The Escuela Nueva was born in Europe, in the 20th century, as a criticism of the traditional Escuela Autoritaria , which is still in force today, despite the continuous changes and educational reforms. It criticizes the traditional way of schooling, where the student is a passive being, who only receives information and non-creative repetitive reinforcements.

The aim of Escuela Nueva is to focus on the child’s interest and develop his or her abilities , making the student an active being in his or her learning. The aim is for him/her to “learn by doing”. That the child has direct experience, that he or she stimulates his or her thinking and possesses the information through observations, obtaining solutions to the problem and putting them into practice. Therefore, it promotes active, cooperative, participatory and personalized learning, centered on the learner, through dialogue and participation.

New School Teaching Methodology

It is a free and active teaching in which the teacher takes into account the student’s point of view. The teacher limits himself to correcting mistakes and giving feedback to his students, leaving them to ask the questions. The limitation of learning in a single classroom or schedule, where the student has to be seated and silent, is also eliminated. The child can, and should, move around the whole environment by exploring the different places. And it involves their parents and environment (outside the school) in the learning.

The power-submission dynamic of teachers is eliminated making the tutor a figure of affection and help. Leaving all the power of self-government in the children, making them understand that they need the elaboration of a set of rules to improve their learning and development.

Learning styles

Today, we know that people do not have a single way to learn, but that each person learns differently. Today, there are seven different learning styles, and not necessarily the style that works for us is good for someone else. The types of learning are as follows:

1. Visual learning

They learn through drawings, images… They have a more spatial vision. Colours and photographs help them learn better and visualise objects more easily. They often use phrases like: “I can imagine it”

2. Auditory learning

They prefer to use sounds, rhythms or music to learn. They are people who are usually good at singing or playing an instrument. They usually set a rhythm when memorizing , so that a particular sound helps them to memorize. They often use phrases like: “That sounds good”

3. Individual learning (intrapersonal)

They prefer to learn things on their own or by themselves. They focus their goals on topics that are of interest to them. They tend to think about how they would act to understand something. They rely on their intention and self-analysis . They often use phrases like: “I need time to think”.

4. Social (interpersonal) learning

These are people who like to work in teams. Share their findings with others. Perform listening behaviours that help them understand how to deal with others . Are sensitive to other people’s motivations, feelings and moods. They often use phrases like: “Two heads are better than one”.

5. Verbal or linguistic learning

It is intended to involve writing and is an oral learning experience. It is usually recorded by speaking and then listened to, or read aloud. He plays with the sound of words using tongue twisters, rhymes, poems… He likes to look up the meaning of new terms and talk about them with others. They often use phrases like: “In other words…”

6. Physical or kinesthetic learning

They often use their body, hands or touch to learn. They focus on the physical sensations of the situation. They use physical objects for their learning . They like sports and exercise. They prefer to think while walking or running. And they often use phrases like: “Let’s get to work”.

7. Logical-mathematical learning

To learn, they usually use logic, reasoning and systems . It’s about understanding everything in a contextualised reasoning. Schemes are usually created. They enjoy numbers or shapes. They often use phrases like: “That’s logical”.

In Traditional Schools, only logical-mathematical learning is reinforced, leaving aside all those students who have another form of learning and preventing them from improving in their education, which leads to student frustration. On the other hand, in Escuela Nueva, it allows the student to improve his or her learning in an autonomous way and motivates him or her to learn from his or her own way of learning.

In short…

In the Escuela Nueva the aim is for the student to learn to learn, to create, to undertake, to take initiative, to think critically , to lead processes and to work in a team. Something that, nowadays, is required for the great majority of jobs, but which is not taught in the Traditional School.

In addition, the New School, allows the student to get the most out of himself and choose his best way to learn, focusing on all the learning needs of each student. This allows the child to never lose interest in his or her education and eliminates the frustration of not making progress. This school allows the child to be in continuous learning, both in and out of the classroom, allowing parents to be actively involved in their child’s education.