November 27, 2024
When children are treated as capable individuals and invited to play an active role in their own education, they become our greatest allies, explained Beatriz Cardoso, director of Labedu in an interview.
Beatriz spoke with Aisha Schnellmann, from the editorial team at BOLD, about how to improve public education in Latin America and transform children’s learning experiences through effective professional development for teachers. BOLD is a global scientific knowledge platform to transform children’s lives, and is linked to the Jacobs Foundation, whichawarded Labedu this year with the Best Practices Prize.
The interview below was translated in full from the content published by the platform.Here you find the original text in English.
Aisha Schnellmann: What are the biggest challenges facing children in Latin America and globally?
Beatriz Cardoso: I believe that the greatest global challenge is to ensure that all children have access to a quality education, especially in regions with deep inequalities, such as Latin America. Efforts to transform public education in these areas are essential to provide children with the support and resources they need to learn and thrive.
AS: What do children need to thrive?
BC: All children have the right to learn. In order for them to learn, school environments need to foster children’s confidence in their own abilities and promote curiosity, inquiry, questioning and collaboration.
Children need ample opportunities to engage in carefully planned learning experiences that foster their development. This requires not only a strong curriculum, but also ongoing professional development for teachers to help them plan and deliver activities that encourage individual and group growth.
AS: How does the work of the Education Laboratory (Labedu) support teachers and ultimately improve children’s learning?
BC: We collaborate with education stakeholders, from school administrators to institutions, to develop professional development programs for educators at all levels. These programs provide teachers with research-based teaching tools and strategies, helping them better understand how children learn and use this knowledge to create high-quality, equitable, and inclusive learning environments.
Last year, children who participated in our “Learning to Study Texts” program demonstrated significant progress in reading and comprehension of texts. In addition, 79% of teachers reported notable differences in learning processes after participating in the program.
AS: Can you tell us something that surprised or inspired you in this work?
BC: It always amazes me how quickly children become engaged when they are given the opportunity to learn and collaborate. When they are treated as capable individuals and invited to actively participate in their own learning, they become our greatest allies. When teachers or parents begin to see children’s actions from a different perspective, they perceive and interact with them differently. They begin to see intelligence where they previously saw lack of ability. It is deeply inspiring to realize that with the right investment and methodology, we can positively influence the contexts in which learning occurs.
AS: What is your vision for the future of children?
BC: Children of the future will become multitasking adults, constantly facing overwhelming demands and information overload. Access to information will continue to increase, so the real challenge will be making sense of this information and finding meaning in the details. The key is to help children learn to filter, analyze, select, and integrate what is relevant and appropriate. It is our responsibility to provide children with the tools and practices that support well-rounded development, grounded in solid values.