César Bona, candidate for the 'nobel' of teachers: “Education is more than putting data in the head”

Are you the best teacher in the world in Spain? César Bona García is a teacher at the public school Puerta Sancho de Zaragoza, is 42 years old, has a degree in English Philology and has become the only Spanish selected for the Global Teacher Prize, considered the nobel of teaching and endowed with a million Dollars.

Half a hundred teachers from 26 countries opt for this award, to which Bona, who has developed her career in rural schools, was presented at the insistence of a friend. “It's weird but I'm very happy because it can come in handy. The messages of other teachers and parents in my presentation video show that there are many of us who think there are interesting teaching projects to know, ”he says in statements to The Huffington Post .

Education is "much more than putting data in the head" for this teacher. "In one of our classrooms is the future president of the Government, the future leader of a global company ... If we do not teach them empathy and sensitivity, something fails, " he explains. The teacher, who has taught in the public, private and concerted school, believes that teaching resilience is vital. "There are people who lose their jobs and sink ... You have to give clues to face things, " he says.

The Global Teacher Prize values ​​the work of teachers who open the minds of students and encourage encouragement for others to become teachers. Those responsible for the award have indicated that Bona's choice is due to being "an indefatigable defender of children's rights" and "believing in the creative potential of children."

"I want children to get involved, feel part of something, " explains the teacher, who regrets the cuts in public education and vindicates the work of his colleagues despite the lack of means. "Like salmon, teachers swim against the current because we know what children need while politicians seem to have never entered a classroom, " says the candidate for best teacher.

Bona, who has had students between 6 and 18 years old, considers it essential to adapt the way students are taught. “We educate children, not machines. You can't make everyone jump on the same fence. I try to know the circumstances and interests of my students before focusing the program. You have to teach everyone the same thing but in a way that appeals to them, ”he explains.

But it also has recommendations for teachers: it is important that teachers are "curious beings" and have a positive attitude and vocation. “I love teaching, I am privileged to be a teacher. The classroom is a space of surrealism, they are waters of imagination where the rules do not exist, ”he says.

FILM PROJECTS

His teaching proposal is developed in unconventional ways through projects that stimulate the creativity of his students. One of the most recognized is The importance of being called Applewhite, a silent 40-minute film directed and written by six students between 4 and 12 years old. Set in "the American Burette of 1910", it portrays the life of a wealthy family with two daughters of marriageable age before the crack of 1929.

The idea came to him when he worked in Bureta, a town of just over 280 inhabitants. “I was in the car listening to a soundtrack by Woody Allen. Suddenly, I had a flash and I saw it, ”he recalls. He knew nothing about cameras, so he began to investigate. Then it was the students who had to inquire at the time when they would set the story in order to present it before its exhibition.

Keep reading after the video.

The experiment received awards in and out of Spain and inaugurated a series of audiovisual educational projects, the first of them a series of short films starring the grandparents of his students from Bureta that "united the people more closely", he says, and was a "Magical experience".

“With each project I learn too. I always say to my students' I am a teacher but I don't know everything; you also have to teach me '. I want them to learn to discriminate and be critical but also that we all have value. You have to teach them that everyone has something to learn from everyone, ”he explains.

“WHAT I DO IS BASED ON WHAT HAPPENED TO ME SMALL”

Bona's most ambitious project is currently Children for Animals, a virtual protector run by 12 of his alumni. The idea was born in 2010 when a circus arrived in Muel (Zaragoza), the town where he was teaching then.

“They sent me to replace a children's teacher and I decided to read a story to the class. The title was The circus comes to town and I ended up inventing everything. I realized that, since we were little, we have mediated thinking, they put the circus animals as if they were happy in the stories, ”explains the Zaragoza.

Children for Animals pursues that it is the minors who promote in society the respect for animals and has obtained the recognition of the famous naturalist Jane Goodall. Two Bona students gave a lecture at the Autonomous University of Barcelona to 400 people on this subject and were highly acclaimed. Speaking well in public is a priority in teacher initiatives.

“A lot of what I do is a projection of what happened to me as a child. For example, although he got good grades, he never raised his hand, he was very shy, ”Bona details. “I have the theory that there is a tube that connects the adult we are with the child we were. Sometimes it gets clogged but I have broadband, ”he admits.

Keep reading after the video.

Bona acknowledges that hers is not a comfortable formula, that parents question her when they see that their children do tasks that are not just learning spelling, adding or subtracting. But they have thanked me over time. They have written to me saying that their children have matured a lot and are more responsible, says the professor.

THE PRIZE, TO TRAIN IN FILM

The winner of the Global Teacher Prize will meet at the Forum on Education and Skills in Dubai in March 2015. It includes an endowment of one million dollars and the possibility of obtaining financing for your projects.

If Bona is a winner, he will invest in training in film or photography. I would also like to dedicate something to stimulate creativity. Part of the 20, 000 euros of the Applewhite prize is dedicated to creating a library where you can read in poufs, in tents The space where you read is very important, he says.

But I have my feet on the ground and one ready to jump. It is necessary to have illusion but not to have illusions!

Source : http://www.huffingtonpost.es/

C sar Bona, candidate for the nobel of teachers: Education is more than putting data in the head