“Bon dia,” greets teacher Laia Martínez to 17 teenagers who barely understand Catalan. They have arrived in the Sants neighborhood of Barcelona less than 6 months ago. They come from African or Asian countries, or from territories with Slavic languages. They speak Tagalog, Mandarin, Urdu, Russian, Ukrainian, Fang, Arabic, Punjabi, Kurdish...
When they arrived in Barcelona, they were told that, instead of integrating into their local educational center, they would go to the Lluís Vives Institute, to a special classroom, which they were going to share with other recently arrived immigrant students, like themselves. There they would take an intensive and accelerated Catalan course that would prepare them to study other subjects. In January they will go to their institute.
Lluís Vives is one of the eight educational centers in Barcelona (one per district) that is testing the so-called "accelerated reception classrooms", a pilot project activated by the Consorci d'Educació de Barcelona to combat premature school leaving, which is very high in the group of young immigrants.
This is a new pedagogical commitment since, until now, it was believed that accelerating the normalization of life, attending the corresponding center as soon as possible, was the best for the student. Stabilize your life with children your age and do not segregate them.
The program includes boys and girls of 13, 14 or 15 years old, who speak non-Romance languages, and who must go to the 2nd or 3rd year of ESO. "They have little time left to successfully complete compulsory education and be able to continue with subsequent training," explains Gemma Verdés, director of post-compulsory education at the Consorci and creator of the program.
"For three months and up to a maximum of five, these students will be trained intensively to achieve a basic command of Catalan and will receive psycho-pedagogical and emotional support," he adds. Entry to your center is delayed for only a few months, allowing, during this time, you to land in the country, learn the basic codes and, above all, understand the language of the country and in which you will continue your studies.
“Here you learn and it's a lot of fun,” explains 14-year-old Satam Natacha, still surprised by the type of classes. She debuts her new linguistic skills with the journalist and celebrates having enough vocabulary. She arrived in Catalonia in May from Guinea-Bissau. She is sitting next to Sirine, a smiling girl who, from the way she writes, looks very diligent. She is one year older and was born in Tangier (Morocco). “I come very happy, the teachers always help you.”
Beatriz, 14, has a Spanish name but her language is Fang, originally from Equatorial Guinea. She arrived 3 months ago and she has a huge desire to learn, although she still feels a little lost. “I grew up with my grandmother and my aunt while my mother was working here. “Now I’m getting to know her,” she explains, in succession.
In January they will join their institute. Some of them have already gone to see the building where they will see how their future colleagues leave at the end of the day. Another, with more luck, knows that she will go with her neighbor, who is from her country and is her age.
Time flies between activities. "Now you stand up," the teacher asks, gesturing. "Go around the class and when you find a classmate, ask him what he does on Mondays. Then, you answer him." Then they make a family tree to know the words with which relatives are designated.
However, what they like most about what they have known since this unique course began are the small gymkhanas. Phrases that they must find in the classrooms and hallways, organize them and dictate them to their team.
“The classes are very intense and intensive, always dynamic, because we want them to learn while having a good time,” says Laia Martinez, one of the two classroom tutors. She is a translator and has been trained to teach the language for instrumental use by teachers from the Official Language School (EOI).
He has also been trained in migratory grief and multiculturalism.
“Everyone carries their emotional backpack,” he says, and it is seen in class. A girl burst into tears because she feels very alone. "And what to do if you can't comfort her with words? I hugged her very tightly. And when she calmed down I looked into her eyes and told her: everything will be fine."
Those who have a harder time are given a lot of positive reinforcement. "Sometimes they don't see their progress, they don't know that they know." They come, in general, from more rigid educational systems, which is why they appreciate “academic games.”
Also incorporating their languages into speech works. They have different alphabets, pronunciations and sounds. "The other day we talked about how many stages the day has in their languages compared to morning, afternoon and evening in ours. The differences are surprising," says the tutor.
21 students were signed up, but only 17 are going. There are four whom the center has lost track of. Not because of absenteeism but because they have changed their place of residence.
The 16 tutors in this program, two per classroom, have a weekly meeting with a mentor from the EOI Drassanes who provides them with material and activities.
“In one month the differences in level between each other are already evident and managing this diversity is a challenge,” says Martínez. It is not just the language, each one arrives with different knowledge depending on the type of schooling received.
“I think this is how it should always work,” says the director of IES Lluís Vives, Núria Prunés, who contrasts the ordinary reception classroom (they are schooled with their classmates, and they go out for a few hours to learn Catalan).
“They have a tutor already selected, trained, advised, who accompanies them in this vital moment that is so delicate for them, since they have left their country, their family, and arrive in a society that they do not know and whose language they do not speak,” Prunés considers. This landing time, he does not doubt, is necessary and he trusts that the evaluation of the plan will be positive and will extend to the rest of Catalonia and also include Latin American students, something that the Consorci already considers.
The children who arrive in Barcelona from now on, which is called live enrollment, will join these classrooms now, if they arrive in October, or in January, when the second batch begins.
"We want to verify the usefulness of this measure in the reduction that the bias of late incorporation represents in school dropouts and to accompany students in migratory grief," says Verdés. The students who arrive in the middle of the secondary stage, explains the Consorci's post-compulsory education directorate, not only have to adapt to a new environment in the middle of adolescence but also have to face an academic itinerary with methodologies different from their own. country of origin.
