Character education prepares students to live in a global world "where borders are more flexible and we need to organize for coexistence", or so argued Abdeljalil Akkari, a professor at the University of Geneva (Switzerland), where he heads a research group on international education and is regular consultant to UNESCO and other organizations.

The expert participated in a conference organized by the “Researching and promoting character education in Latin American secondary schools” project, which the School of Education and Psychology and the Institute for Culture and Society co-direct and the Templeton World Charity Foundation finances.

Professor Akkari emphasized that, in contemporary society, it is a challenge to "live with our different interests, lifestyles and values", making it important to "multiply opportunities to experience people from outside of our social, cultural, and political comfort zone".

In this regard, he advocates for mixed schools that different groups and communities can attend. He argued, "In daily interaction, we can change how the other is viewed. If you only see the other on television, far away, such change is difficult. The challenge is in how to overcome this structural limitation based on inequality in society".

Linguistic diversity and metacognitive capacity

"Schools must learn to see cultural diversity as a challenge and as an opportunity to learn in a different way. To do this, they must change how they work, organize and manage language learning," he added.

As an example, he referred to the case of linguistic diversity, arguing, "Speaking a language other than the one used in the classroom is often seen as a barrier to academic success. But research shows that knowing more than one language lends added value because it develops students’ metacognitive capacity. Learning a third language ​​is easier because these students can already make the connections."

On the other hand, Professor Akkari referred to the utility of transferring and sharing successful experiences in character education. To this end, he recommended paying attention to three aspects, including adapting the perspective of character education to a given context’s historical, social, political and educational reality, making sure teachers are on board before implementing innovations, and implementing knowledge through materials that are simple to use (i.e., texts and activities).

Professor Abdeljalil Akkari was among the experts who attended a conference that the School of Education and Psychology and the Institute for Culture and Society of the University of Navarra organized.  Participants from character education centers came from the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain and Switzerland.