The Third Educational Forum “Voices of the Future – Listening to Educate,” organized by Cáritas of Terceira Island in partnership with the Municipality of Angra do Heroísmo, brought educators, social professionals and young people together to reflect on education as a relationship built through listening, cooperation and care.
Education begins long before a lesson reaches the blackboard. It begins in the ability to listen—to the child who struggles to explain what is wrong, to the family confronting difficulties beyond the school gates, and to teachers attempting to understand behavior whose origins may lie far beyond the classroom. That broader understanding of education was at the heart of the Third Educational Forum “Voices of the Future – Listening to Educate,” held in Angra do Heroísmo by Cáritas of Terceira Island in partnership with the Municipality.
The forum examined some of the more complex realities surrounding childhood and adolescence: the importance of listening to children, the relationship between schools and society, the effects of trauma and interpersonal violence, children’s participation in decisions affecting them, and the creation of educational relationships based upon cooperation and repair rather than simply punishment. Underlying the discussions was a fundamental principle—that difficult behavior can sometimes be a language in itself, and education becomes more effective when adults learn to understand what children are attempting to communicate.
Much of the gathering centered on Projeto 3D, developed by Cáritas in partnership with the Municipality and currently operating in the EB1/JI schools of Terra Chã, São Mateus da Calheta, Cantinho, São João de Deus and Ribeirinha. Its intervention is organized around three interconnected dimensions—Family, Children and Teachers—and seeks to improve socioeducational development, reduce aggressive behavior, strengthen relationships between schools and families, and increase children’s motivation and educational progress.
The scale of that work is significant. During the 2025–2026 academic year, Projeto 3D worked with 16 primary-school classes and seven preschool classes, reaching 240 children. Its activities extend beyond direct classroom intervention to teacher training, identification and monitoring of individual cases, family support, development of parenting skills and initiatives designed to bring parents and guardians into a closer relationship with schools. The model depends upon cooperation among different institutions, recognizing that the problems affecting a child rarely fit neatly within the jurisdiction of a single service.
Appropriately, children and young people were not merely discussed at a forum devoted to their future; they were invited to speak. Municipal Councilor for Education Rui Drumonde moderated the first panel, “Listening to the Voices of the Future,” during which three children and young people involved with the project, accompanied by a technical professional, offered their own perspectives on its importance. Their participation gave practical meaning to the forum’s title: listening to children requires creating spaces in which their voices carry genuine value.
Mayor Fátima Amorim emphasized education as fundamental to the healthy and sustainable development of society. “Above all, we know that education makes a difference in the life of every child and young person,” she said, stressing its direct consequences for future opportunities. Her observation points toward something larger than academic performance. Educational policy is also social policy, because what happens during childhood can influence health, employment, relationships and participation in community life many years later.
Projeto 3D consequently represents an understanding of the school as part of an ecosystem rather than an isolated building. A child enters the classroom carrying family circumstances, emotional experiences, fears, abilities and sometimes trauma. Teachers themselves need resources and support, while families must be treated as partners rather than distant observers. When those three dimensions—child, family and educator—are able to communicate, intervention can begin earlier and difficulties may be addressed before they become permanent barriers.
There is particular wisdom in the forum’s choice of words: “Listening to Educate.” Education has traditionally been imagined as the transmission of knowledge from those who know to those who are learning. The work presented in Angra suggests a more reciprocal idea. Sometimes the adult must first become the listener.
The future, after all, rarely speaks in the language of institutions. Sometimes it speaks quietly through a child sitting in a classroom. The responsibility of education is not only to prepare that child for the world that awaits, but to listen carefully enough to understand the world the child is already living in.
Based on a Press Release. Photo from the Municipality of Angra.