pai principals academy partner NIE-NTU

Good Work, Character, & Citizenship: Strengthening CCE Through Research-Informed Lesson Plans

This three-day professional development workshop equips teachers with practical tools and strategies to strengthen their implementation of Singapore’s Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) curriculum. Drawing on international research from The Good Project at Harvard University, the workshop introduces lesson plans that align with the Ministry of Education’s 21st Century Competencies framework while fostering student identity, relationships, and responsible decision-making. Each day blends research background with interactive lesson walkthroughs, hands-on facilitation practice, and discussion of how activities can be adapted across subjects and co-curricular settings. By the end of the workshop, teachers will leave with classroom-ready resources and a deeper understanding of how to cultivate ethics, engagement, and character in their students, supporting holistic development as good persons, good workers, and good citizens.

Schedule

Day 1: Foundations & Identity

Morning Sessions: Good Work, Character, & Citizenship Foundation

  • Research background: history of The Good Project, character education, SEL, and The Good Project's global work
  • Research findings regarding Good Project lesson plan impact
  • Overview of CCE goals and alignment with the 21st Century Competencies framework
  • Introduction to Good Project core concepts and the developmental arc of good person, good worker, good citizen

Afternoon Sessions: Identity

  • Walkthrough of lesson logistics
  • Lesson walkthroughs connected to Identity (self-awareness, purpose, values, resilience)
  • Co-facilitation of core activities with peers, including identity-focused exercises from Good Project lessons
  • Examination of student work samples and teacher case studies

Day 2: Relationships & Decision-Making

Morning Sessions: Relationships

  • Lesson walkthroughs connected to Relationships (empathy, collaboration, social awareness, ethical responsibility)
  • Co-facilitation of core activities with peers, including relationship-focused exercises from Good Project lessons
  • Participants lead selected activities in small groups, with peer feedback and critique
  • Examination of student work samples and teacher case studies


Afternoon Sessions: Decision-Making

  • Lesson walkthroughs connected to Decision-Making (responsible choices, civic engagement, navigating dilemmas)
  • Participants lead selected activities in small groups, with peer feedback and critique
  • Examination of student work samples and teacher case studies

Day 3: Adaptation & Sustaining Good Work

Morning Sessions: Cross-Context Adaptation

  • Reflection and workshop: how Identity, Relationships, and Decision-Making lessons can be adapted across subject areas and co-curricular contexts
  • Differentiation strategies: adapting lessons across diverse student populations and learning needs
  • Participants work in teams to redesign sample lessons for their specific contexts
  • Sharing and feedback on adapted lesson plans

Afternoon Sessions: Integration & Sustaining Good Work

  • Whole-group synthesis: connecting "Identity", "Relationships", and "Decision-Making" to holistic student development
  • Implementation planning: strategies for introducing Good Project concepts in participants' own contexts
  • Creating support networks and accountability systems
  • Addressing challenges and barriers to implementation
  • Closing reflections on sustaining good work, character, and citizenship in school communities
  • Next steps and continued learning opportunities

About the Presenter: 

Dr Shelby Clark and Ms Lynn Barendsen

About Dr Shelby Clark

Principal Investigator, The Good Project, Harvard Graduate School of Education

Dr. Shelby Clark is Principal Investigator at The Good Project at Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her research focuses particularly on intellectual and civic character—qualities such as curiosity, social responsibility, and the capacity to engage with ethical complexity—and how schools can support these traits through intentional design. Dr. Clark is co-author of numerous peer-reviewed studies on the development of critical consciousness among adolescents of color, including how awareness of systemic inequality relates to academic motivation and agency. She also co-led the design and evaluation of The Good Project Lesson Plans, a widely used curriculum that helps students reflect on what it means to be a good person, worker, and citizen. Her work includes a global study on the long-term impact of education at the United World Colleges and current research on intellectual risk-taking—students’ willingness to take academic and ethical risks in the pursuit of meaningful learning. Across all of her work, she aims to create tools, insights, and learning environments that honor the voices of students and empower them to contribute to a more just and purposeful world.

About Ms Lynn Barendsen

Senior Project Director, The Good Project, Harvard Graduate School of Education

Lynn Barendsen is Senior Project Director of The Good Project at Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she has helped lead the project’s research and dissemination efforts since its inception. With deep expertise in project design, funder collaboration, and cross-sector partnership, she has overseen national and international initiatives focused on ethics, purpose, and socially responsible work. Barendsen co-developed The Good Project Lesson Plans, a widely implemented curriculum that equips students to reflect on what it means to pursue meaningful and ethical work. She plays a central role in translating research into accessible tools and resources, and her leadership has been instrumental in advancing values-driven education and broadening the impact of the Good Project’s work in schools, communities, and youth-serving organizations.

Founded by psychologists William Damon, Howard Gardner, and the late Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in 1996, The Good Project has over two decades of experience conducting qualitative research and developing practical materials, with an emphasis on topics such as the meaning of good work, effective collaboration, digital citizenship, and civic participation. Presently, through research-based concepts, frameworks, and resources, The Good Project strives to equip individuals to reflect upon the ethical dilemmas that arise in everyday life by providing them with the tools to make thoughtful decisions. We are a research initiative of Project Zero at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Registration Details

Course Code: PZ151726

Topic: Good Work, Character, & Citizenship: Strengthening CCE Through Research-Informed Lesson Plans

Presenter(s): Dr Shelby Clark and Ms Lynn Barendsen

Date(s): 15 to 17 July 2026

Time: 9.00 am to 5.00 pm

Venue: Orchard Hotel

Closing Date: 27 February 2026, Friday

Workshop Fee: S$1,200.00 per participant (subject to GST).

Please contact Joseph Loy by email at jphone: 6363 0330 if you require further information.