"The MelArete Project": Education on Friendship as a Political Virtue for Caring Communities

This article presents “The MelArete Project,” designed by the Center of Educational and Didactic Research (CRED) of the University of Verona (Italy) to foster ethical education in kindergarten and primary school. In particular, the educational program, rooted in the philosophy of care and ancient virtue ethics, conceives ethical education as an education on virtues in the perspective of care. The second edition of the program specifically focuses on friendship, conceived as a political virtue necessary for the construction of caring communities. After the presentation of the theoretical framework on which the project is grounded, the theory of ethical education that underlies MelArete will be briefly compared with the other main cultural traditions in this field; then, a specific educational activity, aimed at fostering children’s reflection on the concept and experience of friendship, is described, and subsequently some data collected through the implementation of this activity are presented and commented.