My trip to Barcelona started well. On the plane I had a wonderful conversation with a young fellow from Denmark about the history of Educational Technology and my work using Logo, the early computer language developed at MIT by Seymour Papert and Company. After I went through Passport Control I ran into a problem. I couldn’t find my way to Baggage Claim. I had followed a group of people in front of me not realizing that they were looking for a Connecting Flight. I stopped one of the Driver Assistants and he pointed downstairs. I went down the stairs and found a door, but it was locked. What to do?
I went back upstairs and continued to search for any signs. I asked a woman by a store. She suggested I go to the Information Desk. It was empty. I stopped another person who pointed me to back to the steps that I had tried a few minutes ago. I thought to myself: Sometimes the obvious is right in front of you. I went down the stairs, past the locked door and lo and behold there was a secret passageway that led to another Passport Control. I showed my stamped passport, but the official at the desk made me aware that it was his job to stamp it again. I asked, “Where’s Baggage Claim.” Believe it or not the entrance was just outside his desk.
By the time I reached the baggage area all of the bags were gone except for mine. It was waiting there for me, like a lost friend. I had texted my Spanish colleague, Albert, to alert him that I was delayed. As I made my way to the exit, there was Albert and his wife, waving at me. What a relief!
Working with Colleagues
In May 2024 I met Albert and his colleagues from the Catalan Ministry of Education during my Nanda Journeys tour with the Consortium of Schools Networked (CoSN) delegation. I had reached out to Albert to see if he could arrange for me to revisit Escola Sagrada Familia, the Primary School where I had observed incredible learning examples last year. Albert not only agreed to set up a tour for me, but he offered to come to the airport with his wife to pick me up.
I don’t think my time in Barcelona would have as enjoyable without Albert and his wife. They were delightful hosts. They dropped me off at my hotel and then took me on a walking tour of the Old City. We went inside a church and observed not only a live service but examples of the amazing creative energy of the artists of Barcelona. Here was a Christ figure unlike any other I had seen. After about an hour of touring I said, “How about I treat you to Tapas Dinner.” We found a wonderful restaurant filled with atmosphere and amazing local dishes.
Visiting the Escola Sagrada Familia School
The next morning I explored more of neighborhood near my hotel, as the area woke up after its slumber. After a brief moment of losing my direction, but finding my way using Google Maps, I headed back to the hotel to meet Albert and Alexandra, another colleague from the Ministry of Education. We took a subway train to the area near the Sagrada Familia Church and then walked to the school where our colleagues were waiting for us. As part of our educational foray we also visited the Ministry of Education and enjoyed a leisurely lunch where we discussed educational and political issues impacting our worlds.
Last year when I visited the Ministry of Education the team shared their plan for the year. Part of my reason to return to Barcelona was to discover how the plan worked out from a high level as well as from a school perspective. Albert outlined how over 10% of the schools in Catalonia had stepped forward and joined a series of Saturday robotic clinics for educators and kids. As a matter of fact, one of the premier schools was the Escola Sagrada Familia where we witnessed incredible projects. One of Albert’s colleagues also shared with me a new AI Literacy framework developed for Catalonia from a UNESCO document.
The Escola Sagrada Familia is a Primary School with children from the ages of 3-12. I was amazed by the amount of energy at the school. Everywhere we went there groups of kids working in collaborative, multi-age teams building, creating and solving complex problems. One of the reasons I wanted to revisit the school was to see how the school had implemented the Computational Thinking Framework created by the Ministry of Education. Everywhere in the school I saw amazing examples of coding, robotics, and creative expression. Most of the projects were multidisciplinary with opportunities for self-evaluation.
At one point I came upon a group of students who were struggling to make their robot “dance.” They couldn’t figure the “bug” in their program. I told them, “Debug! Debug! Debug! Don’t give up. ” And then I moved on to other projects.
I was almost ready to leave the building when two young guys came running up to me and according to my Spanish colleague, they wanted me to see what they had accomplished. She said, “They figured out the problem and they want you to see that the robot is now dancing!” This became the theme for the movie I created about my travels. These kids searched all over the building for me to share their success. They were the perfect example of what each of us has to do to survive our travel challenges or daily life challenges. We need to keep pushing, find alternative solutions, and enjoy every experience. We need to appreciate the people who make those experiences so special.
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