Character Education | Learning | Raffles International School | Dubai, U.A.E

Why Character Education Matters

Character shapes who we are and how we act. It enables young people to make wise decisions, persevere in the face of challenges, and build meaningful relationships. Research shows that character education enhances academic outcomes, supports wellbeing, and prepares students to thrive in a rapidly changing world. For us at Raffles, it is as important as intellectual and creative development.

Our Approach at Raffles

We adopt a holistic model of character education, drawing inspiration from the Jubilee Centre Framework for Character Education at the University of Birmingham. This framework highlights the importance of four key areas of virtue:

• Intellectual virtues – encouraging curiosity, reasoning and independent thought

• Moral virtues – nurturing integrity, honesty and kindness

• Civic virtues – promoting responsibility, respect and active citizenship

• Performance virtues – developing resilience, perseverance and self-discipline

At the heart of these is practical wisdom, the ability to make good choices when virtues appear to be in tension.

At Raffles, we bring this framework to life through:

• Character caught: ensuring our school culture, ethos and role models embody the virtues we value.

• Character taught: weaving explicit opportunities into our curriculum and enrichment programmes to reflect on virtues, dilemmas and responsibilities.

• Character sought: empowering students with leadership, service and co-curricular experiences where they can actively practise and pursue virtue.

The Framework in Action

Our character education journey is guided by a visual framework (see below), which illustrates how the strands of intellectual, moral, civic and performance virtues combine to shape the flourishing of our students. This framework ensures that our whole school community — teachers, students and families — share a common language and purpose in supporting character development.

The Jubilee Centre for Character & Virtues I University of Birmingham I The Jubilee Centre Framework for Character Education in Schools

At Raffles International School, character education is not an addition to what we do; it is woven into the fabric of school life. It helps every child to grow not just in knowledge, but in character, preparing them to lead lives of purpose, courage and contribution.