Ten Principles of PriorityGo

1. School for life as it will be
   We have a vision. A vision to be a school for life as it will be. We derive from the values applicable in the Czech cultural environment. We use the good elements of our educational system while inspiring ourselves by examples of good practice from abroad. The Czech educational tradition is applied in a way to meet the needs of the 21^st century as well as the role of the Czech Republic in the European and global area. We strive to educate creative personalities with a strong sense of adaptability and flexibility who will be able to prove themselves successful in life both at home and abroad. Our teaching and balanced offer of extracurricular events include sports activities, cultural activities, and activities necessary for everyday life, such as courses of housework and crafts.
2. Personality development
   We have a mission. It is based on the premise that boundaries of one’s development are in fact just the boundaries of people’s minds. We do our best for our pupils and students to invest their efforts mainly in developing skills in the areas in which they are good at, not wasting their potential in areas where their possibilities are limited. We teach our students to work with mistakes and embrace both their strengths and weaknesses. We support the development of creativity, which we consider to be the basis of personality development. Similarly, we make efforts to contribute to the personal development of our teachers. We then find harmony by identifying suitable groups of teachers and pupils so that their mutual interaction is compatible with their personality characteristics and learning goals. Our schools further focus on the development and education of talented individuals, in other words, those whose capabilities significantly exceed the average. Nonetheless, an emphasis is always placed on openness and equal opportunities.
3. Critical thinking
   We are not afraid to use our own reason. Therefore, we consider the development of critical thinking as the basis for preparation for future life. We emphasize modern didactic methods, the development of transferable competencies, an active approach to the notion of feedback, self-evaluation, and self-reflection in teaching. We advocate for independence in decision-making and assuming responsibility for our actions. We teach pupils and students not to rely on first impressions, to navigate through the flood of information and work with them appropriately, and, not to take over mainstream opinions without thinking. We encourage the students to build their own qualified opinion while using a critical distance and reducing the superficiality of information. We enhance the natural curiosity and desire for knowledge, as well as comprehensive development with a suitable mix of school and extracurricular activities. Our goal is an education aimed at lifelong learning and preparation for future life, where it is necessary to critically gain and process information and where it is desirable to respond flexibly to dynamic changes of the needs of society.
4. Individualization
   We are unique. Teaching in our schools is highly individualized and it includes personal and career counselling, which allows us to develop each person’s unique abilities. We limit the traditional frontal teaching methods to a reasonable minimum and apply elements of foreign good practice instead. We do not perceive the process of individualization merely in terms of decreasing the number of pupils or students educated by a single teacher. Contrarily, the opportunity to identify the strengths and weaknesses of each student and educator lies at the heart of this process. We engage in active work to develop the individual needs of our students in order to achieve their maximum applicability in further studies and life. We apply a supportive and friendly approach to every student since we understand education as a public service and mission. However, we educate our students to reasonably respect authorities, the rules of common conduct and tolerance towards other members of society. We promote the development of skills in the field of etiquette.
5. Mentoring
   We learn intergenerationally. We provide a unique opportunity to transfer intergenerational experiences between our schools, which cover the entire education system and include children from two years of age to senior students at the university of the third age. We create opportunities for developing intergenerational respect and exchanging experiences within and among all schools. Older pupils and students become mentors of the younger ones, which makes it possible to increase the quality of the educational process and boost their own sense of responsibility. Similarly, mentoring takes place between individual groups of teachers. We advocate for the development of natural respect between the generations through informal events for all age groups.
6. Project approach to teaching
   We support responsibility and teamwork. We apply stimulating teaching methods such as discussion, problem solving, or real-life simulation in teaching. Beyond that, however, we also build on complex methods which combine various didactic elements, especially those aimed at developing critical thinking, cooperative teaching, and project teaching. Taking part in projects helps our students to better understand current challenges and the cultural-historical development of society. The project approach to problem solving is directed for use in later life and work – for this purpose, we intensively rely on practical training. Additionally, we support creative and sometimes even slightly unconventional or risky projects, which allow us to grow.
7. Smart school
   We follow the current trends. We are aware that the school itself is no longer the sole or main source of information, and that its role is to some extent assumed by the online environment in the present time. We focus on the use of modern technologies in terms of teaching and in terms of our study field offer, but always in line with the study goals and the personality development of the student. We are a smart school. Our priorities are connectivity, electronic communication, and transparency. We use mobile devices and the Internet environment not only as a part of teaching, but also in all other activities associated with attending the school. Meanwhile, our goal is for technologies to become a natural part of life, a tool for solving problems and simplifying work and life in general, not as a mean of consuming free time and replacing one’s personal social ties. We emphasize education aimed at safety in the use of technologies.
8. Internationalization
   We learn from the best. We consider it crucial to develop an overlap of education achieved at home towards a foreign experience. In most of our study programmes, we offer an alternative of the entire programme or some of the subjects in a different language and the language competences are further developed during extracurricular activities. We support international student exchanges and internships abroad during and after graduation, while we make efforts to help our students in finding a work engagement abroad. International mobility of pupils, students and teachers is therefore at an above-standard level at our schools. We include teaching about other cultures and customs, including their limits in our domestic setting, through the participation of students and teachers from abroad in our schools.
9. Ethics
   We respect traditional values. Therefore, in accordance with the traditions in our cultural area and especially with regard to the challenges of the surrounding globalised environment, we focus on formal and informal transferring of experience and moral postulates into education, always with regard to the degree of the specific study and the student’s age. We support charitable and volunteering events. We guide our pupils and students to respect normative systems, such as law, morality, and religion, and to understand the significance of social values. Despite that, we always choose a balanced, rational, and non-dogmatic approach.
10. Sustainability
    We are humans. Not only do we educate our pupils and students to respect one another but also to respect the surrounding environment. With an appropriate mix of educational, and in particular volunteering extracurricular activities, we guide them towards sustainable behaviour, environmental consideration, and the understanding of global issues – always with a non-dogmatic and sensible approach based on the awareness of social responsibility. We support the extracurricular activities of pupils and students, especially those which help them to assume responsibility for their surroundings, enable them to understand the role of public life and active participation in it.