Ahedo, JosuRumayor, MiguelMillán-Ghisleri, Elda2026-01-042026-01-042025-01Ahedo, J, Rumayor, M & Millán-Ghisleri, E 2025, 'Comparación epistemológica entre el qué y el quién en el desarrollo de virtudes', Revista Espanola de Educacion Comparada, N.º 46, pp. 126-140. https://doi.org/10.5944/reec.46.2025.417141137-8654https://hdl.handle.net/10641/6938Publisher Copyright: © 2025 Universidad Nacional de Educacion a Distancia (UNED). All rights reserved.INTRODUCTION: this article addresses the difference between the what and the who when it comes to educating in virtues: how the personal being is not so much developed by means of skills, competencies, or abilities, but by a transformation of his or her personal intimacy. In this paper, the educational relationship is presented as a personal encounter in a dynamic of mutual donation and full acceptance. OBJECTIVE: to explain the five steps necessary for full acceptance between the educator and the learner. First, to accept that the person is a who that must perfect his or her received nature -the what-. Second, to accept that there is a relationship between the who and the what. Third, to accept that each person has the personal task of perfecting his or her nature. Fourth, to accept that this perfection rests in acquiring the virtues through their exercise. Fifth, to accept that the acquired virtues have their ultimate foundation in the donation to others. METHOD: the work has a comparative theoretical approach to the concept of what and who from the perspective of the philosopher Leonardo Polo. DISCUSSION AND RESULTS: the analysis of benefits of the five previous steps and some of the most common mistakes in the formation of the personal who among others, prioritizing the quantitative over the qualitative and appreciating in the person more the development of his own capacities than the personal donation to others. CONCLUSION: the learner investigates his own intimacy and must discover the gratuitousness of what he has received and, therefore, the task of perfecting it. Every well-articulated life is grateful for the gift received and has, in turn, a character of mission and fulfillment that transcends the self.15353384spahttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/comparative educationeducational theoriesmoral educationpersonalitystudent-teacher relationshipEducaciónFilosofíaSiSijournal articleopen access10.5944/reec.46.2025.41714https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85214688318https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85214688318#tab=citedBy