Bett Brasil held the 3rd Bett Recife Conference in early October. Among the guest speakers was Carol Stancati, director of Red Balloon English Solutions, with whom the Bett Blog spoke about school management and innovation in learning. Read the interview below:

Bett Blog: When it comes to managing private schools, how does Red Balloon English Solutions help administrators and school operators? In this regard, how can schools maintain open communication with families starting from the enrollment process? And how can it help support the teaching staff in their professional development and the learning of the entire team?

Carol Stancati: We are the division of Red Balloon that provides English-language consulting services to schools, and in this regard, we believe that any school-based project can only take off and become robust if the entire school community is aware of it and engaged in it.

When it comes to teaching English to children, it’s very important to use effective teaching methods. We need to integrate this new language into their lives in a playful and fun way. And that’s exactly what Red Balloon does by offering a unique and innovative approach.

When Red Balloon is introduced to a school, we provide consulting services and work closely with senior management and coordinators to understand the school’s specific needs, thereby delivering a customized solution tailored to that school. As part of this customized solution, we develop an action plan to engage the community we’re entering. We also provide all instructional materials, a platform for communicating with parents, comprehensive planning, support in hiring coordinators, team training, pedagogical guidance, and ongoing support for the school. We also guide and engage parents, run campaigns, and provide marketing tools and strategic support. We foster global connections and facilitate participation in international trade shows.

Bett Blog: What kind of management approach should be developed to promote a school that implements innovative initiatives? What would you highlight as the most important steps?

Carol Stancati: The world is constantly changing, and technological innovations are the defining features of our time. Giving students access to technology is very important, but innovation can go far beyond that. To achieve this, it is also essential to adopt an innovative management approach, encouraging the entire team and the students to think “outside the box.”

Bett Blog: What 21st-century competencies and skills should school leaders or administrators encourage schools to develop more—particularly among elementary school students?

Carol Stancati: I believe the key skills and competencies are flexibility, creativity, and the ability to work as part of a team. We can also mention the ability to connect and interact with others—that is, empathy—as well as communication, critical thinking, and leadership. By developing these skills, students learn how to navigate the world and relate to it, thereby honing their ability to solve complex problems, their emotional intelligence, and their cognitive flexibility.

It is essential to encourage teachers to assign a variety of projects and activities, both inside and outside the classroom, that explore topics such as politics, sustainability, diversity, entrepreneurship, and prejudice—among others—in order to put these highly relevant issues into context and foster students’ critical thinking skills.

Through English Solutions, we are able to streamline managers’ planning and offer a customized, high-quality solution. For students, learning through our methodology means not only achieving fluency in the language but also gaining valuable personal and civic development.

Bett Blog: Why did your company decide to participate in the Bett Conference in Recife? What is your perspective on the educational landscape in the Northeast region of the country?

Carol Stancati: Red Balloon has a long-standing relationship with Bett. In fact, in May, we attended Bett Brasil, where I spoke at the Administrators’ Forum about the “mathematics of the bilingual learner.” Therefore, we are well aware of the positive influence Bett has on the education sector. Although states in the Southeast, such as São Paulo, lead the 2021 Brazil Education Opportunities Index (Ioeb), the Northeast region made the most progress compared to the 2017 results. In total, the Northeast accounted for 70% of the municipalities that showed the greatest growth in the Ioeb. With this in mind, Red Balloon wants to connect even more with the public in the Northeast, bringing a bit of Red Balloon’s methodology to the region.

Bett Blog: Looking ahead, what are your company’s next steps to contribute to the country’s educational landscape in terms of new solutions and services? Can you give us a sneak peek at any upcoming developments?

Carol Stancati: Red Balloon has undergone a period of rebranding in recent months. We recently repositioned our B2B division under the name English Solutions, with the aim of highlighting the brand’s solutions for schools. This rebranding marks a new chapter for the brand as a whole, as we seek to establish a stronger presence in K-12 education. We certainly have other new developments in the works, which will be announced publicly at a later date.

*Carol Stancati is the director of Red Balloon English Solutions. She holds master’s degrees in education from PUC-PR and Griffith University in Australia and has more than 15 years of experience as an English teacher and instructional consultant.