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Ed. Magazine

Ed. Extra: Jenn Charlot

Longfellow

Jenn Charlot, currently in her third-year of the Ed.L.D. Program, spoke more about her work as director of implementation with Character Lab, the nonprofit started a little more than a year ago by Angela Duckworth. Here is a longer version of the interview from the winter 2015 issue of Harvard Ed. magazine:

How did you become interested in the Character Lab?

One of our final projects during the first year of the Ed.LD. Program is called a sector-level change project. We are charged with developing a proposal that has the potential to really change the education sector. My proposal was for an organization that identified evidenced-based teacher moves that educators could use to promote character strengths. After reading my paper, Marty West, one of my professors, recommended I speak to Angela Duckworth because she was in the process of developing a similar organization. Angela and I had a great conversation, which led to me working with Character Lab the summer of my first year. I stayed in touch with Character Lab during my second year of Ed.LD., and when it came time to select a residency site, they were a natural fit. Character Lab is on the cutting edge of research and is eager to explore new ways for schools to implement character in their buildings.

What kind of kid were you?

That is a great question! I like to think I was a very curious child; I certainly asked a lot of questions. My dad used to pick me up every weekend and drive from New York City to where he lived in Long Island. I asked questions the whole way there. That’s a whole hour of just question-asking! One time my dad basically said to me, “Jenn, I don't have answers to any of these questions.”

What initially got you interested in working with the Character Lab?

I was excited about working with Character Lab for two main reasons:

1. One, they are thinking about implementing character instruction in a very unique way, through the dissemination of small, evidenced-based techniques instead of whole-school programs. In my years as a social worker and trainer, I noticed that schools sometimes struggled to implement comprehensive programs because they were complex and resource intensive. Character Lab is trying to address this challenge.

2. Second, Character Lab takes a multidisciplinary approach to uncovering what works in character education. They partner with top researchers in the psychology and neuro/cognitive science fields, designers, and educators to pilot, revise, and disseminate evidenced based strategies. Even though we are in the early stages of this work — we are only a little over a year old — we are working with researchers like Carol Dweck, Angela Duckworth, Greg Walton, David Yaeger, Walter Mischel, and many more; educational institutions like Denver Public Schools, Baltimore Public Schools, KIPP, and Riverdale Country School. We are even working with networks of schools like the Foundation for the Education of Young Women and designers from Parsons The New School of Design.

Is Character Lab mostly focused on teachers or also parents?

Since we are in our initial phase of this work, Character Lab is currently focused on creating tools and supports for teachers. We hope to later expand to create tools and resources for parents, and we are finding that a lot of instructional materials can be modified easily for home use.

On your LinkedIn page, you write: “I have dedicated my career to answering the question: How can schools create environments that nurture both academic and personal development in students?” Are you any closer to finding the answer?

I think I get closer to an answer every day and every time I help a school try to implement a new strategy or a program. One of the many things I love about Character Lab is its focus on the design process. We have a culture of prototyping and iterating. I think my work here will truly lead me to an official answer very soon.

Do you know yet what you’ll be focusing on for your Ed.L.D. capstone project?

Yes. My strategic project is to design a series of trainings about how to teach character and pair them with a dissemination strategy that enables teachers to adopt and use evidenced informed character practices at scale. I will be writing about my findings as I design, pilot, and iterate on both the content of the trainings and the dissemination methods. At the end of my project, I hope to offer Character Lab a strong recommendation about which method will help schools and teachers to best internalize and integrate character development into their practices.

Tell me about Konbit Pou Edikasyon. You started this nonprofit? Why? What exactly does the nonprofit do and are you still involved?

Konbit Pou Edikasyon (KPE): Working Together for Education, is a nonprofit that funds educational opportunities for children in Haiti. Our students are with us through the completion of their secondary education. We pay for students’ tuition, books, and healthcare needs, and then connect them with co-curricular and career exploration opportunities. The organization started in response to students’ deep desire to attend school but their inability to do so because of limited resources. Sometimes our students walked miles to school just to be turned away because their tuition wasn't paid for the month. If students did not attend school, they were often drawn into domestic servitude. KPE is a response to that. I was part of the founding team. I serve in an advisory capacity but I am not currently playing an active role in the organization due to the pursuit of my doctoral degree.

Ed. Magazine

The magazine of the Harvard Graduate School of Education

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