KEY CONCEPTS

Children are cosmic beings “Home is being embedded in a greater whole.” (D. Duhm) The highest principle is respectful care and protection for the life of all beings on our planet Earth. Within every child and every young person there is a seed of compassion and...

“The thinking of the future must make wars impossible.” (Albert Einstein) The foundation of a future peace-culture is laid in schools. “War is always a defeat for humanity." (Pope Francis) An understanding and knowledge of the diversity of human cultures is needed for...

Curriculums should convey that which is needed for a future worth living. The Escola da Esperança aims to impart profound social, ecological and technological knowledge. This is the basis for the development of a global consciousness for the protection of our planet‘s...

Attraction instead of pressure - learning is a natural process of life which happens by itself. Within the conditions of trust and mutual respect, learning follows life's natural energy flows. Children and adolescents all have big questions: “Why doesn't the moon fall...

‘I am, I want to, I can’ – Each individual has his or her inner course of development Children are born into the world with different talents. The development of their individual potential requires educational surroundings in which these are seen and supported. Each...

The world is a holistic organism Like the experiences of a child, the world cannot be divided into categories without us losing the sense of the whole. The synergy of active research and cognitive understanding, from which cellularly-anchored integral knowledge and...

“In order to give birth to a dancing star one must carry chaos inside oneself.” (Friedrich Nietzsche)Creativity is the basis of every evolutionary process. It is the source of children's play and their free learning. In ‘creative fields’ of interactive and...

Freedom and orientation require each other Efficient and free learning takes place in a balance between orientation and freedom; between chaos and order, between rhythm and spontaneity. Meaningful boundaries and rules provide the protected space in which life can...

From “I” to “We” - The experience of trust and solidarity in community Children need the human vessel of a stable community to grow up healthily. A person who experiences trust from early childhood within the family, within the children's community and in school, will...

To shape the future one must be prepared for “Lifelong Learning” It's not only about changing the schools. It's about changing life. Accompanying children requires a willingness to change oneself. Schools can develop if the people in and around them are actively...