Character formation

College Readiness

Character is important—not as an end but as a reflection of a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. At Wheaton Academy, we affirm current research trends showing that students must be equipped with valuable dispositions that not only will help them to navigate school but also will equip them with the skills necessary to navigate life (U.S. Dept. of Ed. report 21). The essence of those skills in published lists could be summed up with the following: grit, resilience, self-control, conscientiousness, optimism, social intelligence, curiosity, and gratitude.

Not surprisingly, these values are variants or forms of the character traits advocated in Scripture. In our pursuit to ensure that our students are ready for college not only in academics but also in the necessary “soft skills,” Wheaton Academy trains and equips students in six primary areas: perseverance, social intelligence, self-control, gratitude, passion, and hope.

Gratitude

Gratitude is the act of pursuing a lifestyle which recognizes and honors the blessings in life – whether a person, a set of circumstances, an opportunity, or material possessions.

Scripture is full of God’s command to be thankful, not only because of our circumstances but regardless of our circumstances. Gratitude is thanksgiving that is expressed.

It is the skill of valuing and appreciating the people, events, and material blessings around us. It is a skill because it is not our natural tendency and requires development and practice.

In a generation that is increasingly described as “entitled,” the need for gratitude is evident. Harvard Graduate School of Education launched a “Caring Schools Initiative” to research students in middle school and high school; their findings identified a deficit in students’ ability to show care and gratitude for those around them. This unhealthy focus on self and achievement leads not only to selfish living but also to undue pressure and unhealthy obsessions with success and achievement (Caring Schools Project).

Interestingly, this secular research echoes the Scriptural truths that consistently urge us to be thankful, so developing gratitude in our students prioritizes the Gospel in their lives as well as focuses them on a foundational attitude of service to others.

Gratitude is the act of pursuing a lifestyle which recognizes and honors the blessings in life.

Our success or failure does not define us because a good purpose is guaranteed in our identity with Christ, and our struggles produce opportunities to experience God’s powerful love and redemption.

Hope

Secular researchers identify optimism as critical because it is the ability to view failure, not as a reflection of ability or personal worth.

An optimistic person tries to find an explanation for the event and is able to find the courage to try again (Tripp 53).

Actually, this perspective is a description of the hope we have because of our salvation in Jesus Christ. Our success or failure does not define us because a good purpose is guaranteed in our identity with Christ, and our struggles produce opportunities to experience God’s powerful love and redemption (Romans 5 and 8). Additionally, we believe that we have a Savior who not only identifies with us in our hardships but also has rescued us and given us an eternal hope (II Cor. 1:7).

We want our students to be firmly rooted in their identity as believers, and we want to help them develop the discernment to deal with the hardships and failures of life—not to take a secular view but to press on because of our hope in Jesus Christ.

Passion

The idea of passion or engagement or even rejection of passivity and apathy seems foreign in a world where disengagement seems to be the norm.

We want students not only to care about and process their feelings about what is going on in their own lives but also to have a sense of the need for them to be a driving force in solving the world’s significant problems. When Jesus saw the impossible task of feeding five thousand, His compassion moved Him to embrace the task (Matthew 14).

We want students to be inspired to live as participants rather than spectators. This excitement and passion was described by Teddy Roosevelt:

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

We want students to be inspired to live as participants rather than spectators.

Because of Jesus Christ, we can press on in this life and continue to live with purpose in spite of hardship.

Perseverance

Perseverance and resilience are closely linked and mean that students can continue toward their goals in the face of struggles or difficulty.

In fact, one buzzword that encapsulates this idea in secular research is grit.

So what is grit?

According to Angela Lee Duckworth, grit is the unwavering commitment to achieving a mission (Tripp 74). It is sometimes called perseverance; it is summed up in the cliché “When the going gets tough, the tough get going;” it is the idea that giving up is not a viable option.

In fact, Duckworth’s research has shown that grit is actually a better predictor of success than talent (Educational Leadership 16).

This valuable research actually highlights the exhortations of Scripture. Paul tells Christians that in this life we will have hardships, but those lead us to become people who persevere to the ultimate goal, our resurrection in Christ Jesus. Because of Jesus Christ, we can press on in this life and continue to live with purpose in spite of hardship (Romans 5:2-5). Perseverance and resilience are essential for us as we live the life to which God has called us, and they are essential for the development of maturity (Hebrews 12:1; James 1:2-5).

As we prepare our students for college and their adult lives, Wheaton Academy wants to be part of creating foundational experiences in which students experience difficulty and even failure so that these essential traits can begin to develop.

Self-Control

The importance of self-control in a society sated with instant gratification cannot be overstated.

Research shows that self-control—the ability to delay gratification—is closely linked with success.

A person must not only be motivated to accomplish tasks but must also have the will to do so. Those who do not have the ability to delay gratification will be sidetracked by the more attractive, albeit lesser, end (Tripp 65). Additionally, intrinsic motivation rather than just extrinsic rewards is inherent in self-control, and self-control is critical for boring, mundane, or seemingly pointless tasks that still must be finished (U.S. Dept. of Ed. report 43).

God calls us to self-control as a manifestation of God’s grace through salvation in Titus 2:11-13:

For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

We want our students to learn to find motivation beyond external rewards and to develop the ability to wait for the true good in life situations. This waiting includes as well as exceeds just saying no to the bad; it also includes postponing the good, knowing that God has something better.

Self-control exceeds just saying no to the bad; it includes postponing the good, knowing that God has something better.

We want to give our students opportunities—both through knowledge and guided experiential learning—to follow wise teachers and leaders and to develop godly discernment and wisdom.

Social Intelligence

Social intelligence is the ability to discern the norms for social situations and relationships and to conduct oneself appropriately.

Secular research includes being able to advocate for oneself, to perceive essential social cues relative to a situation, and to know proper behavior in myriad social situations.

Since it is tied closely to the biblical ideas of wisdom and discernment, we want to ground students’ understanding of social intelligence in wisdom tied to the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1). Likewise, the early chapters of Proverbs present the importance of developing a wise and discerning heart to avoid being derailed through foolish action (Proverbs 1-4).

We want to give our students opportunities—both through knowledge and guided experiential learning—to follow wise teachers and leaders and to develop godly discernment and wisdom.