La Granja Ability Training Center, we train the emotional competencies of children and youth

Applied Emotional Education; nature; horses; farm animals; self-esteem; empathy; soft skills; SEL

La Granja is technically an Emotional Skills Accelerator thanks to the powerful La Granja Method, scientifically proven by the GROP of the University of Barcelona and tested with more than 830,000 school children in Spain. It is based on Applied Emotional Education and uses nature,farm animals and horses as part of its methodology. It has locations in Barcelona,Madrid and Andorra, and is expanding

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Overview

Information on this page is provided by the innovator and has not been evaluated by HundrED.

Web presence

2002

Established

30K

Children

2

Countries

Target group

Students basic

Updated

March 2023

Gael, a 5 year old boy told us "My heart is cold". The dream?That we become human again so that no one feels cold at heart. One way to achieve this is Applied Emotional Education,because it does not deny emotions,it understands them and makes us strong,autonomous and courageous.If we want peace in the world,we must first feel peace in our hearts.And that is possible,at La Granja we do it every day

About the innovation

Why did you create this innovation?

In 2002,when I had been working with children at the farm school for 18 years,I realized that everything that had worked for me in education no longer did; the children no longer listened to me as before,and I was unable to modulate attitudes and behaviors.I spent 2 years complaining,until I realized that if the children had changed, we had to do something different. And that's when it all started

What does your innovation look like in practice?

It all started with trial and error for 12 years, with the 15,000 schoolchildren who passed through La Granja every year, until we achieved the La Granja Method of Applied Emotional Education. Public and private schools, from town and city, and students from 3 to 18 years old came, which allowed us to refine the experiential activities and in nature, until we achieved results and demonstrated them with the University of Barcelona (with publication in a Scientific Journal). Each of the 72 activities we have responds to an emotional deficiency, such as the Labyrinth of Anxiety, Leadership with the Horse, The Bridge of Positive Communication, The Circuit of Trust or Teamwork with Sheep. In 2011, word of mouth among teachers generated a strong increase in demand. In 2013 we started training teachers (1,800 each year) writing books and stories, giving conferences, working for La Masía of Barça or Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, expanding our audience to sick children or high performance sports.

How has it been spreading?

The emotional health of schoolchildren has worsened drastically. La Granja and its model, which combines nature, animals and emotional work from a systemic point of view, offers evident qualitative and quantitative results in a very short time. In addition, it offers a 2 in 1 in nature outings by training the emotional competence demanded by the teacher. He also works with teams from companies such as Danone or Nestlé, and people of the 3rd age. It attends International Educational Innovation Congresses and has received awards such as the "Wegate Magna to the Entrepreneurial Woman of Europe 2022". The La Granja Method can already be replicated in a school, a hospital or a sports center and has centers in Barcelona, Madrid and Andorra, and is now working to open in London and California.

If I want to try it, what should I do?

You can try it in our three Centers (expand@lagranjatc.com). In addition, we have a solid Expansion project that allows us to replicate La Granja in other places so that Applied Emotional Education can reach any corner of the world, as it is everyone's right. On our website and social networks we share a multitude of resources, videos and dynamics so that teachers and families can practice it.

Implementation steps

Experience feelings

The aim of the La Granja Method is to train students' emotional competencies, and the most powerful way to achieve this is through Outdoor Training activities, 100% experiential, due to their high impact and the ease with which they can move children and young people. Behind each Outdoor activity there is the intention to train a specific competence (empathy, self-esteem, etc.) and a facility designed to achieve it (forest circuit, pirate ship, Tibetan bridge ...)

Motivate

To motivate, we seek to provoke the emotion of joy, the most motivating emotion we humans have. To achieve this we use two resources;
1 - continuous positive stimuli, through observation and recognition of the talents and abilities of the students.
2-The launching of a challenge (getting a platform to stay in balance for 4 seconds, getting a horse to follow you, keeping a boat afloat, achieving a goal in a given time, etc.).

Enhance

In order to enhance and achieve results in less time, the La Granja Method uses high performance, that is, we design the program with short (1.5h) and non-repetitive activities (the objective, dynamics and space are modified). In addition, the attitude of concentration in the here and now of the Emotional Educators is basic to get the most out of each dynamic, which is divided into 3 parts (launching the challenge, observation, reflection and feedback).

Raise awareness

Getting students to make conscious what they usually do unconsciously is achieved with the art of asking questions. To this end, Emotional Educators are trained in the ability to ask open questions, with intentionality and seeking the self-reflection of the students during each activity. Becoming aware of unconscious attitudes and behaviors is basic to modulate or change them.

Anchor a learning

To anchor the learning of each activity, the La Granja Method uses feed back, that is, at the end of each dynamic, the Emotional Educator summarizes what happened, highlighting the group's learning to give them feedback, and highlighting everything with substance to anchor in the minds of the students.

Fill with a meaning and transcend

To make sense, we work from the unconscious, using metaphor in each activity. With this we achieve that all students, whoever they are, understand the competence that is being trained. For example, Self-esteem is like a bottle that we need to keep full to be well with us. And in order to transcend, so that what happens at La Granja continues at home or at school, we use transference, with questions such as "And what happens here with the horse, happens to you in the classroom?

Serenate

Nature, horses, animals, the forest and meadows help to calm and soothe children and young people. Stopping for a few hours and taking them away from the acceleration of the world, obligations, screens and social networks, helps them to breathe, to listen and to internalize the learning of each dynamic or activity.

Practical resource

After having opened them with the help of emotion, having set them in motion with an attractive challenge, having empowered and made the unconscious conscious, looking for anchorage and for what they have learned to make sense to them. After connecting with serenity, it is time to provide a practical and easy resource for them to take home. A "yes, I can" bracelet, a pendant or a key are enough anchors so that what has been experienced and felt becomes an emotional and meaningful learning.