman, Aristotle, Frederickson, and other psychologists and philosophers who are
engaging in the PP movement are simply helping propel what has always been known. Positive
Psychology is a collection of human principles and habits that have been around for a long time,
but need to be revitalized to help people reach a state of flourishing in their families, work-life,
schools, communities and relationships. Revitalization of these principles have come at the
hands of many researchers looking to improve the state of our communities through
enhancement of individuals. In addition to Seligman, other researchers became early
contributors in the PP field including Harvard University professors: Phil Stone, Ellen Langer,
and Tal Ben-Shahar, who were most interested in finding out what makes people thrive and
excel, as opposed to the traditional psychology focus of what makes people unhappy and how do
we fix it (Achor, 2010). Positive psychology can help people adapt better and give us a better
opportunity to learn and grow (Compton and Hoffman,2013). For this state of flourishing to
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 28

exist, development of these principles and habits need to begin in our children, specifically in our
schools as a critical learning environment.

Well-being of Children and Adolescents in Today’s Society
Children's social and emotional well-being needs to be built up during the years of
childhood moving into adulthood. Social skills developed in the first five years of life are linked
to well-being and a child's ability to adapt in school, while also essential for the formation of
lasting friendships, relationships, the ability to work with others, and be a contributing member
of society (Shonkoff et al., 2004). Adolescence is a time when moral skills are developed and
refined which play a major role in how successful their social lives are (Shoshani & Slone,
2013).
In the last 50 years, data collected from health services, special education programs, and
health insurance companies, show a worldwide increase in child and adolescent mental disorders
(Merten, Cwik, Margraf, & Schneider, 2017). The risk of depression dramatically increases
when children enter adolescence, while development paths diverge in early adolescence either
towards healthy adjustment or psychopathology (Mojtabai, Olfson, & Han 2016; Shoshani &
Slone, 2013). On average, one in five children in adolescence show a rise in mental health
problems or go through severe enough issues to need mental health services (Schonert-Reichl &
Lawlor, 2010). Nearly 175,000 adolescents and approximately 180,000 young adults were
studied from 2005-2014, with outcomes of nearly 1 in 11 of these individuals reporting a major
depressive episode (MDE) with the sharpest increase of MDEs from 2011-2014; more
specifically, 1 in every 10 children have a depressive episode by the time they are 14 years old,
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 29

and as many as 20% of 16-17 year olds have some type of mood or anxiety disorder (Mojtabai,
Olfson, & Han; 2016; Shoshani & Steinmetz, 2014).
Reports of adolescent use of anti-depressant medication increases as well as indirect
evidence of increased lifetime prevalence of MDEs in successive birth groups have elevated the
concern about increasing occurrences of depression among adolescent children (Mojtabai,
Olfson, & Han, 2016). Research shows that children who may not fulfill attention deficiet
hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) criteria are given treatment with psychostimulants, showing an
increase in overdiagnosis as high as 20% (Merten et al., 2017). This overdiagnosis can have side
effects that actually include greater mental health problems which can start a vicious cycle of
additional overdiagnoses and greater side effects that continue for longer periods of time.
Additionally, the increasing number of adolescents who do not receive mental health treatment
for MDEs require the assistance of schools and counseling services to help manage their mental
health (Mojtabai et al., 2016).
Social and emotional capability help children have improved attention in class, work well
with others, and be able to sit still for longer periods of time (Shonkoff et al., 2004), all behaviors
that are often required in our current educational system. With the growing number of social
problems, it is crucial for adolescents to understand how their choices affect others, how various
groups of people are linked, and how they will personally witness people accomplish things by
working together (Flanagan, Kim, Collura, & Kopish, 2015). In order for adolescents to gain
awareness of their own well-being as well as how their behaviors matter, they need to be
exposed to these concepts at school, while also given an opportunity to improve and learn.
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 30

The School’s Role in Building Well-being in Students
The environments in which children spend the most time can influence the emotional
development of their brains (Shonkoff, 2004). In addition to formulating strategies to teach
literacy and math, there are also specific ways that may be used to enhance the skills of well-
being (Waters, 2011). Children spend the majority of their daily hours in school, therefore it
makes sense for the school to provide a structured curriculum, program, and/or culture that
fosters the well-being of its students. When students are trained to become more resilient and
hopeful, they show decreased stress levels and continue developing well-being while still
promoting learning (Waters, 2011). In one study, Seligman (2009) included 347 freshmen
students to be part of a study that randomly placed some students into a PP treatment program
and others who placed into a control group. The pre-test and post-test comparisons revealed that
students in the PP treatment program reported greater enjoyment in school and were more
engaged in learning, while parents felt the program improved their children's social skills
(Waters, 2011).
When strengths are developed and people gain awareness of their strengths, they have a
reduction in negative psychological symptoms and an increase in happiness and life satisfaction
(Shoshani & Slone, 2013). More educators are coming to terms with the importance of non-
cognitive attributes of children and adolescents, and are implementing school-based
interventions and programs designed to help build children's social and emotional competence
with the hope of building resiliency and keeping aggressive behaviors and mental health issues at
bay (McGeown, St Clair-Thompson, & Clough, 2016; Schonert-Reichl & Lawlor, 2010).
McGeown et al., (2016) describe resiliency as having the ability to adapt to adversity or stressful
environments effectively, sighting educational resiliency as times when students have test
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 31

anxiety or poor performance and handle those scenarios effectively. Aspects of resiliency
programs could even be viewed as interchangeable with character education programs, as
character education places a commitment on building up social emotional learning and valuing
civic education (What is Character Education?, n.d.). This process helps young people be more
responsible, caring, and nurtures them to become individuals who contribute to their
communities through volunteerism or service learning. In educational settings, gratitude
enhances the motivation for positive social behavior, fostering better relationships between
teachers and students and also increases engagement (Howells, 2014). It is imperative that
educators learn of the evidence that supports how PPIs are effective at developing well-being in
students (Waters, 2011).

Current Positive Psychology Interventions Practiced in Schools
Different positive psychology programs and interventions are implemented all over the
country and strive to create more positive schools to help improve the well-being of their student
population. Three specific efforts that have had promising results on schools and their students
are the Penn Resiliency Program, the Positive Behavior Support Initiative and the Strenths Quest
Program. The Penn Resiliency Program found that 2,000 children who had gone through it had a
significant decrease or total avoidance of depression, while developing an increase in optimism
and becoming healthier (Compton and Hoffman, 2012; Waters, 2011). The Positive Behavior
Support Initiative works towards building social competence, positive communication, self-
management skills, all while taking a positive approach to behavior rather then a punitive one
and had the outcome of students finishing the program show they had better self-determination
skills (Compton and Hoffman, 2012). Finally, the Strengths Quest Program works with students
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 32

to learn what their strengths are and how to use them (Compton and Hoffman, 2012). Within
each of these programs, a variety of specific actions were taken to create these positive results,
including to but not limited to efforts in understanding character strengths, mindfulness,
gratitude, resiliency, and service learning.

Character Strengths
There has been an increase in interest in character strengths ever since the positive
psychology movement picked up speed (Shoshani & Slone, 2013). The development of
character is essential because the way we treat others is the foundation of our ethics, morals, civil
society, and well-being (Compton and Hoffman, 2012). Character strengths are defined as
qualities a person already has that show themselves naturally, and are also motivating to the
individual (Waters, 2011). Examples of these strengths can include: honesty, leadership, zest,
and creativity. There are dozens of other character strengths that people may possess naturally in
addition to these. Individuals who are able to do what they love and use their strengths often are
far more likely to flourish than those who do not (Fredrickson, 2009).
Positive correlations between character strengths and adolescent well-being have been
consistent in recent studies (Shoshani & Slone, 2013). The key to using character strengths is
knowing what they are in the first place. Compton and Hoffman (2012) discuss the use of the
Strengths Quests Program by numerous psychologists in schools and universities, specifically the
StrengthsFinder test to help students find their strongest (signature) strengths. Fredrickson
(2009) writes about a second method to find one’s strengths, known as the VIA Signature
Strengths Questionnaire, a survey that reliably classifies people based on 24 different character
strengths. The Strengths Quests program has already been completed by well over 100,000
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 33

college students, and those who took it say they felt more hope and optimism, along with
increased well-being, higher levels of altruism, and even had higher grade point averages
(Compton & Hoffman, 2012). When looking at the results of those who completed the VIA
Strengths Questionnaire, people who learn of their strengths felt a temporary “high,” but those
who put those strengths into action at work or in their daily routine felt a continued positive state
(Fredrickson, 2009).
The literature clearly supports that when students learn and use their character strengths,
their well-being is positively affected. High achievers tend to use their strengths, and
organizations work better when strengths are permitted to develop (Compton & Hoffman, 2012).
This evidence should be enough for schools to work towards including this into character
education curriculum or whole-school reforms to enhance the school community. In addition to
the benefits of personal character strengths, there are other forms of positive psychology
interventions that can enhance students’ well-being.

Mindfulness
Forty years of mindfulness research, a component of positive psychology, shows it can
improve the social-emotional and academic growth of teachers and their students (Davenport &
Pagnini, 2016). The practice of mindfulness has also shown to prevent depression relapse,
reduce self-injury, alleviate obsessive compulsive disorder, reduce overall stress and anxiety, and
even enhance immune function (Fredrickson, 2009). Many of these benefits are proactive
benefits for people who may not experience mental or physical issues, aligning with the basis of
PPIs and proactively deal with problems before they even begin.
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 34

Mindfulness, sometimes referred to as meditation, can be an informal practice by simply
including mindful behavior into everyday life activities such as eating, taking a walk, and being
aware of interpersonal interactions (Meiklejohn et al., 2012). Schonert-Reichl and Lawlor
(2010) cited recent studies on Mindfulness Education (ME) and found mindfulness being
associated with enhancing overall well-being, while specifically helping adolescent-aged
individuals with self-regulatory control. Students with strengths in self-regulation of behavior
and emotions also showed stronger academic performance in the middle school years (Shoshani
& Slone, 2013). Another study in the area of mindful meditation was conducted with middle
school students in California and showed that students practicing meditation for 12 minutes a day
for three months had a significant increase in both mathematics and English scores over a one-
year period (Davenport & Pagnini, 2016; Waters, 2011), yet the amount of public schools with a
mindfulness approach is still not common.
Mindfulness Education has also been shown to be popular among teachers. Teachers
who are willing to be innovative are starting to bring mindfulness meditation into the classroom
to assist students with paying attention, develeoping greater focus, and enhancing emotional
control so there is a decrease in the number of outbursts (Compton & Hoffman, 2012). One
study of a ME program showed that teachers perceived mindfulness to be effective and
beneficial to their students, while also being easily infused into their regular curriculum
(Schonert-Reichl & Lawlor, 2010). Additionally, early research supports that teacher training in
mindfulness increases teachers’ well-being, while enhancing a teacher’s ability to manage a
classroom through a mindful search for multiple solutions to poor student behavior and
simultaneously establishing positive relationships with students (Davenport & Pagnini, 2016;
Meiklejohn et al., 2012). The vast amount of gains for students in school because of mindfulness
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 35

practices support it being one PPI, or even its own curriculum. Having the ability to be with
students in a classroom setting and effecting the classroom mood is a huge benefit to the learning
and development of students, therefore it should be a part of the foundation of teacher training
(Meiklejohn et al., 2012). Positive behavior and relationships are qualities in students we want
to develop so they can be productive and happy members of society over their lifespans.
Mindfulness education is just one area to build up to foster these traits but there are others, such
as resiliency, that can work along side mindfulness practice to develop students’ well-being.

Resiliency
Resiliency is the ability to handle disappointment, recover from stress, respond favorably
to a significantly negative event, and even look for new opportunities for growth (Compton &
Hoffman, 2013; Waters, 2011). People should take comfort knowing resiliency can be built, as it
is an inner resource that grows over time (Fredrickson, 2009). To grow resiliency, optimism is
viewed as a valuable psychological resource due to its positive effects on mental and physical
health (Schoert-Reichl & Lawlor, 2010). An optimistic attitude towards life is an invaluable part
of becoming a resilient person (Fredrickson, 2009; Schoert-Reichl & Lawlor, 2010). If resilient
people bounce back from difficult situations (Compton & Hoffman, 2013) then resiliency is
clearly a skill we need schools to help develop in our children.
The school environments we expose children to may have an enormous impact on how
well they handle challenges and stress (Compton & Hoffman, 2013). When children are
resilient, they have shown to possess good problem solving skills, a positive outlook on life, an
easy temperament, strong self-efficacy, excellent self- regulation when it comes to impulse
control and seeking out attention, and have a sense of meaning in life (Compton & Hoffman,
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 36

2013). A resiliency program named "You Can Do It" (YCDI) was initiated in Australia and
focused its curriculum on resilience, confidence, persistence, organization, and getting along
(Bernard & Walton, 2011; Waters, 2011). The program worked towards building resilience
involved teaching students; (1) what is happening in that moment is not the worst thing or the
end of the world; (2) they will be able to stand what’s happening, even though they may not like
it; (3) taking risks is good because you do not need instant success; (4) working tough is
important because not all things will be easy; and (5) be accepting of others and not judging
people or lumping them into an “all good” or “all bad” category (Bernard & Walton, 2011).
Fifth-grade students from six different schools were placed into the YCDI program and were
compared to students who were not in the program; the findings showed that over a one-year
period, sixth-grade students who were in the program had significant improvements in morale,
learning, motivation, confidence, and relationships with peers (Waters, 2011).

Gratitude
Gratitude is described as a sense of truly heartfelt thankfulness, joy, and appreciation for
both tangible gifts and moments of peace in natural environments (Frederickson, 2009; Waters,
2011). With the rise of positive psychology, more research on gratitude is available (Compton
and Hoffman, 2012). In the field of positive psychology, researchers are reporting pro-social
effects of gratitude, especially in its contribution to building and maintaining healthy
relationships and enhancing social behavior (Howells, 2014). Waters (2011) found that gratitude
has been greatly linked to positive affect, life satisfaction, being optimistic, social support and
behavior in youth, while Compton and Hoffman (2012) added that grateful people are usually
happy people.
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 37

Research is mounting in favor of the importance of gratitude in contributing to well-
being, such as increased social support, enhanced relationships, and lowered stress and
depression (Compton and Hoffman, 2012). One study randomly assigned participants to an
experiemential treatment group to record things they were grateful for, while other participants
were assigned to one of two control groups: to write about other topics, or a non-assignment
group. The outcomes were remarkable as the people who wrote about topics they were grateful
for had a significant increase in their overall positivity (Frederickson, 2009). Other studies were
conducted to see if gratitude could be enhanced in individuals. Lyubomirsky (2008) wrote of two
separate studies. The first study had participants do a “gratitude visit” which gave the
participants one week to write and personally deliver a letter of gratitude to someone who had
been very kind to them; The second had participants extend gratitude once a week. Both resulted
in elevated happiness, decreased stress and depression, and overall improvement in student well-
being (Lyubomirsky, 2008). Other studies showed similar results, supporting that feelings of
gratitude can make an outward impact and truly benefit the world, specifically because of its
cultivation of citizenship (Compton & Hoffman, 2012; Howells, 2014; Lyubomirsky, 2008).
Waters (2011) stated that positive psychology programs show dramatic effects on student
well-being, their relationships, and academic performance. All of these interventions discussed,
specifically in mindfulness and gratitude, align with Seligman’s PERMA model of positive
psychology, which includes five key factors: positive emotions, engagement, relationships,
meaning, and accomplishments (Compton and Hoffman, 2013). All of the above programs are
also in-school programs. In addition to these in-school PPIs, service learning is picking up steam
as an intervention to foster and develop these five key factors. This is because teachers found
they were closer to their students and better equipped to mentor them while building greater
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 38

positive relationships after taking part in service learning opportunities (Prentice & Robinson,
2010).

