Teaching Character and Creating Positive Classrooms (Coursera)

Teaching Character and Creating Positive Classrooms (Coursera)

Positive psychology meets K-12 pedagogy. This course explores key ideas of positive psychology and shows how great teachers apply those lessons to maximize student engagement and accomplishment. Through lectures, discussions, interviews and footage of great educators in action, you’ll learn how to integrate character-based objectives into your own teaching.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see Coursera's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

Syllabus

WEEK 1
Your Character Journey
Let's begin with an exploration of our own strengths of character... we all have them!

WEEK 2
The Science of Character
This module explores the research base that supports the teaching of character.

WEEK 3
Teaching Character in Every Moment
Character education starts with an intentional approach to every human-to-human interaction.

WEEK 4
Macro Structures
Create a plan for teaching character and then work every day to make it happen.

WEEK 5
Talking About Character Growth
No one ever masters something like grit or gratitude; the goal is to integrate those lessons into our daily lives.

Go to Class
MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Motivating Gen Z Learners: What Parents and Teachers Need to Know (Coursera) Coursera
Nanyang Technological University

Motivating Gen Z Learners: What Parents and Teachers Need to Know (Coursera)

The purpose of this course is to equip parents and educators with the knowledge of motivational theories and their application in real-life contexts. Following the storyline of two children, Bob and Sarah, course participants are presented with a variety of problem scenarios. These depict common motivational issues that the participants can resolve using the motivational principles described in the course.

Jun 26th 2026
4 Weeks
Strategies for Teaching Perfect Tenses and Modals (Coursera) Coursera
University of California, Irvine

Strategies for Teaching Perfect Tenses and Modals (Coursera)

This is the first course in the Teach English: Intermediate Grammar specialization. In this course, you will learn about teaching important intermediate verb tenses, including present perfect, present perfect progressive, past perfect, and past perfect progressive. You will also learn about teaching common modal verbs used in English. Finally, you will have opportunities to practice the skills you learn by creating sample assignments and recording short videos of your teaching demonstrations.

Jun 22nd 2026
4 Weeks
SEL Capstone (Coursera) Coursera
University of Colorado Boulder

SEL Capstone (Coursera)

In this course the instructors (Randy Testa, Ben Kirshner, Emily Price, and Dan Liston) have designed two culminating projects for the Coursera Specialization entitled – “The Teacher and SEL”. The two options include: “A Teacher Implementation Plan”, and “The Cinema, SEL, and the Classroom”.

Jun 22nd 2026
4 Weeks
The Social Context of Mental Health and Illness (Coursera) Coursera
University of Toronto

The Social Context of Mental Health and Illness (Coursera)

Learn how social factors promote mental health, influence the onset and course of mental illness, and affect how mental illnesses are diagnosed and treated. This course explores how our understanding of mental health and illness has been influenced by social attitudes and social developments in North America and around the world. The course begins by situating our contemporary mental health practices in historical context, then looks at different aspects of mental health, mental illness and mental health services and their connections to what’s going on in our social environment.

Jun 22nd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Teaching Impacts of Technology: Global Society (Coursera) Coursera
University of California, San Diego

Teaching Impacts of Technology: Global Society (Coursera)

In this course you’ll focus on how technology-enabled communication is changing geopolitics and, more broadly, how technology is connecting our world and changing lives. This will be done through a series of paired teaching sections, exploring a specific “Impact of Computing” in your typical day and the “Technologies and Computing Concepts” that enable that impact, all at a K12-appropriate level.

Jun 25th 2026
4 Weeks
Communication Skills for University Success (Coursera) Coursera
The University of Sydney

Communication Skills for University Success (Coursera)

This Specialization is aimed at preparing students for undergraduate study in an English-speaking university. The course equips you for full participation and engagement with your studies by building awareness and understanding of the core values and expectations of academic culture, and providing you with practical strategies to apply to your studies. In this course, you will learn how to develop your Communication Skills to help you achieve success in your university studies.

Jun 22nd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Intellectual Humility: Science (Coursera) Coursera
University of Edinburgh

Intellectual Humility: Science (Coursera)

It’s clear that the world needs more intellectual humility. But how do we develop this virtue? And why do so many people still end up so arrogant? Do our own biases hold us back from becoming as intellectually humble as we could be—and are there some biases that actually make us more likely to be humble? Which cognitive dispositions and personality traits give people an edge at being more intellectually humble - and are they stable from birth, learned habits, or something in between? And what can contemporary research on the emotions tell us about encouraging intellectual humility in ourselves and others?

Jun 22nd 2026
4 Weeks
Positive Psychology Specialization Project: Design Your Life for Well-hebeing (Coursera) Coursera
University of Pennsylvania

Positive Psychology Specialization Project: Design Your Life for Well-hebeing (Coursera)

You are encouraged to take the first four courses of the Foundations of Positive Psychology Specialization before starting this course and completing the Specialization Project. This course, taught by Dr. Martin E.P. Seligman brings all the key concepts from the first four courses to practice as you develop and test a new positive intervention for an audience of your choice.

Jun 22nd 2026
4 Weeks
ART of the MOOC: Public Art and Pedagogy (Coursera) Coursera
Duke University,Creative Time

ART of the MOOC: Public Art and Pedagogy (Coursera)

Students of this course may try their hand at their own public art interventions, or simply focus on learning from the theory of public practice and its recent history. Designed by artist and Duke professor, Pedro Lasch, and co-taught by Creative Time artistic director, Nato Thompson, this course presents public culture and art in their radically reinenvented contemporary forms. The lectures link major developments of recent decades to wider topics like spatial politics, everyday social structures, and experimental education.

Jun 22nd 2026
5-12 Weeks
Critical Issues in Urban Education (Coursera) Coursera
University of Chicago

Critical Issues in Urban Education (Coursera)

Urban school reform in the United States is characterized by contentious, politicized debate. This course explores a set of critical issues in the education and educational reform space, with a focus on aspects of the field that have sparked controversy and polarized views. We will dig into these debates, situating them within the larger history of public education and school reform, and considering the viewpoints, the evidence, and translation of issues into educational policy.

Jun 22nd 2026
5-12 Weeks
The Teacher's Social and Emotional Learning (Coursera) Coursera
University of Colorado Boulder

The Teacher's Social and Emotional Learning (Coursera)

Social and emotional learning, or SEL, programs have flourished in schools during the last decade. While this growth has been impressive, inadequate attention has been paid to teachers’ social and emotional learning. In this course Dan Liston and Randy Testa introduce you to various rationales for why teacher SEL is needed as well as examine and reflect on various emotions in teaching and learning.

Jun 22nd 2026
5-12 Weeks