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ISSN: 0033-6297 (Print) 1543-2750 (Online) Journal homepage: www.tandfonline.com/journals/uqst20

Teaching for Personal and Societal Flourishing in

Schools

Jamie Jacob Brunsdon & Kerrith Dezyer Griffin

To cite this article: Jamie Jacob Brunsdon & Kerrith Dezyer Griffin (18 Aug 2025): Teaching for
Personal and Societal Flourishing in Schools, Quest, DOI: 10.1080/00336297.2025.2548229

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/00336297.2025.2548229

Published online: 18 Aug 2025.

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QUEST
https://doi.org/10.1080/00336297.2025.2548229

Teaching for Personal and Societal Flourishing in Schools

a
Jamie Jacob Brunsdon and Kerrith Dezyer Griffinb
a
Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, USA; bUniversity Schools -
University of Memphis

ABSTRACT KEYWORDS
This investigation described the impact of a flourishing-oriented elec­ Virtue ethics; sport
tive course on a group of middle school students and their teachers. pedagogy; physical
Participants were two teachers and seven students located at New education; human
flourishing; character
Prohairesis. Data were collected with nine techniques (teacher/student
education; teacher education
focus group interviews, informal interviews, observations, field notes,
journaling, teaching/learning documents, and pre-/posttests) and ana­
lyzed using thematic methods over a 16-month period. Findings
revealed the emergence of a teacher-created composite pedagogical
model called Teaching for Personal and Societal Flourishing. Drawing
inspiration from Hellison (personal and social responsibility) and
Aristotle (flourishing), this practice architecture emphasized six peda­
gogies (Prosperity Talks, Levels of Flourishing, Friendships of Character,
Levels of Transfer, Northern Time, and Forms of Virtuous Movement), two
content areas (Unconventional Movement Content and Foundational
Movement Content), and yielded two implications (Improved Virtue
Literacy and Dreaming). This research justifies the importance of
employing new approaches to teaching physical activity through
emergent philosophies of education.

Don Hellison is a household name for many educators. Considered to be the “father of
humanistic physical education” in North America, Don’s most significant contribution to
the field stemmed from his efforts to teach “life skills” and “societal values” to “alienated” or
“at-risk” youth in Chicago through the medium of physical activity. While there is much to
be said about Don’s life, his responsibility-driven practitioner-research, as well as his 40+
years’ service in the professoriate, his most significant contribution is linked to what we now
refer to as the Teaching for Personal and Social Responsibility (TPSR) model (Hellison,
1985, 1995, 2003, 2011). A secondary outcome of Don’s work in Chicago (and elsewhere) is
linked to his advocacy for more explicit approach(es) to teaching moral and affective
behaviors to young people which has since supported educators’ efforts to develop and
use all sorts of moral concepts and pedagogies across the field (see, e.g., Teraoka et al., 2020;
Dunn & Doolittle, 2020; Jacobs & Templin, 2020; van der Mars, 2020; Wright & Walsh,
2020). Hellison reflected on his professional aspirations at multiple stages of his career:
[My work] represents a personal effort to humanize physical education, there is nothing “value
free” about it! . . . It is my opinion; however, that humanizing the conduct of physical education
is long overdue and that this task is not diminished by the fact that physical education exists for
reasons other than social and emotional well-being (1973, p. vii-viii)

CONTACT Jamie Jacob Brunsdon [email protected] Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, The University
of Memphis, 220 Elma Roane Fieldhouse, Memphis, TN 38111, USA
© 2025 National Association for Kinesiology in Higher Education (NAKHE)
2 J. J. BRUNSDON AND K. D. GRIFFIN

[My] carrer-long effort [has been to] use sport and exercise as a vehicle for helping kids to take
more responsibility for their well-being and to be more sensitive and responsive to the well-
being of others. (1995, p. v)

According to Casey and Kirk (2021; see Table 1), this approach has two main ideas, five
critical elements, and five intended learning aspirations, and unlike other approaches, was
founded on a societal and communal concern as opposed to a university-driven theoretical
imperative (although this is now contested). Put bluntly, while the 1970s in the United
States is now referred to as a decade of “pivotal change,” the city of Chicago was, at the time,
a turbulent place that had experienced high levels of protests, race riots and civil unrest.
Consequently, this fostered nation-wide concerns about its potential effect on young
people, and especially those experiencing precarity (Kirk, 2020). This served as one of the
many catalysts for Hellison to begin creating and developing a more formalized “humanistic
approach” to teaching physical activity and laid the foundation for decades of responsi­
bility-driven research across the globe (Baptista et al., 2020; Richards & Shiver, 2020;
Sánchez-Miguel et al., 2025).
All bodies of academic literature, but especially those linked to human behavior, are
inherently flawed and are open to critique. This is because of the never-ending search for
more empirical evidence and the widening of the academic community who are responsible
for reading, interpreting, and conducting research that utilizes the knowledge of the past to
inform positive change in the future. Hellison was acutely aware of this “hazard” (as he put
it) and dedicated much time to this topic across several texts. An opportunity for growth
within the TPSR literature; then, could relate to the concept of flourishing (an educational
philosophy seeking to actualize human good) and its potential for supplementing the
teaching of core, community-oriented values ([1] putting kids first, [2] human decency,
[3] holistic self-development, and [4] a way of being) with which TPSR is based (Brunsdon
& Walker, 2022; Hellison, 2011). While the terms character (referencing one’s identity),
character development (referencing the physical and psychological processes whereby one’s
character can be developed), and character education (referencing the practices employed
by teachers and institutions intended to promote character development) are referenced
over 100 times across most major texts (Hellison, 1973, 1985, 1995, 2003, 2011), there would
appear to be little theoretical and empirical discussion about these concepts within the
TPSR literature. Worse so, there are even fewer pedagogical examples where specific
character traits or virtues (excellences of human character) are highlighted equally along­
side TPSR’s core values. Put differently, the concept of character remains, like Hellison’s

Table 1. The practice architecture of the teaching for personal and social responsibility model.
Intended Learning
Main Idea Critical Elements Aspirations
To develop life skills concerned with personal and social Self and Collective Improved Self-Body-World
responsibility to alienated youth Awareness Talks Connection
The Five Levels of Respecting Others’ Rights
Responsibility and Feelings
Reflection and Decision- Improved Participation and
Making Time Effort
Relationships of Respect, Improved Self-Direction
Care and Trust
Forms of Physical Activity Transference of Life Skills
Note: This table is informed by Casey and Kirk (2021).
 QUEST 3

