Learn why character—the qualities that influence how we think, feel, and act—is often overlooked in schools, yet guides how we navigate everyday life.
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03 Oct 2025
7 Min Read
Ishaanaah Ravi (Alumni Writer)
Learn why character—the qualities that influence how we think, feel, and act—is often overlooked in schools, yet guides how we navigate everyday life.
For many of us, excelling in school is viewed as a ‘golden ticket’ to life. From completing hours of homework and memorising maths formulas to grappling with foreign languages, we were told that all we had to do was score As and we’d be ready to face the responsibilities of adulthood… right?
After more than a decade spent in classrooms, I’ve come to realise that while the Pythagorean theorem or grammar rules may sharpen the intellect, they do little to hone our ability to navigate failure, stand up for what’s right, or empathise with another person. One truth has become clear: character—the ‘subject’ that most profoundly influences our personal, professional, and interpersonal lives—is largely absent from formal education.
Schools rightly prioritise knowledge, but by neglecting the cultivation of values, attitudes, and skills, it’s like owning a well-stocked toolbox without ever knowing how to use the tools inside. This raises a pressing question for teachers, parents, and policymakers alike: if character fundamentally shapes our purpose, progress, and success, why is it still so often missing from our education systems?
Before we answer that question, we must first define what we mean by character. Character refers to the qualities—or tools in the toolbox—that guide our behaviour, direct our interactions, and inform our decisions. Broadly, character spans three interrelated dimensions:
When these three dimensions work in concert, they form the foundation of character: grounding knowledge in wisdom, relationships in respect, and choices in integrity.
Research shows that character-related qualities are strong predictors of student success. Students who develop empathy, for example, are better able to build strong relationships and are less likely to engage in bullying. Resilience is linked to greater persistence and reduced risk of dropout, while ethical decision-making and leadership are associated with ethical behaviour and the cultivation of an ethical culture within teams and organisations. Without these qualities, success on paper may not translate into success in life.
With character now defined, we return to the question: why do education systems still fail to integrate character development into the curriculum? The answer lies partly in how they’re structured and measured. Over recent decades, education has adopted an economic lens, viewing students primarily as ‘human capital’—valued for their potential productivity and performance in standardised exams. This perspective has shifted focus towards credentialism, often at the expense of personal growth and character development. Rather than serving as spaces for students to put character-related qualities into practice, education is reduced to who achieves the highest grade and which subjects are deemed most valuable in the economy. Students are pressured to succeed academically, leaving little room to explore ideas, question assumptions, or reflect on how those lessons apply beyond the classroom.
If education systems don’t provide explicit instruction in character, who is left to fill that gap? Typically, that responsibility falls on teachers. Many embed social-emotional learning into lessons through collaborative projects, reflective discussions, and experiential activities such as role-plays. Yet, without specialised training, adequate resources, or support from the wider system, these initiatives can be inconsistent and difficult to sustain. Moreover, because the system prioritises productivity and measurable performance, this instruction is often pushed to the back seat—even when teachers recognise the importance of character and are motivated to deliver it.
Even when teachers provide some instruction, parents and guardians still shoulder much of the responsibility—encouraging reflection at home, modelling positive behaviours, and setting age-appropriate responsibilities. Many families also turn to extracurricular activities—sports, arts, and cultural programmes—to give children structured opportunities to practise teamwork, resilience, and responsibility. Yet access is far from equal: an Australian study found that children from lower-socioeconomic communities were less likely to participate in extracurricular activities because of cost. As a result, character development is all too often determined by privilege rather than potential.
If schools are to prepare us for life, they must move beyond a narrow focus on marks and metrics. That means helping students understand their values and identity, develop the skills and dispositions to live them out, and apply them in real-world contexts. This doesn’t require a separate subject on character; instead, schools can embed reflection, social-emotional learning, and problem-solving into daily classroom practice, creating space for students to question, test, and demonstrate what they learn. However, the effectiveness of this effort relies not only on teachers, but on an entire ecosystem—from school leadership to national policy—working in alignment towards the same goal.
Policy-Level Integration: Align moral education goals with humanities subjects such as literature, history, and civics. Pendidikan Moral already emphasises ethical reasoning, but this can be strengthened by introducing ethical dilemmas, value-based debates, and discussion-led activities across multiple subjects. National curriculum guidelines can support this by setting clear learning outcomes, providing model lesson plans and classroom resources, and integrating ethical reflection into assessments.
Classroom Application: Use stories, historical events, or current issues to spark discussion and debate, posing questions such as ‘What would you do?’ or ‘Why is this right or wrong?’. Incorporate role-plays to help students apply abstract ideas to real-world contexts, and guide them in connecting these scenarios to core values—such as justice, fairness, and empathy—while critically examining different perspectives.
Policy-Level Integration: Embed topics on emotional awareness, self-regulation, and mental well-being into existing subjects such as science (e.g., the biology of stress) and physical education (e.g., stress management techniques). This aligns with the National Mental Health Plan’s call to include mental health education in the curriculum. The Ministry of Education can further support this by issuing frameworks that outline age-appropriate topics—such as understanding anxiety, building resilience, and preventing bullying—across grade levels.
Classroom Application: Dedicate time each week to simple mental health practices. Begin or end lessons with brief mindfulness or breathing exercises to help students regulate emotions. Use reflective journals for students to record their feelings and thoughts, and facilitate short discussions on managing challenges and strengthening resilience when relevant to lesson content.
Policy-Level Integration: Introduce basic financial literacy in schools, either as a standalone module or by incorporating key concepts—such as budgeting, saving, and responsible spending—within existing subjects like maths and business. Lessons should also address ethical considerations in money management. The Ministry of Education can support this by providing a standardised framework to guide schools in delivering these lessons consistently.
Classroom Application: Use in-class opportunities to discuss financial decisions in context. For example, in maths lessons, ask how saving or spending affects outcomes, or in language lessons, prompt students to consider a character’s ethical choices around money. Even short discussions—such as ‘If you earned RM10 and spent RM2, how much would you have saved?’ or ‘What happens if you borrow money for something unnecessary?’—help students connect financial literacy with values without taking time away from core lessons.
Policy-Level Integration: Formalise service projects as part of the curriculum by linking subjects with meaningful community activities. For example, pairing a science module with an environmental clean-up or a social studies lesson with a local history initiative. This ‘learning by doing’ approach allows students to apply classroom knowledge in real-world contexts while fostering empathy, teamwork, and social responsibility.
Classroom Application: Design small-scale, curriculum-linked projects, such as group posters, presentations, or awareness campaigns related to lesson topics like environmental protection. Conclude activities with brief reflections to help students consider the impact of their work. These exercises require minimal preparation but give students hands-on experience connecting learning to social issues.
Character isn’t a subject that can be confined to a classroom, a textbook, or a single lesson plan. It’s learned in the choices students make, the challenges they face, and the guidance they receive—from teachers, parents, and the wider school ecosystem. Schools that intentionally cultivate character through ethical reasoning, emotional literacy, financial responsibility, and social engagement aren’t just preparing students for exams—they’re preparing them for life. By recognising that character development is as essential as academic achievement, we give students the tools to navigate complexity, act with integrity, and contribute meaningfully to the world around them. In the end, teaching character may be the most important lesson schools can offer—and one that will stay with students far longer than any grade on a report card.
Ishaanaah Ravi is a Bachelor of Education (Honours) alumna from Taylor’s University and is currently pursuing a Master of Educational Studies at the University of Queensland. She enjoys breaking down educational topics into bite-sized insights and finds joy in simple pleasures, like volunteering, watching comedy shows, and building Lego sets.
