Centro Padre Piquer - Ashoka Changemaker School

Main ideas, concepts, and lessons

Padre Piquer’s purpose and origin

• Founded ~50 years ago to address severe social inequality in a complex area of Madrid: La Ventilla.
• Built to provide education specifically for the poorest and most vulnerable, aiming for quality education rather than “any education.”
• Core principle: a person’s socio-economic context should not determine academic or personal success.

School profile and the challenge of diversity

• Currently serves ~1,100 students from 27 countries, with high poverty and high needs.
• Around the early 2000s / late 20th century, increasing immigrant arrival in Madrid made classrooms far more plural and intercultural.
• Traditional classroom organization became impossible to manage given the level of diversity.

Teacher-driven search for solutions

• Teachers sought successful practices for over two years.
• They ultimately developed their own approach: cooperative multitasking classrooms.

Cooperative multitasking classrooms (central methodology)

• Goal: Respond to the school’s diversity “at this specific moment.”
• Pedagogical approach:
  • Cooperative learning
  • Multitasking
  • Teamwork among teachers
  • A more participative methodology grounded in project-based learning
  • Strong student involvement in their own learning process
• Role change for teachers:
  • Teachers are no longer alone in their classrooms.
  • Their work is enriched through other colleagues’ participation.
  • Classroom space, materials, and routines differ significantly from conventional teaching.

What teamwork looks like in practice (student experience + teacher experience)

• Teachers divide time between:
  • Half of their work in cooperative multitasking classrooms
  • Half in more traditional classrooms
• A key reason the cooperative model is valued:
  • Teachers work in teams, develop complicity, learn from colleagues, and build self-control and stronger collaboration.
• Student impacts described:
  • Class organization shifts from smaller groups (~25 children) to much larger collaborative settings:
    • Around two whole groups in a very big classroom (~54 students)
  • More collaborative activities:
    • More quizzes
    • More teamwork
    • Use of computers and researching information together
  • Students emphasize:
    • Having to give opinions and listen to different perspectives
    • The “team” leads to better work
    • A more supportive atmosphere:
      • Less comparison and more help
      • Increased understanding and reduced problems, including addressing discrimination by appearance/color/features
    • Learning discipline and social behavior:
      • Managing frustration when others are wrong
      • Tolerance training and learning not to be selfish

Why the model matters beyond academics

• In contexts of poverty and socio-cultural difficulty, the first step for a child to want to learn is to feel appreciated.
• The model builds confidence and appreciation because students:
  • Spend many hours with the same teachers
  • Experience stability and stronger relationships
• The model increases:
  • Teacher creativity
  • Teacher well-being and fulfillment (“a teacher can fulfill his dreams”)
• Balanced grouping:
  • Working groups are designed to be as balanced as possible.
  • Students with academic or other difficulties can:
    • Have “moments of glory”
    • Participate meaningfully
    • Have their work adapted within the cooperative classroom (instead of being pushed to the margins)

Inclusion and professional training

• The school extends its inclusive approach to professional training.
• Employers’ perspective (as referenced):
  • Companies look for graduates who are reliable, honest, able to work, creative, and comfortable working in a team.
  • Students should be able to accept varied tasks and show confidence.

Special support structures and classrooms

• PT classroom
  • For students with difficulties (multiple types), including:
    • Cognitive deficits
    • Strong behavioral disorders
    • Developmental disorders such as autism
  • Includes compensatory education so students can access learning despite not matching the typical class pace.
• Link classroom
  • For newly arrived children from other countries whose Spanish level is insufficient for regular groups.
  • Stays can last up to 9 months.
  • Objectives:
    • Build Spanish proficiency and academic readiness
    • Support subjects such as:
      • Maths
      • Social Sciences
      • Geography
      • Spanish History
  • Students describe feeling at home and supported—learning Spanish is important, but belonging is emphasized.

Core claim about transferability

• The model is presented as not only exportable, but also valid and feasible elsewhere.
• It is framed as a response to a broader global reality of diversity and inclusion needs in cities and provinces—not just local La Ventilla.
• Rationale: teachers face complex diversity challenges and cannot do it alone—the model uses the collective resource of teachers working as a team.

Values and motivation

• Children are described as “different,” not worse:
  • They discover the happiness of learning
  • They gain a sense of future
  • Their motivation improves daily school life
• Parents are highlighted as key:
  • They observe their children’s joy returning to school
  • This is framed as an important objective even if not measured by reports like PISA.

Innovation and identity of the school

• The school is described as innovative from early on, and continues adapting.
• Emphasis:
  • Society has changed, but education often lags.
  • The school sought change not only due to necessity, but as part of its vocation and identity.
• Focus areas:
  • Not only traditional academic content
  • Emphasis on skills nurtured through cooperative learning:
    • Talking, sharing, cooperating
  • Framed as preparation for the 21st-century citizen
• Innovation must also extend into secondary school and professional training; otherwise, the question becomes who these classrooms are truly for.

Methodology / approach (detailed bullet list)

Cooperative multitasking classrooms

• Foundational aims
  • Address student diversity effectively at the moment it’s needed
  • Foster inclusive education through collaboration
• Teaching and learning design
  • Use project-based learning
  • Ensure students are involved in their own learning process
  • Encourage participation rather than passive instruction
• Teacher work structure
  • Teachers team up and co-instruct (teachers are not isolated)
  • Teachers’ workload is split between:
    • Cooperative classrooms
    • Traditional classrooms (for comparison/transition described by one teacher)
  • Teacher teamwork impacts:
    • Classroom logistics
    • Space and materials
    • The nature of student tasks
• Classroom organization
  • Create collaborative group settings with larger shared learning spaces
  • Maintain balanced groups so students with difficulties can participate without exclusion
• Student learning activities
  • Increase teamwork tasks (e.g., quizzes and shared problem-solving)
  • Use technology and information searching (computers)
  • Require students to:
    • Give opinions
    • Listen to peers’ perspectives
    • Work together toward better outcomes
• Social-emotional and behavioral learning
  • Train tolerance and self-control within peer correction and collaboration
  • Build an environment that reduces comparison and discrimination
  • Teach students that they can have “moments of glory” regardless of ability level
• Inclusion mechanisms
  • Adapt learning for students with deep academic difficulties or special needs inside the cooperative model
  • Prevent the model from becoming “only for the strongest students”

PT / Link support routes

• PT classroom
  • Compensatory education for students who cannot follow the normal pace
  • Supports learners with cognitive, behavioral, and developmental needs (including autism)
• Link classroom
  • Language-and-adaptation pathway for students with insufficient Spanish
  • Timeline: up to 9 months
  • Includes Spanish plus other core academic subjects

Speakers / sources featured (as identifiable from subtitles)

• Padre Piquer (institution referenced; no individual name given)
• Teachers (multiple speakers referenced, but subtitles don’t provide specific names)
• Students (multiple student speakers; subtitles don’t provide specific names)
• The Company of Jesus (source/partner referenced)
• Caja Madrid’s charity (source/partner referenced)
• Employers / companies (referenced as evaluating graduates; no specific company named)
• PISA reports (referenced as an external measurement source; no specific report version named)