Integrating migrant children into schools "opens children’s minds and improves their multicultural skills", or so claimed the psychologist Marco Gemignani, from Duquesne University (USA), at the University of Navarra. 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 Gemignani argued that to address multiculturalism, we have to come up with a "tailored approach" for each case and that "It’s important to think what could be the solution that can be developed not only at school, but in the community as well". For example, he noted that, "we have for instance circumstances where the child can feel emotionally safe, this immigrant child can develop his language skills in a faster way… These children will improve not only language, but also their sense of belonging, cultural identity, and their academic skills in general.”

In that sense, he argued that the first step to integrating migrants' children is precisely to “create an emotionally safe environment in schools, such that children do not stress out there because they are discriminated against, because they do not understand, or because their grades are low... it is about creating opportunities to build trust.”

Character Education: The case of gender equality

Marco Gemignani advocated a view of educators that does not just focus on the transmission of information, but also promotes character education, especially focusing on "the way in which values ​​are internalized and implemented".

As an example, he mentioned gender equality, an issue that he has widely discussed in his work, especially concerning undocumented, immigrant women in the USA. As he claimed, "When we talk about the possibility of returning to their country, they frequently reflect on the question of returning to a society that discriminates against women after having spent years in the USA, where respect towards women is a key value".

He continued, "Learning about equality— for example, that it is possible to take a stand against gender violence— puts their home countries in a new light. So these women face a dilemma between deciding to stay and enjoy that security or return to their home countries to try to change things... Their reflection encompasses not just what they can do personally, but also as a members of society".

Continuing with the case of gender discrimination, he mentioned that, when it comes to character education, "teaching respect should not only be a matter of promoting specific values that belong to the child, as a male child learns how to respect his female peers, but also needs to go through an analysis of the social dimensions that are present in gender stereotypes. So these children tend to see not only the problem as being there, a personal problem, but the problem belongs to the family, to the institutions that they are part of, it’s part of the discourses, maybe part of the religious system, maybe part of the educational or political system in which they live”.

Professor Marco Gemignani 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.