The warning came as Ms Morgan, pictured, presented the first Character Awards for schools. The £400,000 government prizes are part of her plan to encourage schools to teach character education so that pupils develop “grit and resilience”.
Ms Morgan told the winners that qualities such as confidence and assertiveness had got her through her first days as a City lawyer. They “weren’t the ones I’d learned by reading textbooks or taking exams”, she added.
“I could have known the British legal system inside out, but without the right personal skills, I’d never have had a successful – or enjoyable – 16 years as a lawyer. So in much the same way, it’s obvious to me, and I’m sure to anyone with an interest in education, that we can’t afford to narrow our focus to academic attainment alone,” the secretary of state said.
Asked afterwards by TES if there was any research evidence showing it was possible to teach good character in schools and that it produced results, Ms Morgan conceded “it is a hard thing to measure”.
But she said: “Parents and families know when a child has had lessons in character or behaviour and that sort of thing and when they haven’t."
The national winner of the awards – King's Leadership Academy, a free school in Warrington – gives its pupils daily lessons in character and also teaches leadership as a distinct subject.
The secondary, which was awarded a total of £35,000 in prize money, also provides weekly public speaking, philosophy and ethics classes, teaches all pupils fencing, and ensures they all participate in its brass orchestra and have three hours a week of formal team sports. Students take it in turns to greet visitors to the school in order to boost their self-confidence.
Another 26 schools received £10,000 each as regional winners in the competition, which received more than 550 entries.