Service Learning
Service learning (SL) is defined as a "process of involving students in community service
activities combined with facilitated means for applying the experience to their academic and
personal development” (Hopkins, McBride, Featherston, Gleason, & Moreno, 2014). Service
learning has been popular for a long time, and can be traced back to the writings of John Dewey
and Jean Piaget, philosophers who believed that students learn best when they are actively
involved in their own learning and the learning has a specific purpose. Engagement in service
learning has also shown to have a greater effect on developing adolescent social capital, also
known as the networks of relationships among people who live and work in a particular society,
enabling that society to function effectively. (Flanagan et al., 2015).
Community service in primary and secondary education started in the early 1970's as the
introduction of what we call service learning today, with the start of the 21st century showing the
greatest need for service learning in K-12 due to the perception that there was a need for youth to
be more connected to their communities and education needing reform (Billig, 2000: Hopkins et
al., 2014). The most common reasons service learning is added to school curricula is to help
students connect to community, enhance student knowledge of their community, help to meet
community needs, and develop a sense of caring for others through altruistic behaviors (Billig,
2000). Service learning allows students to be with people in their community who differ from
them in age, social class, religion, and ethnicity, allowing for adolescents to grow their network,
relationships, and deepen their connection to their community (Flanagan et al., 2015). Prentice
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 39

and Robinson’s (2010) study examined at the differences between students who took part in
service learning (SL) and those who did not; a summary of their results stated that SL is
important for the benefit of society in the long run because it builds character in people. This
character development is especially important during the middle school years given the complex
amount of changes and struggles during the early adolescent years.
There is a sharp decrease in motivation to learn during the middle school years, which
supports the importance of providing space for curiosity and student involvement in the
educational process (Shoshani & Slone, 2013). Service learning provides experiences that can
be connected to what is being studied in classrooms, specifically knowledge of facts and
procedures, and also skills and abilities (Prentice & Robinson, 2010).
Prentice & Robinson (2010) received student responses after they took part in SL and
those students report it made them feel more prepared for careers and the workforce because of
their experience in the field. Students reported gaining confidence, feeling more competitive,
and feeling more comfortable working with people who were different from themselves, such as
their teachers. In addition to student responses, faculty focus groups were conducted and
responses focused on three main themes of why SL enhanced their classes: (1) SL helped
students be more goal- and career-orientated and it gave students an opportunity to identify and
replace their own biases with accurate information allowing for more understanding of the self so
changes could be made; (2) SL has shown to have a positive effect on students in K-12,
specifically, middle and high school students who showed an increase in personal and social
responsibility, communication, and a sense of competence in academics; and (3) benefits were
observed in the areas of problem solving and decision making skills, having overall better
cognitive skills, which results in better grade outcomes (Billig, 2000; Hopkins et al., 2014).
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 40

Elementary and middle school students specifically showed moderate-to-impressive
improvement in language arts and reading exams, homework completion, and an overall
improved interest in school, which was supported by improved presenteeism through attendance
records (Billig, 2000). Hopkins et al., (2014) discuss how studies being conducted on the effects
of SL on academics are gaining momentum; specifically citing one study representing 4,000 high
school students nationally. Students participating in any type of service saw increases in their
grades by 12% and civic knowledge by 16%. In addition to these findings, Warren (2012)
conducted a meta-analysis including 11 studies that were conducted between 1993-2008 and all
met the requirements of examining the relationship between SL and student learning outcomes
and measuring student learning outcomes. The 11 studies had a cumulative sample of 2,129
students and were reported in the following ways: two studies were student self-reporting of
learning outcomes, two studies were both exam scores and students self reported learning, three
studies were exam scores only, two others were types of assignment scores, and the last two were
post-test cognition measure for study characteristics. Warren (2012) concluded that all studies
reported positive learning outcomes, suggesting the benefits of service-learning. Another
synthesized report on SL tells us that there is an overall improvement in skills needed to improve
academic performance, but the more impressive finding is how students were also more likely to
treat each other kindly, help each other, care about doing their personal best, while showing
increases in self-esteem and self-efficacy (Billig, 2000). Billig’s (2000) article summarized SL
program evaluations taken from the previous decade of research on SL in K-12 schools. The
power of this report comes from the fact that there is mounting evidence building in favor of SL.
When adolescents interact with a narrow group of peers, they have fewer opportunities to
develop skills for 21
st
-century problem solving such as communicating and considering the
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 41

perspectives as well as working with those who are different (Flanagan et al., 2015). Faculty
found SL to be effective because it creates engagement for students in the form of real life
situations where they can interact with all different types of people, make mistakes, and continue
to apply knowledge learned in the classroom in more complex situations than what they would
be able to do in group work, simulations, or case study analyses at school (Prentice & Robinson,
2010).
In addition to researchers, there is also consistent support for SL in K-12, especially by
parents and teachers because it builds practical experience, it betters academic performance,
creates better citizens, and it provides an overall assistance in personal development (Billig,
2000). Teachers specifically found SL to be effective because it fosters greater engagement from
students in the form of real life situations where interactions with others, failure and error
correction, and application of knowledge learned in the classroom is utilized in practical
situations than what they would be able to do in group work, simulations, or case study analyses
at school (Prentice & Robinson, 2010). Teachers are more likely to value SL curricula from the
discovery of uplifting effects on the classroom setting while increasing teacher engagement and
enjoyability (Bernadowski, Perry, & Del Greco, 2013).
Although SL has only become popular in the last 40 years, the concept of experiences
within the community have been present for a century. The connection with PPIs are similar due
to the numerous positive aspects it offers in terms of student engagement, understanding, and
personal growth. Both teachers and students that take part in SL have shown to have stronger
student-teacher relationships and mutual respect, greater connectedness to the school, less
teacher turnover, more open-mindedness toward other people, and stronger collegiality amongst
staff (Billig, 2000; Flanagan et al., 2015). Considering the long list of positive outcomes from
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 42

having SL be a part of school curriculum, it would be a reasonable step to incorporate it as one of
many PPIs schools are utilizing to work on improving student well-being. The effort to add
these types of interventions will hinge on teacher knowledge and motivation, while the
organization will play a role in decisions and approval of these changes to the school’s
curriculum. If PPIs are going to be implemented, then not only do school districts need to set
goals, but gaps will have to be addressed and closed to ensure a successful implementation.

Clark and Estes’ Knowledge, Motivation and Organizational Influences Framework
Organizational improvement occurs when performance gaps are identified and specific
improvement efforts are designed to close them. Clark and Estes (2008) theorized the “big
three” causes of performance gaps: people’s knowledge and skills, motivation level to achieve
goals, and the organization. Knowledge and skills are defined as the information and education
needed to perform tasks, while motivation is explained as what starts and keeps us going on the
work tasks, and lastly, the organization consists of the processes, material resources, training,
value streams and chains, and most importantly the culture (Clark and Estes, 2008) that either
facilitate or impede stakeholders to achieve their goals. When working to improve an
organization’s chances in meeting its goals, knowledge, motivation, and organization (KMO)
influences can be analyzed in order for the proper plan to be put in place that will help define
three levels of measurable goals; long term (global), intermediate (subsidiary), and day-to-day
(performance) (Clark and Estes, 2008; Rueda, 2011). Rueda (2011) further stated the importance
of validating the cause (knowledge, motivation, and/or organization) of the gap through the
collection of empirical evidence so time is not lost in guesswork. In order for successful goal
achievement to occur, the KMO must all be in place and in alignment with one another (Clark
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 43

and Estes, 2008).
The KMO elements proposed by Clark and Estes as critical to any gap analysis will be
addressed below in regards to the teachers’ knowledge and motivation to implement new
curriculum and the organizational influences that either support or impede the teachers from
meeting their performance goal of: by the end of the 2017-2018 school year, all staff will
facilitate character education lessons with an emphasis on positive psychology interventions
which include service learning, character strengths, resiliency, gratitude, and mindfulness. Each
section will outline the assumed influences on teachers, the main stakeholder of this study.

Knowledge and Skills
Knowledge is at the very core of learning and instructing (Mayer, 2011). Knowledge and
skills impact employee job performance making enhancement of these items necessary when
people do not know how to accomplish their performance goals, and when future challenges may
require new ways of problem solving (Clark & Estes, 2008).
Knowledge influences. Four types of knowledge exist and all should be incorporated so
information is understood at all cognitive levels: factual, conceptual, procedural, and
metacognitive. Rueda’s (2011) describes factual knowledge as the basic facts that exist in
specific disciplines. It includes the terminology and details that need to be known for someone to
fully understand and work effectively to handle problems that may arise. Conceptual knowledge
includes groupings of information, generalizations, or collections of theories that are specific to
one area, such as methodologies or algorithms. Procedural knowledge encompasses the how of
doing a task, which includes the step-by-step of how to complete an activity. The final
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 44

knowledge type Rueda (2011) explains is the metacognitive knowledge, which is the
understanding of one’s own thinking and the ability to know when and why to do something.
For the purposes of the stakeholder and global goal of the organization examined in this
study, emphasis was placed on conceptual, procedural, and metacognitive knowledge. Teachers
must be clear when supervising others, because if teachers do not have an understanding of the
knowledge they are presenting, then students will not be able to use the new learnings due to
their lack of understanding as well (Rueda, 2011). All types of knowledge are important in
learning, with some playing greater roles in meeting school goals due to the promotion of
acquiring meaningful learning, applying knowledge to solve problems, and transfering the
knowledge to different types of settings and other types of problems (Rueda, 2011). Specific to
this study, it was important for teachers to have knowledge of character education, positive
psychology, and have an understanding of the five components of positive psychology because
they fall under the umbrella of conceptual knowledge as they are models and classifications of
educational teaching styles. The methods used to implement these teaching frameworks and
curricula are the procedural knowledge teachers used to reach their goal of: by the end of the
2017-2018 school year, all staff will facilitate character education lessons with an emphasis on
positive psychology interventions which include: service learning, character strengths, resiliency,
gratitude, and mindfulness. Lastly, still a critical element for success of the curriculum
implementation, teachers needed to be reflective in their understanding of their own abilities in
SEL.
Teachers need to know what character education is. Character education can go by
many names, including social emotional learning, 21
st
-century learning, soft skills, and non-
cognitive skills (Jones & Doolittle, 2017). The field of education has put more emphasis on the
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 45

development of creativity, collaboration, communication and critical thinking (Davenport &
Pagnini, 2016). There is also an increase in arguments made for emotions being just as
important as academic function, specifically, a child’s feelings need to be taken as seriously as
his or her thinking process (Shonkoff et al., 2004). Flanagan, Kim, Collura, & Kopish, (2015)
reference that the majority of K-12 schools have mission statements that include the
development of character, SEL, and emphasizing students as the number one priority. If this is
the case, then there is a need for operating programs to support and meet these missions, while
also improving current programs in this area so they are more successful. Schonert-Reichl
(2017) describes in her prosocial classroom model that teachers’ social-emotional competence
does affect SEL implementation, which directly impacts student social, emotional, and academic
outcomes. Jones and Doolittle (2017) point out that SEL is a broad domain, but consistently
covers grit, empathy, growth mindset, social skills, and is a collective set of attributes that
involve children’s ability to learn about and manage their own emotions and interactions with
others. What needs to be addressed is that most teachers feel poorly prepared to take on these
SEL topics because they lack knowledge and skills, and without the knowledge and skills they
will struggle to create a safe, caring, supportive and responsive educational environment
(Schonert-Reichl, 2017).
Teachers need to know what the five components of the character education
curriculum are. The East Coast Middle School has decided on a character education curriculum
that emphasizes character strengths, mindfulness, gratitude, resiliency, and service learning; all
components of positive psychology. Many advocates of character strength development have
insisted that children who learn about their strengths and use them find themselves creating a
culture of learning while also creating stronger relationships between students and teachers
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 46

(Compton & Hoffman, 2012). Mindfulness is a practice that cuts off the connection between
negative thoughts and a person’s emotions by simply calming one’s self and being observant in
the present and without judgment (Fredrickson, 2009). The concept of gratitude complements
mindfulness as it is a form of being focused on the present, but then goes further by realizing and
appreciating one’s life as it is and how it came to be (Lyubomirsky, 2008). Resiliency is linked
with a person’s ability to recover from setbacks and stress while also looking for ways to grow
through challenge (Waters, 2011). Hopkins et al. (2014) compare SL to an internship and/or
cooperative education, an actionable behavior that can be related to some part of the educational
curriculum and Billig (2000) defines it as a coordination of community and schools working
together to assist the community.
Students across the country who have taken part in character education curriculum have
been shown to engage in more prosocial behavior, are more cooperative, have more skills to deal
with conflict, are concerned for other people, and even are more committed to democratic values
(character.org, n.d.). The five components of the East Coast Middle School Character Education
curriculum seek to have the same results. With the evidence supporting these components, the
East Coast Middle School hopes to see improvements at the end of the 2018 school year, but the
teachers must first know what each of these five components are before improvements can be
made.
Teachers need to know how to incorporate character education curriculum that can
foster social and emotional learning. Schools in the United States are becoming more diverse
culturally and linguistically, creating challenging opportunities for educators to create and
implement programs that speak to the needs and backgrounds of all students so they are prepared
for their adult lives (Tran, 2014). Using SEL has become more common practice over the last
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 47

decade. Teachers believe SEL needs to be taught, but they admit they do not always know how
to implement it in their classrooms (Jones & Doolittle, 2017). Additionally, there is a disconnect
in school districts that focus on standards and testing, while SEL consistently places an emphasis
on non-academic student development. In order for teachers to foster SEL, the disconnect
between SEL and school policies and programs must be closed through means of teacher
professional development (Jones & Doolittle, 2017; Tran, 2014) and organizational acceptance
of SEL. SEL consists of various curricula and practices brought into schools to strengthen
capabilities of young people (Bernard & Walton, 2011; Jones & Doolittle, 2017). In the case of
the East Coast Middle School, SEL came in the form of character education curriculum with a
focus on the components of positive psychology.
Schonert-Reichl (2017) states that SEL is a common denominator among interventions
for the well-being and success of children. Strong teachers who are well-versed in SEL foster
learning environments that accept mistakes, do not solely focus on improving test scores,
maintain a strong ability to present and tie information into students prior knowledge, and
influence students to stay in school, take risks, build respect for others, and help them to become
active citizens who participate in our communities and world (Hattie, 2012). Teachers need to
be able to establish a classroom environment that creates opportunities for students to manage
their own emotions, build relationships, handle conflicts, and build belief in themselves (Jones &
Doolittle, 2017).
Teachers need to reflect on their personal SEL abilities and how it influences their
ability to develop students SEL through teaching the character education curriculum.
Learning requires modeling: teachers and leaders must be seen doing behaviors they
expect and require others to do (Fullan, 2004). Jones and Doolittle (2017) remind us that SEL is
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 48

the ability to learn about and manage our own emotions and interactions in ways that benefit
ourselves and others. To successfully implement SEL lessons and curricula into schools, it is not
enough to enhance teachers knowledge of SEL alone, but rather teachers’ own social and
emotional competence and well-being appear to play a significant role (Schonert-Reichl, 2017).
If adults have low well-being and lack SEL skills, or suffer from stress and/or poor physical and
mental health, they will not be able to provide support for students SEL (Jones & Doolittle,
2017). Teachers’ own well-being and social-emotional competence can strongly influence the
infusion of SEL into classrooms given its heavy influence over relationships between students
and teachers (Schonert-Reichl, 2017). Emotional competencies such as, self awareness, self-
management, social awareness, and relationship management are especially important for
teachers, as those who are rigid and lack impulse control are usually ineffective (Fullan, 2004).
McCallum, Price, Graham, and Morrison (2017) wrote that teachers rated their well-
being much lower than other professionals while Schonert-Reichl (2017) went further and added
that teachers and nurses had the highest levels of reported stress of all occupations. A study done
on high school teachers found that 51% had low quality sleep and 46% suffered from an
excessive amount of day time sleepiness (Schonert-Reichl, 2017). Since schools are communities
that include both students and staff, Coleman (2009) argues that it does not make sense to attend
to the emotional health of the student population without also attending to the emotional health
of teaching population. Schonert-Reichl (2017) reported a second study that included 10,000
first-grade teachers and students and found that teachers who reported higher levels of stress, had
more students in their classrooms with mental health problems. This has been referred to as
stress contagion in the classroom, which can impact student SEL (Schonert-Reichl, 2017).
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 49

The prosocial classroom model (Schonert-Reichl, 2017) shows that a teacher’s social-
emotional competence and well-being directly impact (1) healthy teacher/student relationships,
(2) effective classroom management, and (3) effective SEL implementation in their classrooms.
Coleman (2009) argues the quickest way to promote student SEL is to build teacher morale,
enhance teacher self-awareness of their emotions, and even provide quality training and support
for all adults working in the school. Teacher well-being and the connection to student well-being
is empirically supported, specifically McCallum et al. (2017) reported a study that found teachers
who had a higher well-being were more likely to help students struggling with mental health
challenges. The emotional health of half of a community will influence the other half of the
community (Coleman, 2009) so until all stakeholders in a school are well-versed and
practitioners of SEL, there will always be gaps in the effort to develop it. The literature presented
is synthesized by McCallum et al. (2017) who wrote there is a link between employee well-being
and effectiveness in the workplace.
The organization and stakeholder goals listed in chapter one are supported by the
multiple relevant knowledge influences listed in Table 2 below. These are the assumed
influences that were explored in this study.
Table 2: Knowledge Influences on Stakeholder
Knowledge Type Knowledge Influence
Declarative

Teachers need to know what character education is.
Teachers need to know what the five components of the character
education curriculum are.
Procedural Teachers need to know how to implement positive psychology
curriculum that can foster social and emotional learning.
Metacognitive Teachers need to reflect on their own personal SEL skills and how it
influences their ability to develop students SEL throughout the
character education curriculum.

POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 50

Motivation
Mayer (2011) defines motivation as an internal state that initiates and maintains goal
directed behavior while Clark and Estes (2008) describe motivation as what gets people going,
keeps them moving, and tells us how much effort is needed while working on a task. Clark and
Estes (2008) add that in order to increase motivation there needs to be personal and team
confidence among employees, shared beliefs about organizational and environmental barriers to
reaching goals, a positive emotional work environment, and personal and team value in
performance goals. Rueda (2011) states that including more variety in tasks and activities,
including content material that is personally meaningful, and using cooperative and collaborative
groups to help attain goals will help to increase in motivation.
Employees in the education field (or any field) can be extremely skilled in their craft and
have a great deal of knowledge, but without motivation they will not reach their potential and fall
short in reaching their organization’s goals. Motivational principles that apply to the students of
the school also apply equally to the adults within that school (Rueda, 2011). The goals set for
the stakeholders and organization are by the end of the 2017-2018 school year, all teachers will
have facilitated character education curriculum grounded in positive psychology. To foster
motivation in the organization to help teachers meet these goals, it is important for teachers to
have self-efficacy and expectancy value, two concepts that will be the focus for this study. Both
of these motivational concepts will be critical in the success of the goals because the benefit of
motivated people within their work institution is the increase in employee persistence during
their work tasks and an increased mental effort devoted to their work goals (Clark & Estes,
2008).
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 51

Self-efficacy. Pajares (2006) states that self efficacy beliefs are what people perceive
their own capabilities to be, and it is these beliefs that build the basis for well-being, motivation,
and accomplishment of individuals. It is critical to distinguish between self-efficacy and self-
esteem, which is a judgment of self worth (Bandura, 2005). Pintrich (2003) mentions the
importance of developing competence, expertise, and skills to foster stronger self-efficacy. If
people lack the belief that they have the skills to be successful, they will struggle committing to
their work tasks, and the quality and amount of mental effort invested will also be affected
(Clark & Estes, 2008). People are able to make changes in their behavior if they believe they
have the ability to perform, or they believe they can learn the behavior that will help them meet
the goals they want to reach (Compton & Hoffman, 2012).
In addition to the self-efficacy of individuals, it is important that collective self-efficacy
is discussed when looking at teachers within an educational environment. Teacher belief is
influenced by their ability to serve their students, but this belief is not developed in isolation;
rather it is built by interactions with others in their work environment and the collective beliefs
that develop out of these interactions (Tschannen-Moran, Salloum, & Goddard, 2014). Clark &
Estes (2008) state that teams must believe in their colleagues, the benefits of collaboration, and
that their team members have the collective skills needed to achieve the group’s goal. Bandura
(2000) discusses how groups with members who have individual talents will commonly perform
poorly when working together because success does not always come from the sum of the
individual efficacy levels of people. Bandura (2000) also mentions perceived efficacy and how
it plays a major role in human performance because it indirectly affects behavior such as setting
goals and the commitment to reaching them, opportunities in a social environment and whether
they are approached optimistically or pessimistically, and outcome expectations and realizing
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 52

accomplishments. Pajares (2006) discusses how schools will develop collective beliefs about
their teachers’ ability to teach and enhance the lives of their students. More research confirms
the impact of perceived collective efficacy on a group’s ability to function, specifically showing
that the higher the perceived collective efficacy, the higher the groups’ motivational investment
in tasks, the better their resiliency, and the greater their performance accomplishments (Bandura,
2000).
Teacher self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is often researched and written about in the context
of school children and student performance, but self-efficacy is a key indicator of the success or
failure of a teacher in training (Bernadowski, Perry, & Del Greco, 2013). Positive school
cultures and shared decision making in the organization have also been related to higher teacher
self-efficacy (Zimmerman, 2006) which will in turn positively effect their students’ educational
experience. Teachers with higher self efficacy have shown they are more open to new ideas,
willing to experiment with new teaching methods to positively affect student learning, while also
being less critical and more patient with students who make more errors (Tschannen-Moran &
Hoy, 2001).
When specifically looking at educators who teach character education curriculum, and
their efficacy levels, teachers will need to believe in their own ability to build character in their
students (Milson, 2003). Leadership support and professional development can improve a
teachers’ sense of efficacy (Zimmerman, 2006). The most significant impact on student learning
outcomes are the students themselves, but educators must believe in their ability to be change
agents and take on the challenge of their diverse student population (Hattie, 2012). Milson
(2003) conducted a study that required 916 subjects to respond to questions about training,
professional development, and higher education coursework in the area of teaching character
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 53

education. The results indicated that those who had some formal training, professional
development (PD), or coursework in the subject, all had significantly higher levels of efficacy to
teach character education, but the highest levels of efficacy came from teachers who had school-
based training and staff development.
It is important to point out advantages gained by teachers who take part in positive
psychology interventions in their schools. Billig (2000) writes about teachers better connecting
to their students and school, decreasing teacher turnover rates, an increase in teacher collegiality,
stronger teacher discussions, and teachers having longer reflection and analysis on how to
improve educational services to their students.
Expectancy value. Eccles (2006) states that expectancy value theory comes down to two
specific questions of individuals: “Can I do the task?” and “Do I want to do the task?” A “yes”
answer to both indicates an individual who is motivated to meet his or her goals. Expectancy
value is composed of a group of value indicators: intrinsic value, enjoyment felt when
performing a task or the expectation of enjoyment to be felt when about to engage in a task;
attainment and utility value, the link between tasks and how well they fit into the person’s goals
and a person’s own identities and preferences and how they fill a psychological need; and
perceived cost, what the cost is for participating in the task (Eccles, 2006).
Mertler (2016) writes that increased levels of accountability and emphasis on
standardized tests have driven teachers from the classrooms into other educational positions, or
left the field altogether. But in response, Pintrich (2003) recommends that teachers take different
pathways to create motivating and challenging learning environments. Education must find
ways to diversify teaching strategies, that move beyond rote preparation for standardized tests, so
teachers and students alike answer “yes” to “can I do this task and do I want to do this task?”
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 54

However, field experience is the most critical factor in the development of teaching skills
(Bernadowski et al., 2013).
Teacher expectancy value. Rueda (2011) explains value as the importance a person
attaches to a task, while more specifically, utility value refers to how useful someone views a
task or activity in reaching a future goal. Activities should be relevant and useful, interesting to
the stakeholders, and be based on real world tasks (Pintrich, 2003). People value what they
believe will help them (Clark & Estes, 2008). Teachers who take part in character education
curriculum will see the value, given the following improvements schools gain: student leadership
and motivation, academic achievement, greater student peer-to-peer interaction, and a reduction
in poor behaviors (character.org, n.d.). All of these improvements promote a better teaching
environment by helping teachers to reach their goals. By drawing connections between their
values and achieving professional goals, there will be an increase in work commitment (Clark &
Estes, 2008).
Table 3 illustrates the assumed motivational influences that could determine whether an
organization’s goals are reached. The planned motivational influence assessments are also
provided.
Table 3: Motivational Influences on Stakeholder
Motivation Type Motivation Influences
Expectancy Value Teachers need to see why educational curriculum focused on
positive psychology interventions is useful for students and
school culture.
Self-Efficacy Teachers need to believe they are capable of effectively building
social and emotional skills in their students through the
implementation of positive psychology curriculum.

POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 55

Organizational Influences
Evidence suggests that two out of three times, there are failures in organizational change
processes (Clarke and Estes, 2008). Participation in change efforts, such as implementing new
curriculum are needed at all levels to incorporate change and show the importance of a leader to
identify and communicate the current state of the organization and then compare it to the vision
(Senge, 1990). With a new curriculum implemented by teachers at the East Coast School
District, building level administrators need to open lines of two-way communication with
teachers, present reasoning for the new direction of the curriculum, and be sure to include all
stakeholders in the process. Communication in all directions, whether it is top down, bottom up,
or across levels of the organization creates openness and optimism, and generates energy which
will help to maintain motivation (Fullan, 2004).
Administrative efforts to bring about a new curriculum is commendable, but efforts to
ensure an understanding of the cultural models and settings which affect its success is as
important as the curriculum content itself. Clark and Estes (2008) discuss three issues having to
do with goals: (1) When individuals struggle to reach their performance goals, it is important
they receive support in developing their knowledge in that specific area; (2) when people do not
know how to reach their goals—information, job aids, and training are often used to assist them;
and (3) when preparing people for future challenges, educating them is key to helping them.
Cultural Models and Cultural Settings. Rueda (2011) states that once cultural models
and settings in a classroom, school, or even the entire school district are clear, it will be easier to
fully understand why people within that environment think, act, and respond in the specific ways
that they do. Teachers can enter the realm of group culture, defined by Schein (2017) as the
accumulated shared learning of the group in ways that frame their beliefs, values, and behavioral
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 56

norms. To ensure positive cultural models and settings within the school amongst teachers,
Rueda (2011) encourages asking many important questions: How would you describe this
organization? What are the routines and normal gathering and meeting activities that occur here?
What are the spoken and unspoken rules, specifically about policy, procedures, regulations, and
what are norms for employee behavior? How are decisions made? Rueda (2011) and Clark and
Estes (2008) ask for reflection about how these dynamics help or hinder meeting the organization
goal; in this case, successfully implementing new character education curriculum.
Cultural Model 1—The organization needs to encourage stakeholders to embrace
changes with new curriculum. Agocs (1997) defines resistance as a process where people
refuse to consider the views, concerns, or information presented by those looking to implement a
change of practices, routines, goals, or norms in an organization. Doing something differently,
learning something new, or even unlearning something always starts with some level of pain or
dissatisfaction, often referred to as learning anxiety (Schein, 2017). By accepting change,
teachers may lose belief in their ability, feeling they have lacked the knowledge and skills to get
their jobs done and now even struggle to implement the change being presented to them
(Zimmerman, 2006). While teachers frequently are accused by both the public and the
politicians as being very resistant to change (Mutch, 2012), it is important to remember how they
go through continuous change initiatives, many of which fail, leaving them feeling nervous about
attempting a new set of changes in the future (Zimmerman, 2006). It is the organization’s role to
provide a rationale for why the new curriculum should be implemented.
Cultural Model 2—The organization needs to ensure teachers are trained in the new
curriculum. School districts employ dozens, if not hundreds of people, and reaching their goals
with only a few individuals equipped to reach them would be difficult, if not impossible without
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 57

the complete support of the staff. Vital characteristics of administrators who want their teachers
to join them on the road to change are the abilities for them to also display efforts to embrace
change, try learning new things, and display their own willfulness to take risks and display their
own weaknesses (Zimmerman, 2006). Leaders running the organization need to model life-long
learning, while also displaying their own optimism as they challenge their teachers to become
risk takers (Fullan, 2004; Zimmerman, 2006).
Teachers need to be supported in learning new knowledge and skills, while also being
provided any needed assistance, guidance, and/or coaching (Katzenmeyer & Moller, 2009). A
study of 902 educators looked to see which teachers were the most efficacious when teaching
character education. The results supported that those teachers who had staff development
training or attended conferences on teaching character education had higher levels of efficacy
than those who did not receive training in this way (Milson, 2003). To build capacity within the
school in an effort towards improved instruction, teachers need resources such as materials, time,
space, equipment, and most importantly the opportunity to hear new ideas and expertise (Fullan,
2004).
Cultural Setting 1—The organization needs to ensure that all stakeholders have an
equitable workload. The East Coast School District has consistently run a character education
program, but over time teacher responsibility and staff contributions to the program have become
extremely unbalanced. The goal of changing school culture is best reached by fostering
engagement from all stakeholders, including teachers, to work together differently, specifically
in a more collaborative work culture (Katzenmeyer & Moller, 2009). This can only be
accomplished if teachers feel there is equity amongst all staff members, both in work demands
and in consistent opportunities to speak with administrators. Rueda (2011) points out the
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 58

differences in teacher commitment, with some going above and beyond expectation, and others
only doing the bare minimum.
Teacher burnout is often caused by the workload which is put upon them, representing
both an issue for the individual teacher and also for the school (Avanzi et al., 2018). When
framing the character education schedule, curriculum, and student rosters, it is important the
organization keeps Fullan’s (2004) recommendations of delegating appropriately and being
consistent. Employees who perceive they have insufficient time to fulfill their job often feel a
decrease in overall energy and become exhausted due to this workload issue (Avanzi, et al.,
2018). For the organization to ensure workload equity, they will need to talk to teachers who are
on the front lines of implementing the character education curriculum. Fullan (2004) writes that
solutions have to be developed by decision-makers closest to the action because they are often
the ones who truly know the circumstances.
Cultural Setting 2—The organization needs to provide training opportunities on
enhancing reflective teaching. Teachers benefit from practice if they continuously reflect on
their actions (Liu & Zhang, 2014). In many countries with strong educational systems
as recognized by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) such
as: Finland, Singapore, and Japan, professional development opportunities remain a part of the
work day and allocate as much as 40% of their working time toward reflective practices and peer
sharing. South Korea leads the effort by allocating as much as 65% of the work day on
professional development activities while only 35% is spent teaching (Khan & Afridi, 2017).
The current model for enhancing reflective practice in the East Coast School District is opposite
that of the above mentioned methods, as reflection on teaching is done outside of school hours
and typically PD revolves around knowledge of content.
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 59

Attard (2017) describes traditional PD as seminars, workshops, and courses taught. A
shift from these traditional PD methods are emerging in the forms of opportunities for the
teachers’ learning, specifically in the form of learning and design and including opportunity for
feedback and reflection (Darling-Hammond, Hyler & Gardner, 2017). Training is an important
piece to development of reflective practice and knowledge enhancement for teachers, however
teachers need to develop the specific tools they need for understanding how to take charge of
their own continuous professional development (Attard, 2017). Darling-Hammond et al. (2017)
references that PD is typically decided without even understanding what individual teachers
actually need. Attard (2017) takes this point further by referring to educational training and PD
in-service time is large and collective of all teachers rather then the teachers determining what
they need individually to be enhance their practice. Teachers need training in more than just
lessons to reproduce, but they need to learn how to develop their own intellectual flexibility so
they are able to reflect and question themselves on what they feel would help them most in the
future (Attard, 2017).
Researchers recommend that teachers take it upon themselves to develop professional
reflective practices from: "their teaching beliefs, making cognition scientific, teaching process
communicative and teaching methods dynamic, and promoting their constant professional
development via recording lessons, publication reading, teacher mediation questionnaire, case
study, diary writing, teaching assessment, in-service training programs, conferences, seminars
and short courses" (Liu & Zhang, 2014, p. 2401). Frontier and Mielke (2016) suggest that non-
evaluative protocols may be a more viable way to enhance professional teaching practice by
promoting deliberate reflective practices. Several suggestions are outlined, including: (1) video
analyses of others' teaching, which provides an opportunity to clarify expectations and match
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 60

pedagogy to content and instructional frameworks; (2) using an "On PAR Framework" (Frontier
& Mielke, 2016, p. 230), essentially a teacher practice rubric which is used with other methods
of reflective feedback; (3) peer sharing, a method of allowing all teachers to pool resources,
share strategies, and demonstrate collective reflection on each others' techniques; (4)
instructional rounds, a way of permitting teachers during off-times to view colleagues in real-
time as they are teaching; and (5) the collegial fishbowl, a reflective practice that requires
scheduled times where one teacher sits in the middle of a group and speaks openly about his or
her experiences, while his or her colleagues are outside the "fishbowl", take notes, and ask
reflective questions that would further develop reflective habits of the teacher in the middle.
Darling-Hammond et al. (2017) presented findings of teachers using peer-based observations
followed by collaborative discussion and reflection on what teachers observed, and those who
took part in this process of PD training had greater student learning gains. This shows support
for the non-evaluative protocols that include opportunity for reflection, as presented by Frontier
and Mielke (2016).
Overall, the training often provided for teachers is content-based and the effort to
improve reflection and inquiry is often missing in traditional approaches despite findings
showing a lot of support for enhanced student learning due to teachers’ ability to learn how to
think, inquire, and reflect on their own practices (Attard, 2017; Darling-Hammond et al., 2017).
A cultural of inquiry and reflection are common 21
st
century skills taught to students today (East
Coast School District, 2018). If these skills are viewed as essential to teach our students, then we
must find ways to provide training in these skills for teachers as well.
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 61

Table 4: Organizational Influences on Stakeholder

Conceptual Framework: The Interaction of Stakeholders’ Knowledge and Motivation and
the Organizational Context
Merriam and Tisdell (2016) state that an individual’s theoretical framework stems from
the disciplinary orientation of the individual; in this case, health and wellness education is the
lens through which I view the world. The conceptual framework is a model of what is going to
be studied, what is happening with what is being studied, and a possible theory of occurrences
that are being researched (Maxwell, 2013).
Teachers need the knowledge, motivation, and organizational support in order for them to
implement a new curriculum correctly and successfully for their students. Performance gaps, as
described by Clark and Estes (2008) occur when people lack the knowledge, skills, and
motivation, as well as face organizational barriers such as poor work processes and procedures or
a negative culture. This study will investigate teachers’ abilities to implement a new character
education curriculum to students in an effort to improve well-being in students. Although
specific explanations of theory in addition to the support of the literature have been made
regarding teacher knowledge and motivation, as well as the role of the organization, it is critical
that each of these components is viewed as intertwining, and not just as independent elements.
Organizational Models/Settings Organizational Influences
Cultural Model Influence 1 /
School culture
The organization needs to encourage stakeholders to
embrace changes with new curriculum.
Cultural Model Influence 2 /
School culture
The organization needs to ensure teachers are trained in
new curriculum.
Cultural Setting Influence 1 /
Resources
The organization needs to improve trust by ensuring that
all stakeholders have an equitable workload.
Cultural Setting Influence 2/
Training
The organization needs to provide training opportunities
on enhancing reflective teaching.
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 62

Conceptual Framework
The visual representation of the conceptual framework below (Figure 2) depicts the
knowledge (K), motivation (M), and organizational (O) influences I anticipated would influence
the implementation of the new character education curriculum by teachers. This visual
representation shows how the different K, M, and O influences interact with one another.
Following Figure 2, a narrative with the researchers explanation of these interactions is
presented.
Although there are many influences presented in the figure and in the narrative, it is
important to note that not all influences were addressed in this study. Specifics of which
influences were addressed in the data will be presented at the end of this chapter.
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 63

Figure 2: Conceptual framework
Conceptual framework depicting the interaction between teachers’ knowledge and motivation,
and the organizational supports provided to teachers when implementing positive psychology
interventions through a character education curriculum.

