St. Mary’s University of Minnesota is thrilled to welcome Dr. Marvin Berkowitz and Dr. Kristin Pelster for a two part workshop for Ed.S. faculty on October 14th. Berkowitz is a world-renowned scholar, researcher, and educator from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. He wrote PRIMED for Character Education: Six Design Principles for School Improvement. Dr. Kristen Pelster, also from the University of Missouri-St. Louis, will also be joining to present on character education.
“Dr. Marvin Berkowitz, director of the Center for Character and Citizenship at the University of Missouri at St. Louis has been a partner and supporter of Saint Mary’s character education initiative since its inception,” says Ed.S. Program Director, Marcia Nelson.
“The EdS faculty has engaged in a book study over the summer, and will be incorporating PRIMED into the newly re-written curriculum for all of our future Principals, Directors of Special Education and Superintendents. Marvin’s focus in PRIMED is to unpack character education with a focus on kids, schools, families, human goodness, life’s lessons, adult culture, and how they work together to make education really work for ALL, by making school a place where kids want to be, where they find value, and where they can practice becoming their best self for their future self. He says, “…the most important and unifying purpose of the book is to shed light on how we can build a better world by understanding, committing to, and acting upon what is most effective in nurturing the flourishing of human goodness, especially in kids.” We are excited to welcome Marvin and Kristen Pelster, also a character ed researcher from UMSL to campus on October 14.”