TPSR model once was, “in the margins of the field” and is waiting to be integrated in ways
that helps teachers to “[put] kids first” at all times (Hellison et al., 2000, p. 36) and promote
the greater good beyond schools (Brunsdon, 2024a, b; 2025; Hellison & Martinek, 2009).
Despite this reality, a closer look at Hellison’s original writings (Hellison, 1985, 1995)
suggests that his views about character were shaped, in part, by his experiences in the
Marine Corps, by a combination of psychologists (predominantly) and philosophers in
Lawrance Kohlberg, Nell Noddings, Thomas Likona, Brenda Bredemeier, and David
Sheilds, among others, and then by his experiences teaching youth in precarious neighbor­
hoods. This altogether indicates that he gave much attention to the topic of character and
virtue. Moreover, Hellison’s (2011, p. 126) reflections on his early teaching experiences and
later reference about needing a “Ph.D. in the Streets” indicates his awareness that to achieve
moral outcomes, educators must possess both an advanced moral content knowledge and a
“street savvy” practical knowledge, which to enable them to teach that knowledge to young
people. Fortunately, the literature pertaining to how pre- and in-service teachers come to
learn, understand, and implement humanistic models in physical activity settings is more
plentiful when compared to the field’s understanding of moral and character formation
(Brunsdon & Walker, 2022; Wright & Richards, 2022).
Of the moral literature presently available, three empirical studies are pertinent to the
current project and provide clues into the types of character pedagogies physical educators
aspire to employ in schools (see, e.g., Brunsdon & Layne, in press, Brunsdon et al., in press;;
Brunsdon, in press-a, in press-b), for concrete descriptions and examples). The first of
these, the content-based approach, is a pedagogy concerned with grounding the teaching of
traits within and through the nature of the (physical) content itself. By contrast, the
thematic approach refers to a pedagogy concerned with situating the teaching of character
traits within a general theme or topic of learning that is of importance. Lastly, the model-
based approach, in the context of moral development, refers to a pedagogy that is concerned
with teaching character traits through the organizational structure of an already established
pedagogical model. Additionally, while a series of moral challenges and complexities are
shown to influence the running and ethical functioning of schools, this research over­
whelmingly suggests that the school serve as an important place for character development
and that the support provided to teachers significantly outweighs the obstacles they
experience when attempting to implement character pedagogies (Brunsdon & Layne, in
press). Despite these findings; however, this in its infancy, is limited to only a handful of
manuscripts, and unfortunately remains, as Hellison (2011) put it, more of a “flimsy belief”
(p. 20) and “matter of [academic] debate” within our field (p. 153). To that end, the research
now described captures our attempt to honor Hellison’s foundational work, and tackle what
would appear to be a sizable literature gap (Hellison & Martinek, 2009).

Theoretical framework
This project was grounded in Aristotle’s virtue theory (Aristotle & Brown, 2009; Brunsdon,
2024a, 2024b; de Ruyter & Wolbert, 2020, Hursthouse, 2022; Hursthouse & Pettigrove,
2023; Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues [JCCV], 2022; Kristjánsson, 2015, 2019). Not
to be confused with adjacent theories proposing virtue development (Hursthouse &
Pettigrove, 2023; Lee, 2022), a (neo) Aristotelian would argue that educators and educa­
tional institutions ought to be concerned with the moral ideal of human flourishing, which,
4 J. J. BRUNSDON AND K. D. GRIFFIN

for the sake of this manuscript, can be simplified as the pursuit of the good life or a life in
which all things are good (Kristjánsson & VanderWeel, in press; VanderWeel & Hinton,
2024; VanderWeele, 2017). For a society to flourish, Aristotle argues that individuals and
groups of people need to experience and be presented with opportunities that introduce the
idea of the good life and be assisted with the uncovering of what a flourishing life could or
ought to entail. Furthermore, persons ought to develop the skills and capabilities with which
to support their pursuit of the flourishing life and learn about how they can potentially
contribute to high levels of individual and societal well-being as a result. Aristotelian’s also
espouse the need for young people to develop character traits across the moral, performa­
tive, civic, and intellectual domains of life, develop virtuous capabilities that foster moral
action across different contexts, and forms of wisdom (scientific, craft and practical knowl­
edge) acting to guide their moral agency in an increasingly complex and precarious world
(JCCV, 2022; Kristjánsson, 2015). For a complete review of the theory, the literature
surrounding it, and its implications for teaching physical activity, see the work of
Kristjánsson (2015), de Ruyter and Wolbert (2020), and Brunsdon 2024a, 2024b)

Purpose
The purpose of this study was to describe the impact of a flourishing-oriented elective
course on a group of middle school students and their teachers. Two research questions
guided the project: (1) How was the elective course organized in terms of structure, method,
and content? (2) What impact (if any) did the emphasis on human flourishing impact the
students and their teachers? Altogether, this investigation built upon the noticeable synergy
between neo-Aristotelian virtue ethics and Hellison’s TPSR model and provides clues into
how established pedagogical models can be shifted, tweaked, and shaped based on the
interpretation(s) of educators who lived, trained, and worked in an entirely different
context and time frame. This research increases the field’s knowledge and understanding
of what character or flourishing pedagogies are and sheds light on its potential, short-term
impact on student growth. Finally, this research is novel in that it uncovers and justifies the
need for and value of employing new approaches to teaching physical activity through the
lens of emergent theories whilst at the same time respecting the efforts and ideals of
individual’s that have come before us. This, to us, and as we hope to now convey, represents
the true power and potential of pedagogical models in education.

Method
Setting
New Prohairesis (a fabricated name), which was led by Kerrith Griffin’s principalship (i.e.,
the second author), was a publicly funded middle school located at the heart of the Mid-
South in the United States. As an urban middle school, it was among the top 5% of the high
performing schools in the region in terms of student progress, was described as a “flagship”
school within the state by local politicians and regional governing bodies and was home to
two health and physical education teachers. During the 2023–2024 academic year, 410
students were based at the school, 24% of which were economically disadvantaged. In terms
of race, 53% of the students were white, 45% identified as African American, and 2% were
 QUEST 5

classified as mixed/other. Finally, the state funded resources and facilities available to
teachers and students at New Prohairesis were described as superb.

Participants
The participants were two physical education teachers and seven boys. Thunder (pseudo­
nym), the leading educator in this study, was identified as male, able-bodied, African
American, was in his 12th year of instruction as a teacher, and had a significant background
in civic education programming. Byran (pseudonym), who served as the teaching assistant
in this study, identified as a white able-bodied male, was a part-time teacher and graduate
student, as well as an assistant coach for a division one track and field program. Their
combined age range was 26–30 years old. In congruence with the authors’ institutional
review board, both Thunder and Bryan provided informed consent before the project
began.
Of a possible 22 boys affiliated with the elective course, only seven students and their
parents provided informed assent and consent indicating their willingness to participate in
the research component of the elective course. All seven boys identified as African-
American, were able-bodied, had an age range of 11–13 years, were defined as “high
performing athletes” for their age by Thunder, and were based in one of two classes (one
in the autumn and spring) that took place during the 2023–2024 academic year. Altogether,
their combined story and narrative as portrayed in the findings section is told through the
lens of “Jackson” (a principal selected pseudonym).

Intervention-like design
Like Hellison, at the heart of this project was a principal’s concern her students and
community. Specifically, in May 2023, Kerrith recognized that a small minority of her
students (n = 22) were, in her professional opinion, not working toward their educational
potential at New Prohairesis and were at risk of being excluded from the school altogether.
Because of this, like any other educator and administrator, Kerrith was rightly concerned
with how her students’ current engagement and effort for learning was, at this stage of their
life and educational journey, negatively influencing their human experience both within
and beyond middle school. Consequentially, as the school principal she met with her
administrative team during the same month and developed a three-phase, “intervention-
like” action plan intended to be launched during the following academic year in the hope of
overcoming this obstacle. The term “intervention-like” (as opposed to “intervention” itself)
was preferred by Kerrith for two main reasons. Firstly, she drew from both her anecdotal
observations of the boys during the previous 2021–2022 academic year, as well as their
progress data during the 2022–2023 academic year across multiple subject areas to inform
her judgment and professional concern, which subsequently made it challenging to identify
and focus on a single academic or behavioristic characteristic for all 22 boys and enact a
“stereotypical intervention.” Second, the idea of doing an explicit and culturally sensitive
intervention program with students experiencing various levels of precarity within a public
school and amidst the current (inhospitable) political climate surrounding curriculum
development surrounding gender, race, and religion could have brought undue attention
to the principal and school despite it being a “well-intentioned initiative.”
6 J. J. BRUNSDON AND K. D. GRIFFIN