The figure depicted above shows the heavy influence the organization (East Coast School
District) has on the teachers’ ability to implement a new character education curriculum. The
organizational support directly influences how much knowledge the teachers have. In the
conceptual framework, the arrows all come from the organization providing training to teachers.
Without this training, teachers will not know what character education, positive psychology (PP),
PP components of character education, how to implement the curriculum or understand what the
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 64

value of it is. Without the training from the organization, teacher knowledge and subsequently
teacher self-efficacy may be negatively impacted (Pajares, 2006). Knowledge is a major factor in
whether the goal is met at the end of the 2018 school year.
What constituents in an organization experience as the climate and what they believe is
the culture will determine whether change is sustainable (Schneider, Brief, & Guzzo, 1996).
Organizationally, an effort must be made to enhance culture. An effort to bring about workload
equity and a commitment to seeing the curriculum fully implemented over the course of the
school year would go a long way with teachers wanting to be part of this curriculum change.
The East Coast School District has a history of falling short when it comes to training of new
initiatives, as well as not following through on new program implementation from start to finish.
The relationship between these organizational issues and the ability for teachers to see value in
the curriculum as well as have self-efficacy to teach it are depicted in the above conceptual
framework (Figure 2). Rueda (2011) reminds us that the more an individual values an activity,
the more likely he or she will be to persist and engage in it. Additionally, teachers will look to
their organization to prepare them for this task of implementing a new curriculum, and if not
given the training they need, it may result in collective resistance to curriculum changes (Pajaras,
2006), as demonstrated by the arrow connecting the first and second organizational influences.
A lack of understanding about how new content may help their students thrive, will lead
to a a resistance in teaching it. The conceptual framework shows how the level of teacher
knowledge plays a role in achieving the stakeholder goal. In an effort to implement a new
curriculum, teachers will also need to feel efficacious in their ability to present the new
knowledge to students, which will also lead to greater motivation to teach the content (Pajares,
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 65

2006). At this point the organization’s effort to build trust, and commit to the curriculum
thoroughly can impact teacher motivation, which are other factors for goal achievement.
Influences from Conceptual Framework that were Present in the Themes of the Findings
The conceptual framework presented above in Figure 2 was a detailed guide for the study
conducted in the East Coast Middle School. At the conclusion of the study, the following
influences were the ones which were addressed in the themes that were developed from the data,
and are highlighted in Figure 3 in orange:
Figure 3: Updated Conceptual Framework to Show Validated Influences

Knowledge: Teachers need to know how to implement PP curriculum that can foster
social and emotional learning.
Motivation: Teachers need to see why educational curriculum focused on PPIs is useful
for students and school culture.
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 66

Organization: The organization needs to encourage stakeholders to embrace changes with
new curricula. The organization needs to ensure teachers are trained in new curricula.
Although my initial framework placed an emphasis on all the influences in the conceptual
framework before the study, the data that was collected focused narrowly on the importance of
teachers’ knowledge of implementation of the curriculum, teachers understanding of the value of
the curriculum, and teachers being supported with encouragement and training from
administration in the new curriculum. The other influences were not less important, they were
simply not validated due to the limitations of the data collection in this study, which will be
discussed in detail in chapter three.
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 67

Conclusion
The main purpose of this study was to examine teacher knowledge, motivation, and
organizational elements which influenced the implementation of a new character education
curriculum emphasizing PPIs. In this chapter, the knowledge, motivation, and organizational
influences were discussed and explained with theory, while specific literature on teacher
knowledge, motivation, and interaction with the organization was also presented where available.
The curriculum implemented by teachers was centered on PPIs to help improve and/or enhance
student well-being. At a cost to our youth, many current programs place their emphasis on
reacting to problems and trying to fix them as opposed to being proactive and stopping them
before they begin. Achor (2010) supports this by saying that if we wait to be happy our potential
for success is limited, but cultivating a positive brain makes us more motivated, efficient,
resilient, creative, and productive, which drives performance upward. Teachers have the ability
to impact students performance, but only if they have the knowledge, motivation, and
organizational support. The culminating piece to this chapter was the conceptual framework that
presented both written and visual description of how this study was guided. Although the initial
conceptual framework included all influences I believed would have been present in the findings,
there was also an explanation of which influences mentioned in the conceptual framework were
actually present in the themes at the conclusion of the study. Chapter three will provide a
detailed discussion of the design of the study as well as the sampling method, data collection,
data analysis, and consideration of ethical issues, crebility, and trustworthiness.

POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 68

CHAPTER THREE: METHODS
This research examined teachers’ knowledge and motivation and how they intersect with
organizational culture and context when a new character education curriculum was instituted at
the East Coast School District Middle School. The following questions were asked to frame the
study:
1. What are the teachers’ knowledge and motivation that contribute to the implementation
of the new character education curriculum emphasizing positive psychology interventions?
2. What is the interaction between organizational culture and context and the teacher
knowledge and motivation toward the implementation of a new character education curriculum?
This chapter presents the research design, methods for data collection, and the analysis
of the data. A detailed description and rationale for the selection of stakeholders, the observation
and interview process and protocol, and ethics, credibility, and trustworthiness of the study is
included in this chapter.

Participating Stakeholders
This study took place in the East Coast School District with the focus on teachers as the
stakeholders being studied. This stakeholder group consisted of approximately 75 teachers that
are divided into various teams (6
th,
7
th
, and 8
th
grade), as well as teacher assistants who worked
solely with special needs students of various cognitive levels. The primary stakeholders in this
study were vital to the success of the new curriculum because their own understanding of PPIs
directly shaped student understanding and application of the new curriculum.
The stakeholders in the study were appropriate and diverse. When considering the
stakeholder group for this qualitative study, a purposeful sample was used to understand, gain
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 69

insight, and learn the most from them (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). A broad range of insight and
perspective was gained due to stakeholders having a varied background in educational
disciplines, teaching assignments, and ages of students being taught. Given the already divided
stakeholder group by grade level teaching assignment or discipline, it is only fitting that samples
were taken from each of the teams that already exist within the school. The following four
individuals were observed and interviewed in this study. In an effort to maintain confidentiality
they are presented using their pseudonym and also with a brief description of their background
and role within the East Coast Middle School:
Mrs. Bell: a 6
th
grade teacher in the areas of language arts and social studies for 17 years.
She works with 6
th
grade students when teaching character education.
Mrs. Crabtree: an integrative and research specialist who works across all grade levels and has
20 years experience. She works with the 7
th
grade when she teaches character
education.
Mrs. Ophelia: a 6
th
grade language arts teacher with 18 years experience. She works with 6
th

grade students when she teaches character education.
Ms. Potts: a 7
th
grade social studies teacher with 20 years experience in education. She
works with the 7
th
grade when teaching character education.

Interview Sampling (Recruitment) Strategy and Rationale
Using a purposeful sample to select participants within the stakeholder group, members
from different teams were selected for interviews from a pool of interested candidates who
responded to a voluntary request for participants via email. There were three teams of teachers in
the middle school and teachers were selected from two of the three different teams. The sample
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 70

size for interviews was four teachers; two teachers from the seventh-grade team, and two
teachers from the sixth-grade team. The rationale for selecting across the grade level teams was
to gain different perspectives due to teaching different grade level students. Additionally,
sampling two members from each team rather than one helped me explore whether team-based
experiences are consistent when it comes to the knowledge and motivation of stakeholders
within the organization while also examining if the stakeholder teams have different levels of
support and views of the organization. The reasoning for selecting from only two of the three
teams was due to the time constraint of the study. This will also be addressed in the limitations
section.
Criterion 1. A teacher for a minimum of three years at East Coast School District.
To be eligible to participate in the interview, stakeholders had to be employed for a
minimum of three years within the East Coast School District. This ensured the stakeholders
were familiar with the school environment as well as logistics of facilitating character education
curriculum. Although the content was different within the curriculum, the character education
program has been in existence for about eight years. An understanding of the logistics was
important so stakeholders had a comparative base.
Criterion 2. A teacher who has attended at least 90% of the training sessions provided.
To be eligible to participate in the interview, stakeholders had to attend at least 90% of
both the training sessions and the student sessions where the new curriculum was being taught.
Over the course of the school year, there was approximately one character education lesson
every other week, so at the time of the interview selection, teachers should have been present for
the majority of them, but preferably all of them up until that point.
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 71

Observation Sampling (Access) Strategy and Rationale
The lessons were scheduled by administrators for the entire school. All teachers
instructed the lesson at the same time on the scheduled date. The observations took place in the
classroom the participating teacher met the students for the character education lesson. The
observations were of the four teachers who were teaching the lessons to the students and who
participated in the study.
Criterion 1: A character education lesson.
Thus the only criterion for the selection of observation settings was that it was a character
education lesson implemented by a study participant.

Data Collection and Instrumentation
The research examined teachers’ knowledge and motivation and how they intersected
with organizational culture and context when a new character education curriculum was
instituted at the East Coast School District Middle School. In order for a thorough data collection
effort to take place, rich data had to be collected. The study employed observations and
interviews with the teachers charged with implementing this new curriculum. During interviews,
the use of an audio recorder was used so that all responses were transcribed to their fullest detail
after the interview had been concluded. During observations, field notes were taken to examine
how the curriculum was implemented.

Observation
Each of the observations took place before any interviews, as the participants who were
observed could have changed behavior if they were able to reflect upon the content of the
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 72

interview questions. Data collected through observations enable a qualitative researcher to draw
inferences about a participant’s behaviors that is not always presented in interviews (Maxwell,
2013). Conducting observations in the teaching settings allows for an opportunity to notice
things the stakeholder may not share in an interview, because it may seem trivial or routine to
them, but these pieces of information can lead to greater understanding of context (Merriam &
Tisdell, 2016).
The teachers who volunteered and were selected via a purposeful sample for interviews
were the same cohort of teachers who were observed while teaching the character education
lessons. Observations were done while implementing the new curriculum with students in a
classroom setting. My presence in these environments was in the capacity of observer-as-
participant, meaning those being observed are aware of the researcher (Merriam & Tisdell,
2016). Observations done during character education teaching periods had to be approved by
administrators to ensure appropriate coverage of my responsibilities if there was overlap with my
teaching schedule. The observations lasted forty minutes, as that is the allotted time for each
lesson of the curriculum to be taught to the students, while it is also the amount of time each
training lasts with the teachers. On some occasions, there were special extended periods for
guest speakers or school wide activities, allowing for an observation period to be longer than the
allotted 40 minutes. There were five observations of each teacher planned to ensure enough data
could be collected. Some of the lessons I planned on attending were cancelled, as towards the
end of the school year there were changes made to the schedule. Additionally, the lead
administrator of the character education curriculum took a two-and-a-half month leave of
absence from April through the middle of June, leaving no one to do the trainings the week
before, and therefore lessons were cancelled. Despite the amount of time I spent observing not
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 73

being what I had hoped for in all cases, there were still valuable opportunities and some strong
data that was able to be drawn from my experiences. At the conclusion of the data collection, the
amount of observations and time of each with the participants varied. The specifics of the
observations can be seen here in Table 5.
Table 5: Observations of Participants
Participant
Total
Observations Length of Each Observation Total Observation Time
Mrs. Bell 3 Observation 1- 40 minutes
Observation 2- 40 minutes
Observation 3- 120 minutes

3.2 hours (200 minutes)
Ms. Crabtree 5 Observation 1- 40 minutes
Observation 2- 40 minutes
Observation 3- 40 minutes
Observation 4- 60 minutes
Observation 5- 60 minutes

4 hours (240 minutes)
Ms. Potts 5 Observation 1- 40 minutes
Observation 2- 40 minutes
Observation 3- 40 minutes
Observation 4- 60 minutes
Observation 5- 60 minutes

4 hours (240 minutes)
Mrs. Ophelia 3 Observation 1- 40 minutes
Observation 2- 40 minutes
Observation 3- 120 minutes
3.2 hours (200 minutes)

The focuses during observations were on teachers’ overall knowledge of the content and
how much they were able to engage students. During observations, I anticipated that teachers
would be fluid and well-versed in the terminology of new lessons that are focused on the various
PPIs. I anticipated seeing high levels of engagement in the form of activities that supported
character strength development, gratitude, mindfulness and resiliency building. I also anticipated
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 74

discussions and preparation for a SL activity. Lastly, I anticipated class environments where
students engaged in open dialogue amongst themselves as well as with their teachers. I foresaw
seeing teachers facilitate discussions that challenged students, but in the event of conflict hoped
for calm resolution because of their mindful practices. These types of behaviors would support a
class with strong social and emotional skills and students who were confident and thriving.
When I completed the observations, what I thought I would see and what I actually saw were
very different. Many of the lessons were completely student-centered, so there was more
student-to-student dialogue than students-to-teacher dialogue. Many of the lessons included
embedded video clips in the PowerPoint presentations, so for some of the observations, I was
watching students and teachers watch videos. This is a specific example of why some of the
knowledge influences presented in the conceptual framework in chapter two were not validated.
These types of lessons did not allow for me to really observe what the teachers knew about the
content because the video clips did the “teaching” of the content for them. Overall, the
observations would have been more beneficial if I were able to do more of them over a longer
period of time in order to have a diversified view of the students and teachers covering different
content.

Interviews
All four of the sampled teachers were interviewed once. Two of the interviews were
conducted on-site during non-school hours to avoid distractions and interruptions by one of the
stakeholders (students, teachers, administrators) who could be in the building. The other two
interviews were completed off-site during non-school hours. An hour was planned for each one
of the four participant’s interviews. The actual time of each of the interviews were: Mrs. Bell, 37
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 75

minutes; Mrs. Crabtree, 49 minutes; Mrs. Ophelia, 40 minutes; and Ms. Potts, 58 minutes.
Interviews were done in a semi-structured format; allowing for a mix of more and less-structured
questions so there was flexibility in the order of the questions asked, specific data could be
generated, and recording data through open-ended responses based on someone else’s
motivation, knowledge, beliefs, and thoughts (Johnson & Christensen, 2015; Merriam & Tisdell,
2016). Interviews were initiated once observations were completed, as I believed if the
interviews were done prior, the types of questions asked may have caused teachers to be aware of
and alter their behavior when being observed.
The interviews conducted engaged the participants in thinking about their knowledge and
motivation, which were the topics I intended to explore during this study. Questions asked
emphasized detailed and specific answers on how they would make improvements and/or what
type of recommendations they would make to the organization for enhanced training and lesson
planning. For example, referring to Appendix A, question 1 asked the participant, “When
learning the new curriculum, what aspects of the training helped you implement the curriculum
successfully?” This question combined the organizational resources provided and how it shaped
the teachers’ procedural knowledge to implement the curriculum. Additionally, teachers were
asked about the culture and support within the school and how this affected their motivation to
teach the new character education curriculum. Referring to the protocol in Appendix A, question
14 asks, “In what ways does the relationship between administration and teachers play a role in
the implementation of the new character education curriculum?” This question looked to gain an
understanding of how the organization and stakeholders level of trust impacted teacher efficacy
to teach the new curriculum. All interviews were recorded and notes were taken to ensure no
detail, such as body language, was missed or forgotten.
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 76

Despite best efforts, I do believe that being a novice interviewer played a part in what
data was collected and not collected. My inexperience in probing during some of the questions
left the question either partially answered or stalled. Reflecting on the interviews, I remember
thinking I would not be able to get enough information at certain times. I thought people had
little to say on the subject, but I realized it was my inexperience in asking the question the right
way or reframing the question that may have led to this outcome.

Data Analysis
Data analysis began during data collection for both observations and interviews. I wrote
notes after each interview and each observation in the format that can be seen in Appendix B.
Documentation of my thoughts, concerns, and initial conclusions about the data in relation to my
conceptual framework and research questions were taken, as well as notes on themes that started
to present themselves. Once I left the field, interviews were transcribed and coded. Interviews
were transcribed through an online software platform called sonix.ai. The audio was uploaded
into the software and the software generated the interview into words, which could then be
exported as a word document. The word document was time stamped to match the audio file and
each voice (interviewer and interviewee) were entered onto new lines of the same word
document. Once the interviews were in word documents, I had to clean the data. At times,
interviewees stuttered, repeated words, or said “umm”, and these were minor cleanups that were
done so the interview transcription was clean and ready for coding.
In the first phase of analysis, I used open coding, looking for empirical codes and
applying a priori codes from the conceptual framework. I opted to do the coding directly on the
data in the traditional way. In word documents, I used a variety of comments and color coding
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 77

of the text. Each of the colors were matched with an influence from the conceptual framework.
A comment was made in the margin that said the KMO influence that the text was related to.
Other colors were used to highlight information that may not have directly aligned with a KMO
influence but were noteworthy data to be included into the codebook (excel spreadsheet). A
second phase of analysis was conducted where empirical and a priori codes were aggregated into
analytic/axial codes. The text colors were examined for typicality. All the information was
organized into excel documents as a form of codebook. In the third phase of data analysis I
identified pattern codes and themes that emerged in relation to the conceptual framework and
study questions.

