WAY American School elected best American High School program in Brazil

WAY American School, a Centric Learning company, was elected the best American High School program in Brazil in 2022. The award comes from The Knowledge Review, one of the leading magazines on education in the United States.

WAY American School is a high school program that offers an American curriculum capable of preparing Brazilian students to apply to American and international universities. All this is done through the Centric platform, which houses the curriculum in the form of hundreds of educational projects available to students and teachers.

“To encourage an attitude of eager learning, each child’s learning foundation must be established early to develop his or her interests and histories,” wrote The Knowledge Review in the article announcing the result. “Having a personalized learning experience centered on the student and compatible with their preferred learning style and environment is what the WAY American School in Brazil facilitates.”

The magazine highlighted the importance of using the Project-Based Learning (PBL) methodology: “By using Project-Based Learning, the school has established an active teaching methodology that helps students interact with real-world problems, strengthening your critical thinking and problem-solving skills.”

Speaking about the impacts that project-based learning has had on schools, WAY Executive Director Thiago Reis told Knowledge Review: “We work with thousands of students on a daily basis, and the positive impact of PBL on their lives inside and outside school is evident. The feedback we have received from parents is overwhelming, who see their child’s improved communication skills, ability to express themselves creatively, and sense of independence in their learning journey essential for their future endeavours.”

The Knowledge Review also spoke about how WAY is dedicated to teaching new generations of young Brazilians, remembering how important it is to maintain this obsession by encouraging a “learner attitude”:

Historically, the people who shaped the world into what it is today were obsessed with something. When you delve into the pages of his journey, the seed of obsession is often planted at an early age. One of the main factors credited to its success is the environment in which students’ curiosities are nurtured and cultivated. An obsession is a passion or preoccupation with learning more, with adopting a “learner attitude”.

This learner attitude is nurtured through the development of what is conventionally called 21st Century Skills in young people who will find an unknown job market in 10 or 15 years. Thiago says that many schools find it difficult to change their format to work on these skills. In the case of WAY, this is the model adopted since its inception. “PBL provides an engaging solution for students, enhancing their technical learning, autonomy development and problem-solving skills,” he says.

Finally, Thiago leaves some advice for future and current educators:

Education is moving away from the traditional model, in which students receive information only in the classroom, to a model that places students at the center of their education. Through active methodologies such as project-based learning and technology-enabled competency assessments, students become protagonists of their own learning experiences. Our focus needs to be on providing opportunities and developing new tools for all students to achieve success. This is probably the biggest challenge for educators in the near future.

Read the full article about WAY on The Knowledge Review website, or view the magazine in a digital format below.