Table 2. The organizational structure of the teaching for personal and Societal responsibility units.
Lesson
Week Number Number Content Area Character Traits in Focus
1 1 Keynote Moral Civic
Lecture
1–5 2–10 Floor Hockey Honesty and Respect Community Awareness
6–11 11–19 Rugby Performance Intellectual
12–16 20–29 Cricket Acadia and Critical Thinking, Creative Thinking, and Self-
16 30 Keynote Perseverance Understanding
Lecture

Phase 1 of the plan consisted of the Kerrith inviting Jamie to the school during
the month of June to discuss this concern and then inviting him to serve as an
outside expert within the initiative. It was at this juncture, that she voiced that her
primary aim was to provide a more “humanistic education” (i.e., an education that
contributed to students’ humanity) for the boys and desire for creating a tailor-made
elective course that served as a pathway to achieving this goal. Phase 2 consisted of
Kerrith hosting 22, individual “awareness meetings” with the boys and their parents
during month of June with which to communicate her concerns with the family, as
well as develop a more sophisticated understanding of how and why they were, in
her eyes, not working toward their educational potential. Having developed a greater
understanding of the boys’ situations, at the end of the meeting the principal
provided the family with a one-time opportunity to participate in an optional,
elective course called “Flourishing Through Sport” during the next academic year
which sought to promote their ability to achieve their potential as students. To
Kerrith’s delight, all 22 families supported her initiative and agreed to participate in
the course.
Lastly, Phase 3 involved Kerrith organizing a principal-led meeting with all
relevant stakeholders during the month of July, introducing Jamie to Thunder and
Bryan, unpacking the purpose and rationale of the intervention course, and then
instructing the teachers to design and co-teach the course in preparation for the
next academic year. In terms of teaching conditions, Thunder and Bryan were given
complete curricular autonomy and creativity for 60 lessons (30 per semester) which
equated to roughly two hours of elective learning per week and 120 hours in total
across two semester-long units and led to the organizational structure illustrated in
Table 2. Given the complexity of this initiative, both authors provided Thunder and
Bryan with copious documents, artifacts and resources (e.g., research articles, exam­
ple curriculum maps, content organizer, example pedagogical strategies, and so on)
during the month of July in the hope of assisting the coupling of their knowledge of
sport with the ethos of flourishing. Thunder and Bryan were also encouraged to seek
theoretical, visionary, and pedagogical guidance on a teacher-principal basis
throughout the year, but especially during the planning and (re)development periods
of the unit (i.e., during the July and December transition period). Finally, it should
be noted that the “optional” practice and policy of providing supplementary
resources and encouraging educators to seek in-depth professional training during
the school’s “off season” was a common feature at New Prohairesis.
 QUEST 7

Data collection
Data were collected with nine techniques during the 2023–2024 academic year, six of which
were concerned with the teachers and three focused on the students. The techniques in
focus were framed through Aristotle’s virtue theory and collected entirely by the first
author. First, Thunder and Bryan completed three focus group interviews in the months
of August (24 minutes), December (37 minutes) and May (46 minutes). Their purpose was
to uncover, from their perspective, how they understood and subsequently aspired to
employ flourishing pedagogies within the elective course, their perceptions about the
challenges and opportunities they experienced (or didn’t) whilst developing and imple­
menting the course, and their reflections about the kinds of learning and progress their
students experienced (or didn’t) because of their teaching. These interviews were video
recorded and transcribed verbatim immediately after completion. Second, Thunder and
Bryan were informally interviewed on 71 occasions. These interviews followed no format,
were conversational, and sought to highlight a more nuanced insight into their pedagogies.
All 71 interviews took place before and after one of the 35/65 lesson observations, which
served as the third data collection technique. Observations consisted of Kerrith scheduling
35 occasions for Jamie to visit New Prohairesis and observe Thunder and Bryan’s teaching
from the corner of the room.
Fourth, during observations, Jamie documented 35 sets of individual field notes in the
hope of capturing examples of specific pedagogical strategies and activities Thunder and
Bryan used to promote human flourishing as well as identify their students’ responses to
these. Fifth, Bryan maintained a reflective journal where he reflected on the unit on 16
separate occasions across a six-month period. Like the informal interviews, the content of
his reflections was not formalized; rather, he considered it to be a “stress relieving” activity
where he was offloading his thoughts about the course alongside his other professional
activities. Sixth, Thunder shared 11 pedagogy-specific artifacts (e.g., unit/lesson plans, a
curriculum map, teaching aids and resources, teaching/learning worksheets, and a list of
objectives and questions) via e-mail which he claimed helped to organize the running and
functioning of the course. Seventh, learning and progress documents (n = 105) and data
generated from 16/19 assessments were shared with both the first and second author at the
end of each semester via e-mail, and then unpacked during an end of year meeting. As
shown in Table 3, the content of the assessment was split across the psychomotor, cognitive,
affective, and social taxonomies and sought to provide a short-term insight into the
perceived effect of the course. Eighth, encompassed within the assessment data was the
use of a standard, pre-/post-exam which served to track students’ learning and progress
throughout the course. The exam was completed using a pen and paper in a classroom,
consisted of 31 short answer questions in total that referenced components of virtue theory
and their experiences in the elective course, and took students approximately 40 minutes to
complete. Ninth, all seven students (five and two in groups one [fall 2023] and two [spring
2024]) completed a focus group interview at the end of the term to discuss their experience
and learning in the class which was audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Questions
embedded within the techniques eight and nine included, for example: (1) Define [trait] and
provide an example of that trait from your own experience; (2) Identify five character traits
(or more) that best define you; (3) Describe what it means to be a good person; (4) Share a
time when your emotions got the best of you and what you learnt from that situation; (5) How
8 J. J. BRUNSDON AND K. D. GRIFFIN

Table 3. Assessment plan.

Assessment Assessment Type Name of Assessment Assessment Value (Total =
Number (Domain) Assessment Implementation 225 Points)
1. Psychomotor Domain Skills Test Lesson 6 10 Points
(Floor Hockey)
2. GPAI (Floor Lesson 9 15 Points
Hockey)
3. Skills Test (Rugby) Lesson 14 10 Points
4. GPAI (Rugby) Lesson 18 15 Points
5. Skills Test (Cricket) Lesson 23 10 Points
6. GPAI (Cricket) Lesson 27 15 Points
7. Cognitive Domain Keynote Project Home Learning 25 Points
8. Compositional N/A N/A
Exam
9. Personality Test Home Learning 10 Points
10. Learning Diary Lessons 1–30 25 Points
11. Letters of Home Learning 20 Points
Gratitude
12. Affective Domain Video Report (Self) Lesson 8 10 Points
13. Video Report Home Learning 10 Points
(Peer)*
14. Character Home Learning 10 Points
Interview
15. Meaningful Music Lesson 21 10 Points
16. Social Domain FlipGrid Home Learning 10 Points
Discussion
17. Ted Talk Home Learning 10 Points
Presentation
18. Build-a-Billboard* Home Learning 10 Points
19. Volunteering* Home Learning 10 Points
Note: Assessments are organized by taxonomy. GPAI = Games Performance Assessment Instrument. Assessments with an
asterisk (*) were planned for but were not actually implemented during the course.

have your experiences in physical education and/or school sport impacted your moral growth
(if it has); (6) if “flourishing” means “achieving your potential in life, what does that look like
for you?; (7) What did you like the most and least about the elective course?; and (8) What do
you know about yourself now, at the end of the semester that you didn’t know at the beginning
of the semester? The interviews lasted for 30 minutes, allowed follow-up prompts, was audio
recorded and then transcribed verbatim.

