Educational project

Any activity or proposal should consist largely, if not entirely, of handling and creating, so that learning is as complete and satisfying as possible. Merely listening, reading and writing drastically reduces the channels through which information enters, the relationships and associations that are created, and the level of motivation, attention and fun (D. Bueno). Because something we consider fundamental is often forgotten: learning is great fun and very satisfying. It generates well-being, it is pleasurable and it gives meaning to our efforts.

That is why we focus on building knowledge from children’s own experiences and interests, so that motivation and emotion, essential to learning, are always present. Accompanying the creation of their own unique structures from within, in interaction with the world around them, as J. Piaget explained and studied. In this way we make sure that new learning is properly integrated into existing structures and connections in order to create new ones.

How do we help these processes to be pleasurable, fun and meaningful? By letting each child choose their own routes, gaining autonomy and developing the capacity for choice. The role of the accompanying adult, educator, teacher… comes closer to that of facilitator, guide, tutor, provocateur…, designing these personal itineraries together; making sure (through a very broad, interconnected gaze and listening across all the processes taking place) that children build their own learning, respecting their styles and taking the weight off the result. Mistakes are not only not penalised, they are an indispensable part of the process.

Our proposal seeks to approach the school curriculum through, among other things, STEAM interdisciplinarity (science, technology, engineering, arts and design, mathematics), erasing the artificial lines that divide knowledge into areas so as to approach it from a holistic, interrelated perspective that fits the real world. Likewise, and just as transversally, it is always shaped by the gender perspective and by awareness of sustainability and the climate emergency, with an ecological and feminist vision. And all our practice is approached from the new paradigm of neurodivergence, with a new proposal: “non-exclusion”.

Art gives us room for imagination, fantasy, transformation and the dissolving of limits. Art is the frame, the space in which all other relationships take place. Aesthetics, design, narratives, staging, bodily expression, music, poetry, inspiring references… bring us to knowledge through emotion, and it becomes authentic and vibrant.

Finally, we also need to foster a collaborative, generous working environment, in which age does not make us experts or apprentices: our position shifts with each project.

In this way children learn to be autonomous in their processes, to manage their time, to reflect so as to learn from their mistakes, removing the stigma from them and valuing them as an indispensable part of the process. They also learn to overcome frustration, to resolve conflicts and to work as a team. To find their own concerns, passions and motivations, and to recognise the unique potential each of us has.

We speak of a freedom that is not only individual but always takes into account the other person and their freedom, the group and the community. A freedom in which we all, adults and children, feel comfortable and at ease in our place; each with very clearly defined and delimited responsibilities and roles.

In addition to the rules of coexistence, we obviously need rules about safety: that of the space, of others and of oneself. We adults take charge of them: we are responsible for making sure these limits are always present.

Violence is not allowed under any circumstances or on any pretext. Nobody may ever be hit or insulted. That does not mean it never happens. And as they grow, new agreed rules appear among the children that greatly relax relationships: we don’t lie to each other, we don’t blackmail or manipulate, we don’t threaten. Of course anger, aggressiveness, conflict, disagreement and personal clashes are allowed, in all their intensities; but always expressed and channelled within these rules.

In these conflicts, adults keep a low-intervention role as regards the content and resolution of the conflict. Children have to find their own solutions; ours will only help them for a moment. We step in when one of these safety or coexistence rules is not respected, reminding them how necessary they are for oneself and for the other.

Conflict is not something to be avoided; on the contrary, it is an opportunity for growth and for developing new personal resources. Conflict management is very present in daily life, and meetings are a much-used space for airing disagreements, discomfort… and for sharing among everyone how we handle these emotions, how we reach agreements or look for new rules.

Rules that also help us keep order and care for the space, the materials and other people’s creations. Everything we use must be put away when we finish; materials are treated with care and, if something breaks, it must be repaired; someone who is working or playing must not be interrupted or disturbed in what they are doing; we clean and tidy the rooms every day; we water our plants and, together, we look after our school.

This order, as Maria Montessori explained, is not merely aesthetic: it is the order children need to be autonomous in the space, getting on in it without constantly needing an adult’s help. It is fundamental that they master their surroundings and feel them to be entirely their own.

Most of the time the adult reminds the particular child of these rules in the moment. When they are small, many of them have to be repeated very often, until they are integrated into how they act. The rules on safety and respect, such as not hitting, insulting or attacking anyone else, are conveyed clearly, stating very explicitly that such behaviour is not allowed in our space.

After such a clear limit, the child inevitably feels a pain that we console and hold with affection, understanding the emotion that overwhelms them, but without sparing them that pain and frustration. These limits give them security, containment and shelter so that they can move freely within these spaces without violence or threats. When they feel overwhelmed, we contain them, trusting in ourselves and in them. Each in their role, without confusion.

We understand non-exclusion as a commitment to building a community in which everyone can belong without having to give up who they are. We do not seek for everyone to fit into a single way of doing, learning, relating or taking part, but to create the conditions for each person to find their place and develop within the collective.

This means recognising that we have different rhythms, abilities, interests, ways of communicating and needs, and that these differences should not become a reason for separation or exclusion. That is why we try to make structures, proposals and environments the ones that can adapt to people, and not the other way round. We make groupings, time, spaces, materials, forms of participation and ways of reaching learning more flexible when necessary.

Non-exclusion also has to do with being able to take part in collective life from different places. We do not always need to do the same thing, or in the same way, to feel part of a group. We listen to each child’s needs and look for alternatives that allow them to keep their bond with the collective, even when they need to step away from a proposal for a while, change its conditions or find another way to take part.

Accompanying difference does not mean avoiding conflicts or removing the difficulties that arise in living together. It means having tools to understand them, put them into words, look for solutions and accept that being part of a community also means learning to live with what we feel is different from us.