Educator, anthropologist, and pedagogue, born in Portugal and creator of Escola da Ponte.
She is an educator, consultant in innovative education, lecturer, and founder of Escola Aberta de São Paulo.
He is the founder of Open Learning and wants to make Open Learning School the standard pedagogy in schools around the world.
With extensive experience working with schools and universities, Francois is on a mission to make education more accessible, supportive and inclusive to children across the globe.
With a strong background in working with young children, Mónica’s commitment to tailoring education to meet individual needs ensures that every student at Open Learning Connect receives personalized attention and support.
With a wealth of experience in education spanning two decades, Luciano fosters a dynamic and interactive learning environment that equips students with the skills they need to thrive in our rapidly changing world.
"The fact is that given the challenges we face, education doesn't need to be reformed - it needs to be transformed. The key to this transformation is not to standardize education, but to personalize it, to build achievement on discovering the individual talents of each child, to put students in an environment where they want to learn and where they can naturally discover their true passions."
Sir Ken Robinson
The reason I set up Open Learning School was not altruistic, it was the need to provide the best education possible for my children. Besides having experienced education in 5 different countries where I grew up, I have been in the Education business for over 15 years, more specifically in recruiting international students for colleges and universities in the UK. During this time, I have had access to the most elitist schools in the world, with the greatest national and international reputation, the ones called the schools of the future, the schools prepared for tomorrow, the schools that, as they themselves claimed, were different from the rest. Despite all these self-proclaimed scrolls and virtues, as a parent, I didn’t see a single school any different from traditional schools.”
No matter how many rooms, spaces, horses, teachers’ doctorates, and other features they had, they were nothing more than schools based on the same classical, factory, old-fashioned model of instruction, not learning. “You can’t give water to a horse that is not thirsty” – José Pacheco. In other words, learning is not memorizing; only those who want to learn, the rest memorize. And, as such, all these schools do nothing more than produce the same results as a traditional school, and that is not what is intended. In no school have I found learning, only the memorization of futile information that masks ignorance.
It took me 3 years of national and international research and I ended up meeting pedagogues and educators who eventually influenced my life. I began to think about learning and not instruction. So little did I know, that I knew nothing. I admit, my light came from the most unexpected corner – José Pacheco.
José Pacheco was the founder and leader of the Ponte School in Portugal. Those who still don’t know the legend should read A Escola que Sempre Sonhei sem Imaginaría que Pudesse Existir (The School I Always Dreamed of Without Imagining It Could Exist), written by Ruben Alves, one of the most influential Brazilian educationalists, who is also a legend. This book describes the Ponte School and José’s work with the dignity it deserves.
A school of world reference unknown only in Portugal. The proof? Vila das Aves’ main economic activity was educational tourism. People from all over the world who came to know this 40-year-old project that many of you, myself included, had never heard of until recently. 40 years after Escola da Ponte, José was the co-founder of Projecto ncora, considered one of the most innovative schools in the world.
Early on José proclaimed that the school we have today is an outdated school. It was thought out, created and designed to serve a population based on the work of industries and workers. It is a school to instruct people in masses: they put education on the assembly line, like everything in the 19th century. A school designed for the past, when the future has already arrived.
“An educational model in which 21st century students are “taught” by 20th century teachers, with 19th century practices, is not acceptable.” – José Pacheco
I built the school I always dreamed of
I started this school with a very simple and even selfish goal: to give my children the best education possible. However, a school is defined by people. There had to be a space, not mine, but for everyone.
Like me, I assume, you are all looking for a different education. A different pedagogy, a different way of looking at learning. And that is why we are here today. This journey was only possible thanks to parents like you who, like me, think differently and who believed in this project even before anyone else.
Together, we will change education.
© 2023 Open Learning - All rights reserved
© 2023 Open Learning - All rights reserved
“I don’t distinguish ‘early childhood education’ from ‘education.’ There is no such thing as special education because all education is special. ‘Childhood’ is an adjective, it’s about an education of childhood.”
A well-known pedagogue and educator, he is the founder of some of the most iconic and controversial projects in world education such as Escola da Ponte and Escola Projeto Âncora.
A frequent guest of schools all over the world, his Ted Talks have been seen by over half a million people, and he is one of the most prestigious individuals in the world of education. Today he is the General Pedagogical Coordinator of the Open Learning School, which he considers the first and only school of the 21st-century.
Here are some of José Pacheco’s most iconic lectures
“One ‘learns by projects’ from the ‘dream’ of each child. Each one is respected in their individuality, learns according to their needs, in their own time, with joy, playing, creating, and reflecting on the meaning of this experience and learning.
Founder of the well-known Escola Aberta de São Paulo, she brings with her over 20 years of experience in the world of education. With international experience in several markets, from Latin America to Asia, she was coordinator of Brazilian schools in Japan for 10 years.
In collaboration with Professor José Pacheco, she founded Escola Projeto Âncora, one of the most recognized and acclaimed projects in the world of education.
Now, as Pedagogical Coordinator of Open Learning in Brazil, her mission is to enable that each child can reach their maximum potential and be happy, through a pedagogy that is over 30 years old.”