Data analysis
Qualitative data were analyzed using a five-phase thematic analysis (Merrem & Tisdell,
2016; Patton, 2015). The first phase consisted of organizing the data into one of two groups
based on the research questions: (1) the unit’s organizational structure, method, and
content; and (2) what impact (if any) did an educational emphasis on flourishing impact
the students and their teachers. Phase two consisted of reviewing all data entries across the
nine different techniques and giving the data specific codes and descriptors with which to
unpack the data collected. Given the amount and complexity of the data pertaining to this
study, the codes and descriptors were written down on both a “master code” sheet and two
separate “research question” code documents to begin an audit trail. To further the depth of
our analyses, the initial codes were then compared against the theoretical constructs
associated with this study (character and virtue, wisdom and flourishing) by acknowledging
 QUEST 9

and noting them on the master document (e.g., stating insights into the “what” and “how”
of virtue ethics). For example, codes 25 (honesty), 77 (creative thinking), 79 (critical
thinking) and 103 (perseverance) had been identified as “character content” codes, were
coupled with descriptions of “desiring to teach for” or “aspiring students to grow in the area
of” and subsequently built into the initial category pertaining to moral content.
Additionally, codes 19, 53–57, 81, 95–99, 110, 122, 126 and 144 (among others) were
acknowledged to be “character pedagogy” codes that referenced a peer or group-centered
teaching strategy that, when merged in later stages, became known as the friendships of
character pedagogy.
Having developed 872 initial codes and descriptors, phase three consisted of sifting
through the codes and descriptors again and making more developed and informed
judgments about coding (in)congruences based on the totality of data collected. During
this process, Jamie created one additional coding document for each research question,
began sorting the initial codes into foundational categories with which to identify and
illustrate topics of importance, and framed the following question at the topic of each
document: “How does this category/theme reflect or illuminate Aristotelian virtue ethics?”
Thereafter, the lead author further reviewed the prominence of “flourishing” (1st), “char­
acter” (2nd) and “wisdom” (3rd) specific coding and codes embedded within each category
by highlighting the constructs a different color to visually represent their strength. At the
end of this phase, research question one and two yielded 11 and six foundational categories,
respectively.
Phase four consisted of both authors meeting to review the initial categories, reviewing
the codes and descriptors associated with each individual category, and then critically
analyzing the data during a four-hour period. During this meeting, we created another
set of code documents to further strengthen our audit trait, began merging the codes
together, and later reduced the 17 initial categories into 3 focused themes and 10 sub-
themes. Although the depths of our theoretical discussion remained moderate throughout
this stage (for sake of pragmatism), our focus shifted from understanding the “what” and
“how” of virtue ethics toward exploring the “why,” toward unearthing all affiliated “impact”
points, and rank ordering what we believed to be most important categories. For example,
to address our second research question, we reviewed and discussed the six initial categories
that referenced the effect of the unit on the participants and merged these into two sub-
themes (improved virtue literacy, dreaming more and dreaming again) which had multiple
standards within it (see below). We also bullet pointed some example titles with which to
name the overarching theme in the event that it was included in a final version of the
manuscript. Thereafter, phase five consisted of reviewing all the comments and suggestions
crafted during the previous phase, identifying/shaping appropriate names and titles for the
themes and sub-themes, and searching for data entries with which to represent in the
manuscript.
Data reliability and trustworthiness of our analysis were established using multiple
methods (Patton, 2015). The most prominent methods consisted of triangulating data
across nine techniques and engaging with the data collection and analysis for a prolonged
period of time (i.e., close to 16 months). Additional methods included completing multiple,
follow-up interviews with the participants, completing several peer-debriefing meetings
with the second author with which to confirm the accuracy of the data collected and later
analyzed, and asking the teachers to complete an independent member check. Having
10 J. J. BRUNSDON AND K. D. GRIFFIN

developed “significantly positive” relationships with their students (Kerrith, data anaysis),
Thunder and Byran were asked to comment on the student pre-/posttest and focus group
data, which further solidified the accuracy of the data collected as well as our interpretation
(s) of the data within the analysis.

Findings and discussion

The findings section is organized as follows: Organizational Structure, Method, Content, and
Impact in accordance with our research questions. Again, Thunder and Bryan’s data are
reported using prototypical measures while the data pertaining to the seven students involved
in this study (but not all 22 students affiliated with the initiative) are reflective in the narrated
story and findings of “Jackson” (a principal selected pseudonym). In addition, the data now
shared includes a source and entry number (e.g., [source], no. [number]) except when there
is only a single source (e.g., pre-/posttest data) or when multiple sources make the same
statement, in which case only the name of source(s) will be provided.

Organizational structure – teaching for personal and Societal Flourishing

Building upon previous research (Brunsdon et al., in press), Thunder and Bryan’s elective
course utilized what came to be understood as the Teaching for Personal and Societal
Flourishing (TPSF) approach, which drew inspiration from the work of Don Hellison
(TPSR) and Aristotle (virtue ethics) and served as this study’s overarching theme and
organizational structure. As illustrated on Table 2, two lessons were dedicated to keynote
lectures (lessons 1 and 30) provided by a local state representative and politician and 28
lessons were dedicated to the teaching of physical activity-based subject matter (lessons
2–10 [floor hockey], 11–19 [rugby] and 20–29 [cricket]). Embedded within this structure
was an emphasis on eight character traits across the moral (honesty and respect), civic
(community awareness), performance (acadia and perseverance) and intellectual (critical
thinking, creative thinking, and self-understanding) domains of virtue. Additionally, data
analysis showed that Thunder and Bryan consistently referred to and relied on six pedago­
gies (Prosperity Talks, Friendships of Character, Northern Time, Forms of Virtuous
Movement, Levels of Flourishing in Action, and Levels of Transfer) and two forms of content
(Unconventional Movement Content and Foundational Moral Content) across all 60 lessons
to achieve the goals of the elective course (focus group interview no. 1):
Growing up, I knew how much sport developed my character, protected me, and helped to
transform my life for the better. So, to have the privilege of [helping] those who I’m teaching to be
able to grow, morally, ethically, to flourishing in sport, and to learn about how that applies to
everyday life, I couldn’t ask for a better job. As teachers, we play a huge part in [students’] moral
development. To have a teacher who’s not mom or dad teaching about moral values, and to
encourage youth to “do the right thing” makes being a good person and teacher that much cooler.

