Last Sunday, César Bona, a finalist of the Global Teacher´s Prize, 2014 – considered the world’s most prestigious teaching award – was speaking on the” Chester in Love “ TV programme about what he thought was the key to education.
Mr. Bona, a graduate in Primary Education and a graduate in English Philology, spoke with Risto Mejide about values such as respect, commitment and social responsibility as some of the keys to education. Also during his interview he commented on the importance of teaching children in the classroom public speaking and to work on important skills such as emotional intelligence or the capacity for analysis and decision making. Above all, this must be taught with a clear objective on the part of the teacher- to find the talent that every child possesses.
When talking about bullying, Cesar argued that encouraging these skills mentioned above and spending more hours of the school day in getting students to know and empathize will prove that this phenomenon can be drastically reduced.
Now, what role can sport play in this regard? In my opinion, sport is commitment, it is respect, it is trust, it is responsibility, as well as directly fostering emotional intelligence and the ability to decide at key moments.
But, in what way can sport be promoted as an educational tool? Very simple- in the school subject of Physical Education along with extracurricular activities directed or controlled by the teachers themselves.
It is curious that at a time when society has a greater demand for values such as teamwork, respect and empathy, the work of Physical Education teachers is increasingly difficult, especially because the number of hours devoted to this subject have been drastically reduced.
Consider, for example, if schools organised internal football, basketball, handball competitions and other team sports as well as individual sports in which each student can gain a point which could then be added to his overall class mark. Wouldn´t this be a way of fostering all of the values which César Bona commented on? I´m sure a high proportion of teachers would overwhelmingly support this kind of idea
Do you really believe that teachers are not willing to get involved 100% in this type of initiative? From Raquel and the board of directors in CEIP Nuestra Senora de Loreto (where I attended Primary School), to José Juan and all the teaching team of Sacred Heart School (where I attended secondary school) and Rafa or Germán (my PE teachers In Bachillerato), absolutely everyone has followed my personal and sporting development. All of my teachers knew I was not one of the most accomplished students in PE, but I loved it. Everyone gave me their support, they all accompanied me along the way, they encouraged me never to stop trying. Coming back from London 2012, having fulfilled the dream of any athlete, competing in the Paralympic Games, I assure you that the feeling of satisfaction that I felt in each one of them was simply extraordinary. The success was also theirs, and they perceived it as such.
Let our teachers act, decide, help educate and teach our children. Let our teachers accompany our children on their paths to their future.