St PETER’S SCHOOL belongs to the IB Network of Cataluña and Andorra. We organise IB workshops that meet the needs of the network. These workshops support effective training and development for IB teachers, coordinators and directors that offer any of the IB programs or are in the process of authorization. The local network revisits the needs to offer the necessary professional development.
At St PETER’S, we work constantly to be up to date, keep up the pace, and to help us with these objectives, we have created an Open Innovation Committee (OIC), whose goal is to ensure that our Education Project is leading edge, foreseeing and anticipating the needs and interests of our students.
The OIC is composed of external experts in several leading-edge fields and staff representatives who will work together on a regular basis, to improve our Curriculum. The Chair for this Committee is Xavier Ferràs, who is an expert in Innovation and currently teaches and conducts research on the subject at ESADE University. We encourage you to read his thoughts and opinions every Sunday at La Vanguardia.
Last school year, the OIC met for the first time at our School. The committee members included Pablo Lara (Grupo Planeta), Josep Maria Martorell (Barcelona Supercomputing Center), Luis Pareras (Managing Partner at Invivo Capital), Mónica Casabayó (Associate Professor, Department of Marketing at ESADE Business& Law School) and Anna Palli (Head of Technology Watch at IRTA).
The OIC sessions produced very interesting results, which we will apply when working on improving our curriculum’s content. Scientific and technologically based topics (for example quantum physics, space exploration, CRISPR/Cas, genetic algorithms, human aging) require our utmost attention. In addition, introducing subjects such as future literacy, negotiation skills, and dilemma management without neglecting the psychological health and safety of our students will bring our Education Project to the next level.
UNESCO describes Futures Literacy as a human capability. It is the skill that allows people to better understand the role of the future in what they see and do. Being futures literate empowers the imagination, enhances our ability to prepare, recover and invent as changes occur (UNESCO).
The Futures Literacy Lab is a framework developed by UNESCO which involves guiding participants to explore various futures scenarios. Participants will co-create and stretch their imaginations in relation various futures topics (e.g. The Future of Work, Climate Change, Cities of the Future etc.) revealing anticipatory systems and processes. This participatory and hand-on learning experience serves as an entry point into creating space for meaningful dialogue and to inspire action – Futures Literacy. The lab will invite St Peter’s teachers and students, as well as external stakeholders.
Our teachers also share their practices and expertise at some of the degrees or masters offered by our partners, and they participate in different conferences designed in partnership with our university partners.
During the last years, our University Program has gone global and we have singed different agreements with international universities from United States, Germany, Denmark or Ireland. We also participate in Erasmus projects that help students complete their internships abroad before they become teachers with international experience.
We decided to work together with the IB organization and two experienced IB instructors in order to share best practices and expertise within the PYP Classroom. During the school years 20-21 and 21-22, Jane Holand and Anna Bernadas worked side by side with our PYP teachers. This cross-school collaboration and their support resulted in tons of improvements and good practice. The experience was presented in an IB Documentary during the Global Conference held in La Haya during the first term of the school year 22-23.
“Never doubt that a small group of people can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.”
Margaret Mead