A rewarding week in adult education in Spain

Blog post by Marjaana Markkanen, social studies and geography teacher at Helsingin aikuisopiston peruskoulu

In the last week of May, I went on an Erasmus+ job shadowing period to hot Spain, to the small town of Alcalá de Henares near Madrid. I visited CEPA Don Juan I, an adult education centre. It offers adults basic education, upper secondary education, Spanish and English courses, IT teaching and also some vocational education. CEPA Don Juan I is a public school run by the municipality. At the same time, two teachers from Madeira and two from Rome were also visiting, which made my experience even richer, because I could share ideas and experiences with them too. The school’s international coordinator, Cristina, had prepared a very varied programme for us and welcomed us very warmly. Some of the groups were already preparing for their final exams, so we mainly saw basic education at the initial stage, Spanish and English courses and other activities at the school, such as the library and the language exchange corner. We were even interviewed on the school radio!

A dive into everyday life at the school

During the week, we took part in many different lessons. All the teachers had planned their lessons so that we visitors did not just watch passively, but could take an active part together with the students the whole time. For me, this was the best part of the week! For example, we did pair and group work with the students through games, activities and a fun competition using technology. It was great to talk with the students and hear about their experiences of studying. In Spain, students do not get financial support for their studies, so many of them have to work at the same time. This makes their studies take longer. I was also surprised by the large number of Spanish pensioners studying in basic education. For them, studying seemed to be a hobby, and many had studied in the same group for several years. It is not easy to teach such mixed groups, where the age range is wide and some students speak Spanish as their first language while for others it is a foreign language they are only learning. I admired the teachers’ creativity and their ability to create a meaningful learning experience for everyone. In my opinion, the teaching methods were very similar to the ones we use here at Helsingin aikuisopiston peruskoulu.

Trips and Spanish hospitality

Alcalá de Henares is a beautiful old town, known as the home town of the famous Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. So our hosts also wanted to show us the town outside the school. With some students and teachers, we visited an important archaeological site, Casa de Hippolytus, where we learnt about the town’s history from Roman times and did a practical task. We were also shown all the most important sights of the old town, such as the cathedral and the university. The coordinator Cristina, the principal José and a few other teachers also spent their free time with us in the evenings. The conversations over tapas and dinner were a very important part of the week and laid the foundation for cooperation in the future too. The warmth and hospitality of our Spanish colleagues were in a class of their own! On the last day, I also had the unexpected chance to visit a vocational school for hotel and restaurant studies, where I enjoyed a delicious six-course lunch prepared by the students.

What I gained from the trip

During the trip, I learnt a lot about the Spanish education system and also about adult education in Italy and Portugal. Observing lessons and sharing ideas with colleagues gave me many new ideas and motivation for my own work. I hope that we can continue to work with the people I met on the trip in new projects in the future.