During classes, our goal is to identify the potential and needs of each child and help him/her develop them. In our school, we will not focus on what the child does not know, but rather it is important for us to recognize the child’s interests and what makes him/her happy. With our support and work on topics that interest him/her, the child will develop an interest and passion for research and knowledge.
By a culture of learning that encourages the development of potential, we mean a culture that allows for diversity and enables the development of individual potential and competencies. It is a culture of learning in which each individual child receives the message that his or her uniqueness is perfectly fine and that it is necessary just as it is.
In our school, we nurture a learning culture in which the student participates in creating the direction of learning. The development of potential succeeds when children are no longer taught, but rather are taken seriously as autonomous creators of their learning path and as creative explorers of their all-round abilities and potentials.
The classroom serves as a research area where the child creates and designs his/her teaching materials under the guidance of the teacher - the student keeps a diary, and together we create a book of achievements, compile a book for competence development, and make mind maps.
In our school, we nurture cooperation and teamwork. Although the individuality and interests of each child are nurtured, in our school students gain experience in joint research and processing of topics and have the opportunity to experience the effectiveness of their work in a team. In this way, they strengthen confidence in their own abilities and cooperation with other people.
Examples: Week of projects, epochs, "learning networks" that go beyond a subject, annual topics that change and their associated project topics.
Learning through engagement connects learning a particular subject with participation in community life. Pupils do something for others in the community. These projects are closely related to the professional and theoretical contents that the students deal with at the same time at school.
Examples: learning by taking responsibility, learning through engagement, teaching younger students and helping younger students in their work, reading projects in a nursing home and kindergarten.
Examples: learning through challenges, coaching happiness, collaborating with external partners, practice (during class).
In a media-permeated society, schools should play a decisive role in mediating media competence. In doing so, they need to help children understand how the media works, how they can use them for their own interests and what they can achieve through them.
Examples: conscious media handling, blogs, Wikipedia, virtual schools.
From a development of potential perspective, our teachers become partners in dialogue, companions who set challenges and people who encourage, motivate, and inspire children to explore and study.
Objective: teacher as coach (guide)
The school as a community exists in a way that everyone participates in its formation. A democratic culture of coexistence needs a participatory structure that enables all groups in school-related interaction (students, teachers, parents and partners) to participate actively and equally in shaping the school community.
Examples: assembly of all involved, school assembly, community-related school projects, celebrations involving all students regardless of grade, alumni association.
Each school is a separate system with different individuals and participants, specific assumptions and challenges to be overcome. Sustainable and vital renewal requires courage for new ventures, to understand ourselves as those who learn to question what is available to us and to open ourselves to new things.
Examples: space and time for vision development and reflection, supervision, feedback systems, scientific monitoring of school development.
Since it is necessary to have trust, encouragement and respect for the development of potential, we have adjusted our approach to giving feedback on success. In our school, a child is not compared to anyone but him/herself. It is important to us whether a child feels a sense of belonging in our small community, whether he/she feels free to express and show what interests him/her and to examine his/her possibilities and limits without hesitation.
We measure progress from the starting point of each child; we do not apply one criterion for all children, respecting the rhythm of acquiring knowledge of each child individually. In the meantime, we know that for motivation, engagement and successful learning, the key is not pressure but good relationships.
Examples: interviews with tutors and mentors, feedback on learning progress, discussion on current situation and goal, days/hours of interviews between students, interviews involving the child, parents and teaching staff.
