Learning Principles
Our Definition of learning
Learning is the transformation of brain connections through the interaction between the individual and the natural, social and cultural environments, which materializes in changes in behavior and in the development of new competencies.
Our Core Belief Statements
1. – The student is the protagonist and responsible for his or her learning process and only through his or her work does he or she achieve significant progress. The teacher designs environments that facilitate the development of each student, attending to their personal needs through differentiation. The institution ensures inclusion, providing resources and support mechanisms for those who require it.
2. – Careful planning of each step of what happens in the classroom guarantees the quality of learning. We follow the backward design model, which ensures the horizontal and vertical coherence of the goals, as well as the alignment of these with the evaluation and learning plan of each subject. It also ensures clarity in the learning expectations for students and the validity of the assessment.
3. – Throughout their school life, students have a deep understanding of theories and concepts central to the disciplines, such as improvable ideas, with a critical and reflective vision. Thinking processes are essential tools to achieve learning that goes beyond memorization and repetition of schemes, definitions, models or patterns.
4. – The qualitative nature of evaluation, together with permanent feedback, are fundamental to cultivate a growth mindset and for the formation of autonomy. Feedback is a communicative act that holds the learner accountable for improvement. Metacognition is the fundamental tool for the learner to build strategies according to his or her potential and needs.
5. – Critical thinking, creativity, collaboration and information and communication technologies (ICT) are transversal elements of academic training, present in all areas. Similarly, communication skills in the native language, English and French, are developed in language classes and bilingual immersion.
6. – A safe and challenging learning environment is a fundamental condition for students to learn. The teacher ensures that high expectations and rigor are harmonized with a friendly environment in which differentiation, permanent support and controlled risk favor the best levels of learning.
The classroom is a collaborative space for the construction of knowledge through questions, inquiry and permanent discussion, where students bring into play their critical and reflective capacity, working individually and in teams.
7. – Socio-emotional: Adequate socio-emotional development allows people to know themselves and to understand and manage their emotions. Likewise, it facilitates harmonious relationships with others and forms bonds that build a compact social structure.
8. – Training in ethics and global citizenship are transversal to all areas, where local, national and global problems are addressed. We seek that students see themselves as actors capable of generating social development and finding solutions that improve the conditions of humanity; we start from the conviction that human beings have an intrinsic tendency to goodness that is enhanced in an ethical community.
