Ideal School Reflections - Nacho

Education League

First of all I must congratulate for the realization of the video by draws. Many of the aspects such us physical organization are very clear because of that. I guess it has been a lot of work but it’s really good. Fine artists Education League people!

Focusing on the content, I consider that the simulation of a philosophical lesson about ‘ideal school’ it has been a good resource to introduce all the topics needed in an easy and comprehensive way even for people not connected with our studies. We can see this when they talk about social constructivism or collaborative learning and put examples like the orchard they do cooperatively. In the same way they introduce theoretical sources and mention real experiences like the school Calasancio of Almazán or Ramiro Solans of Zaragoza which show how to connect theory and practice in the real world.

Other strong point of Education League work is when they talk about the implication of the families in the school life and the ways to promote it, they are conscious of the importance of that participation. As we know, if parents are connected with their kid’s school they learn more and the absenteeism decrease.

On the other hand I miss a clearer explanation about the context, they mention it and point a couple of challenges but I think it’s the weakest part of the video. Adding to that I consider that the explanations and theory mentions could be deeper to establish all the facts of their ideal school better but in a ten minutes video it’s almost impossible.

So, overall, I think it’s a really good job, well planned and done, that reach all the items needed and shows the reflection about theory that our Education League peers have done. Congratulations again my friends!!

Los Gochos

The beginning is very attractive with the opinions of children about their ideal school, also the way of presenting the “ideal school” as a news program is very engaging. I think they cover all the items related to a school and do it in a deep way like methodologies, leadership and coeducation or school relations to mention some of them.

I think is very interesting what they say about “connectivism” as a new theory of learning which, according to the video, can be defined as 21^st Century constructivism connected with technology. This is new for me and encourages me to further research. Furthermore, the video it’s a good example of what they promote, make connections to learn, as they included information from other subjects from this and last semester. Very well done! Also I consider very interesting what they say about coeducation context and the solutions they propose to face this real challenge.

Finally I would like to stress how Los Gochos highlight key information with subtitles, the references they have done to authors that support their ideas and the images that show in a realistic way their ideas. I think these help us to follow the information and understand better their school.

So… I think it’s a great job that worth a second and third view. Clap, clap!

Fernweh

Fernweh partners have shown us their “Sinergia’s School” project which, as the name, it’s more than the sum of individual elements and that’s the way of education they want to promote. In this sense they have explained quite well the values that school promotes, the way of leadership, the methodology they will follow and the importance of the involvement of parents in the school community and learning process of their children. But I think in some of these explanations there is a lack of “how” they will implement their ideas (I think this has been a common characteristics in almost all our videos, we have explained what we want but don’t how this would affect the daily activity in our schools – I guess we would learn that ahead and this ideal school project has been sort of start point). In the same way (and like us) I miss some references and authors to support their ideas.

On the contrary they have been very realistic and accurate talking about the implement of ICT in school trough an agreement with “bq” company, I appreciate that this is something real that we can develop once we become teachers. Also facts and figures they used and the model of the school gives us the same sense of reality. Finally I would like to emphasize the use of school playgrounds for all the community in the non-teaching ours, this helps to develop links with the school so everybody would feel a part of it.

I consider Fernweh have done a good project and I have liked very much the production of the talented ilustrator of the team. Congratulations!

Travelchers

Travelchers’ video has been a revolution to me for the way of teaching they have shown us. I consider the “time for learning” methodology they promote based on Design for Change to create meaningful learning connected with real life. This will encourage students to develop it and to learn the goals they want to achieve such us responsibility, diversity, empathy, confidence and self-esteem. I think their ideas are very well explained, sometimes too much, and connected with theory and main authors in all the fields the talk about. They have done a really good research to develop this project.

In the same way, family’ involvement in the school life is well explained and its importance emphasized and also is the way to promote a friendly environment to encourage learning. The idea they promote change completely the traditional way of teaching and their proposals sound very interesting. I think that Ken Robinson would like a lot this school.

On the other hand I see two limitations to Travelchers’ project. First I don’t know if it’s possible to develop such a curriculum in Spanish education system. I don’t know if the suppression of subject it’s allowed or not. Our peers said that it’s possible in the same way that some school work by projects instead of subjects. And second, I consider that many teachers would be necessary to implement this way of learning. Also they said that 60 students would work together under the supervision of three teachers… I don’t know if that can work, on the contrary I think that less students the better to let them develop all their potential. But, just the making of these questions shows the great job Travelchers has done because they push us to want to learn more… Just as their school. Congratulations, it worth the effort you have done!!

Ana Rallo and Marta Alonso

This new group is the result of the split of a big group which is a failure of all the members involved. But things happen and the new group has done a big amount of work in a short time so for that congratulations but I think they have had things easier because they are friends, not just peers, so their relation give them a strength others don’t have and that must be considered to be fair with the other half team.

About the video I must say that general items are good introduced by tittles that help to know what they are talking about. Good.  They explain very well the sociological context connected with violence and bullying and the ways to face it but no so deeply other context as economic or location of the school. In the same way they encourage family participation and the contact between teachers and parents through new technologies and I consider it’s more effective doing face to face when possible.

I think they have explained very good learning model and methodologies they will use in their ideal school. In these fields I would like to highlight the great idea, for a hiking lover, of “monterapia” to let children be in contact with the natural environment and the emphasis they put on assemblies done by students or parents (or even all with teachers) to work with emotions, relations on school and to make learning more significant.

In contrast they don’t talk too much about values, leadership or ICT’s which are mentioned but not too much developed. Besides that they have done a really good model of their ideal school and apparently have spent quite a lot of time doing it and I don’t think if it worth all the effort but is a nice piece of architecture so congratulations for that.

Overall I consider that they have done a good job and show us the importance they put on methodologies and learning model to design a school so consequently they are the strongest points of their project along with the programs to eradicate violence. Well done!

Contrasters Crew

First of all I should congratulation to you for finish the job, well done. I appreciate that you didn’t say anything about the split of the group; if you said something about that it would felt as an excuse more than anything else because you have had more time than the rest of the class to finish the project. Furthermore, I think that the fact that you are only three people has helped you to clarify the project, goals to achieve and tasks to do it and has impeded to avoid responsibilities. I hope you have learnt some lessons with this project and the problems you have had.

Talking about you “Utopia Learning” video I must say that I liked very much the model of your school and the way to present it to us. I think is a nice idea for small schools to have classrooms around the library, connected to others and with doors to outside. I only miss the distribution of tables in spike to have a complete picture of a nice school. In the same way I consider that context, values, leadership, use o ICT and the way to prevent bullying are well explained and supported by theory.

On the other hand there aren’t clear explanations about the methodology you will use and how you will implement it, you just talk about learning by doing and cooperative learning but didn’t mention how you would do it. In the same way, It’s not clear how families will be connected with the life of the school apart what you say that parents will be in touch with the center to avoid bullying.

Finally I consider very helpful the subtitles and diagrams you put in the video that help a lot to follow your explanations. In the other hand, sometimes the editing was confused and with a better organization items will be clearer. Overall a good job done that will help to you to learn about yourselves.