Credibility and Trustworthiness
Collecting data through multiple sources such as observations at various times in
different environments and through interviews from various stakeholders, allowed for comparing
and cross-checking data through a process called triangulation (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Both
the interviews and observations were conducted to ensure different kinds of information were
documented. Specifically looking at the study done in the East Coast Middle School,
motivational influences and organizational influences would not have been addressed without
interviews, and knowledge influences were only possible to examine through observations and
during the interviews. The data collected would not have had the same depth if only one type of
collection method was used. Additionally, triangulation reduced the risk of coincidental
associations and biases, which can occur if only using one method of data collection (Maxwell,
2013). These various forms of data collection were more conducive to this study as the
researcher was a key instrument in the field in a more natural setting, gaining an up close and
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 78

more personal connection to the subjects being studied (Creswell, 2014). Connecting with the
participants in the study has the ability to create a more trusting environment and relationship,
which can open up a deeper connections during interviews. During observations, the participants
may also be more relaxed, allowing for more natural behavior to be exhibited.
Specific measures were taken during the observations and the interviews to ensure
accuracy of the data collected, while also ensuring the participants felt everything done was
crediblibly and would be considered trusteworthy. During observations it was important to be as
detailed and specific as possible when taking field notes to form a quality data corpus to analyze,
specifically, trying to write down direct quotes, and even observer comments (Merriam &
Tisdell, 2016). Notes were also taken with an emphasis on body language and facial expressions
of the participants. During interviews, mechanical recording of the participants’ responses
ensured nothing was missed. The findings present more valid if they are rich and detailed in their
description (Creswell, 2014).
As a researcher I acknowledge that my experiences with staff members in the work
environment and/or personally could bring my bias into the data collection during interviews and
observations. Although bias is inevitable and cannot be eliminated, it can be identified and
monitored, with ongoing self-reflective practice, so as to ensure it is understood how it could be
shaping the collection and analysis of the data (Creswell, 2014; Merriam & Tisdell 2016). In this
particular study, I am aware of the bias regarding my observation of the way teachers implement
the new curriculum to students. As a teacher, it is easy to judge another teacher’s teaching style
when watching him or her and make comparisons to my own teaching style. Recognizing this
bias was important, and I was mindful of this while maintaining my focus on the what my study
was targeting. Given my efforts to enhance my own ability in teaching, it was vital for me to
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 79

take detailed notes and reflect on how my own thoughts about teaching practice did not affect
how I judge at my colleagues’ practices. Maxwell (2013) reminds us these notes should include
anything seen, heard, and/or anything communicated, only focusing on information collecting
and not looking at methods of teaching, classroom management, and how to change them from
the perspective of a judge.

Ethics
This study looked at teacher knowledge and motivation in conjunction with
organizational support when implementating new curriculum focused on positive psychology
interventions. The data collection process included IRB’s basic principles of ethics: participants
had information so they could make an informed decision to participate by giving consent;
participants were able to withdraw at any time from the study. There were no unnecessary risks
to the participants, benefits to society and participants outweighed risks, and experiments must
be conducted by qualified researchers (Glesne, 2011).
As a doctoral student and researcher it was critical that my research study was conducted
with ethics at the forefront of the framing of my research. Ethics should be part of every aspect
of the study design (Maxwell, 2013). Those who took part in the data collection did so
voluntarily, confidentially, and were able to withdraw from the study at any point with no
pressure or negative response from the researcher (Glesne, 2011). Confidentiality is of the
utmost importance when presenting my data, but also when the data was being organized and
stored throughout the process. This is especially true because of the context in which this study
was being conducted. Specifically, all data collected had no identifiers, names, or any other
information that could direct the data back to the specific participant and idenfity him or her. All
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 80

data were stored on a password protected personal laptop under file names that were not relevant
to research. At any point, if the participants felt they needed to leave the study and could no
longer continue, they were able to leave the study. The four participants were given the
opportunity to leave the study before the observations took place and before the interviews took
place. All four participants were consistent in their desire to be part of the study and never
wavered on their commitment to do so. In addition to the acceptance of my work by The
University of Southern California Institutional Review Board (IRB), being absolute to see my
degree completed in its entirety, it was my greatest effort to ensure that all participants during the
process felt safe, respected and without risk. Participants who agreed to be interviewed and
observed were informed of how their role in the research process could help better the
organization we work in, and additionally were sent a small token of appreciation once the study
was finished.

Limitations and Delimitations
Limitations on a study are the influences that researchers cannot control. In qualitative
data collection there are a variety of limitations that can affect the study. Creswell (2014) cites
limitations when doing observations such as; the researcher could be viewed as intrusive, the
researchers’ ability level in observing may not be the best, and private information could be
observed but the researcher cannot report it. Limitations can also be found when conducting
interviews. Creswell (2014) cites that interview responses are based on the view of the
interviewee, not all people are articulate or have a wide perspective on issues, and interviews are
often held at a specific and planned site, rather then the natural field setting. The amount of time
for observations was adjusted due to cancelations of character education lessons due to of
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weather or school schedule changes. Additionally, five observations were planned for each
participant, but in the case of two of the participants, only three were conducted due to lesson
cancellations and the added impact of the lead administrator for the character education
curriculum taking a leave of absence over the course of ten weeks at the end of the school year.
Although only three of the five planned observations happened, the two participants were still
observed for similar amounts of time that the other two participants were observed. Despite the
above named limitations, there were also delimitations the researcher counted on to help the data
collection fall in line with the research questions.
Delimitations are aspects of the study that were controlled by the researcher. Creswell
(2014) presents the following delimitations common in studies that use observations and
interviews: when observing, the researcher has personal experience with the participants and the
information can be recorded as it is occurring; when conducting interviews, the researcher
decides the line of questioning. In this study, there was control over how many observations and
how many interviews were done with each participant. Having the ability to conduct numerous
observations and dictate the types of questions as well as the length of the interviews support
Merriam and Tisdell’s (2016) encouragement of collecting data till the findings feel saturated.
However, this study was bounded by time, so feasibility dictated just how much data was able to
be collected.
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 82

CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS
The purpose of this study was to examine how the East Coast School District teachers
implemented a new character education curriculum that is grounded in the field of PP. The study
was guided by the following questions:
1. What are the teachers’ knowledge and motivation to implement a new character
education curriculum emphasizing positive psychology interventions?
2. What is the interaction between organizational culture and context and teacher
knowledge and motivation to implement a new character education curriculum?
The data were collected over a series of observations followed by an interview with each
of the four participants described and introduced in chapter three. This chapter presents the
findings.
Knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences were proposed for the study,
but not all were corroborated by the data. The findings supported that teachers would benefit
if they knew how to implement the curriculum. Teachers also expressed they understood the
value of why character education grounded in PP was important for the climate and culture of
the school. The findings also validated that the organization needed to encourage
stakeholders to embrace the new curriculum while also providing them with training to teach
the content. Although all the proposed influences displayed in the conceptual framework
(Figure 2) in chapter two were not corroborated, other valuable data were collected that may
be used by the organization to make improvements for teacher training, curriculum lesson
scheduling, and the perception teachers have of administrative commitment to the program.
Some examples of these findings are: (1) training for teachers should include more time for
them to discuss the lessons and prepare for tough student discussions about sensitive topics,
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(2) lesson scheduling must be adhered to and in the case of cancellations the lessons must be
rescheduled, and (3) administrators must show a more open commitment and support to the
curriculum. The data are presented here to support the main themes that are presented in the
findings section here.

Findings
This study examined how knowledge, motivational, and organizational influences and
how teachers implemented new character education curriculum in a middle school. Although
the initial conceptual framework in chapter two (Figure 2) presents many different possible
influences that could have impacted teachers implementation of character education curriculum
based on the literature, only the following influences, which were also presented in chapter two,
Figure 3, were examined in enough detail in this study:
Table 6: KMO Influence Type
KMO Influence Type Influence
Knowledge- Procedural Teachers need to know how to implement positive psychology
curriculum that can foster social and emotional learning.
Motivation- Expectancy Value Teachers need to see why educational curriculum focused on
positive psychology interventions is useful for students and school
culture.
Organization The organization needs to encourage stakeholders to embrace the
changes with new curriculum.
The organization needs to ensure teachers are trained in new
curriculum.

