In June, just as the holidays were about to begin, the school's senate was convened to announce the appointment of Mikel Elía as the new director of Gaztelueta.
You worked as a teacher at Gaztelueta a few years ago... Are you looking forward to coming back? How have you found the school after all these years?
Yes, I was very excited. It was my first professional experience after finishing university and I had a great time. The facilities were already very good then. Now I see that they have designed educational spaces that facilitate teaching and learning and encourage creativity, innovation and interpersonal relationships. But what I value most is meeting again with teachers who were my colleagues and current school parents who were my students. I also remember some great mentors who helped me grow professionally and are now retired or even deceased.
What can we tell families and former students about your career so far?
After teaching for 5 years in Gaztelueta, I went to Munabe school, in the COAS Education Group. I spent 4 years there as deputy director of education and 5 years as technical director. I learned to have a more global vision of education by working in different areas of government and being part of a group of schools with which it is necessary to coordinate. We developed very enriching pedagogical projects and experiences in Munabe and Ayalde under the guidance of Ana Pérez Saitua, then COAS pedagogical coordinator, to whom I am also grateful and to whom I owe much of what I have learnt about education. From Munabe I went to Pamplona to run the Irabia school. It is now called Irabia-Izaga school because it includes a nursery school with around 450 pupils; the Izaga site has 630 pupils and the Irabia site has 920 pupils. In the 14 years that I have been there as director, we have learnt a lot because the school has grown from 700 pupils to 2000, and this growth has enriched all of us who are part of the organisation personally and professionally. You already know what it is like to be at the head of an educational project, how do you see your work in the coming years? Gaztelueta is a very prestigious school both inside and outside the Basque Country, with a long history, experience and influence in the educational world and I will try to contribute to ensure that it continues to be so.
How would you define your management style?
In my first stage at Gaztelueta I was lucky enough to coach the Cadete football team. I like the image of the manager as a coach. To manage is to educate, to create the necessary conditions so that those who form part of the team (here I include both the parents of the pupils and the school staff) grow as people, develop professionally, or as parents, and come to identify with the school's own mission. From there, it is easier for students to achieve the good academic and personal results that every educational institution must achieve.
Are you going to have a presence in the classroom in addition to your duties as principal?
Yes, I am going to teach mathematics in 2nd ESO. It is not easy to run a school without dealing directly with parents, teachers and pupils.
You begin your time as headmaster on the eve of the school's 70th anniversary... where do we come from and where are we heading?
The education environment is going through an exciting time all over the world. The pandemic has made us realise that we are more vulnerable than we thought and, in Spain in particular, the political situation makes it very difficult to reach any agreement on educational matters that would make our work easier, or at least not more difficult. Nevertheless, my experience with those responsible for education in both Navarre and the Basque Country has been excellent in terms of collaboration and understanding. We need an education law, as the expert Alfonso Aguiló says, "in which everyone fits, without discards, with diversity, without discrimination, with equity, without legislating against anyone". That is what we are working on.
What are the main medium- and long-term challenges and objectives for the school?
It would be unwise, even presumptuous, if, having just arrived, I were to decide on the objectives of the school. I know that a number of lines of work are being followed and I will be able to contribute my experience over the years. However, all schools have to face challenges in terms of the personalisation of learninginternationalisation and the development of global competence, character education and emotional education, the cultural and artistic competenceSTEAM education, digitalisation, the development of critical and creative thinking, cooperative work, communicative competence and the transformation of educational spaces, among others.
In the short term, how will Gaztelueta face the academic year 2021-22 with the pandemic still in force and the 70th anniversary so close?
As always, we will follow the indications of the health and education authorities, but I am confident that we can have a "normal" school year. One of the most important teachings of St Josemaría and the Opus Dei is the sanctification of ordinary work. We want to spend the school year 2021-22 and the 70th anniversary doing the ordinary very well in the school and with each family.
A message to current and potential families of the school:
Children grow up happy if their parents and teachers grow up happy. At Gaztelueta they will find that personal growth because parents and school always try to work closely together and, therefore, they will be able to see the happiness of their children.
And for Alumni?
I have always been positively surprised by the pride that people have in the alumni of having studied at Gaztelueta. I would ask you to help in any way you can so that many other students can continue studying here.
On a personal level, what does the director do when he or she is not working, how does he or she rest?
I travel (not much since the pandemic), read and research, go mountain biking, play paddle tennis and ski in winter. I haven't officially retired from football, but I haven't played for 4 years. I think that if I'm still alive when I'm 90 years old, I'll still say that I haven't quit yet.
From Pamplona to Bilbao... a football one: does the new director have a red and red heart?
Of course. I have been going to the Sadar with my father to watch Osasuna since I was a child, when they were not even in the First Division. But having lived in Bilbao for almost 15 years has given me a special sympathy for Athletic, including, although this is harder to say in my homeland, for their players from Navarre.
