Preschool

We have been pleasantly surprised at the number of connections they have begun to make and how these new tools are facilitating new learning. This culture of thinking is generating in them that they participate, that they become more curious, that they want to learn and look for information.

It is interesting to see that they have learned how to listen and to respect the point of view of their classmates because they know with that, they grow and learn much more.

Teachers stimulate the curiosity and critical thinking of their students, understanding that each student is unique and in their uniqueness will find in their own way, new ways to achieve their objectives, form hypotheses , ideas and connections.

Some of the tools VESS has to help our students think and reflect their thinking in a visible way are : thinking routines, mind maps, habits of mind and the thinking keys among others.

As Gilberto Pinzón and Ana María Fernández (founders of Edu 1st and the VESS model) say: “In order to learn we have to understand, and in order to understand we have to generate mental processes, thinking processes”. In other words, we should not generate memorization processes but processes of understanding. This is why we talk about thinking as a pedagogical strategy. What the teacher does in the classroom is to implement some strategies, including thinking routines, so that the student learns not by memorizing but by understanding.

What is the VESS model? The VESS Model is based on the latest discoveries of neurology, psychology and pedagogy, to facilitate and guide the formation of autonomous, responsible, sensitive, empathic, wise, and above all happy individuals.

In Institució Igualada, within out educational project Aude, The VESS method is being incorporated in the stages of Llar and Infantil education, as a method to create cultures of visible thinking in the classroom. This method stage of Edu1st, a pioneer organization in the application of the «Visible Thinking» methodology od the Zero Project of Harvard Univertsity to early childhood education.

Therefore VESS is a methodological tool to create cultures of thinking in the classroom, meaningful and rich in opportunities contexts for the integral development of students. The student becomes the protagonist of his own learning process.

We have developed several specific programmes, which are implemented from the preschool stage, to thoroughly explore each area of development and knowledge set out in the Aude! strategic plan. These programmes are continued in the other stages of education and provide a map for the projects carried out at Institució Igualada.

• Creativity: We understand creativity as the capacity to create for oneself and/or with others. Our approach is to offer students an environment where they can deal with any situation creatively and independently.
  
  
• Cooperation: Montclar Mestral has introduced cooperative learning into all of its classrooms, resulting in a change in the way activities are organized and in class dynamics that facilitates the learning process of each student in all areas of their education.
  
  
• Exploration: our goal is to create an environment based on active methodologies, where students actively pursue their own learning, while introducing programmes that allow students to attain specific curricular and educational objectives.
  
  
• Multilingualism: from the youngest ages we work so that our students learn how to communicate, grow, relate, share and exchange using the vehicular languages of Catalan, Spanish and English.
  
  
• Values: the school, teachers and parents have to be able to create situations in which the students can develop and share values such as friendship, caring, companionship and goodwill. All of us who form part of the educational community must act as educational models and agents.