We assume the objectives of the UNESCO report of International Commission of Education of the XXI century, chaired by Jacques Delors: learning to know, learning to do, learning to be, and learning to live together.

We believe that the acquisition of knowledge is a process that should never end, and schools assume the great responsibility of serving as the starting point for this indefinite journey.

We expect that throughout the learning process, the student will discover that learning and understanding on one’s own accord is a pleasure and not just a means of achieving professional training.

While in a society like ours educational training is considered a priority and something very essential, it is becoming increasingly more specialized, sometimes even skirting around necessary general lessons. It is our duty to respond to such professional demands without losing sight of the full training, hereby combining the two.

Students at I.E.S. Villa de Valdemoro should discover and develop their own creative and constructive capacities making use of available scientific and technological innovations. We don’t only strive for them to receive an adequate education but also the ability to deal with a multitude of situations that will present themselves over time.

The third goal, learning to be, lies in the character of each individual student. Getting the student to develop their own personality, respect their autonomy and diversity, and allow values like initiative, creativity, analytical capacity and the assumption of their role in society to surface, is the only way to succeed in educating an individual, and ultimately, in achieving the fourth goal.

Learning to live with others has to start with recognizing the development of the third objective, described above. With tolerance, solidarity and non-violent, conciliatory attitudes, each person’s specific identity can be valued and we can actively recognize and defend the minimal conditions to ensure a harmonious coexistence.

The principles and educational values of our school put an emphasis on self-identity and act as pillars for the entire teaching-learning process. They are structured in three interrelated levels:

Institutional

Educate and coexist in tolerance with respect for fundamental rights and freedoms.Recognize the cultural and linguistic diversity of the Spanish state?/society? as enriching- encouraging knowledge and rejecting ethnocentric or culturally exclusive attitudes.Prevent or suppress behavior that might undermine the privacy and rights of another person, and be belligerent with such people and institutions that promote or tolerate the violation of these rights.Encourage participation from all members of education community in the teaching-learning process and in all school activities, respecting the privacy of each group (educational, private, familiar… etc).Encourage associations and/or any method that facilitates dialogue, knowledge, contributions and the exchange of views.Promote awareness and acceptance of respectful attitudes, the preservation of cultural-historical heritage, and of the natural human environment.

Educational

Develop the students’ characters for the acquisition of knowledge and teach them procedures that help avoid feelings of aggressive and unsupportive competitiveness; guide them in the personal and professional sphere to assume their roles as citizens in a democratic state.Promote and channel the students’ creative and imaginative potential, and encourage curiosity and pleasure in discovering and getting to know each person as an independent individual.Celebrate the diversity of personalities, the autonomy and spirit of initiative, and even provocation as promoters of creativity and innovation.Encourage critical thinking skills and attitudes that lead the students to be directly and actively involved in their education.Foster attitudes conducive to remedying inequalities, and active and responsible participation in coeducation and integration.Assume responsibility (individual and collective) as well as encourage and promote peaceful and consensual resolution of conflicts.

Didactic and Procedural

Encourage dialogue between members of the educational community.Incite an active approach to teaching that not only stimulates the teaching-learning process but also serves to channel their contributions to said process.Conduct an open and objective evaluation process by providing complete, personalized, consistent information by way of the students’ tutors, whose responsibilities have already been evaluated in terms of their interest in addressing and fixing problems or difficulties they may encounter.Overcome the potential threats of authoritarianism, dogmatism, and over-simplification.Convey the complexities of certain situations and realities in our society and resist new forms of power and domination; in particular, avoid using cultural knowledge as a means or weapon of manipulation or alienation that could foster students’ tendencies to self-criticize.Affirm the individual character of each member of the education community and recognize their diverse personalities.