Full-time educational towns: a cross-disciplinary challenge

14/12/2022

Claudia Mas, periodista

Education councillors from various political parties have brought to the table strategies and resources to implement an education network beyond the school walls as part of their local policies.

Today’s plea is that learning is not solely incumbent on schools, but it takes place all around us, as part of leisure, in museums, markets, theatres, extracurricular activities, artistic or cultural organisations, on weekend excursions or even in our streets and squares. We could produce an infinite list of options that would never end because learning can be formal and informal.

One of today’s challenges is fostering and highlighting the value of the Education 360 philosophy, i.e., that it is full time. Local entities can serve as the springboard to ensure the feasibility of permanent learning.

Learning is not solely incumbent on schools, but it takes place all around us

On 1 December the educational measures agenda Towns 360, Towns of Opportunities was presented at the Social Hub of Barcelona and could also be followed online. It was addressed to political parties and future leaders of Catalan local authorities and unfolded in a round table format, moderated by journalist Laia Vicens. The participants included five political representatives from various towns where several measures have been promoted to enhance out-of-school education.

Fathia Benhamou, alliance director, described the agenda as a “leadership compass” organised on the basis of realistic measures and specific proposals addressed to towns that wish to bring about systemic educational change. It encompasses proposals dominated by the concepts of equity, equality and accessibility in order to reduce the impact of the knowledge gap. Along these lines, Andreu Termes, co-author of the agenda and sociologist at Barcelona Institute of Regional and Metropolitan Studies (IERMB), classified the resource as a “toolbox” filled with five strategies and twenty-eight measures. Termes stated that local entities play a priority role in governing, managing and providing out-of-school activities. Accordingly, he underlined the fact that it is a challenge that is not solely incumbent on schools and that community-based responses are needed, led by these institutions.

The Towns 360 agenda is a toolbox filled with 28 measures for governing, managing and providing out-of-school activities.

“Listening and understanding” were common features of the session. Political representatives set out which out-of-school educational projects have been implemented in the towns, taking another look at the methodology, effectiveness and quality, as well as the connections and alliances that need to be formed with various social agents, among other aspects. Maria Truñó, Barcelona commissioner of Education (Bcn Comú), explained that Barcelona city has launched a programme to offer an initial sample of artistic creation and practice to two thousand vulnerable children. Even so, she shared a concern and highlighted an issue to which there currently does not appear to be an answer. “Besides equity and access, we are concerned about the perspective of social mixing. In the afternoons we strive to receive diversity in terms of gender, origin, social background and even functional aspects”, she added resoundingly, which in practice is a huge challenge. “It appears that grants are normally only offered to families with limited resources and, as a result, they become grouped together and somehow we end up isolating them”. Truñó gave her opinion, stating that it is a highly complex challenge: “How to do it is not clear, but working to achieve equality and a social mix is sacred”.

“In the afternoons we strive to receive diversity in terms of gender, origin, social background and even functional aspects”.

Albert López, Education councillor for Celrà (CUP), explained that they have promoted the Municipal Education Council, a forum for collective governance ̶ in which various stakeholders are involved ̶ in areas including leisure activities, sport and equality. López emphasised the community network: “We must listen to the everyday lives of young people and about their workload to understand their needs and to deliver progress in this respect”.

Soledad Rosende, councillor for Martorell (Junts), revealed that in her town there is a basic charter of free extracurricular sporting and cultural activities for all children’s education centres and primary schools. In her opinion, this enables families to be informed about what activities are provided in the town whilst ensuring that a range of activities are made available to them.

In the same way as López, the councillor for the Baix Llobregat region emphasised the need to define the demand from children and agreed that there is a need to form alliances. She pointed out that Education 360 (or full-time education) calls for a change in the way of thinking and of understanding cities and education: “We need to develop a transformational model. It needs to be welcomed by everyone, it constitutes a cultural change”.

Education 360 (or full-time education) calls for a change in the way of thinking and of understanding cities and education.

Indeed, Francesc Arolas, councillor (PSC), highlighted two projects that are working well in Granollers: firstly, Adolescence 360, which focuses on the needs of young people; and secondly, the Et Cetera Programme, which aims to offer quality leisure time by means of an intensive session.

Lastly, the Edunauta Passport has been launched in Amposta. It consists of a physical booklet in which each child aged from 3 to 12 years receives a stamp for taking part in the catalogue of activities offered with the possibility of doing a diary entry. Accordingly, the whole range of out-of-school learning is duly recognised. Núria Marco, councillor (ERC), pointed out the importance of information: “Families need to be able to find out all the details about the activities. In addition, they should be provided with support and we must reduce the learning gap experienced by children from the most vulnerable backgrounds”.

How can quality be achieved?

Marco has no doubt. To achieve quality in the range of permanent education options offered, it is necessary to build trust: “All branches of the City Council must be involved. The task of educating is not simply the responsibility of local authority education departments, it also relates to youth, social services, tourism, markets, culture, and so on. 90% of the various departments have some influence on education”. Martorell also shares this vision, as its representative says that all stakeholders that have any connection with the activities need to be involved, from the politicians to the monitors supervising the activity: “A project like this must belong to everyone, everyone has to feel involved, that they have a voice and that they can give their opinion. In this way, quality will rise exponentially”.

A similar methodology has also been established in Granollers, the capital of the Vallès Oriental region, where a Teaching Council has been set up. All parties involved in the activities meet on the Council to give their opinions: “We have set up a safe forum where you can engage with other colleagues from all over the city and provide the educators with tools”.

“Support, customised care and thorough monitoring within our capabilities are needed.”

López referred to the difficulty of having an impact on quality, but believes that the right path to follow in this direction has to do with human relations: “We cannot have an impact on the content, but we can influence relations. Support, customised care and thorough monitoring within our capabilities are needed”.

Some advice…

Before concluding the round table, the speakers made a short recommendation for the new local political leaders. Truñó pointed out that it is essential to give due consideration to the aspect of public space: “It is necessary to think of free spaces to encourage creativity, spontaneous games, etc., in other words, to build a city that can be played in.”

“We come and go, but education is always going to be there. It is important to leave a lasting impression, beyond our political beliefs.”

López stated that it is necessary to start from scratch listening very carefully with much understanding, with sincerity in our intentions, humility in relations, and honesty in our commitments: “Education operates on longer timeframes than politics. We come and go, but education is always going to be there. It is important to leave a lasting impression, beyond our political beliefs.”

Marco explained that before getting down to business, it is necessary to analyse the situation, “to find out about the people and their needs”. Rosende had one piece of advice in this respect: “Work must always be done in networks and through associations. We must consider what we need and how alliances can be formed to achieve this aim.” Lastly, Arolas concluded by stating that “we want full-time education to be for everyone with those families suffering the greatest difficulties being at the forefront of our focus, and all our energy must be made available to them.”

“We want full-time education to be for everyone with those families suffering the greatest difficulties being at the forefront of our focus.”

Your alarm does not have to ring at 8 am to tell you that it is time to go and learn something. Learning is an all-encompassing field, one of the foundations of life. Politics has a key role to play in it and political representatives agree on the need to ensure that the chance to engage in out-of-school learning reaches every corner of the most neglected neighbourhood, thereby overcoming the knowledge gap, without ever losing focus on quality and the needs of each local area and the children. We will need to continue to build along these lines over the coming years and it is important to keep our eyes open because learning should never be put to bed.

For further information:

Read the news item Education 360 is calling on political parties to ensure its local candidates offer full-time education policies to guarantee equal opportunities

Download the agenda Towns 360, towns of opportunities