Beyond academics – offering students more
Born at a time when education focused on academic achievements to the exclusion of nearly everything else, Marcos Barros Vallejos, Educational Director for Cognita Chile, looks at the importance of programmes to help students acquire leadership, ethics and organisational abilities – much more than intellect alone.
As teachers and school leaders, we must consider the emerging needs of our students. We need to give them the tools to develop leadership in their own lives – and in the lives of fellow members of their school community.
In 2004, we developed the CAMPUR programme in our Pumahue-Manquecura Schools to develop students’ skills in these areas through projects that have a positive impact on their community. Our schools also offer Formative Dimensions, a programme focused on developing socio-affective and ethical skills in children and adolescents. Both programmes are practiced weekly from Early Years through 12 grade.
CAMPUR involves collaborative work in which all class members are asked to participate in the organisation and execution of projects. In order to achieve this, students form work teams in which they contribute according to the interests and skills they have developed throughout their lives. These are: Coordination, Achievement, Maturity, Pastoral, Unity and Relationships.
Formative Dimensions seeks to ensure students acquire six dimensions related to human development: Self-knowledge and Intellectual Development, Sociability and Interpersonal Relations, Affectivity, Social Inclusion, Life Project, Values and Worldview.
The commitment shown by Pumahue-Manquecura teachers in the implementation of these programmes is what gives value and meaning to the educational direction of our schools. These programmes seek to develop in our students’ strong academic competencies and skills that enable them to develop as people with strong values and who contribute positively to their community.