State prize for innovative schools

Arrived at the educational Olympics

It is considered the most prestigious prize in the education sector in Austria: the State Prize for Innovative Schools. Among the top 10 of the 190 participants is the formatio private school in Triesen, which is run as an Austrian school abroad. On Tuesday, September 21, 2021, the award was presented by Education Minister Prof. Dr. Heinz Fassmann and Foundation Director Jakob Calice, PhD in Vienna. The joy at
Triesen is immense.

The school development project “formatio – plurilingual – digital”, which was developed over several years and has now been implemented, also met with great interest from the jury. The formatio private school was the only Austrian school abroad to be among the prize winners out of a total of 190 participating schools “The Austrian School Abroad Liechtenstein has been pursuing an intensive school development process with very innovative approaches since 2017,” said the high-caliber jury about the formatio private school. The intensive school development process, which includes the development of a hybrid learning model for the upper secondary school and always follows the guiding principle of lifelong learning, was decisive for the selection of the award winners, as was also explained.

Scientifically researched model school

The school development project, which is supported by education experts, works with sustainable changes to the organization of lessons. Self-organized and project-based learning as well as networked and interdisciplinary lessons are consistently implemented. There are no timetabled lessons at the formatio campus: Learners decide for themselves when they learn with whom and where. This also means that learning locations outside of the school are explored.

In the core area of plurilingualism, family and heritage languages also play an important role alongside the promotion of foreign languages at school. Language-sensitive and bilingual teaching are just as important as cross-curricular support for plurilingual skills. Latin, English, French, Spanish and German serve as the school’s starting point. The project was awarded the European Language Label by the European Commission in 2019.

Innovative course at the formatio private school

Board member Helma Ritter and principal Eva Meirer, who accepted the award in Vienna, were delighted and feel that the formatio private school’s course has been confirmed: “A further focus of our concept is on personality development, which – following the principles of positive psychology and potential-focused pedagogy – focuses on exploring personal strengths, talents and potential.”