Finally, alongside the data collection techniques, Thunder and Bryan’s attempts to evaluate
Jackson’s learning and progress across the different taxonomies yielded a nuanced insight
into the educational implications and impact (Improved Virtue Literacy and Dreaming) of
their approach on both themselves and their students (see Table 3). For brevity, Thunder
and Bryan will also be referred to as “teacher” or “teachers” here onwards.
 QUEST 11

Method – six pedagogy-based critical elements

Prosperity Talks
The first and perhaps most fundamental pedagogy was the teachers use of Prosperity Talks
(i.e., an explicit teacher talk that defined the notion of flourishing, discussed the role and
purpose of lifelong education, and the importance of developing a character identity that
would allow persons to pursue a flourishing life; focus group interviews, informal inter­
views, observations, field notes). This most significant example of this practice stemmed
from the keynote lectures (lessons 1 and 30) whereby a local politician spent 120 minutes
talking to Jackson in the school’s auditorium about various educational ideals, his upbring­
ing and family circumstances, and his experiences at the state/national capitals before
getting to know Jackson on a more personal level. This practice was then repeated at the
beginning of each content area (lessons 2, 11, and 20), albeit these secondary Prosperity
Talks were “less ambitious” and noticeably “less impactful” when compared to that of the
keynote lectures (informal interview no. 3, observation/field notes no. 2/11/20). Moreover,
these gym-based talks ranged from 5 to 13 minutes in duration, were explicitly led by
Thunder who, given his background in civic education, were leveraged in such a way that
they were centered around the “history” and “culture of [metropolitan city]” with which the
study was based (observations/field notes, informal interview no. 22). One of the obstacles
impeding Bryan’s desire to use and/or be associated with this pedagogy was linked to his
perceptions about the level of depth he could “naturally facilitate” (even with planning)
within the fast-paced nature of the unit and was the primary reason why Thunder led the
charge in this regard. Having listened to five Prosperity Talks across the semester, Jackson’s
penultimate home learning activity (see Table 3) consisted of presenting a 2–3 minute “Ted
Talk Presentation” (mini) (documents) during class or on YouTube which consisted of (a)
defining what he believed it meant to be a “good person,” (b) discussing their goals and
aspirations for life within and beyond school, and (c) making a concluding statement about
what they learnt or valued most about their elective course experience (documents, student
focus group interview no. 3). The following excerpts are short examples of Jackson’s
response to this assignment:
I’ve always loved sport. It’s a part of who I am and . . . I just A good person is growing all time. They are happy, [they]
can’t imagine life without it. Coach [Thunder and Bryan] are nice to themselves, nice to other people . . . in my
helped teach me how sport is related to everyday life and view, Coach [Thunder] taught us about sport and life.
like, helped me consider my teammates more when [He] wanted us to keep trying when we struggle, to get
playing games. I learnt how to like, show more better and better, and encouraged us to try our best.
sportsmanship while were competing, because you don’t [This elective] just helped me to become a better person.
want to be someone who has all the skills, but no one
wants to be around you.

Forms of Virtuous Movement

As is normally the case in most school physical education and sport settings, Jackson spent
most of the elective course participating in and learning about physical activity-based
subject matter (see Table 2; observations; Cloes, 2017). To help Jackson to become a
Virtuous Mover (i.e., a mover or sportsperson who is virtuous, embodies movement-
oriented moral wisdom, and seeks to promote the flourishing of human goodness in
movement arenas; Brunsdon, 2024a,b), or to at least become more sympathetic to
12 J. J. BRUNSDON AND K. D. GRIFFIN

movement-oriented moral ideals, the teacher sought to integrate the eight character traits
within hockey, rugby, and cricket (field notes, focus group interviews, documents;
Chambers, 1989, Point, 2010; Liddiard, 2014). Another aim was to indirectly aspire
Jackson to improve their overall knowledge of morality (informal interview no. 40). To
achieve this goal, Bryan created scenarios during the small-sided games component of the
lesson that required Jackson to think about and subsequently respond to a series of “pre-
planned moral dilemmas” (informal interview no. 4/11/13), most of which required him to
improve his conflict resolution abilities.
One such example occurred during a cricket competition (lesson 27), was based on a
scenario whereby an umpire could not see an event occur (e.g., a leg before wicket or edged
hit) and could not make an accurate decision, and then required Jackson to discuss with a
partner about how to appropriately respond to this dilemma in a way that “ensured the
competition remained honest” and “fair” (observation/field note, no. 27). An alternative
example within rugby (lesson 14) compared the importance of not performing “fake
throws” or “dummy passes” when performing a “throw in” (which is allowed in its sibling
sport of American football) and then asking Jackson to compare identical or similar
behaviors and rules from different sports that are either allowed or illegal. Bryan then led
a discussion which talked about the importance of rules, why it is important to develop rules
should they not be serving the greater good of the class or experience, and referenced how
he himself did this to ensure the teams were fair because during lesson 14, there was an
inequal number of students in the class because of a lower student attendance (observation/
field note no. 14, informal interview no. 14). Of course, while Bryan’s game-based pedago­
gies were almost exclusively teacher-centered, his idea was “not to bombard them” with a
constant set of teacher-cantered “ethical dilemmas”; rather, it was to dedicate roughly
5–10 minutes of a possible 15–35 minutes dedicated to gameplay to “thinking about mor­
ality” and helping Jackson to learn about how to act morally on his own accord and with the
aim of reducing his involvement over time (reflective journal, no. 9; Brunsdon, 2025;
Mosston & Ashworth, 2008). Jackson reflected further on his learning from the cricket
component of the unit (lessons 20–29; focus group interview no. 2):
I’m trying to [build my] sportsmanship. It was one of my team’s strengths, because when you
strike out, you have to stay positive, and to encourage each other to just, have another go at it.
Just keep swinging. Keep swinging until you hit the ball, and I think if you can have fun and
you’re trying your best, that’s as good as winning.

To that end, we should note that although Bryan and Thunder sought to find balance
between their teaching of psychomotor and moral content, this aspect of the curriculum
was very much a “daily balancing act” and it was challenging to identify whether there
actually was equilibrium between the different domains of virtue despite teacher planning
(see Table 2).

Levels of flourishing in action

As shown in Table 3, Jackson completed 16 of a possible 19 assignments that were originally
built into the course. Before reviewing this pedagogy, Thunder and Bryan begun this
process by creating an “assessment plan – block plan” that outlined their “how’s,”
“what’s” and “when’s” of their assessment and oftentimes commented on the “complexities”
of assessment building, esp. with regards to their social, affective and cognitive priorities, to
 QUEST 13

which they had fewer experiences with (document, no. 12). Indeed, it was not the “envi­
sioning of ideas behind the assignments” that was difficult; rather, it was the execution of
the assignment themselves, as well as the process of creating the instructions and rubrics
they needed to provide Jackson with, that was cumbersome (formal interview, no. 1).
Another challenge, except for Bryan who took sole responsibility for this task, was the
process of ensuring all assignment documents were presented at the middle school reading
level (reflective journal, no. 2).
While their performance on these tasks was evaluated through a “points system” in
accordance with New Prohairesis’ grading policies, the teachers also provided an over­
arching “flourishing statement” on each assignment based on their impression of whether
he was working toward his potential and thus, was working toward achieving the goals of
the elective. As illustrated on the “Learning Journey Tracker” (see Figure 1), which was
signposted across the gym, classroom, and auditorium being used, these statements ranged
from Level 0 (Floundering), Level 1 (Developing), Level 2 (Reaching), Level 3 (Achieving),
Level 4 (Excelling) and Level 5 (Flourishing). Like how TPSR scholars and practitioners
approach the levels of responsibility (Hellison, 1985, 1995, 2003, 2011), these added state­
ments had no “official impact” on his elective course grade; rather, its purpose was to
encourage student reflection and to motivate Jackson to engage with the content of the class
more meaningfully than was previously present. These statements also served as “important
discussion points that intended to support student buy-in” (informal interview no. 62)
during both the Prosperity Talks and Northern Time components of the course, among
other pedagogies.

Friendships of character
During the first lesson of every week, excluding weeks 1 and 16 because of the keynote
lectures (see Table 2), the teachers used a small group activity that was intended to (re)
educate Jackson about the “idea of a good friend” (focus group interviews, observations,
field notes, documents). Bryan’s commentary on this concept was borrowed from the
Aristotelian idea of Friendships of Character and was best described in his journal (no. 13;
Aristotle & Brown, 2009; Kristjánsson, 2015):
A good friendship is when all parties of a group are emotionally invested in each other and
want the best for one another regardless of their circumstances. A good friendship is holistically
supportive . . . [and they] aren’t afraid to tell someone when they’re doing good or bad. A good
friend is a sort of moral engineer that helps to steer and support their friend’s trajectory in life,
and toward their flourishing goals.