Other influences presented in chapter two were anticipated by the researcher to be
important in the implementation of the curriculum. Participants in this study did not include
those topics in their answers during interviews. Although these participants did not include
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these influences as ones that impacted their implementation of the curriculum, a future study
with different participants could have different outcomes.
The main themes found to be relevant in this study were the following:
1. Teachers had the basic knowledge of the curriculum content, but had not been trained how to
respond and facilitate discussions with students about difficult and controversial topics.
2. The character education curriculum was viewed as an addition to the day to meet state
standards and not as something that was woven throughout all aspects of the school environment.
3. The scheduling and lack of continuity of lessons was reported to have negative influences on
teacher motivation to teach the character education curriculum.
4. Teacher motivation to teach the curriculum was primarily internal, as teachers did not view
administration to be supportive of their motivation.
In the following sections, these themes will be presented and evidence provided in the
form of raw data collected from both observations and interviews with the four volunteer
teacher participants.
Teachers had the basic knowledge of the curriculum content but had not been trained how
to respond and facilitate discussions with students about difficult and controversial topics.
The character education lesson training provided to staff lays out the weekly lesson step
by step for staff, however the information provided is general content knowledge, links to
videos, or an individual or small group creative project. When it came to teachers understanding
how to implement the lesson and present the information to students, the four participants
reported they were able to do so. As one of the teachers noted, "I feel like we're given a plan and
we can basically follow it as a script or I can put as much of it of my own that I want to" (Mrs.
Ophelia interview, 2018). Mrs. Ophelia described the lesson plan as a script, which is something
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that could be adhered to and followed line by line, or could be perceived as an explicit set of
instructions. When she said, “I can put as much of my own” she was inferring that she doesn’t
have to go above or beyond that lesson script she was given, but can just teach the basic content
knowledge. The lesson plan given to teachers was designed to cover the time allotted in the
character education lesson, so if teachers follow the plan as a script, they were able to teach the
class without having to do anything extra. Also, when given the training on the lesson, the
training goes through it slide by slide, or line by line, so the entire training was pushing the
model of sticking with the canned response, as opposed to going outside the framework and
opening up opportunity for teachers and students to really dive into tough topics. As Ms. Potts
shared in her interview,
Two or three days before the lesson is to be shared with students, it is presented to
teachers, and its kind of just getting the pieces and parts thrown at you, I don't know that
it's really ever looking at how you're going to deliver the content (Ms. Potts interview,
2018).
This training structure does not support the knowledge influence of teachers needing to know
how to implement this curriculum in a way that will foster students’ social emotional learning.
The “parts” and “pieces” described by Ms. Potts are the framework and outline of the lesson, but
the in depth details of the content, and the opportunity for discussion about these details are not
included in the presentation of the lesson to teachers.
This adherence to the lesson plan that is given to teachers was also observed in Ms. Potts
character education class. While observing a character education lesson on cheating, Ms. Potts
asked students, “What would influence students to cheat?” Several students answered the
question with, “good grades,” “lack of confidence,” “pressure on self,” “didn’t prepare for the
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test or quiz,” “jealousy,” and “desire for fame or money.” Once Ms. Potts exhausted all the
students responses to her question, she continued by probing students with another question to
help spark discussion amongst them. She said, “I want you to take a minute and specifically
think about cheating in this school and talk with other people at your table about it.” Students
talked for a just a couple of minutes and were given a chance to provide examples about school
related cheating they have seen. While students chatted about this, Ms. Potts and Mrs. Crabtree
were having their own quiet discussion. Ms. Potts stopped the student discussions and asked
students to share what they discussed with their peers. Many answers were stated aloud by
different students in the class. One student said,
If one person has a quiz or a test in the morning and their friend has it in the afternoon,
the person in the morning class will tell the person in the afternoon class what was on the
test or quiz.
When she gave this response, a lot of other students were in agreement. Some were saying “oh
yeah” out loud and many others were shaking and nodding their heads in agreement. The
reactions by students to this answer implied this was common practice, because so many of them
seemed to be accustomed to this practice.
Other students responded with, “Sometimes people in different classes plan to meet in
the bathrooms at the same time and can share work,” and “at lunch a lot of people pass around
assignments because no one pays attention to what happens during lunch.” Both of these
examples are situations where there is minimal supervision by teachers, making it more difficult
to stop this type of student behavior.
A final answer was “a lot of people give each other homework assignments when
someone didn’t do it.” Mrs. Crabtree chimed in and asked students, “Why do a lot of students
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not feel copying their friends homework is cheating?” One student raised his hand and said, “If
both friends are ok with it, then its not cheating. It’s only cheating if one person doesn’t know.”
Other students had their hands raised and looked ready to give their own answers on this topic.
Mrs. Potts said, “Everyone look up at the smartboard and let’s go through these scenarios.” The
different scenarios were on a slide that was part of a powerpoint which was part of the lesson that
was given to teachers. Students were already thinking and engaging with the topic, but Ms. Potts
went to the “canned lesson” as opposed to calling on the students who wanted to share and
engage in the discussion that had already started and in which students were engaged. The pre-
selected scenarios listed on the powerpoint included: eating food at the supermarket before
buying it, speeding while driving, sneaking candy into a movie theater, wearing clothes and then
returning them, telling your parents you are going one place but actually going somewhere else,
and saying you are younger than you are to get a cheaper price ticket. Ms. Potts said, “Take a
few minutes to think about these, and then we will have one person comment on each because
we don’t have much time left to get really deep into conversation about all of these different
situations.” Ms. Potts allowed for a few student comments, and then proceeded through the last
few slides of the lesson rather quickly. Her mention of the time left in the lesson in addition to
her getting through all the slides by the end of the class period supports the need to get through
the canned lesson during the scheduled class time. It appears the lesson structure was dictating
how the class ran, as opposed to letting students and teachers use the time to best develop
character and SEL of students.
The character education curriculum was in place to support development of student
character through activities, reflection, and discussion on tough topics. In Ms. Potts and Mrs.
Crabtree’s character education class, the approach to the discussion stifled the depth at which the
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students were learning. Specifically, there was an opportunity for the teachers to listen and
facilitate a deep discussion on why students think it was acceptable to copy a friend’s homework,
but the constraint of the formal lesson was a key player in the direction the lesson went. As
included in the analysis earlier, Ms. Potts talked about the lesson training throwing “parts” and
“pieces” at the teachers, but nothing full and in detail. The evidence presented in this observation
supports the emphasis on staying with the step-by-step lesson and its general content as opposed
to teachers having freedom to delve deeper into the issues that are engaging to their students.
Further discussion about the training and specifics is included in the upcoming section.
Teachers did not take the lessons far from the provided lesson structure given to them.
This was happening due to the lack of training they received on the lesson, as well as the training
provided only being focused on the canned lesson. Some character education lessons included
questions to ask students about the content or to spark conversation about the videos watched,
but teachers were not given a chance to discuss how to handle student responses to the content
that was presented. When the lessons were presented in advance to the teacher, the steps were
discussed, but there was no time for teachers to discuss the lesson or collaborate on ideas of how
to handle different responses from students. Additionally, when the steps of the lesson were
presented in the training, there was minimal, if any time left after going through all the steps to
venture away from the lessons framework. Trainings ran during scheduled team meetings from
10:45 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Often times, the administrator coming to the meeting to present the lesson
to teachers would be late or have to leave early because of unexpected issues that would arise on
that day. For example, on one occasion the administrator arrived at the training well after 11:00
a.m. He apologized and was clearly apologetic for keeping the staff waiting and for lost time,
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but he flew through the lesson slides, and there was little time to even ask a question about the
lesson or discuss details because teachers had to leave to get to their classes.
If teachers deviated from the lesson structure and steps, then they were left to their own
devices if they wanted to take the conversations to deeper levels, and if they did then they would
be doing so without training because the training only included how to teach the scripted lesson,
and this left some teachers unsure about how to do so. During the interview with Mrs. Crabtree,
she said,
And I kept thinking how am I going to combat this seventh grade mentality of: you know
it's OK to just take grapes from the supermarket or it's OK to borrow your friend’s
homework. That's not cheating that's borrowing, like I don't know how to tackle that
(Mrs. Crabtree interview, 2018).
Mrs. Crabtree alluded to the fact that this is a situation that she was lacking the knowledge and
experience with this content to handle some students’ responses comfortably and effectively.
Her use of the words “I kept thinking” points to her reflecting on it on her own, rather than being
able to engage in a discussion about an issue she perceived herself as not being knowledgeable
enough to handle. If the lesson rollout included an opportunity for teachers to jointly discuss how
students might respond to the lesson, Mrs. Crabtree may have been able to provide responses that
can support why the lesson is being taught and the value it holds. Although Mrs. Crabtree is an
educator who is well-versed in various educational topics and has even been a recipient of
educational awards over her career, this specific content is not an area she was given the same
amount of opportunity to fully prepare. During Mrs. Crabtree’s interview, she stated, “I think it's
more of a rote task, like, press play, go through the process." The use of the term “rote” speaks
volumes about the training given to teachers, as rote tasks are the opposite of active learning and
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meaningful learning, which is the very thing character education is supposed to be doing with
students. If Mrs. Crabtree viewed the lessons as rote tasks, then the training sessions were
clearly not providing her with ways to create active and meaningful learning with the students
during character education lessons.
In addition to the evidence of Ms. Potts and Crabtree, Mrs. Ophelia also supported the
description of the lesson implementation as rote. She said, "someone else has done all the work
for you. All you have to do is bring the lessons to the classroom” (Mrs. Ophelia interview, 2018).
If the perception of the lesson is that it only needs to be brought to the classroom and all the
work has been done for you, then it does not support teacher knowledge enhancement through
training, opportunity to practice or discuss student reactions and responses of material with
colleagues, or the opportunity for reflection. Pajares (2006) encourages instructional support
early on, with opportunities being built in for practice. If teachers were given time to discuss
possible scenarios and practice responses, the character education lessons may have been used as
a jumping off point for deeper conversations rather than covering the lessons as scripted. This
deeper treatment would theoretically have a greater impact on students.
Teachers had time built into their schedules throughout their workweeks to meet as
departments about curriculum and to plan lessons in their content field. Despite the entire
teaching population given responsibility to present character education curriculum to students,
the same opportunities for planning and meeting with colleagues about the character education
curriculum specifically were not afforded to them. Although the lessons were designed and
distributed to teachers, there was a deficiency in time allotted for teachers to gain a complete
understanding of how they will implement the lesson, specifically how they handled student
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discussions that may be in response to the topics being discussed. When interviewing Ms. Potts,
she offered the following,
Maybe letting teachers explore whatever the PowerPoint presentation file (the lesson) is a
little bit on their own and just delve into it and maybe talk about it. Almost like we would
have kids do, talk with a small group about you know: What issues you think this might
raise among children? We never really look at how we think kids might respond to it
(Ms. Potts interview, 2018).
Opportunities for teachers to get together, analyze and deconstruct the lesson, and discuss how to
address students during the lesson would be valuable. Anderson and Krathwohl (2000) broke
down analyzing into different processes, including organizing and attributing. These processes
could promote identification of the elements of a situation and recognize how they fit together,
and how learning the points of view, biases, values, or the intentions underlying communications
could help teachers come up with possible facilitation responses. With time given to teachers to
go through these processes with colleagues, they will be better prepared for student responses
during the lessons.
One of the research questions in this study asked what the teachers’ knowledge is to
implement a new character education curriculum. The evidence presented shows a disconnect
between the structure of the lessons and what the teacher was prepared to do with student
responses that failed to fall in line with the scripted lesson that teachers were trained to teach.
The evidence showed that teachers lacked knowledge about working with student responses and
feedback during the lesson. The lack of information given to teachers during training about what
to do and how to facilitate students’ questions, directly influenced how teachers met their goal of
implementating of the curriculum. Knowledge influences that shape whether they were meeting
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their goal include, teachers needing to know how to implement positive psychology curriculum
that can foster social and emotional learning. With the evidence pointing out the scripted lesson
and the training solely focusing on a step-by-step implementation of the lesson, there was not a
lot of opportunity for students’ SEL to develop more deeply. Additionally, for teachers to meet
their goal, organizational influences include ensuring teachers are trained in new curriculum and
are provided opportunities on enhancing reflective teaching. As found during the study, teachers
were seldom given time to collaborate, discuss and reflect on lessons; they were solely trained on
a lesson that was already created for them and was taught to them through a generic step-by-step
process.
The character education curriculum was viewed as an extra addition to the day to meet
state standards and not as something that was woven throughout all aspects of the school
environment.
The teachers in the East Coast Middle School have consistently made reference to the
need for character education to help develop students in the areas of character and their social
and emotional learning. This study looked at the implementation of character education and how
support from the organization can help teachers be more knowledgeable and motivated to teach
it. One of the study questions asked what the interaction between the organizational culture and
teacher motivation was and how the culture influenced implementation of a new character
education curriculum. In interviews, when asked why they thought character education
curriculum was part of the school, Ms. Potts (2018) said, “They [administration] are trying to
meet state requirements” and Mrs. Crabtree (2018) said, “I think it [the curriculum]is meeting the
state mandate.” These responses depict an organizational focus on something not included in the
motivational influences. Meeting a state mandate doesn’t provide teachers motivation to teach it
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because those are not reasons that explain why character education is useful for students and
school culture, thus teachers are not seeing the real reason for its value. During the interviews,
participants consistently mentioned how the character education curriculum did not influence the
overall school environment. During Mrs. Crabtree’s interview she stated, “What is taught in
character education is not carried into other avenues of the school day by students. There is no
connection” (Mrs. Crabtree interview, 2018.) This lack of connection could be impacting
teachers’ self-efficacy to teach the curriculum, because teachers want to believe they are capable
of effectively building students’ SEL. Pajares (2006) tells us that the most influential source
influencing self-efficacy beliefs is the interpreted results from one’s own performance, or, the
mastery experience. If Mrs. Crabtree is not seeing the curriculum throughout the school day
with the students, then a decrease in motivation can be expected.
In addition to Mrs. Crabtree, Ms. Pott’s not only described the separation of the character
ed lesson from the rest of the school day but implied that character education is only done
because it is something that the school has to do. Ms. Potts said,
It feels like we are saying, OK, we're taking a break from academics and we're going to
do a character ed lesson because we have to, and then we're going to go back to
academics and forget what we did (Ms. Potts, interview 2018).
This statement suggests there is character education and then there is the rest of the school day,
they appear as two separate entities, as opposed to a blending of the two throughout the school
day. Ms. Potts’ use of the phrase “taking a break” suggests that character ed is not as important
as the “academics” and Mrs. Crabtree’s comment that it “is not carried into” the rest of the
school day. This separation in curriculum goes against perspectives in the literature. Pala (2011)
emphasizes the need for a comprehensive approach to character education because of its ability
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to create a positive moral culture within the school while promoting the intellectual, social,
emotional and ethical development of young people. Character should be found throughout all
the classes and be seen in all of the students, yet Ms. Potts did not see a carryover from the
character education lesson into everything else that happens at the East Coast Middle School.
The other participants also expressed concern about character education not being
incorporated into the rest of the school environment. Mrs. Ophelia was an experienced teacher
in the school district and also a strong supporter of the character education program. She has
openly expressed to colleagues in the past that she would go as far as having the character
education curriculum be developed into an actual graded course. She has communicated its
value and also expressed the need for it to be more woven into the entire school day for it to be
effective. When speaking with Mrs. Ophelia about the value for students, she said,
I think all of these other things [character ed lessons] are needed to make them a well-
rounded person. They need to be brought into the classroom every day. I don't think it
can be a once a week or once a month lesson or whatever it is, we need to be carrying it
over.
Her emphasis on the importance of it being “everyday” and “carrying it over” into the
classrooms is evidence it is not being taught enough according to her. Mrs. Ophelia also stated,
“I think it's [character ed] major. I think we definitely need more meetings with our group. I
think these kids could use more of it" (Mrs. Ophelia interview, 2018). Pala (2011) wrote, for
character education to reach its fullest potential, the program has to be supported by everyone in
the school, including school leaders, by ensuring that necessary materials are provided to staff,
adequate time for the program and assemblies is built into the schedule, and everyone is talking
about it frequently. If Mrs. Ophelia is mentioning the need for more meetings with her character
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education group because the students need it more, then administrators need to do more to
incorporate it into the school day by adding more lessons and opportunities into the schedule for
teachers to teach it. Pala’s (2011) focus on an all school effort support Mrs. Ophelia’s need for
more time with students, as school administration must be part of this all school effort.
Teachers’ efforts to model what is expected of students is a huge part of a character
education program being successful. Denler, Wolters, and Benzon (2006) wrote that social
cognitive theory emphasizes that learning occurs in a social context and most of what is learned
is done through the observation of others. When considering that learning stems from
observations, it is important to mention that those observations can be students watching
teachers, students watching other students, or even students watching teachers interactions with
other students. Behavior and modeling are all aspects of learning that connect to the importance
of character education being woven into all aspects of the school day. Good character and
strong SEL are all influenced by what individuals see in others, whether it be peers and teachers
observance of each other, teachers and administrators observance of each other, or any
combination of one person looking on of another. Strong character and SEL woven into the day
by all individuals is critical for teachers to see the value in the curriculum they are teaching.
In one example, teachers were observed providing this kind of modeling. During an
observation in Mrs. Bell’s and Mrs. Ophelia’s character education group, both teachers were
welcoming the students into the room at the start of the class. The PowerPoint was already
loaded and the opening slide was on the smartboard. The opening slide said “The East Coast
Middle School Gives Back.” The lesson was on the annual service project that includes raising
money through a charity walkathon. Students all arrived and began settling in. Mrs. Bell said,
“Let’s all quiet down so we can talk about this year’s walkathon. The charity this year is St.
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Jude’s Research Hospital.” One of the boys interrupted her and blurted out, “What’s St. Judes?”
Mrs. Ophelia said, “If we continue to listen to Mrs. Bell then you and everyone else are going to
learn all about it.” Mrs. Bell continued on, stating, “We are going to watch a short video
explaining all about where St. Judes Research Hospital is, what they do, and how our school is
getting involved. Okay, let’s all be quiet as I start the video.” The students sat quietly and the
video began. The video gave basic information and the students listened. The video then talked
about the survival gap for different races of children with different diseases. The narrator
specifically discussed the struggles for Latinos and African American children with severe
medical issues. An Asian doctor was then introduced on the video and the narrator explained
that his research has really made significant improvements in closing the survival gap of Latino
and African American children. When the doctor started to talk, he had a very heavy accent
and a few of the boys in the classroom started to laugh. Mrs. Bell walked directly over to the
couple of boys, leaned in and said something to them. They stopped laughing immediately.
Mrs. Bell stood behind them for a brief moment after speaking with them. Once she walked
away to another part of the room they looked at each other and smirked, but otherwise
maintained their behavior. The teacher’s actions also was noticed by the other students as I
could see that other students saw her speak to them for their behavior. The video continued
without disruption.
Observing a group of students having a character education lesson and in the process
laugh at someone who was different than them was eye opening and informative as a
researcher. Despite Mrs. Bell interjecting immediately and stopping the behavior, the student’s
behavior was evidence that strong character is not yet consistently threaded into the rest of the
school experience. Schraw and McCrudden (2006) talk about automaticity, and how people are
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able to perform and complete a task very quickly due to repeated practice. Behavior is also the
result of repetition, specifically, repeated observation. Denler et al. (2006) state that social
cognitive theory of behavior rests on triadic reciprocality, meaning, a person’s ongoing
functioning is a product of a continuous interaction between cognitive, behavior, and contextual
factors. As such, character education lessons should be more consistently provided and this kind
of modeling to be consistently repeated for students’ to have opportunities to really learn what
the curriculum intended to teach them. Students having multiple repeated opportunities to learn
the character education content would also influence the school environment. During the
interview with Mrs. Bell (2018) she said, "I just can't stand when my kids are cruel, and I call
them out on that. I just want my classroom to be a safe environment for kids.” Both the
interview and the observational evidence supported that Mrs. Bell was attempting to foster an
ongoing environment with character education content. Her mention that she abhorred student
cruelty provides insight that she was still witnessing this, therefore there must be limited or no
carryover of the character education into the rest of the school day.
Although best efforts were made to present information through lessons and model the
behaviors and skills of good character, teachers still struggle at the East Coast Middle School to
get students to transfer what they are learning in character education classes and apply these
principles to be better people and genuinely create a positive school environment. According to
Ms. Potts, there have been times students have completed a character education lesson, and then
they will leave the lesson and look to carry out good behavior, but only because they “are
supposed to do that.” In Ms. Potts interview she described an upsetting observation of her own.
She told me,
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It feels very artificial…It just feels like its not woven into the fabric of daily life. I’ve
noticed that students hear something in the lesson, and then they go out into school and
artificially try to do, but then ask for commendation or for praise. They really aren't
building up skills (Ms. Potts interview, 2018).
All four participants expressed the importance of character education, with their main
concern at the time of this study being that character education was relegated to a less important
status and felt like it was just added to the day. They all stated in some capacity that the
material presented in character education needs to be part of the ongoing practices of teachers
throughout all aspects of the school day. This supports Denler et al. (2006) that social cognitive
theory and the importance of good modeling and behavior for learning. If character education
is one of the ways the school is approaching an effort to build up students’ character, as well as
social and emotional learning skills, it was believed by the teachers that the East Coast Middle
School needs to do a more thorough job at ensuring it is implemented through a more
comprehensive approach.
This study examined the interaction between organizational culture and teacher
motivation to teach character education curriculum. Without an organizational culture that
supports the curriculum by weaving it through the school day, and not just as a way to satisfy a
mandate or as an addendum to the day, students are unlikely to transfer the skills into practice
themselves. Without students wholeheartedly putting into practice what they are learning in
character education lessons throughout the school day, teachers’ motivation to teach them the
character education curriculum will continue to diminish. Teachers want to know their efforts
are helping improve students SEL skills and are bettering school culture. Mrs. Crabtree even
discussed the disconnect, stating,
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I don't know that I have seen or heard and the students you know reference the character
ed program or lesson. In my opinion it seems like an isolated event that students don't
reference or come back to throughout the day (Mrs. Crabtree interview, 2018).
Pajares’s (2006) writings on self-efficacy, state that success raises self-efficacy; failure lowers
it. If Mrs. Crabtree does not hear students reference the character education program or does
not see them come back to what they learned in the previous lessons, she may feel she is failing
in her pedagogy. The organization needs to ensure they are supporting this effort because of its
positive effects on students and school, and not just to meet a state requirement. The
organization’s effort to do this could also be viewed as an example of modeling for teachers.
Without all levels of stakeholders in the school behaving in a way that displays an effort to see
the program be successful, the organization will not improve, the students’ level of SEL will not
improve, and teacher motivation will not be sparked.
The scheduling and the lack of continuity of lessons was reported to have negatively
influenced teacher motivation to teach the character education curriculum
Teachers were scheduled to meet with their character education class approximately once
a week throughout the school year. Given a multitude of reasons, character education classes
were sometimes cancelled, and they were never rescheduled. If the cancelled class was the
second part of the one before it, there is a lack of continuity from lesson to lesson. Some lessons
were left unaddressed fully with no follow up or closure. This scheduling problem lies in the
hands of the administrators, as they are the ones who have the ability to reschedule and ensure
that all lessons are taught throughout the year. Given the importance of character education
topics, there should be a plan in place to deal with cancellations due to unforeseen
circumstances. When I asked Mrs. Crabtree if she thought the curriculum helped with her
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engagement with the program, she said “The lessons have good bones and are made well, but it’s
more a factor with the dynamic of the schedule that is the problem.” Here is another example of
the scheduling of the lessons having a negative impact on teachers’ perceptions of the
organization’s support of the program. If Mrs. Crabtree found her engagement with the
curriculum influenced by the lesson schedule inconsistency, then there must be more of an effort
from the organization to make sure the scheduling and rescheduling of lessons is consistent. It is
also important to draw the connection to the influences of the organization, in this case, how they
need to encourage stakeholders to embrace the new curriculum. Without the organization
committed to even fulfilling all of the lessons, it is difficult for them to tell teachers to embrace
it. Denler, Wolters, and Benzon, (2006) wrote that social cognitive theory continues to
emphasize that much of what is learned is gained through observation. If teachers observe
administrators not making character education lessons a priority, it can be deduced that teachers
will not place importance on the lessons either and be less willing to embrace them. Given that
the curriculum covers topics that are of great importance to the students, teachers, and school
culture, it is in the best interest of administration to show teachers they value the curriculum and
ensure all lessons are taught throughout the year.
The curriculum covered topics that are supposed to help build student social and
emotional learning (SEL) while also improving the school climate. Schonert-Reichl (2017) has
written that teachers are the driving force behind school programs and practices focusing on SEL
development in students. With this research supporting teachers being such an integral part of the
programs success, it is important they are motivated to teach it. An example that demonstrates
the lack of motivation by teachers due to the inconsistent lessons was given by Mrs. Crabtree.
She stated during her interview, “I think because it's these isolated lessons it's just not very
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effective at changing the culture, I don’t think teachers are as invested or the students” (Mrs.
Crabtree interview, 2018). Pajaras (2006) tells us that motivation is enhanced if there is a
positive expectation for success. Mrs. Crabtree is an example of a teacher who doesn’t feel the
culture is being changed because of the “isolated lessons” that make up the curriculum. This
description of no improvement in the school culture is reason for teacher motivation to be
decreasing.
When students recognized and started questioning the lack of continuity of the lessons, it
started to influence teacher motivation. While observing one of Ms. Potts’ classes, a student
recognized lesson inconsistencies, asked about it to teachers, and even brought it up in front of
peers. Mrs. Potts began taking attendance at the start of one of her character education classes.
As attendance was taken, Mrs. Crabtree wrote the topic of the lesson on the whiteboard. The
topic for the character education lesson was cheating in school. One student raised her hand and
asked, “Why are we talking about cheating when last time we had a speaker talk to the school
about suicide and bullying?” Ms. Potts responded, “because this is the lesson we are doing this
week.” I then overheard a different student in the room say, “This is dumb.” A second student
raised his hand and asked, “Are we ever going to come back and talk about the speaker?” Mrs.
Potts answered, “It’s a possibility, but not today.” She then asked the students to settle down and
be quiet. Students were whispering at their tables, and Mrs. Potts continued on with the cheating
lesson. The students’ questions about why they weren’t continuing where they had left off and if
they would even come back to the content from the previous lesson are all direct connections to
the lack of continuity of the lessons due to cancellations. When discussing this with Ms. Potts,
she even spoke about the lessons being created in a way that fit the class period and how teachers
just do the lesson for that day without the goal of making connections. Ms. Potts said,
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When the lesson is presented to teachers, it is usually happens like two or three days before the
lesson is meant to be delivered in class and they're [administrator] usually kind of like, OK this is
what we have to do and here's the lesson this time. And they usually are lessons that are sort of
canned to fit into the time period which is like 40 minutes or so, and the sense I get is it's kind of
like OK we're doing this. And so you kind of get a sense people are more like, alright, you know,
going through the motions.
Following along with the “canned” lessons is counterproductive to the goals of character
education curriculum. It would be better for the students if teachers were able to maintain the
order of the lessons, as opposed to doing the ones that are scheduled for that specific day. In this
situation, students were not given the opportunity to continue on the topic they last discussed,
despite showing some interest in what they had learned the previous lesson. Students were even
asking if they would ever go back to the previous material. Having lessons cancelled and not
made up created the lack of cohesion amongst content taught from lesson to lesson. If the lesson
had taken place, then there would have been closure to the topic of bullying and suicide, and the
teacher could have mentioned to the students they would be moving into a new topic the next
time they met. This didn’t happen, and the lesson cancellation caused there to be no closure, and
also a new topic begin which appeared to be random for the students.
Considering the disjointedness of the curriculum, it is not surprising there is less
motivation to teach it. When interviewing the participants, I was interested in their impression of
teachers’ motivation levels. Their answers revealed that the scheduling issues already mentioned
were influencing their motivation. For example, when speaking with Mrs. Ophelia about these
cancelations, she said, “I think some [teachers] have gotten less involved because they don't
believe that it's worth the time.” Eccles (2006) wrote that expectancy value motivational theory
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can be determined by the answers to two questions: can I do the task and do I want to do the task.
If the answer to the second question was no, then it was highly unlikely there is engagement.
Considering Mrs. Ophelia’s statement about teachers believing character education classes are a
waste of time, it is implied they don’t want to do the task. This is the second time these theme
has pointed to teachers believing the curriculum is a waste of time. Looking back to Mrs.
Crabtree’s comments earlier in this theme, she too had alluded to this when she said the program
wasn’t having an influence on the school culture.
When reflecting on interviews with participants and including the insight gained from the
observation, there is evidence the erratic schedule disrupted teacher motivation. Teachers were
aware that the lessons became erratic due to unforeseen events such as snow days, or maybe
even school trips, or unexpected school issues, but it did not change the fact that it still had a
negative influence over their motivation. Mrs. Crabtree even made a suggestion about
combating the inconsistencies, stating,
An agenda in September of these are the dates and we're sticking to them. There's no
like: Oh! We've had two snow days. Got to cut character ed. There just needs to be the
priority that these are the lessons. And there's a reason we can't just skip number five
because number five should have something to do with number four and number six. So
if we had that agenda in the beginning of the year and had more cohesion then it would
be easier for admin to force us to continue with this schedule and to not be able to just let
us all get away with skipping a character ed day” (Mrs. Crabtree interview, 2018).
Mrs. Crabtree’s comment saying “admin forcing us to continue with the schedule” seems
to suggest teachers have the option not to implement the lesson, but in fact, the lessons are on the
calendar. What she is saying here is that when there are cancellations because of snow days or
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other unforeseen issues, the administrator should prioritize the lessons enough to move them to
another day.
The evidence presented from the interviews and observation is very specific about the
importance of continuity with the lessons. The teachers in this study expressed their frustration
with the lesson schedule being so inconsistent, and even students were bringing attention to the
issue. In the above comment, Mrs. Crabtree demonstrated a desire on her part to have the
administration set a schedule at the beginning of the year and just follow through with it. The
isolation of the lessons happens due to cancellations because of snow days and changes to the
main school schedule last minute, as was stated by Mrs. Crabtree in the above statement. One of
the research questions asked how the organizational influences interact with teacher motivation
to teach these lessons. If administrators are cancelling these lessons with no effort to schedule
make ups, teacher motivation to teach this curriculum is diminished by the organization’s lack of
effort to see the curriculum all the way through.
Teacher motivation to teach the curriculum was primarily internal, as teachers didn’t view
administration to be supportive of their motivation
Administrators are the people including this curriculum in the schedule and adding it to
the teachers’ workload, but, according to the teachers, their actions do not show this curriculum
is of great importance to them or that they are committed to the completion of all the lessons that
have been created by the character education curriculum committee. If teachers don’t have
someone in a leadership role who seems excited about the curriculum, this plays a role in how
teachers will feel about teaching it. As Mrs. Ophelia stated,
When it [character education program] first started, I think our leader had a strong belief
in this program and was 100% involved. And I think that is contagious. When people see
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that, people follow, believe it, and roll with it. The same person is no longer in charge,
and the new leadership doesn’t have the same energy, and you can see the energy change
with the teachers too (Mrs. Ophelia interview, 2018).
Mrs. Ophelia’s described how the level of energy and excitement of the leader presenting
the curriculum to teachers seems to be influential in the level of energy and excitement of the
teachers. This motivational piece connects to both research questions that have framed this
study. Looking at teachers motivation to teach the curriculum and also looking at the
organization’s influence over the teacher’s motivation when they teach the curriculum are both
addressed here. It has been theorized in this study that the organization’s level of encouragement
of teachers to embrace this curriculum is an influence that must be met to maintain teacher
motivation. Other teachers who took part in this study also addressed the administrator’s lack of
motivational influence.
When asking Mrs. Crabtree if administrators did anything to contribute to her
motivation to teach character education, she said, "I don't see any motivating factors from admin.
I'm never completely motivated or excited about, you know, tackling the character ed
curriculum." This is the second participant in the study who described no external motivational
influence from the leader of the school. These experiences from these two teachers further paint
the picture of the leadership. Earlier in the analysis, teachers described the administrators as
being more concerned about meeting state mandates with this curriculum than anything else. If
administration is perceived as only being worried about meeting a state mandate, then this
implies they have done their job by just having the curriculum, and their outward enthusiasm
may never be seen because they do not need to be excited and motivated as long as the
curriculum exists.
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Without a change of approach by the administration, to demonstrate a “strong belief in
the program” as stated by Mrs. Ophelia, those who have been supportive of the program may
become less involved and motivated. Mrs. Bell was a teacher who always looked forward to
character education sessions, because she found the information very important to the growth of
her students as well as its influence over the school culture. At one point, Mrs. Bell was on the
curriculum writing committee for character education. However, over time, her motivation has
decreased because of the lack of support from administration. She said,
When you have somebody so gung ho about character ed who no longer wants to be on
the committee, I think that is huge. Something's broken if somebody like me doesn't even
– wants no part of it – there's something wrong. (Mrs. Bell interview, 2018).
Mrs. Bell’s motivation to be involved in this curriculum as a committee member, working with
administration evaporated. However, her motivation to teach the curriculum was still present.
Despite the leadership personnel not being an external motivator for teachers, Mrs. Bell, along
with some colleagues, still saw the importance of the program and were motivated intrinsically
to teach it. Mrs. Bell followed up on her earlier statement saying, "People’s attitudes have
changed towards the program. I don’t think it is as important to administrators as it is to me, but I
feel comfortable with it so I'm gung ho to teach it to students” (Mrs. Bell interview, 2018). Mrs.
Bell’s comment that she is “gung ho to teach it” is also shaped by her comfort level with it. Her
self-efficacy, likely due to her previous involvement on the committee, gives her the internal
motivation to teach the curriculum.
Motivation is a critical piece in the effectiveness of the curriculum implementation. This
theme is looking at two different aspects of the motivation levels of teachers, and there is a
common response from teachers that they are not motivated externally by their building
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administrator, yet they still have internal motivation to teach the curriculum because they value
the content and/or are comfortable with it. Ms. Potts is another teacher who, like Mrs. Bell, had
internal motivation but has not been motivated externally:
There is value, but there needs to be more focus on community building and human
interaction. It just seems like they [admin] are just trying to hit on buzz words, and as far
as their impact on me teaching it, no they don’t motivate me, not really. (Ms. Potts
interview, 2018).
Mrs. Potts’ comment highlights that while she sees the value in the program, this is not being
communicated to her by the administration.
Participants still acknowledged the value and even talked about things that they would
like to see in the curriculum or they felt was important for students to gain from the curriculum.
They showed signs of being internally motivated to teach the curriculum, yet did not have any
motivation from the administrative team. Mrs. Ophelia offered her detailed position on why she
was motivated to teach the curriculum to students, by saying,
The opportunity to share about themselves [students], the opportunity to think about
others, to do for others; I think they [students] need that brought to their attention. I think
it's important to spend that time because everyone does not live like we see here in East
Coast Town. You know to be exposed to what else is going on other places or just to
think about things other than themselves. And I think it's important to give them that safe
place where they have the chance to talk about and learn about all these other things and
do for others (Mrs. Ophelia interview, 2018).
Mrs. Ophelia’s explanation of why character education is important for her students
showed her understanding of the value of the curriculum. She continued on about the
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administrative role in the program, stating, “I don't see them [administrators] pushing the sense
of urgency. I don't think that they're saying they don't support it but I don't see them pushing it
either.” (Mrs. Ophelia interview, 2018). If the leaders of the East Coast Middle School are
showing no urgency when it comes to the full curriculum being taught, then it is expected that
teachers will interpret this as a lack of administrative motivation to commit to seeing the whole
curriculum through. Schein (2017) says that leaders embed their beliefs into their organization
through role modeling, teaching, and coaching. If district goals are looking to develop student
character and foster SEL, then school leaders need to set the example and prioritize the very
program put in place to meet those goals. As Mrs. Ophelia alluded to, they need to be “pushing
it.”
Teachers were struggling with motivational support from administrators at the time of the
study, yet they still hoped for improvements to be made, showing a sense of internal motivation
for the current and future character education curriculum. Although wanting positive change to
occur, there was still uncertainty about where it would originate from, since it did not seem that
it was a goal of the administrators. Mrs. Potts alluded to the fact that administrators did not seem
to want positive change when she said:
I do believe that there is much room for change and improvement. But I don't feel like
that's the overall goal. And so it doesn't feel like I'm being encouraged by the
administration to really come on board and have buy-in to this whole system (Ms. Potts
interview, 2018).
Clark and Estes (2008) stated that one form of motivation problems can stem from lack of buy-
in, which can result in task avoidance or even rejection of task commitment. Mrs. Potts
specifically described her lack of buy-in for the character education curriculum. Without
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teachers receiving administrative encouragement to buy-in to the curriculum, a main influence of
the organization, there will always be organizational barriers to reaching the goal of
implementing the complete character education curriculum. Clark and Estes (2008) wrote that
when organizational goals and procedures conflict with organizational culture, that is when there
will be performance problems. The culture of the administrators over the 2017-2018 school year
has been one that has no urgency to follow through with the curriculum as well as not being
motivating for staff as they take on the curriculum.
All four participants mentioned in their interviews that administrators did not do anything
to foster their motivation to teach the curriculum. The school leaders were not modeling for
teachers their belief in the importance of the program, and in turn there was an overarching sense
that teachers’ motivation was influenced by their own behavior and their own internal drivers.
Based on the evidence presented from this study, if teachers are motivated, then it came from an
internal driver or personal interest, and not externally from their administrator. Mrs. Bell (2018)
even commented during her interview, "I think whatever I want to do is self-motivated.”

