academically rigorous, challenging, inclusive, global education at Escola Concept
By Jonathan Reyes
I had the opportunity to visit an institution in Sao Paulo intended for children in their early years all the way to their adolescence stage (high school), by the name of Escola Concept. A little background knowledge on Escola Concept, it was established in 2006 and there are two other Escola Concept institutions located within the region of Brazil, in Salvador and Ribeirão Preto.
Their mission offers an academically rigorous, challenging, inclusive, global education designed to develop happy and thoughtful human beings who positively impact the world around them. To add on, the program is designed to nurture the dispositions of lifelong learners who embrace an entrepreneurial mindset and understand the meaning of living sustainably, along with being globally and digitally fluent. Another thing to note, teachers ensure learning is facilitated and assessed through relevant, project-based experiences and upon graduation, learners will prepare for their choice of university, whether in Brazil or elsewhere outside the country.
A motto they abide by is “we reinvent ourselves everyday” by making substantial changes in less than a week and giving students the privilege to freely express themselves through their clothing, arts, or tasks. Following up with the infrastructure of the school, Escola Concept has many amenities on campus and resources provided for students to better enhance their learning skills and development. Amenities include a playground for students to be physically active and a pool under construction as well.
Upon visiting the institution we were greeted in warm hospitality by the counselor and principal, they guided us to an open area where you can see a layout of the auditorium and offered breakfast treats. After getting ourselves situated on our preferred choice of seat cushion, we were given a recycled bottle cap tote bag on every seat, a sustainable gift and inside them was a schedule for the day, including a notebook, utensil and brochure about Escola Concept. As said in the schedule, we were first going to go over a presentation about Escola Concept’s mission, values and sponsorships, basically an overview of the institution and how they first originated in Brazil.
As voiced, Escola Concept is partnered with Grupo SEB maintaining 14 education brands along with 550 franchises operating in 30+ countries. I thought it was interesting to see because their work focuses on pedagogy, the pedagogy meaning in teaching focuses on an educator’s teaching beliefs and concerns that interplay between culture and different ways to learn. I noticed some of these practices being taught within the realm of the institution.
Following the presentation was a tour of the institution and giving us the tour were young and well accomplished students. They ranged from different years in Escola Concept. We parted into three groups and throughout the entirety of the tour they spoke in English. I thought it was very impressive to see that these students are held at a certain standard to fit the required needs of their values and mission, in which they pride themselves. I also learned students and educators are intended to speak English 60% of the time and 40% Portuguese. I feel that this might create a language barrier towards students when speaking to other folks outside of their institution because of the small percentage of Portuguese.
Overall, Escola Concept is well suited for those who can afford 12.000 reals monthly and believe Westernization is the leading root to maintaining a sustainable environment. Nonetheless, it is a well structured institution and positively oriented.
