Chronicle
In this section, the general and specialized press will be able to follow live the development of the different panels of the symposium. Photographs, statements in headlines, links to the profiles of the speakers and other materials that facilitate the preparation of the Symposium chronicle will be uploaded.
“We begin a new cycle with cutting-edge leadership and with the purpose of ensuring the integral development of every student, without exceptions”.
Family photo. Closing of the Symposium. March 10 2023.
“What comes out of this Symposium is a real exchange of successful practices, of mutual learning, a step towards more and more common ground to create the basis for evidence-based education policy making.
Rocío Albert López-Ibor, Vice-Minister of Education Policy of the Community of Madrid
“The voices of the leaders have been very present, we have to train in projects, teaching is an intellectual activity and finally, to quote Arendt, we have before us the task of renewing a common world”.
María Espinet
Decalogue Symposium: Leading comprehensive, sustainable, cutting-edge and inclusive education
The European Foundation Society and Education and the Centre for Studies on Peoples and Cultures (CEPCEP) of Portugal, with the collaboration of Porticus, have reached this point in an attempt to fulfil their objective of placing school leadership policies at the centre of the educational agenda.
With this final Decalogue, we do not close a cycle of study, or of training, or even of implementing a leadership model in schools with special difficulties. On the contrary, we are opening another cycle, handing over the baton to those who have been able to learn about its effectiveness; who are in a position to share their experience; who want to actively reinforce the training of our management teams; who are convinced of the effectiveness of networking; and who intend to “spread” the enthusiasm for leading our schools.
With the co-creation of knowledge that has been shared these days here in Madrid, with the contributions of the Academic Committee and the International Committee, with the ideas and suggestions that have come to us from friends and collaborators in the months of preparation for this Symposium that ends today, we would like to propose 10 points as a possible roadmap to 2025, the date on which we will do everything possible to meet again.
To read more, download the complete decalogue.
“We don’t have much to reinvent, schools must be public spaces ‘for rights’, liberal, democratic and microcosms of our society. Moreover, serious work must be done, constantly reorganised”.
Mariano Fernández Enguita (Panel 4)
“There is nothing more beautiful or more effective than example”.
Miguel Ángel Santos Guerra (Panel 4)
“There are two main types of principals: those who can be classified and those who don’t fit into any kind of classification. The question is, what is it to be a good principal? It is probably a force that makes the community grow”.
Miguel Ángel Santos Guerra (Panel 4)
“The functioning of the center influences your life.”
Mara Laguna (Alumni. Panel 4)
“It is very important to take ownership of the curriculum and remove the barriers that are sometimes put up by the ministry itself. What we are most proud of is working on a project basis”.
Irene Louro (Panel 4)
“Public schools make us all equal. We want families to feel that the school is theirs”.
Nuria Delgado (Panel 4)
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“For me, being strict is about being consistent and setting high expectations. The more difficult the child’s environment the more discipline they need. Children know what to expect from us.
Katharine Birbalsingh (Panel 4)
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“It is essential to create institutional processes for participation and to build trust for decision-making in times of uncertainty”.
Beatriz Pont
“The current teaching profession generates a waste of good practices. What company or institution does not select its personnel?”
Carmen Pellicer (Panel 3)
“The creation of a network of managers to exchange practices and knowledge would help their training.”
Ana Hernández (Panel 3)
“The director does not do anything alone. If we do not transmit and involve everyone, if we do not spread the project, there will be no continuity.”
Bernardette Almeida (Panel 3)
“We must transform starting from the path we have traveled. The center’s library was transformed into a wooden train. We must believe that we can do impossible things.”
Óscar Martin-Centeno (Panel 3)
“Sustainability is a challenge for everyone, although we do not all have the same responsibility. We have been spending millions on education and it does not seem to yield the expected results.”
Joaquín Gairín (Panel 2)
“Leadership is not an easy task, like everything that brings about change. Self-care is necessary, as well as good treatment among members of the educational community in a broad sense, avoiding ‘adultocentrism’ or imposing our objectives, and creating a culture of listening but also reflection.”
Tomás Aller (Panel 2)
“We must enhance the training of teachers to work in these schools and face the challenges that these children pose to us.”
Elisa Serrano (Panel 2)
“Having a shared vision is our backbone, as Elisa said. We must distribute leadership. Everyone leads some part of our project. This, along with pedagogical reflection, ensures sustainability.”
Nuria Sabaté (Panel 2)
“We have built the backbone of our school based on the concept of integral education. Once the students cross the doors of the school, they enter a safe space.”
Elisa Serrano (Panel 2)
“How we feel depends a lot on where we want to be.”
Karen Edge (Panel 2)
“When we organize workshops with school leaders, generational problems always arise. We never have a complete idea of a person until we get to know them. We have to make teachers visible.”
Karen Edge (Panel 2)
“We educate not entire groups, but individual people by giving them what they need to reach their best self.”
Fernando Gil Cantero (Panel 1)
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“The parents of the students in our school choose it because they are convinced by the educational project. They want their children to be wise and our commitment is to ensure they learn and excel both academically and personally.”
Carmen Pascual, Colegio Padre Coloma (Panel 1)
“Leaders are called to lead with authority, not with power. They must earn respect and trust and not exercise their leadership simply because they have power.”
Encarna Cuenca, President of the State School Council.
Warm Up
“We want to contribute to the creation of a new culture of leadership in schools in vulnerable contexts, supporting their management teams and involving the entire school community. We hope to find new proposals in this meeting to achieve this goal.”
Miguel Ángel Sancho. President of the International Committee and the European Foundation Society and Education.
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