Synthesis
The four teachers from the East Coast Middle School who took part in the study provided
valuable data that was presented in four main themes:
1. Teachers had the basic knowledge of the curriculum content, but had not been trained how to
respond and facilitate discussions with students about difficult and controversial topics.
2. The character education curriculum was viewed as an addition to the day to meet state
standards and not as something that was woven throughout all aspects of the school environment.
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3. The scheduling and lack of continuity of lessons was reported to negatively influence teacher
motivation to teach the character education curriculum.
4. Teacher motivation to teach the curriculum was primarily internal, as teachers didn’t view
administration to be supportive of their motivation.
These themes were supported with data that was collected via observations and
interviews.
Teachers in the study made consistent points about the created lessons being great pieces
of the curriculum, allowing them to just walk into a classroom and teach content off a
PowerPoint. However, the training provided was criticized for not going beyond the PowerPoint
or giving teachers opportunities to discuss the content and prepare for how students may respond
to tough topics presented in the curriculum. The four teachers all said in some capacity that
while the curriculum had value, overall it felt there could be more support from administration
when it came to the PD training and the consistency in the lesson schedule.
The organization’s administrative leaders had the capacity to schedule as many or as few
lessons as they deemed neccessary. They also were the only people who could reschedule
lessons when they needed to be cancelled for a variety of unforeseen circumstances. Over the
course of the 2017-2018 school year, lessons were cancelled and not rescheduled. Teachers in
the study felt this showed the administrative team did not see the value of the curriculum enough
to reschedule, despite the literature citing the positive influences these types of programs have on
schools and students. In addition to the lack of rescheduled lessons, the teachers in this study also
discussed during their interviews that they believed the administrative team only implemented
the program to meet some type of state requirement. Regardless of verification, this perception
was communicated by teachers and influenced the way they viewed the support for the program.
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The different examples provided from the teachers about the character education
curriculum appearing to be low priority on the list of administrators also was cited when asking
if the teachers felt motivated by administration to teach it. Teachers believed their motivation
was internal or based upon the content of individual lessons. They did not feel administration
did anything to get them excited about it.
As stated earlier, teachers perceived value in the character education curriculum. The
literature also supported the teachers’ belief in the curriculum, as studies have shown these
curricula result in positive outcomes for students and schools. The evidence and analysis of the
findings presented in this chapter are the foundation for the rationale behind the
recommendations that are presented in chapter five.

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CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION
The East Coast Middle School’s inclusion of a character education curriculum was for
the purpose of building students’ SEL competencies and to help promote a positive and healthy
school climate and culture. The purpose of the study was to examine the factors related to the
implementation of the new character education curriculum. The questions that guided this study
were the following:
1. What are the teachers’ knowledge and motivation to implement a new character education
curriculum emphasizing positive psychology interventions?
2. What is the interaction between organizational culture and context and teacher knowledge and
motivation to implement a new character education curriculum?
This concluding chapter will be organized into a few major areas including the implications for
practice, recommendations for practice, future research, and an overall conclusion of the project.

Implications for Practice
Implications for each of the stakeholders can be made based on the findings in this study.
Conclusions about students, teachers, and administrators all need to be considered when looking
at the findings, and it is important to consider the effects they may have on the organization and
the interaction between stakeholders. Implications for students, teachers, and administrators are
presented here.

Students
Character education is a program that has historically shown improvement in student
academic achievement, student behavior, and the relationships students have with their peers and
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teachers. Poor implementation of this curriculum in the East Coast School Middle School may
result in a lost opportunities for students to develop their social and emotional skills, as well as
negatively impact academic growth and positive behavior changes. The curriculum plays a
significant role in meeting the district’s overall mission for students. Without a commitment to
implement all lessons of the curriculum, students will suffer gaps in knowledge and
understanding of valuable topics that are needed for community and global understanding of
serious issues. Additionally, without students attaining this knowledge and gaining the value-
added experience of discussion of topics among peers, they also lose out on a chance to develop
their own voice through peer discussion and interaction with their teachers. Lastly, students who
have not completed the curriculum due to lesson cancellations, or were in a class with a teacher
who had decreased motivation to teach it, also lost out on experiences that could have had long-
term positive influence on their well-being.

Teachers
Pedagogically, character education curriculum is a vehicle that provides opportunities for
teachers to develop deeper relationships with their students, develop their own SEL, and
establish a positive school environment. The findings from this study demonstrate that teachers
believe in the curriculum but felt unprepared during certain aspects while teaching it due to the
type of training they were given. Additionally, teachers in the East Coast Middle School do not
feel the administrators care about the content of this curriculum as much as they care about
meeting state requirements. These issues can lead to teachers’ lack of self-efficacy to teach the
program, while also viewing the curriculum as less important than it really is. When
administrators fail to provide training or support for the curriculum, teachers may be less
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motivated to teach it because they may not see the value in it. If teachers are not confident to
teach the program or stop seeing its importance, their opportunities to develop relationships with
their students could be in jeopardy. Additionally, if teachers become indifferent to the
curriculum because they are not supported with training or do not see the value in the content,
the teacher and administrator relationship could also suffer.

Administrators
Administrators in the East Coast Middle School were the sole decision makers when it
came to organizing teacher training of the character education curriculum and the scheduling of
the lessons. The findings show that teacher training and the master scheduling was at times
disorganized, not prioritized well, and was frustrating for teachers because of the lack of
continuity of the material and methods. These issues can negatively influence the way teachers
view administrators. If administrators are not seen as strong leaders for teachers, confidence in
them can waiver and trust may erode over time. Additionally, if administrators do not
consistently show they prioritize this curriculum, teachers may become less motivated to teach it
and they may not prioritize it either. With all there is to gain from a strong implementation of
character education curriculum within a school, administrators take a monumental risk of losing
out on the perks of enhancing the school environment and the relationships between various
stakeholders if character education curriciulum cannot be turnkeyed consistenly, practically, and
of high quality.

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Recommendations for Practice
Based on the literature, The East Coast Middle School is making the right decision to
have and incorporate character education into its curriculum. The literature suggests that
character education can positively influence students, teachers, and entire schools, so that they
are thriving, productive, and healthier (character.org, n.d). Additionally, character education has
shown to improve student SEL, which is one of the focuses of the East Coast School District
mission. The study of the implementation of the curriculum found that the implementation and
support for the program was deficient in many areas, however, changes can be made to ensure
that all stakeholders feel the benefits the program has the ability to produce. Recommendations,
based on the findings of the study, in the areas of knowledge, motivation, and the organization
are presented here.

