Forming citizens and leaders of character: generating a large network of citizens and leaders who are better equipped to contribute and lead for and with character across a range of settings and institutions.

• Forming The Formers: The SCI Teaching Fellowship Program forms teachers and leaders of character in the company of their peers. Small cohorts of colleagues in Australia, the United Kingdom, North America, South Africa and beyond journey together over two years to be formed as teachers and leaders of character, reflect on themselves and their practice in their schools, and evaluate their impact on the lives of their students. We would like to see over 1,000 educators formed in this way over the next decade. We partner with other educational institutions and professional associations to provide preparatory short courses and accredit attainment. We draw on the support of philanthropic foundations and other partners, especially to support the formation of colleagues from socio-economically disadvantaged areas. We are also building a comparable SCI Leaders Fellowship program in the character of social, community and enterprise leadership for prospective and established leaders across society.
• Forming The Future: Inherently, we know also that great schools themselves have a formative impact on the character of the communities and nations whom they serve. The SCI Chartered Character Education Program forms schools and other educational institutions to become more explicit and intentional about the impact they have on the formation of people of good character, people who see, know and understand what is true, good and beautiful and are deliberate in their pursuit of such things. Institutions develop charters in partnership with us at three levels: Establish, Embed and Evolve. Institutions at the Embed and Evolve stages can issue certification to students in character development that carries our hallmark.

Promoting practical wisdom and thoughtful debate: building, publishing and sharing a body of theoretical, empirical and practitioner knowledge, understanding and practice in character and its formation, character education and leadership through publications and a policy platform that influence the wider discourse on character at local, national and international levels.

• Forming Australia: The SCI Australian Character Program is our contribution to public discourse around the formation of our nation through an understanding of Australian national character, civics education and emerging issues including the intersection of artificial intelligence and character. Working in partnership with leading institutions, we seek to listen to and tell the joined up storylines of our contemporary Australian community, and describe the character that emerges from our shared values, the heritage of our First Nations and other peoples, and our commitments to each other, particularly through our democratic institutions, our educational systems, and our distinctively Australian perspective of equity and excellence.
• Forming Our Understanding: The SCI Character Research Program is our contribution to scholarship in character, civics education and emerging issues including the intersection of artificial intelligence and character. Working alongside colleagues and partners nationally and globally, we want to map the emerging body of work in Australia and beyond that seeks to capture and describe the nature of a life that is worthwhile and well-lived with a particular focus on formation. Finally, we want to encourage and support individual scholars and practitioners from diverse backgrounds to conduct their own research into character education. We also seek to add to this body of work through our own publications and other content in a range of different media that will appeal to practitioners, scholars and members of the wider reading and listening public with an interest in character. 

This content includes:

• SCI Occasional Papers: In support of our signature Fellowship and Chartered Character Education Accreditation Programs, symposia and gatherings, public advocacy and our schedule of events, we also publish occasional papers derived from talks that are given at our Quarterly Founders’ Roundtables and other significant events.
• SCI Character Literature Series: We collate and disseminate professional and peer reviewed papers that provide colleagues with insight into the range of publications that are available to them to augment their understanding of character and character education.
• The Dr Phil Cummins Character Education Series: This series of books published by Amba Press includes publications specifically focused on character and character education topics for educators and students, as well as for a broader audience in Australia and beyond.
• The Game Changers Podcast: This podcast series, currently in its 18th series with over a million episode downloads worldwide, is hosted by Professor Phil Cummins. It is Australia’s leading educational podcast and has focused significantly on the character to thrive, the character of creativity, the character of enterprise, the character of success in recent years.

Building meaningful legacy: identifying local and strategic partners and agencies around Australia, the South Pacific and the world at large to consolidate and grow the imperative for character across society.

We are a bold new venture of the Sydney School of Education and Social Work, grounded in the living history of 175 years of leadership by the University of Sydney, Australia’s oldest university. We support colleagues in schools in Australia and globally who are doing the work of teaching and leading for character, and connecting with professional associations and industry leaders that are helping them to gather and share ideas and resources. We are cultivating a significant network of partners, sponsors and benefactors who support us through generous philanthropic gifts, aligned financial co-contribution and collaborative professional activity.

• We collaborate with our colleagues at the Centre for Educational Leadership for Good, the CREATE Centre, the Centre for Educational Measurement and Assessment, and the Sydney Academy for Teaching Excellence. 
• We support the broader vision of the University of Sydney by promoting leadership for good among its students, faculty, alumni and the broader community. 
• We are delighted to partner with leading schools, tertiary and other educational institutions and associations nationally and internationally, including St Andrew’s and St Paul’s Colleges within the University of Sydney, Queen’s College within the University of Melbourne, Radford College Canberra, Trinity Grammar School Sydney, Frensham Schools, Central Coast Grammar School, The Scots College Sydney, Franklin School NJ, The Farmington Institute, Boston University Sydney Campus, and The Teachers’ Guild of New South Wales, Australia’s oldest educational professional association, with whom we collaborate on a range of projects, accreditation and awards.
• We co-create programs, events and gatherings with the help of leading organisations such as the Menzies Leadership Foundation, cool.org, the Youth Impact Foundation, the Research Invested Schools Network, cool.org and the Museum of Australian Democracy.
• We also stand alongside the other great global centres for the study of character in education, including The Oxford Character Project, The Harvard Human Flourishing Project, The Wake Forest Centre for Character and Leadership and the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtue at the University of Birmingham. 

• Create the SCI Founders and Executive to guide and manage implementation. 
• Secure seed funding to support initial staffing, resourcing, and development. 
• Establish Communities of Inquiry and Practice to build streamlined clusters to support our projects
• Develop pilot programs for revenue-raising programs.
• Write the foundational SCI “On Character” monograph. 
• Strengthen relationship-building with schools, colleges, and professional associations
• Expand the SCI network across the University of Sydney and with national and international partners.
  

• Officially launch the SCI and commence marketing and communications activity. 
• Implement SCI Operational Programs.
• Publish the foundational SCI “On Character” and “On Civics” monographs, occasional papers and follow up publications
• Create initial resources for use across student, teacher, residential, and leadership programs. 
• Develop accreditation for SCI programs to ensure future recognition. 
• Identify initial scaling projects and secure second and third round philanthropic and government support.

• Conduct comprehensive evaluation of the pilot programs, including participant feedback and review of outcomes. 
• Revise and refine courses and resources based on evaluation findings. 
• Scale programs to reach a wider range of participants and partners. 
• Secure the next round of funding to support long-term growth. 
• Build SCI staff capacity to deliver expanded programs. 
• Develop intellectual property and related assets to consolidate SCI’s future sustainability.