Buenos Aires hosts inaugural Latin American Congress on Character Education

More than 800 participants from over 15 countries gathered in Buenos Aires on 17 and 18 April for the first Latin American Congress on Character Education, organised by Dandelion — Centre for Character and Leadership and The Varkey Foundation. The Congress brought together 25+ ministers and secretaries of education, 63 speakers and a regional community of teachers, school leaders, researchers and policymakers around a shared ambition: to position character education — the intentional development of virtues oriented to human flourishing — at the centre of Latin America's public policy agenda.

The Congress opened with a keynote by Professor James Arthur OBE, founder of the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues at the University of Birmingham, who set out the conceptual framework that anchored the two days: the four virtue types (intellectual, moral, civic and performance), the integrating role of practical wisdom, and the three pathways through which character is formed in schools. He was joined in the opening by Carlos H. Torrendell, National Secretary of Education of Argentina, and Agustín Porres, Regional Director for Latin America at Varkey Foundation.

A central news moment was the Ministers' Panel, featuring Juan Carlos Flores Miramontes (Jalisco, Mexico), Roni Miranda Vieira (Paraná, Brazil) and Mercedes Miguel (City of Buenos Aires), moderated by Varkey Foundation's Natalia Rosón. The panel addressed how to build ministerial capacity, sustain policies across political cycles, and embed character formation in government strategy.

Both days also showcased policy work from Mendoza, Michoacán, Paraná, Bogotá and El Salvador, whose government teams completed a ten-month, 95-hour blended training programme funded by the Templeton World Charity Foundation, reaching 164 public officials. It marks the first time evidence from five Latin American jurisdictions on translating character education into systemic policy has been presented on one stage.

The programme used deliberately varied formats: two parliamentary-style debates on mobile phones in schools and on rigour and discipline, decided by audience vote; an escape room on virtue and artificial intelligence; PODRÁN?, an immersive experience on civic virtues led by Fundación Bunge y Born; and workshops featuring Carmen Pellicer (Fundación Trilema, Spain), Åsa Jarskog (Inner Development Goals, Sweden), Henry May (Coschool, Colombia) and Leslee Udwin (Think Equal, UK).

The Congress closed with a conversation between Gloria Cisneros, the sole teacher and principal of a fifteen-student rural school in the Impenetrable Chaqueño and a top-10 finalist for the 2026 Global Teacher Prize, and Rosendo Grobocopatel — a reminder that the most consequential character education often happens in the most overlooked places.

The inaugural Dandelion Award 2026 was presented to Juan Carlos Flores Miramontes for his leadership in advancing character education through public policy. The Congress also marked Dandelion's confirmation as a founding member of the Global Character Alliance.

Read the full report here.