Why did you decide to study Primary Education?
I always felt very comfortable in school, but it wasn't until I was 14 or 15, watching a video, that I realised the great importance of education. Teachers lay the cornerstones of society. They have a direct impact on the next generations and can transform the world. I also chose to study Primary Education because I am passionate about children, and I think we can and must learn a lot from them. And, of course, because I feel that it is my way of making a contribution to society.

What has the Double Degree in Psychology with Education offered you?
Degrees in Psychology and Education are highly complementary. It is a combination that no one is surprised by and yet very few universities offer (UIC Barcelona is the only one in Catalonia). Increasingly, schools are moving towards becoming more inclusive. It is therefore essential that teachers have the necessary knowledge to meet the needs of students. Psychology studies give me a broader, more holistic view of the individual, which helps me to better understand and adapt to my future students.

How do you think the pandemic has impacted education?
The pandemic has led educators, like so many other professionals, to reinvent themselves. They have had to create a variety of materials and find resources to work in an online format and adapt to different family situations. 

The big problem is that in Primary school the pupils are not yet autonomous, you cannot expect a child between the age of 6 and 12 to learn as they did before but using a screen. Education is much more than simply acquiring content. COVID-19 has highlighted the fact that we are not machines, that we need human contact and interaction to live. Often our era is called the digital age, we are addicted to mobiles, tablets, computers… we see the world through a screen instead of taking advantage of all our senses.

What role do you think educators have in a crisis situation like the one we are currently experiencing?
I believe that educators have played a key role in this crisis. When it all began, amid uncertainty, they were able to provide innovative responses. To teach classes as they had never done before. To accompany and support their students from a distance. Even so, despite having had to adopt new methodologies and give 100% of themselves, their role has remained the same. To educate their students to become good people, who are committed to society.

At the beginning of this academic year, students from the Faculty of Education Sciences moved to the new classrooms on our Sant Cugat Campus, leaving behind the classrooms you used to use in Barcelona. What has this change meant to you?
It was a big change. We moved from being in an exclusive faculty building to sharing an entire campus with different degree programmes from the field of health sciences. It was a total change of environment that I am convinced will be very enriching. I think sharing experiences, knowledge… with other people opens up many doors. However, we have not yet been able to enjoy these experiences 100%. By continuing to be taught through blended learning we were only coming to the faculty a few days a week. I hope that next year we will be able to take advantage of all the opportunities provided by the new classrooms.

What particular differences have you found between the two spaces?
Both are very different, I would say that one is white and the other is black. The previous classrooms were traditional: we had the teacher's desk and in front of it rows of fixed long tables. Whereas the new classrooms are more innovative, they are at the cutting edge of education. The most striking thing is that the tables and chairs are completely mobile, everything has wheels. Besides this, you can write on the walls, there are various screens, the walls are made of glass (which gives a great feeling of spaciousness), there is a lot of light… everything moves you to work cooperatively and for teachers to be more flexible when teaching a class. Of course that clearly depends on the teacher's style. Some know how to make better use of all the resources, but I am sure that we will all learn how to make the most of them.

In relation to your studies and the pandemic, what message would you like to convey to your classmates from the faculty of education sciences?
First, I would like to send them a message of thanks for their hard work.  And secondly, I would like to ask them not to lose their enthusiasm. We have chosen a demanding profession, but that has its rewards. We are educating the next generation!

How would you describe the future of education in a few years? Will psychology be part of the bachelor’s degree curriculum?
Education in a few years will be much more inclusive and, with the rise of psychology as a science, we will increasingly be able to detect learning difficulties. Teachers will encounter a large number of cases with an established diagnosis. This means that they will need to be fully aware of the difficulties they have to face in managing them properly in the classroom and being able to provide all the support these children need. 
Sometimes, you can see a learning disorder as a deficit, as a disability… when really it just means that that person learns differently and that is where the richness of the human being lies. The important thing is to know each other so that we have the tools and strategies needed to achieve our goals.

Currently, psychology is already part of bachelor degree studies. In my opinion, however, this is not enough. It is taught in the initial years, when we have not yet seen how the classroom actually works, what conflicts can arise, how they should be managed… it would be more useful if it were more applied learning, working on cases that have actually happened. 

What challenges do educators have today and how do you think they can tackle them?
Today, educators have many challenges. A teacher never has two days that are the same. Having said that, from the little experience I have, I believe that the biggest challenge we face is how to maintain students’ attention and motivation. We live in a society that focuses on immediacy, we have become accustomed to getting everything straight away, to constantly changing activity, to trying to do a thousand things at once… and children do as adults do.  A child is exposed to a multitude of fast-moving stimuli practically since birth and when they get to school they expect everything to be fast as well. They have not learned to pay real attention. 

As a society, we should make an effort to slow down our pace of life so that we can enjoy it more thoroughly. This way of living generates a great amount of stress, so much so that it is now said that stress is the 21st century disease.