Apolinar Varela and Juan Pablo Dabdoub, both of the University of Navarra, developed fieldwork in Colombia related to education in values as part of 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 (ICS) jointly lead with funding from the Templeton World Charity Foundation.

They collected data in two schools, one private with a high socioeconomic level, and the other public with a low socioeconomic level. They collected information about students and teachers through interviews, questionnaires and observation of classes.

"The schools have very different models: the private one follows the official guidelines, but adapts them to their context such that they are a bit indistinguishable in classroom content,while the public one more closely follows guidelines from the central government," Apolinar Varela noted.

An example of courage and humility

The researcher pointed out that each school presents very different situations. "Private students have their vital needs covered, but they also face problems, like spending time alone," he added.

As far as the public school is concerned, students often "suffer abuse at home, come from unstructured families, and their parents reconcile family and work life with difficulty," he said. In addition, he pointed out that many come from rural contexts, or from neighborhoods with violence and delinquency.

"Although these realities are outside of school, they have an impact on the behavior, attitude and relationships that children develop therein," he noted. In his view, they need "an authority figure— not so much that imposes itself, but rather that inspires them and is affectionate."

From the experience, he stated he would especially remember "character education for students who use it to overcome difficulties with a smile. They are an example of courage and humility."

Colombia is the second place these researchers have developed fieldwork within this joint project. The first was in Mexico. Soon, they will visit two schools in Argentina, one public and another religious, but supported by foundations and meant for students from poor backgrounds.