From a practical perspective, this pedagogy began with students self-assigning themselves
into groups of two (i.e., a peer they had an existing relationship with) who they’d work with
for the duration of the semester, finding a space in the gym or classroom, and then working
together to complete a peer/group task or activity that in some way, discussed the concept of
character and morality.
The first example of this activity took place on week 2 (lesson 4) and consisted of
Thunder giving each group a worksheet with the list of character traits in focus (see
Table 2). Thereafter, Jackson was asked to create or develop what they believed to be
“dictionary-like definitions” for each term before discussing which character traits their
parents, siblings, or close friends have helped to teach them about before joining New
14 J. J. BRUNSDON AND K. D. GRIFFIN

Figure 1. An illustration of the Levels of Flourishing evaluation protocol.

Prohairesis (observations/field notes no. 4). Having fact-checked their answers before
moving back into small-sided games, exactly one week after this activity (lesson 6) consisted
of the groups being tasked with “kindly evaluating their partner’s character” by describing
the traits from the list (or otherwise) that they believe their partner shows or had developed,
and providing one character trait they believe could be improved (observations/field notes
no. 4). The groups of two were then temporarily merged with another character friendship
to make a group of four and were asked to further share and discuss this feedback (informal
interview, no. 4). Of course, the idea was not for Jackson to have developed a “fully fleshed
out friendship of character” by the end of the unit; rather, it was to afford Jackson with
“developmental activities” that promoted his understanding of this ideal and gave him
tangible experiences for him to use to improve his understanding of friendship (reflective
 QUEST 15

journal no. 13; informal interview no. 29). This learning was then coupled with the teachers’
alternative pedagogies and served to support the learning of, for example, moral dilemmas
related to “teamwork” and “leadership” (informal interviews no. 56) during the Virtuous
Movement pedagogy.

Levels of Transfer
Across the entire unit, and whenever the topic of morality arose, data analysis showed that
Thunder and Bryan were cognizant about and made explicit efforts to promote four Levels
of Transfer using the following developmental structure: Inward Transfer; Outward
Transfer; Movement Transfer; and Life Transfer (Brunsdon & Walker, 2022). First, they
aspired to introduce and teach character traits in ways that both helped and motivated
Jackson to internalize the value of these qualities and to consciously embed them into his
moral identity. A most common example of this practice related to Thunder’s teaching for
the trait of perseverance during the psychomotor skills test and games performance
evaluation in hockey (lessons 6 and 9) whereby he reiterated the importance of overcoming
challenges (i.e., performing under pressure) despite how difficult a task might appear to be
(observations/field notes, informal interviews). Second, after introducing the virtues,
Jackson was provided continual opportunities to put them into action in the real world,
which consequently helped him to practice and refine how he thought about and used these
qualities in morally appropriate ways. A look at lesson 21, for instance, provided space for
Jackson to select one or multiple traits that he had learnt about during the elective or
otherwise, identify a song that he believed best defined or described that trait, and to then
had the opportunity to voice his opinion with his peers (as well as play his [clean] song) at
the end of the lesson (see Table 3; observations/field notes no. 21, informal interview
no. 23).
Third, Jackson was required to build upon these foundational levels after being asked to
identity, describe, and breakdown sport-specific examples whereby (im)moral behaviors
occurred, much of which included a requirement to reflect his own experience of sport and/
or to draw from sporting examplars with which he looked up to (Mellor & Brunsdon, 2025).
In one such situation, Jack discussed his fondness for [local professional basketball player]
whilst at the same time acknowledging challenges he was noticeably experiencing whilst off
the court (student focus group interview no. 1). Fourth, the teachers invited and created
opportunities for Jackson to make connections from their learnings in the elective to that of
their wider life experiences and attempted to highlight the connections between (im)moral
behaviors in various arenas of life. This final practice also appeared to be highly influenced
by the advocacy shown in the keynote and was continuously discussed in relation to the
keynote project which encouraged Jackson to “think long and hard” about their “educa­
tional aspirations” (informal interview, no. 1; see Tables 2 and 3). In one situation, one
student became more interested in “environmental justice” while another double-downed
on his aim for “becoming an athlete” (student focus group interview no. 2). Altogether,
these levels served as a “developmental guide” for understanding moral development and
“made it easier for [them]” to think about Jackson’s moral progress.

Northern time
For approximately 10 minutes at the end of every week, Jackson engaged in an independent
journaling activity that Thunder and Bryan called Northern Time. Inspired by the idea of a
16 J. J. BRUNSDON AND K. D. GRIFFIN

“moral compass” and that a “true north” can be found and used to direct a person toward
making appropriate ethical decisions, the teachers gave Jackson a notepad and pen that they
would use to respond to two preplanned questions on a weekly basis. The first question
oftentimes encouraged Jackson to reflect on his prior learning, while the second motivated
him to develop a set of specific, actionable tasks, goals and targets intended to improve their
(moral) behaviors both within and beyond the elective course (documents).

Example Initial Questions Example Secondary Questions

1. What resonated with you the most from this week’s 1. [Keynote speaker] talked about the importance of
keynote lecture? Explain why it resonated with you. education. What educational goal(s) do you have for
2. Describe a time this semester where you felt frustrated, yourself moving forward?
upset, or unhappy, and unpack the situation that led to 2. Imagine you had a younger sibling or friend who
this feeling occurring. experienced what you just wrote about. Explain what you
would say to them about how you might overcome those
emotions or avoid the situation that led you to
experience those feelings.

Interestingly, perhaps the most common set of responses to questions such as these
mentioned Jackson’s Levels of Flourishing scores provided by Thunder, their Friendships of
Character they had built during the elective, as well as the various dilemmas they experi­
enced during the Forms of Virtuous Movement component. As Jackson reflected:

Week 5 – Lesson 10 Week 9 – Lesson 18

In reference to acadia and GPAI assessment: In reference to critical thinking:
[Thunder told us] to be like a cheetah not like a sloth. He I liked that we got to play a game today and got to make
said we won’t excel and flourish if we don’t hold the an offensive and defensive gameplan, like we do in
[hockey] sticks correctly and keep them down below our [American football]. [We] didn’t bat very well but we
waist. were really good at fielding.

Another observation, drawn from week 16, consisted of Jackson not being given any
questions; rather, their focus was to review their previous reflections across weeks 1–15 and
to make a short commentary about their overall learning journey within the elective. Thus,
yielding the following excerpt and reiterating a self-perceived insight into his experience:
[I learnt] how to play cricket and rugby which helped to expand the sports I can play, and that
by being a good teammate and friend, I can lift the morale of the room. I learnt how to become
a better leader, a little bit, and that having better sportsmanship will help me to stay in the game
and play longer.

Before any of this was possible; however, Thunder and Bryan dedicated a significant
amount of time “figuring out” how to best approach this pedagogy from a pragmatic
standpoint, with their primary tension surrounding the extent to which they should remain
stricter and more focused or broad and flexible, and how this decision would impact the
scope of material covered. As noted above, they concluded that more direct and teacher-
centered (at this time) was more appropriate at this time because of their directive.

