Bett Blog - In the context of private school management, how do Estante Mágica's products and solutions help administrators and school operators?

Magic Bookshelf - The Magic Bookshelf is a tool designed to encourage reading and writing, with a significant socio-emotional impact, that promotes student authorship and agency. In addition to providing support materials developed by an award-winning education team, this project brings the academic community together by engaging students, valuing teachers, and strengthening the bond between families and the school through the pride of helping each child become the star of their own story. A book signing event reassures families that they have made the best choice for their child and fosters student loyalty to the school.
 

Bett Blog - In this regard, how can we maintain good communication with families starting from the time of enrollment?

Estante Mágica — One challenge nearly every school administrator faces is making their school’s results tangible, since education is an intangible process. And in this regard, Estante Mágica stands out with a huge selling point: “Your child will enroll in this school and write a book!”

It’s exciting for a mother and father to hear this and imagine that their child might one day write their own book! And a good conversation with families during enrollment is all about aligning with what that school has to offer. And a school that has Estante Mágica instills pride, excitement, a sense of authorship, a sense of agency, and a child who is passionate about books and stories.
 

Bett Blog - How does the Magic Bookshelf help faculty members in their professional development and support learning for the entire team?

Estante Mágica – We strongly believe in the motto: “Those who truly understand the classroom are the ones who are in the classroom.” This quote comes from Willmann Costa, one of the members of what we call here the “Magic Trio of Education”—three highly experienced and award-winning teachers in their respective fields: Prof. Jayse Ferreira, recognized as one of the 50 best teachers in the world; Prof. Mara Mansani, winner of the “Educador Nota 10” Award and with over 35 years of teaching experience; and Prof. Willmann Costa, a psychoanalyst and leading authority on social-emotional learning in Brazil. They are the ones who conceive, test, and develop support materials, processes, initiatives to engage teacher communities, and activities that vary according to the specific needs of each school or group of schools.
 

Bett Blog - What are the 21st-century competencies and skills that need to be developed in schools by school leaders or administrators, and especially for elementary school students?  

Estante Mágica– In 2018, we visited Harvard at the invitation of Professor Fernando Reimers, who hosted us for a lecture. He has written some incredible works and edited a book titled *Teaching and Learning in the 21st Century*. Of the countless lessons, I would highlight the need to foster, in particular, self-awareness and self-care (we are navigating a crisis that has intensified throughout the pandemic—one that involves the difficulty of identifying, expressing, and managing emotions); and creativity and innovation (the ability to solve problems through different associations is a requirement in all careers—both those that exist today and those that will emerge in the future). 

Bett Blog - What kind of management approach should be implemented to foster a school with innovative initiatives? What would you highlight as the most important steps?

Magic Bookshelf —A management approach centered on listening, specifically active listening, that has the flexibility to adapt in order to embrace innovations proposed by the school community, continuously testing different solutions with a pedagogical purpose. Innovation for innovation’s sake should not be an end in itself, as this risks compromising learning.

I believe that the most important steps begin with observing the interactions between students and their families, in order to identify opportunities that already exist and can be explored, bringing meaningful innovations to families, teachers, and, above all, students.

Bett Blog – What are Estante Mágica’s next steps to contribute to the Brazilian educational landscape in terms of new solutions and services? Can you give us a sneak peek at any upcoming developments?

Estante Mágica - We want Brazil to be a nation of readers, as well as a nation of authors. We believe that authorship and active participation are essential elements of meaningful learning. And it’s important to observe how processes of authorship are constructed, beyond literary authorship. Stories permeate our lives on many levels, and with the advent of digital technologies, they can be told in interactive and collaborative ways—through videos, music, photos, texts, and games. That’s why we already have something new in the works for 2022: children’s stories transformed into minigames in an interactive universe called Magic Land, where they can turn characters from a book into game characters, for example, and use their story as the basis for thousands of others that stem from the game. The game can also be played with other authors, allowing for unlimited possibilities for combinations of characters and stories. 

Bett Blog – Finally, why did Estante Mágica decide to participate in the Bett Conference in Recife, and what is the company’s perspective on the educational landscape in Brazil’s Northeast region?

Estante Mágica - We see this as very promising, perhaps even more so than the South and Southeast. For some time now, Brazil’s Northeast has been a national benchmark for literacy, reading, and writing—as in Ceará, for example. In the Ministry of Education’s (MEC) external assessments, schools in the Northeast consistently rank among the highest. Here in Pernambuco, we have another standout in Brazilian public education: teacher Jayse Ferreira. His innovative educational projects have earned him a spot among the world’s 50 best educators, and today he is one of our educational consultants. Ultimately, our goal is to further amplify the incredible work that educators in the Northeast have been masterfully carrying out in their schools.