"Character is at the core of success and transforms how we conceive of it. It does not refer to fame and economic reward, but to something fundamental: who we are, how we can have a full life and what society we want to build". This is what Edward Brooks, director of the Oxford Character Project at the University of Oxford (UK), said at the University of Navarra. 

The expert visited the Institute for Culture and Society (ICS) to participate in the presentation of the Spanish version of the document framework Character Education in Universities. A Framework for Flourishing, a proposal developed by his center and the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues of the University of Birmingham. The translation was done by position of the Civic Humanism Centre for programs of study on the character and ethics of the professions of the ICS, with funding from the John Templeton Foundation and Fundación Ciudadanía y Valores.

Professor Brooks referred to the responsibility of universities in the training of future leaders capable of addressing major challenges such as climate change, the mental health of young people and geopolitical movements that threaten global consensus, among others. "These issues require hope to think we can do something; courage in the face of difficulties; love, in the sense of wishing well for others; and wisdom internship or prudence to navigate complexity," he has stressed.

A guide for Spanish-speaking universities

In this sense, he recalled that the institutions of Education higher education have understood since their origins "that they should not only train individuals to be productive in the market, but also to flourish and become good citizens". He considers that the plurality of modern campus "makes it more difficult to clearly express his mission statement in this sense", but he added that "if we consult the website of any campus we can see that they do not only emphasize knowledge and skills. The character aspect is there. 

The director of the Oxford Character Project has proposed that the Education of character be approached on the campus with a dialogic approach and based on personal relationships between students and also between students and the academic staff. "We can present texts and ideas as a starting point for conversation and discussion, from a discursive and critical perspective. And this, in his view, "can be accommodated in many different contexts in the university setting," not just in the form of a particular program.

Also speaking at the presentation event were Tom Harrison, director attachment of the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues; and Vianney Domingo, researcher of the Centro Humanismo Cívico, who translated the text. José María Torralba, director , moderated the session.

La Education del carácter en las universidades. A document framework for flourishing is available to Spanish-speaking universities around the world. It aims to offer them financial aid to formulate and design their mission statement in order to promote the flourishing of their students, which includes the development of character.