There is now consensus on the value of education as a preferred means for guiding global growth, in an ethical direction that encourages constructive participation in society.
It is this awareness that led to the setting up of the Ethical School, the training project based on the ERH model the FIVE Foundation offers to schools to support them in the delicate task of training new generations.
The major role that schools play as a preferred place for growth is increasingly clear, a place where students can experience both cognitive and emotional development, acquire a critical awareness and a sense of civic responsibility. While the focus has traditionally been on intellectual growth, now more than ever the school’s role in social and interpersonal learning needs to be strengthened. In addition to knowledge, individuals need to be supported in discovering themselves, their uniqueness, their resources, and in trying out their talents.
The Ethical School aims to make every school a promoter of a new educational approach based on recognising youth unease and actively seeking to reduce it. This will involve sharing practical instruments aimed at all educators, designed to increase their capacity for listening and communication, containment and dealing with the emotional burden, as well as establishing constructive and dynamic relationships.
Indeed, the quality of the relationships that develop within schools is more essential than ever. Teachers, even unintentionally, convey not just knowledge but a way of being and, as role models, find themselves in a central position in the development of adults in the making.
By helping all key figures in the education network to improve their empathetic listening skills, and to enhance their communication and interpersonal abilities by developing the recognition, acceptance and containment of conflicts, it will be possible to help younger generations to express their identity, freely and independently, aware of their own inner potential and resources.