Knowledge Recommendations
Knowledge influences play a critical role in an organization reaching its performance
goals. The knowledge influences presented in chapter two are declarative, procedural, and
metacognitive, but the findings only validated the procedural knowledge type. Anderson and
Krathwohl’s (2000) taxonomy of learning and teaching would situate the declarative influences
under remembering and understanding, the procedural influence under applying, and the
metacognitive influence under the self-evaluative level of the taxonomy.
Clark and Estes (2008) write that by giving people information, they are provided with
new and important knowledge concepts as well as current theories and/or principles. Knowledge
is at the very core of instruction (Mayer, 2011). Few teachers who are given the task of teaching
character education are given the education and knowledge needed to implement these
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curricula successfully (Milson, 2013). The findings of the study tell us that procedural
knowledge was the most validated influence of all the possible knowledge influences considered.
The context recommendations and the theoretical principle that supports this is explained next.
Teachers need to know how to implement a PP curriculum that can foster social and
emotional learning. The teachers from the East Coast Middle School who took part in the study
felt they needed more opportunities to collaborate with their colleagues about the lessons and
how to handle student response to different topics. To develop mastery, individuals must acquire
component skills, practice integrating them, and know when to apply what they have learned
(Shraw & McCrudden, 2006). It is recommended that teachers are given an additional training
session for each lesson. The first training should continue to be an administrator sharing the
powerpoint and topic of the following weeks lesson with teachers. This recommended second
training session solely target teacher collaboration about the lesson topic so they can work on
preparation for student response to the content. Using these experiences will help lead to
mastery due to developing teachers’ understanding of the character education curriculum content
as well as foster their pedagogical abilities when teaching it to students.
Clark and Estes (2008) support job aids when people do not have enough relevant past
experience. Job aids are resources that assist people when they need to perform a new procedure
and are designed to focus people on exactly how to decide and act on the job so their
performance goals are accomplished (Clark & Estes, 2008). Job aids are also useful for those
who have completed the training, but may just need reminders while they implement the new
character education curriculum (Clark & Estes, 2008). In the case of the character education
lesson training, teachers may collaborate to develop a job aid such as a small notecard of bullet
points they can refer to during the lesson. This creation of a job aid could also be done on a
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larger scale, and be used during the lesson with students. Main points discussed between
teachers during the second training session can be placed on a large teaching chart or whiteboard
and even be used by teachers with their students. Although teachers have experience
implementing curriculum in their content area of focus, implementing a different curriculum is a
new task. The job aids created by teachers will be a form of assistance that can help with the
implementation of the character education curriculum and even be another tool that can help
students as well.

Motivation Recommendations
Motivation influences play a critical role in stakeholders reaching their performance
goals. The motivational influences presented in chapter two were value and self-efficacy. When
stakeholders understand the value in the work they are doing (Eccles, 2006: Pintrich, 2003) and
also believe they are capable of completing it, they will be more motivated (Pajaras, 2006). In
the study of the implementation of character education in the East Coast Middle School, the
motivational influence of expectancy value was most validated by the teachers. Although the
self-efficacy of teachers was occasionally brought up in interviews, there was not enough data to
support its influence in the teachers’ ability to implement the curriculum. Additionally, teachers’
perceived that their administrators did not consider the value of the program when making
decisions about lesson scheduling and the extent of the training provided to them. Self-efficacy
was not an influence that was typical in the findings. Context recommendations and the
theoretical principles that support expectancy value can be read below.
Teachers and administrators need to view how educational curricula focused on PPI may
be useful for students and school culture and climate. Rationales that include a discussion of the
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importance and utility value of the work or learning can help learners develop positive values
(Eccles, 2006; Pintrich, 2003). Teachers and administrators in the East Coast Middle School
should continuously be given information about other schools and teachers that have already
implemented character education curriculum, and how it had a positive influence on teachers’
experiences, students’ experiences, and the climate and culture of the respective school. The
examples provided should be from schools with a similar size teaching and student population,
community demographics, test scores, socioeconomic background, and other educational district
factors so it is relatable and teachers and administrators can make the connection to their own
school. Providing this information yearly will help teachers continue their belief in the
curriculum and should help administrators make more supportive decisions when it comes to the
curriculum.
Teachers in the East Coast Middle School study all agreed there is value in the character
education curriculum. Schools that have character education curriculum show a reduction in
student absenteeism, fewer discipline issues, and higher academic performance (character.org,
n.d., Schonert-Reichl, 2017), all outcomes that show value in the curriculum and help the
organization meet their goals and mission. These improvements in student experiences as well
as their learning outcomes create a more positive experience for the teacher as well as
administrators. The research has shown that students who show greater concern for their peers,
are more skilled at conflict resolution, and engage in greater prosocial behavior when they take
part in character education programs (character.org, n.d,). These positive influences brought on
by character education programs should be sufficient for teachers to be motivated to teach it. In
addition to teachers seeing the value, administrators also need to remember this research when
making decisions about the curriculum. This is the reason for the recommendation of providing
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 119

information showing the benefits to character education curriculum so teachers continue to
understand its value, while also bringing attention of these benefits to administrators.

Organization Recommendations
Organizational influences play a critical role in stakeholders reaching their performance
goals. The organizational influences presented in chapter two were, the organization needs to
encourage stakeholders to embrace the changes in the new curriculum while also providing
teachers with training to teach the new curriculum. Clarke and Estes (2008) wrote that effective
change begins by addressing motivation influencers; it ensures the group knows why it needs to
change, and then addresses organizational barriers and also knowledge and skills needs.
Additionally, effective change efforts ensure that everyone has the resources (equipment,
personnel, time, etc.) needed to do their jobs, and that if there are resource shortages, then
resources are aligned with organizational priorities (Clark & Estes, 2008). Context
recommendations and the theoretical principle that supports these principles are here.
Although implementation and training recommendations are the main focus of how the
organization can enhance practices that pertain to the character education curriculum, an initial
recommendation to administration is to ensure that teachers know the curriculum is in place
because of the value the district places on the content and not because of a state mandated anti-
bullying legislation that was put into place in 2011. Although the character education program
has changed over the past decade from the initial name of TAP to character education, it is
important for the teachers to know this was mearly part of the program’s evolution and not due
to the 2011 legislation. Some teachers expressed in their interviews they felt the program was
done only to meet a state mandate. The curriculum does include lessons on anti-bullying and not
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 120

being a by-stander, which do align with the state law, but the full curriculum covers a variety of
topics that help develop student character in addition to anti-bullying behaviors. By ensuring
teachers know the curriculum is not just another requirement they are asked to meet, but rather it
is a purposeful selection of the content chosen to help the students well-being, they may be more
motivated to support and teach it.
The organization should encourage stakeholders to embrace changes with new
curriculum, communicate to everyone why the curriculum was changed, while also informing
teachers of the benefits to these changes. Additionally, the organization needs to provide the
training to teachers so they are able to implement the changed curriculum to students. Agocs
(1997) wrote about the change processes and the importance of sharing with stakeholders the
reasoning for the change happening in the first place. Adults are more motivated to participate
and learn when they see the importance of the new information (Knowles, 1980). Change
supportive processes should include constant communication with everyone about the problems
and progress involving all stakeholders (Clark & Estes, 2008). In the case of the character
education curriculum, it is recommended that training sessions should include an explanation of
why the curriculum was changed to include PPIs. By including information to teachers about
why the changes were being made, teachers may be more inclined to embrace them. This is also
an opportunity for administrators to personally explain and provide supportive materials of how
these changes have the ability to enhance multiple facets of the school, such as enhanced student
well-being, teacher-student relationships, improved academic performance and even better
student behavior.
Communication needs to be considered in both words and action. Kotter (1996) wrote
that nothing undermines a change effort more than behavior by people in leadership positions
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 121

that does not align with what they say. In the findings, teachers expressed that leadership had
given them this curriculum to implement, yet leadership had not shown a consistent support of
the curriculum in the school—specifically in their inaction to reschedule cancelled lessons, and
inability provide adequate amounts of training so teachers felt best prepared to teach the
curriculum.
It is recommended that administrators ensure teachers are given adequate training in new
curriculum while also committing to rescheduling all cancelled character education lessons
throughout the school year. The organization should provide more sessions and more detailed
training to all teachers so they understand the character education curriculum goals while also
having more opportunities to discuss the lessons with colleagues and ask questions if they have
them. An additional training session with an emphasis on collegial discussions about the
upcoming character education lesson is recommended.
Schein (2017) states that when learning new information during a change process it is
critical that formal training and resources are provided. Administrators need to take
responsibility to ensure teachers are given the tools to carry out school-wide changes, such as
implementing the new character education curriculum. District and building administrators
should also provide time for professional development so that teachers can be successful
(Zimmerman, 2006). Professional development is an ongoing process so that teachers can reach
district goals of effectively implementing the new character education curriculum. Without
professional development (in district training or out of district opportunities), the skills and
knowledge needed for teachers to successfully navigate the change process will not occur and it
will be challenging to track the results that occurred because of the change (Clark & Estes,
2008).
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 122

Future Research
This study provided a lot of data that could be used to help the middle school
administrators of the East Coast School District understand the needs of their staff when it comes
to implementing character education curriculum more efficiently and effectively. Considering
the limitations of the study, it would be beneficial to do a second study with the same focus but
have a much larger sample of teachers and collect data over longer periods of time. Having
greater teacher participation would provide richer data and evidence greater support for each of
the KMO influences being studied. This would allow for a more thorough report of the findings,
and provide more information to the decision-makers who are in the position to make future
changes to the curriculum. This study limited the data collection window, therefore providing
more time would solicit more data and insight. Additionally, I would recommend more
observations over an entire school year and doing a lot more interviews. A longer study on
teacher implementation of curriculum with a sample size of 15-20% of teachers could yield more
data and a much deeper look into what is needed for the implementation to have a greater effect
on student well-being. In addition to doing this study a second time, but with a change in sample
size, the overall length of time for the study, and increasing the amount of interviews, there are
other areas of research that would be beneficial to conduct when looking at the implementation
of new curriculum.
When considering the vast amount of research about the benefits of character education
and positive psychology interventions that preceded this study, it is alarming that school district
administrators are still not making these programs a top priority. These programs not only
positively affect students, but also promote healthier environments for teachers, and overall
foster happier, healthier, and more empathetic climates within schools. The teachers in this
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 123

dissertation study all spoke of the need for more training and time devoted to the character
education curriculum. Teachers in school districts are typically not in control of these logistics,
so despite wanting greater support and resources, they are not in positions to make decisions that
drive change within these parameters. Future research needs examine the rationale for how these
programs fail to rise as a top priority despite all the support for their impacts on people and
schools. Future research should specifically consider longitudinal studies with more
opportunities to observe a greater number of teachers implementing the curriculum.
As such, my recommendation would be for future research in this area to focus on two
areas: (1) administrative perspective on the importance of well-being initiatives in schools, and
(2) administrative support of teachers when implementing new character education initiatives. If
we are to combat well-being issues in our youth, then we need to know why such a huge problem
is not tackled more vigilantly in our schools.

POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 124

Conclusion
The well-being of today’s youth is deteriorating at an alarming rate. Mental health issues
are becoming the norm among adolescents (Mojtabai, Olfson, & Han, 2016), and schools are one
organization trying to do their part in helping to combat this issue. School districts are using
character education programs and positive psychology content as a way to teach students
strategies that can help them have greater positive well-being (Compton & Hoffman, 2012).
The East Coast School District’s implementation of a character education curriculum
grounded in components of positive psychology was examined during this study. Main areas the
curriculum focused on were: character strengths, mindfulness, gratitude, service learning, and
resilience. The main stakeholder group studied was teachers due to their direct influence of
teaching the curriculum to students. More specifically, teachers knowledge, motivation, and
their interaction with organizational support were examined as influences in the study.
Following observations of teachers while teaching the curriculum and interviews afterwards,
findings supported that teachers both need and want the knowledge, training, and organizational
support so they are motivated to teach this invaluable curriculum to their students.
This study presented literature that supported the need for students in schools to have
more tools and strategies to help develop their social and emotional competencies. The literature
also provided numerous examples and previous studies of enhanced student well-being in
schools that were able to provide successful character education and positive psychology
interventions. This study was adminsitered in the East Coast School District and found that
teachers agreed with the literature. Moving forward, The East Coast Middle School
administration will need to consider effective training for their teachers. Enhanced training
would include more time for teachers to discuss and ask questions with both colleagues and
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 125

administrators about the lessons they are required to teach. Administrators also need to schedule
lessons with continuity in mind, and be sure to reschedule lessons when they are cancelled so the
curriculum is seamless over the course of the school year. Based on the findings, teachers would
welcome greater support from administrators with program training and scheduling. These
improvements would help teachers’ overall motivation to teach it. With better implementation,
the collective climate and culture of the school would be improved, making a more positive
experience for all stakeholders.
These interventions are needed, but teachers in the East Coast School District were
seeking more support so they could best assist their students with the content. This study
supports the need for strong, high-quality training in this area, as well as the need for
administrators to designate it a top priority. School administrators have the power to ensure that
implementation of these programs are successful by providing the best resources to teachers,
specifically in the form of training, collegial collaboration, and out-of-district professional
development. If teachers and administrators are on the same team striving to reach the same
goals and missions of their school district, there is no reason why these recommendations should
not be put into practice and provide opportunities for an improved curriculum to take root. After
all, every stakeholders’ well-being is at stake.

POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 126

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APPENDIX A: Interview Protocol
Thank you for allowing me to observe your character education lessons and for meeting with me
for this interview. First I would like to ask you questions about the new character education
curriculum.
1. Tell me about the new character development curriculum the school is implementing.
2. What is the curriculum trying to accomplish?
3. What are some changes you have noticed in the curriculum?
4. If asked what the components of the character education curriculum are, what would you
say? Please name and describe each one.
a. Probe for mindfulness
b. Probe for character strengths
c. Probe for resiliency
d. Probe for gratitude
e. Probe for service learning
5. Can you describe what you believe engagement from teachers looks like in school? What
it specifically looks like if when they are teaching character education lessons.
6. How do you engage with your students when you teach this curriculum?
7. How has the content of the new character education curriculum helped you to engage
with students, if at all?
8. Moving forward, what additional knowledge is needed by teachers to ensure that the
curriculum is properly implemented?
9. Which positive psychology interventions are you most comfortable teaching?
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 135

10. Some say that we shouldn’t waste time with character education in schools. What are
your thoughts on this?
11. In what ways do you believe teachers’ motivation to teach the curriculum has changed
because of the new components?
12. How do the 5 major components of the curriculum (character strengths, mindfulness,
resiliency, gratitude, and service learning) influence the experience of the students during
the school day, if at all? Can you provide a specific example that demonstrates this
influence on students?
13. How is the focus on character strengths influencing students’ experiences? (Will ask
about each of the 5 components)
14. Tell me about a time when you were teaching this curriculum and you thought to yourself
“I can do this!”
15. Tell me about a time when you were teaching this curriculum and you thought to
yourself, “I really don’t know how to do this!"
Now I’d like to ask you a few questions about the training you received to implement this new
curriculum.
16. When learning the new curriculum, what aspect of the training helped you implement the
curriculum successfully? Can you provide a specific example? What would you
recommend the organization do to improve the training you received?
17. How does the training include opportunities for your own personal development of the
SEL skills, if at all?
18. What are your thoughts on opportunities for training on reflecting on your own SEL
skills?
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 136

I’d like to turn now to how the organization’s leadership supports this work.
19. How did the administrative team communicate the need for the changes to this
curriculum, if they did? What was their vision?
20. How did they bring everyone along, if they did?
I’d like to now ask you some questions about the relationship between the teachers and
administrators, and how that may influence the new curriculum.
21. How would you describe the relationship between the administration and the teachers?
22. If you were the administrator of the building, how would you motivate the staff when
they are faced with teaching new content?
23. How does the administrative team help foster teacher motivation to teach the new
curriculum, if at all? Describe how they build your motivation.
24. What more do you think the administrative team can do to help teachers be motivated to
teach the curriculum?
25. In what ways does the relationship between administrators and teachers play a role in the
implementation of new curriculum and programs within this school?
26. What elements of the character education program are important in building the
relationship between staff and administration in this school?
27. Some people say that the character education curriculum puts more weight on some
teachers over others. What are your thoughts about this?
28. If you were implementing a new curriculum with the staff, how would you solicit
feedback to make changes for its improvement for the following year?
A final set of questions is about how these changes are being made and what you think of these
changes.
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 137

29. What do you believe are the main reasons for making changes to the character education
curriculum?
30. How is a sense of urgency communicated about the curriculum changes, if any? How is
this communication of a sense of urgency taken up by teachers?
31. How would you describe how changes are made in the school and these changes
becoming part of the school culture?

POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN CHARACTER EDUCATION 138

APPENDIX B: Observation Protocol
OBSERVATION
Subject Code:
Classroom:
Date:

TIME OBSERVATION NOTES

REFLECTION OF OBSERVATION FOR INTERVIEW PREPERATION
Ø Key Themes:

Ø Areas That Align to RQ:

Ø Areas that Aligned with CF:

Abstract (if available)

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Asset Metadata

Creator Rodrigues, Amanda Joan (author)

Core Title The intersection of teacher knowledge and motivation with organizational culture on implementing positive psychology interventions through a character education curriculum

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Organizational Change and Leadership (On Line)

Publication Date 10/17/2018

Defense Date 10/03/2018

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag character education,character strengths,Gratitude,mindfulness,OAI-PMH Harvest,positive psychology,professional development,resilience,service learning,teacher motivation,well-being

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Samkian, Artineh (committee chair), Cash, David (committee member), Robles, Darline (committee member)

Creator Email lifeisgood88888@hotmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c89-82494

Unique identifier UC11671313

Identifier etd-RodriguesA-6870.pdf (filename),usctheses-c89-82494 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-RodriguesA-6870.pdf

Dmrecord 82494

Document Type Dissertation

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Rodrigues, Amanda Joan

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA