Abstract:

SEK International School Santa Isabel is part of the SEK Educational Institution, with more than 130 years of experience and history, with 10 schools in the world and University Camilo Jose Cela in Madrid.

SEK Campus Madrid is an expansion of our SEK- Santa Isabel´s campus to include our surroundings in the center of Madrid, Spain. In a collaborative effort our entire faculty, families and students designed learning paths, where students from all grades can have outdoor learning experiences tailored to their grade level and linked to their units of inquiry.

At a time when traditional learning is being challenged, and because of the pandemic many people are fleeing the city in search of greener, less crowded outdoor spaces. SEK- International School Santa Isabel is located in downtown Madrid, faced the dilemma of how to add value to a small school in a densely populated central city. The management team posed the question to the teaching faculty: where is the added value of our school? What can we offer our students? How can families and teachers provide quality education, lifelong learning and at the same time, promote global citizenship?

We turned what could be described as a disadvantage into an opportunity: The location of our school. Our urban setting limits the outdoor space and the size of the building. However, we are in the historical, intellectual, and cultural center of Madrid, surrounded by history, museums, theaters, parks, artisan workshops, literature and traditional markets; surroundings that can offer our students unique and authentic learning experiences. This is how the concepts of SEK CAMPUS MADRID and LEARNING PATHS were born.

Throughout the 2021-22 school year, in a true collaborative effort, educators, families and learners participated and designed LEARNING PATHS, mapping the places where our students can go to learn, inquire, experiment and relate to their environment; all linked to their units of inquiry. LEARNING PATHS designed specifically for each grade from preschool through primary school. Seeing the impact of these experiences, the project has gone a step further and we have brought Madrid into our school, transforming our learning spaces into emblematic places in Madrid. In this way, the squares, the artists, the authors of Madrid inspire our students and they feel connected to their community.

Taking into account the needs of our learners the team developed the following learning paths: Literature and Nature, Art + Music, Wellness, Social Impact, History, Family, and STEM.
The benefits of learning are evident when we expand our learning to our surroundings. We have additional learning resources, both spaces, experts and physical resources beyond what is found in a traditional school. Learning paths also provide students with authentic problem solving activities, multiple perspectives and real world environments.

In presenting the SEK Campus Madrid Learning Paths the following themes will be explored: global citizenship and social impact, agency (for learners and educators), wellbeing, collaborative leadership, competencies and measuring the impact on learning.

Keywords:

Wellbeing, student-led, outdoor learning, innovative learning spaces, global citizenship, social impact, urban school, collaborative leadership.