Creativity, the trigger for success

How to choose a school that actually teaches it?

 

"Hablamos con Claudia Díaz, directora del Montessori British School, para que nos contara cómo descubrir si un colegio promueve la creatividad, y nos dio los siguientes tips para los padres." 

1. The premises are the soul of the body, and they must reflect creativity in each classroom—on campus, all of them are unique and different, evoking different sensations through colors and textures. Thus, in a creative school, the premises must represent a surprising world, ready to be explored by children, and a source of inspiration, like a magnet that attracts learning and creativity.
2. What students learn must be creative. For that reason, it is important to know in detail what classes they take and to know if they incorporate innovation permanently. The latter must be attached the same importance as traditional subjects in order to truly contribute to the encompassing education of students. At the Montessori British School, for example, students take a professional arts program from the age of 3½; they also take music at conservatory level, and today they make up 34 musical bands. Likewise, robotics, business administration, and handling of cameras and high-definition video are taught; similarly, 4 languages: English, French, Mandarin, and Spanish, with verifiable results in different international tests such as Cambridge, Delf, and HSK. What’s important is that all students benefit from them because they are not extracurricular, but an actual part of their curriculum.

3. It is evident that the manner of teaching and learning in a school plays a very important role at the time of choosing the environment where your children will develop. Many institutions follow a method according to which students extract information from a textbook, and the class is structured based on that content: this is recognized and accepted because it is the way many of us learned. However, the only thing that this model does not feature is creativity. On the contrary, we do not use textbooks at the Montessori British School, because we plan each class as an experience to be lived and not forgotten; we surprise students with their classes. I like to think that we are a learning laboratory, as stated during AdvancED’S certification visit of our school.

4. It is important that students develop creative processes in their work and in their projects, in search of innovative solutions. This is the case at the Montessori British School. We thank Claudia Díaz for the tips, and we conclude that the Montessori British School is an important reference for parents and, without a doubt, a true creative school.