Colin Gleason on Manners: The "ABCs" of Virtue

Please, thank you, after you… Do manners matter? Are they artifice or virtue?

In this rebroadcast from 2019, lower school head Colin Gleason shares how manners can be the building blocks to a richer moral life—the habituation of virtue. He then offers practical advice for families and schools to help even young boys strengthen their "moral muscle" through manners that matter.

Chapters:

1:34 Why start in the lower school

3:12 Manners: artifice or virtue?

5:34 Orienting them towards the needs of others

10:06 Manners that matter

13:31 Social manners for small children

17:57 Intergenerational social experiences

21:30 Coaching in advance

27:23 Our example

Also on the Forum:

Manners: The Art of Happiness by Robert Greving

Manners Make (More Than) the Man, review of A Gentleman in Moscow by Robert Greving

Featured Opportunities:

Mustard Seed Communities, donations for Jamaica hurricane relief

The Art of Teaching Boys Conference at The Heights School (January 7-9, 2026 / May 6-8, 2026)