1. Barcelona has an old tradition on educational innovation
The lively city of Barcelona has a well developed educational system, coming from an old tradition on innovative, inclusive schools and open-minded teachers implementing student-centered and active teaching strategies, even in the early 20th century.
A good example is Escola del Bosc, a 100 year old forest school very near of the Olympic area of Montjuic, still an educational reference in Catalonia.
As an example of our tradition on academic excellence, while in most countries CLIL teachers are not required to have an extra qualification, in Spain are required to have foreign language advanced accreditation, added to especial training. Foreign language cannot be taught by uncertified teachers as well.
2. Multicultural, plurilingual classrooms are common in Catalonia
Catalonia is officially a bilingual region where catalan is the language of instruction, so our trainers are well aware of the language barrier in front of an international attendance, and do their best to make sure that everyone learns. A general agreement on language teaching is the fact that languages are learnt at its best when they are used to communicate real things in life.
As an added value, Catalan teachers give a lot of importance to emotions while learning, to social environment in classrooms and student’s wellbeing, so they are very good at encouraging networks and collaborative groups to make the most of learning.
3. Barcelona is a word-class destination
Barcelona has a rich cultural heritage and many unique features that makes the city the 5th more visited in Europe. Its international airport hub, with very good flight/sea/road connections with nearly all of the EU countries, added to its fast train and strategic location in Iberian peninsula, allows very easy transportation. The city offers an outstanding cultural experience that is affordable.
4. Barcelona is also a great deal!
The cost of living in Spain is lower than in many other countries in the European Union, according to Eurostat. You can make the most of your budget.
Tarragona and Costa Brava share the same features, even being close to some major beach resorts of Spain.
5. Barcelona and educational technology
Catalonia is an early adopter of ICTs in education -since 1988-. Digital technology related events like Mobile World Congress, or Barcelona Games World support events to foster digital skills in schools, for example, YoMo festival. This allowed catalan educators to attend easily world-class conferences and professional development workshops.
