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Training, dissemination and research,
the three great jobs of the Juan de Lanuza Catedra.

It was born through an agreement with the Faculty of Education of the University of Zaragoza.

Why have a Catedra?

In March 2012, Juan de Lanuza School signed an agreement with the Faculty of Education at the University of Zaragoza for the creation of the Juan de Lanuza Cátedra of Innovation in Education, making it the first School in Spain to have a university Cátedra of these characteristics.

Our active and participatory methodology is based on different cognitive theories and models such as Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences and Project Based Cooperative Learning. These theories take into account the child’s individual and personal development and the needs and requirements of each age.

These theories, which are put into practice within a bilingual setting and are constantly being reviewed, aim to:

  • Facilitate the construction of students’ self-knowledge.
  • Provide situations which lead to “learning to learn”.
  • Encourage effort and decision making.

It is essential that we help our students develop their emotional intelligence to the full to ensure their success in future personal and professional relationships.

With this Cátedra we are opening a continuous channel of work in collaboration with the University, while at the same time bringing our students closer to the professional, corporate and investigative world through pioneering projects.

Building bridges with the University allows us to work together in pedagogic investigation and educational coaching; involve the teaching staff in continuous training processes; disseminate our educational methods among future teachers; and it permits the students of Juan de Lanuza School to become privileged participants in projects guided by experts and role models from the business world and its respective fields.

Objetives

The programme of the Juan de Lanuza Cátedra of Innovation in Education is broad and varied. The Cátedra’s activities are aimed not only at students and teachers from Juan de Lanuza and the University of Zaragoza’s Faculty of Education, but also at society in general through the open activities based on topics of interest for the world of education and business.

The collaboration between both entities is centred on the following objectives:

  • Support and encourage research projects in the field of business ventures in education and other educational projects. For example, Cooking Hacks from the Libelium company.
  • Continually train Juan de Lanuza’s teaching team with programmes adapted to their specific specialities.
  • Disseminate among future teachers synthetic phonics, the phonetic method of learning to read and write in English used by teachers at Juan de Lanuza.
  • Bring Juan de Lanuza’s students closer to the university, and the worlds of business and science.
  • Create a line of pedagogical innovation and research around educational coaching.
  • Organise and disseminate all types of educational activities and training among society in general.
  • Promote relationships with companies that are developing projects in the field of educational innovation.
  • Support the realisation of PhD theses and dissertations in the area of activity covered by the Cátedra.

Lines of Work

Synthetic Phonics

At Juan de Lanuza School, children are taught to read and write in English using Synthetic Phonics, through Jolly Phonics and Phonics International. Through the Cátedra we have started training future teachers in the Faculty of Education who are going to specialise in English language teaching using Synthetic Phonics methods. In 2011 in the United Kingdom, after years of investigation, a law was passed to make synthetic phonics the obligatory method used to teach reading and writing in British schools.

The method is used in the early stages of reading in English and has shown optimum results in reading skills and pronunciation.

Emotional Education

Emotional Education as a systematic and structured process aims to respond to a range of society’s needs which are traditionally left to chance. It involves acting with intent to teach about emotions as one  other aspect of the educational process.

The main aim of our school is the comprehensive development of our students. For this reason, one of the fundamental lines of work at Juan de Lanuza School is based on teaching about emotions as a framework for personal growth.

Scientific Education

At Juan de Lanuza School we have proposed to bring our Baccalaureate students closer to quantitative and qualitative research in a practical manner.

Juan de Lanuza School, in its desire to improve the quality of education, has proposed to introduce quantitative and qualitative methodologies of investigation to  our students in a practical manner.

The contents in this line of work are:

  • The research process: formulation of the idea and steps to put together an investigative report.
  • Quantitative methodology: experimental and quasi-experimental designs, realisation of valid and reliable questionnaires, and an introduction to SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences).
  • Qualitative methodology: Realisation of a process of categorisation, interviews, discussion groups, etc.
  • Create a small investigation.
Educational Coaching

Juan de Lanuza School along with the Faculty of Education is keen to promote Educational Coaching, offering training to the entire faculty.

Coaching offers tools and strategies to help us get to know ourselves better. Strategies related with emotional intelligence, neuro linguistic programming, etc. have the objective of achieving more effective education, which is efficient for our students and helps them perform at an excellent level. During the 21st century we confront “permanent change” and this training in educational coaching is considered a necessary resource to improve the preparation of our students. It will help them attain success at a personal and professional level in the future, enable them to recognise their strengths and weaknesses and what they should change in order to improve their academic, personal and emotional environment.

Programming with Scratch and Arduino

Juan de Lanuza School and the company Libelium offer students the possibility of getting closer to the world of electronics and robotics in a playful and experimental way, so that they can make their own projects with useful and versatile tools.

Thanks to this collaboration, formative workshops are organised for students of different levels (Primary, Secondary and Baccalaureate) and their educators, borrowing Arduino kits with which they carry out practical workshops throughout the school year (making, amongst other devices, small domestic appliances, electrical current practice tests, etc.) and giving demonstrations for the younger students in the School.

With the use of Arduino boards (an open hardware platform based on a metallic board with a microcontroller and an environment of development), the students develop their curiosity for learning to launch and create their own projects. The programme also anticipated the use of Scratch for the youngest students, an open source software to develop IT applications for didactic use.

Libelium is a spin off of the University of Zaragoza which is dedicated to the design and implementation of solutions based on wireless connections, monitoring and data control. Since its launch, it has received various accolades from public and private entities, the most important of which is IDEA 2006, awarded by the K Solar System, foundation Emprender en Aragón. Its technology is used in 45 countries.

We face “permanent change” from different areas to improve the preparation of our students so they can achieve a successful personal and professional future.

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