David Isaiah Gaffney

Character education has re-emerged as a policy priority in English schools (Arthur, 2005; DfE, 2019), yet it remains under-explored within the British independent sector, particularly in preparatory schools. This thesis addresses that gap through a mixed-methods case study of a co-educational preparatory school. Across institutional texts and stakeholder accounts, the school expresses a sincere commitment to holistic, values-led education. However, character and flourishing are more often conveyed through proxy terms—such as wellbeing, pastoral care and personal development—than named as distinct and evaluable educational aims, leaving scope for interpretive drift and uneven enactment. Drawing on documentary analysis, interviews with teachers and parents, and pupil focus groups, the findings identify a shared moral core, enacted through warm relationships, restorative dialogue and inquiry-led pedagogy. Yet pupils’ experiences complicate any simple account of coherence. While some participants describe flourishing as multidimensional, the data suggest that wellbeing is not experienced uniformly. In addition, recognition practices may inadvertently reward what is most visible, thereby overlooking quieter forms of moral contribution. The study argues that closing the aspiration–reality gap depends on three interdependent conditions for authentic formation: conceptual coherence (a shared understanding of how character, wellbeing and flourishing relate); credible and consistent adult modelling, sustained through ongoing professional learning; and equitable structures for recognition and pupil voice with genuine remit. Viewed through a neo-Aristotelian lens, the thesis positions phronēsis (practical wisdom) as essential for navigating competing goods in everyday school life, and understands flourishing as an ongoing, relational achievement shaped by enabling conditions rather than a branded product of ethos alone. By advancing a secularised model of character education as an institutional moral ecology, the thesis offers both theoretical clarification and a practical framework for aligning academic aspiration with wider moral purposes in preparatory settings.