Character Lab

An exploration into Research done by leading Ivy League Universities around issues like Character, Wit, Grit, EQ and other soft skills

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A Simple Way to Foster Kindness in Kids

According to a new study, we can encourage kids to be generous by reminding them of their past kindnesses.

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BOOK: How to talk so kids will listen

One of the most amazing book ever written about active listening and positive parenting, How to talk so kids will listen and listen so kids will talk is the first, most recommended reading for pare…

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Beyond Wit and Grit: Rethinking the Keys to Success | Howard Gardner | TEDxBeaconStreet

What does it take to be truly successful in the long run? If you think the answer is "be smart" and "work hard" you need to see and hear my talk. Howard Gard...

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Doing things a new way is easy; we call this novelty. More challenging is a new way that gets accepted by others; we call this creativity. Even more challenging is a new way that is ethical & advances the human condition; we call this 'good work' - HOWARD GARDNER

The Good Project | Project Zero

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(via Empathy - Roman Krznaric on the extreme sport of understanding others by Make School)

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What’s Missing in Edtech? Character Development (EdSurge News)

“Intelligence plus character — that is the goal of true education,” Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote in the February 1947 edition of the Morehouse College student newspaper. More than half a century later, we’re still trying to figure out how to include character development in education. Learning

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Super App

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SUPER!

An App that teaches Empathy, Fun, Creativity and Community

The best app ever. Super interactive, you get lot of nice people reacting and posting responses to your creations!   

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The Buy The World a Hope Movement

Where they ask Coke to stop advertising and spend $3B to help do good?

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KWp7La5Ciw)

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Buy the World a Hope

What‘s the the best possible way to spend $3BN dollars? (#CocaCola‘s ad budget) #buytheworldahope http://ow.ly/LWTrr

An initiative via a non-profit from Holland with a global appeal to the CEO of coke to stop advertising and spend the money on saving the environment instead. 

Amazing. What if the Singapore government did the same? 

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The Good Pin Club is an initiative to promote the incredible efforts of non-profit organizations through the talents of illustrators and designers. This month, we teamed up with South African illustrator Jon Jones to create a pin for the non-profit FeelGood, an organization working to eliminate extreme poverty and hunger by the year 2030. 

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Values That Matter In Business

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Also apply to other areas - like parenting 

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Empathy Quiz

Take the Empathy Quiz!

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Courtesy of the Making Caring Common Project at the Harvard Graduate School of Education

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Source: (Promoting prosocial behavior and self-regulatory skills in preschool children through a mindfulness-based kindness curriculum)

Between-group analyses indicated that students who participated in the Kindness Curriculum (KC) training showed larger gains in teacher-reported social competence as compared to the control group. In addition, the control group acted more selfishly (sharing fewer resources with others) over time as compared to the KC group. Comparison of end of year school records showed higher marks for children in the intervention as compared to control group on indicators of learning, social-emotional development, and health. 

It appears that the KC intervention may have been particularly beneficial for some children, specifically those with lower baseline functioning.

That these changes were observed after a relatively short intervention period (3 months) with a very modest dose of the intervention supports the practicality of this approach. 

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What if Schools Taught Kindness?

Initial research from University of Wisconsin shows that a Kindness programme can improve grades, cognitive abilities and relationship skills.

The Kindness Curriculum (developed by the Centre for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin) is designed around the ABCs—or, more specifically, A to G: 

Attention

Breath and Body

Caring

Depending on Other People

Emotions

Forgiveness

Gratitude