Content – two content-driven critical elements

Unconventional Movement Content
Thunder and Bryan dedicated 28 lessons to the intentional teaching of
Unconventional Movement Content (see Table 2). In this context, “unconventional”
 QUEST 17

was defined best by Bryan who stated: “content that [Jackson], for no fault of [their]
own, had simply not been exposed to in the south” (focus group interview no. 1).
Thunder built upon this point by talking about the importance of providing non-
traditional learning opportunities for Black youth located in the Mid-South to help
“reduce inequalities” and promote “social mobility” (focus group interview no. 1).
Driven by this perspective, the teachers employed a combination of skill-drill
activities and small-sided games (only) which to use to promote the learning and
foundational skills found in floor hockey, rugby, and cricket (Atkinson & Brunsdon,
2022; Brunsdon, 2018; Chambers, 1989, Liddiard, 2014; Point, 2010). Thunder took
primary responsibility for introducing and developing key technical skills for all
three sports, while Bryan was responsible for creating small-sided games that would
enable Jackson to “put [their] skills to the test” (informal interview no. 57).
To teach the content outlined in Table 4, the teachers relied heavily on a number of
direct teaching styles, only (esp. practice, self-check, reciprocal and inclusion; observa­
tions, field notes, informal interviews; Brunsdon et al., in Press; Mosston & Ashworth,
2008). A generalizable example drawn from Thunder’s teaching of hockey lessons 2, 3, 5,
and 8; observations, field notes was his use of a “number activity” which consisted of
associating a number to a particular skill (e.g., 1 = “reverse dribble,” 2 = “exchange balls
with a partner,” 3 = “change of pace to create space”), which he liked Jackson to
perform. Whilst Jackson dribbled around the court, Thunder called out a number to
be performed and would gradually refine the skills in focus and include more advanced
skills as the unit progressed. Another warm-up activity consisted of Thunder using style
E (inclusion) during lessons 20 and 21 and inviting Jackson to independently select how
many tennis balls he would like to “juggle” with (between 1 and 3) in order to prepare
for fielding activities (observations, field notes). Altogether, it was in these sorts of ways
that the teachers’ approached the education for movement-based subject matter and
thought about promoting disciplinary mastery (Curtner-Smith et al., 2018). A caveat of
“simply not having enough time” (focus group interview no. 3); however, limited the
potential effect of their teaching regarding the psychomotor content taught, inhibited
Jackson’s ability to move beyond that of a “novice” or “advanced beginner” from a value
orientation perspective and mirrors prior research (documents; Curtner-Smith et al.,
2018, 2020). They were; however, able to shift most learners into the “utilization” and
“proficiency” level of skill acquisition from a foundational motor control perspective
(observations, field notes, informal interviews, reflective journal no. 16; Graham et al.,
2010).

Table 4. A non-exhaustive overview of taught technical skills.

Floor Hockey Rugby Cricket
Grips (Basic, Pancake, V-Grip) Grips (One/Two-Handed) Throwing (Overarm and Underarm)
Dribbling (Straight, Indian, Loose) Passing (Basic, Pop, Spin) Catching (High/Mid Catch)
Passing (Push and Slap) Catching/Receiving Bowling (General)
Stopping (Short/Long Barrier) Kicking and Following Up Batting Stance
Tackle (Jab and Lunge) Throw-Ins Batting Shots (General)
Shooting/Scoring (Multiple) Player Positioning Fielding (Short/Long Barrier)
Note: The teachers focused on introducing Jackson to foundational technical skills and spent less time on developing their
tactical and strategic knowledge and capabilities. Their teaching of rules and different game formats were embedded
within their teaching of small-sided games.
18 J. J. BRUNSDON AND K. D. GRIFFIN

Foundational Moral Content

The teachers integrated the teaching of eight character traits throughout elective course,
including honesty, respect, community awareness, acadia, perseverance, critical thinking,
creative thinking, and self-understanding (see Table 2). The rationale for including these
within the current project drew from Thunder and Kerrith’s early discussions regarding
“what’s worth doing” with New Prohairesis’ students (Richards & Shiver, 2020), as well as
their joint beliefs about “gatekeeping” traits that Jackson “needed to learn more about,” “re-
learn” and walk through to “grow as young human beings” (informal interviews, reflective
journal no. 9, documents). Moreover, Thunder and Bryan, with the support of Kerrith
decided to focus on these traits on that basis that it would help “refortify the moral
foundation[s]” of their students with the context of New Prohairesis (focus group interview
no. 3) and help to promote their level of flourishing both within and beyond the confines of
the schools (focus group interview no. 3, informal interviews).

Impact – educational implications of TPSF for all stakeholders

Improved virtue literacy
According to the learning and progress documents, pre-/posttest data, and student focus
group interviews, Jackson’s virtue literacy improved in at least three areas during the time in
which the study took place (JCCV, 2022). The first included improved Moral Vocabulary (i.
e., one’s understanding of terms related to rules and judgments of right and wrong,
principles of moral behavior, among other moral concepts). Although Jackson was familiar
with all the traits being explored in the class outside of acadia (see Table 2), pretest data
revealed that most of the descriptions associated with these behaviors were either incorrect
or incomplete, and that oftentimes the examples used by Jackson to help define and
illustrate a character trait was viewed from a negative or reductionist perspective. In other
words, at the start of the project Jackson was able to confidently explain what the trait was
not more than he was able to define what the trait was from a positive or optimistic
perspective. Jackson also found it easier to talk about performance virtues and consistently
provided negative or consequential examples of the traits as opposed to from a positive and
optimistic perspective. Additionally, he had previously (and incorrectly) used “sporting
qualities” such as those described below within the same context as “character traits,” which,
while applicable in some cases, is mostly misaligned with the definition of a virtue:

Pre-Test Response: Post-Test Response:

Define the term “honesty.”
The opposite of telling the truth. Being trusting and having the ability to tell the truth. Not lying to yourself or
anyone else.
Define the term “acadia.”
I’ve never heard of this word before. It means you don’t really care about anything. You give no effort and give up
on things easily.
Identify five character traits (or more) that best define you.
Athletic, hard worker, strong, agile, and Happy, focused, determined, helpful, truthful, kind, and respectful.
dedicated.

Moreover, a look at Jackson’s learning diary (no. 2, and 4–9) revealed that the notion of
“sport” provided him with the language to discuss the human characteristics (but not traits
or behaviors) being taught and was “essential to [their] happiness” (pre-/posttest), which
 QUEST 19

suggested that he viewed sport to be a key part of his moral identity or framework (JCCV,
2022). In contrast, at the end of the project Jackson’s posttest data showed an increased level
of accuracy when defining the virtues (generally) and was evidenced by an increased
number of words and correct explanations provided in response to questions, and an
increased level of directness in their answers about the virtues. Jackson’s ability to identify
and discuss a greater number of traits that were not explicitly affiliated with the course
during the group interviews such as leadership, tolerance, and courtesy reiterated this
finding.
The second consisted of improved Moral Knowledge and Comprehension (i.e.,
understanding the meaning of term[s], identifying them in everyday life, knowing
their value, and recognizing their relationship to the flourishing life). Jackson shifted
from having a “roundabout understanding” (informal interview no. 55) of character
and flourishing at the beginning of the unit toward a more scientifically (epistemic)
aligned understanding of these terms and their meaning(s) at the end of the course
(Brunsdon & Walker, 2022). Although the students’ descriptions were largely non-
critical, “very black and white” (informal interview no. 12), and still included some
misconceptions, the students’ ability to write about (posttest, letters of gratitude)
and discuss (observations, field notes, ted talk presentations) the virtues had
improved to the point where they were able to draw from their previous experiences
in the class and sport during, for example, the Prosperity Talks or when being
evaluated by Thunder during the Levels of Flourishing in Action component of the
unit. Moreover, while we were unable to solidify whether Jackson had improved his
level of Moral emotions (i.e., feeling the virtue-relevant emotion in the in the right
way), there were multiple instances where he identified and showed appetite for
discussing human emotions linked to specific scenarios, all of which were linked to
their life experiences with their family members, friends inside/outside of school,
and teammates in youth sport settings (focus group interview no. 2, video report
[self], keynote project, observations, field notes).
The final and perhaps most important area of growth was concerned with
Jackson’s Moral Identity (i.e., understanding oneself as strongly committed to the
moral and flourishing life). As evidenced in the home learning activities (learning
diary, character interview, video reports, volunteering) and reinforced by the focus
group interviews, Thunder’s background in civic education appeared to have had a
significant impact on Jackson, who at the end of the study showed a heightened
awareness of himself and how his actions were influencing other people both in
school and on the playing field. He also acknowledged a greater level of appreciation
for his peers in the elective and altogether demonstrated an improved motivation for
working effectively with other people. For these reasons, Jackson gave the authors’
the impression that of the four domains in focus, the civic orientation benefited the
most:

Jackson – Focus Group Interview Statements

I leant that passing can be the best thing you can do to [The course] reiterated the importance of kindness. Treating
win, to have great sportsmanship and to think before others with respect. Being good, being a good group, and
you act. working well together.
The best thing I learned was the importance of integrity. It I learned that it is important to be unselfish and to remember
is about acting right when no one else is around. to think about your teammates.
20 J. J. BRUNSDON AND K. D. GRIFFIN

Despite Jackson showing evidence of moral growth across the vocabulary, knowledge
and comprehension, and identity categories, we encourage the readership to engage with
these findings in critical and context-specific ways. We acknowledge this because much of
the data obtained concerning Jackson’s moral development extends beyond the scope of the
manuscript and for all intents and purposes, cannot be discussed in the context of this
manuscript for fear of opening Pandora’s box whereby all kinds of moral questions and
conundrums not related to this study and experience can be explored here. We should be
clear, then, this project provides evidence that a teacher-created composite pedagogical
model in the TPSF approach did, in this context, lead to growth in the areas described
above, and that future research ought to fact-check our findings in alternative settings. With
this in mind, we can also share that all 22 students affiliated with this initiative retained their
position at New Prohairesis, which further indicates the success of the described project.

Dreaming more and dreaming again

Informed by a combination of informal interviews, focus group interviews and Bryan’s
journaling practice, the notion of Dreaming More (Bryan) and Dreaming Again (Thunder)
was salient when reflecting on how the elective course had influenced the teachers.
According to the combined 43/872 codes affiliated with this sub-theme, it appeared as if
the task and experience itself, as well as the autonomy provided with which to complete this
task helped to advance their emergent and established philosophies of physical education as
well as their level of pedagogical creativity. For Bryan, his use of this phrase was linked to his
newly refreshed philosophical positioning and recently acquired pedagogical experiences,
strategies and capabilities (reflective journal, no. 16). Alternatively, Thunder’s reference to
Dreaming Again was linked to how his experience pushed him to philosophize a profession
that extends beyond what his prior experiences could afford and to reflect on how his
practices had evolved, better or for worse, over time. Moreover, the emphasis on the
concept of flourishing afforded the teachers with the language that helped to advance and
build upon their moral pedagogies, which from the outset, were heavily influenced by
Hellison’s TPSR model (Hellison, 1985, 1995, 2003, 2011). As Thunder and Bryan com­
mented at the end of the study:

Thunder’s Reflection: Bryan’s Reflection:

I started teaching 12 years ago. So, the things I learnt [at In keeping with the same analogy by [Thunder], and I’ve
university] and have done [in the past 12 years] are slowly only just started my career, but for me, I felt like this class
becoming out of date. There was a definite difference in made me dream a little more. I think the idea of
my thinking, my teaching this year . . . I need to be challenging the students with content they’ve never
learning more. I want to learn more . . . . When I look back experienced, requiring them to be creative and teaching
on my experience in school, I felt like the school system them about character, it was a good thing. Also, I liked
let me down. So, when I look back on this class, I kind of how we used [TPSR] as a springboard for teaching the
felt like I was a pre-service teacher again. . [it] was as if I students about human flourishing. It worked really well
was dreaming again [i.e., about the profession]. and it’s something I plan on continuing.
Focus Group Interview No. 3. Focus Group Interview No. 3.

Conclusion
Don Hellison was a pioneer. This research sought to honor him, his work and legacy,
and was inspired, in part, by a question he was considering all those years ago. That is,
“what’s worth doing” in education? (Baptista et al., 2020; Hellison, 1973; Richards &
 QUEST 21

Shiver, 2020; Sánchez-Miguel et al., 2025). In the context of this study and elective
course, the teachers at New Prohairesis’ concluded that Teaching Personal and Societal
Flourishing should be at the forefront of their mission, especially when working with
youth who are “at-risk” of not achieving their educational potential and are on the cusp
of being excluded from public schools. Above all, this study’s most significant result
included the development of Jackson’s virtue literacy (moral vocabulary, moral knowl­
edge and comprehension, and moral identity) which appeared to be key to Kerrith and
colleagues (positive) decision to retain them at New Prohairesis. The second most
important finding included the identification of a teacher-created composite pedagogical
model that was inspired by both Hellison’s TPSR approach and Aristotle’s virtue theory
(Brunsdon, 2024a, 2024b; Brunsdon et al., in press; Casey & Kirk, 2021). From an
organizational standpoint, the teachers’ focused on six pedagogies (Prosperity Talks,
Friendships of Character, Northern Time, Forms of Virtuous Movement, Levels of
Flourishing in Action, and Levels of Transfer) and two content areas (Unconventional
Movement Content and Foundational Movement Content). Another finding linking the
Impact of the planning, delivery, and evaluation of the elective course on Thunder and
Bryan’s ability to Dream Again and Dream More as educators yields an underexplored
perspective within the flourishing literature. This further justifies the need for and value
of employing new approaches to teaching physical activity through the lens of emergent
theories whilst at the same time respecting the efforts of scholars that have come
before us.
This research builds upon the noticeable synergy between virtue ethics and Hellison’s
model and provided clues into how already-established pedagogical models can be devel­
oped or changed based on the interpretation(s) of educators who lived, trained, and worked
in an entirely different context and time frame. Teachers and teacher educators interested in
models-based practice should find solace in this work and be encouraged to explore how
established approaches can be shifted, tweaked, and shaped (appropriately) by everyday
educators in the hope of achieving modern objectives. Moving forward, additional case
studies exploring the concept of human flourishing through alternative pedagogical models,
such as sport education, cooperative learning, and the activist approach would yield a more
nuanced insight than the one provided in this single study. Lastly, while this study is not
without limitations, it is among the first to explicitly investigate the philosophy of flourish­
ing within the concept of models-based practice, and begs the question, what role does,
should, or could the philosophy of human flourishing have on models-based practice, its
aims, and implications for and with young people in the fields of health and physical
education?

Acknowledgements
I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to the University of Memphis Research Consortium,
without them, this project would not have been possible. To “Thunder” and “Bryan,” also, for having
the courage to teach the things that really matter.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
22 J. J. BRUNSDON AND K. D. GRIFFIN

ORCID
Jamie Jacob Brunsdon http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4579-0005

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