On a recent afternoon at Acadèmia Igualada, families were invited into the school—not for a traditional report or parent meeting, but for something different: a learner showcase.
Across classrooms and shared spaces, students presented projects they had been developing over several weeks: from illustration and woodworking to podcasts and 3D design. Parents moved between them, asking questions, listening, observing. For many, it was the first time they had seen this kind of learning made visible.
But what they were seeing wasn’t the result of a single project cycle. It was the visible outcome of a deeper shift—one that had been developing over several years through Learnlife’s work with the school.
Through ongoing training and collaboration, educators at Acadèmia Igualada have been redesigning how learning is structured: moving beyond assigned projects towards passion-based learning experiences where learners take ownership of what they create, how they approach it, and what they discover along the way.
As Joan Urgell Farran, a Learnlife trainer, puts it: “We didn’t just introduce projects. We changed the conditions. Learners aren’t just completing tasks—they are learning to direct their own process.”
Most schools don’t struggle to introduce new initiatives. They struggle to sustain meaningful change. Project-based learning is implemented. New methodologies are piloted. Engagement improves—for a time. But often, the underlying dynamics remain unchanged.
The question is not how to introduce something new. It’s how to change the conditions of learning to lead to lasting shifts—for both learners and educators.
This shift is grounded in Learnlife’s passion-based learning training, which builds on—but moves beyond—traditional project-based learning. While project-based approaches often begin with a defined brief, passion-based learning starts with the learner.
Acadèmia Igualada created structured time in the form of Labs where learners engage in areas they choose: coding, theatre, photography, fashion, woodworking. Learners don’t just complete a project—they shape it from the very beginning.
As Joan reflects: “The difference is ownership. When a learner says, ‘If I started again, I’d use a different material,’ you know they’re truly in charge of their process.”
Research consistently shows that when learners experience autonomy, competence, and relatedness, their motivation becomes more sustained and self-directed. This is the foundation of Self-Determination Theory, which has informed decades of work on motivation in education.
However, autonomy is often misunderstood as choice without structure.
In practice, developing ownership requires carefully designed conditions in which learners are supported to make meaningful decisions, manage their time, and follow through on complex work.
At Acadèmia Igualada, this has meant creating dedicated time for sustained project work, supported by educators who guide process rather than prescribe outcomes.
As Joan Urgell Farran explains:
“It’s not just about letting them do things on their own. It’s about gradually helping them take responsibility for what they do—making decisions, adjusting them, and continuing.”
When these conditions are in place, the first changes are often subtle, but significant.
Learners begin to approach their work differently. They take greater initiative, spend longer on tasks, and demonstrate a willingness to persist through challenges. Importantly, this persistence is not driven by external pressure, but by a growing sense of ownership.
As one parent noted during a recent learner showcase:
“At home, I’ve seen that it’s become something she enjoys. She keeps doing things with her hands. For example, with the drawer she made, it wasn’t easy. At first it didn’t turn out how she wanted. But she kept going, improved it, and finished it. That gave her confidence.”
This kind of continuation beyond the classroom is not incidental. It reflects a shift in how learners relate to their work, moving from completion to engagement.
In many school systems, success is closely tied to completion: finishing tasks, producing outputs, meeting deadlines. While these remain important, they do not fully capture the complexity of learning.
In passion-based learning environments, greater emphasis is placed on process. Learners are expected to plan, test, adapt, and refine their work over time. In some cases, projects are not fully completed within the expected timeframe.
Rather than being seen as failure, this becomes part of the learning.
As Joan reflects:
“They don’t just explain what they’ve done. They talk about how they’ve done it, the decisions they’ve made, and what they’ve discovered along the way.”
This aligns with research from the Education Endowment Foundation, which highlights the importance of metacognition and self-regulation in improving learning outcomes. When learners are actively involved in planning, monitoring, and evaluating their work, they develop deeper understanding and greater independence.
As responsibility shifts towards the learner, the role of the educator necessarily evolves.
This is not a move away from expertise, but a repositioning of it.
Educators design the learning environment, establish clear expectations, and provide ongoing feedback. They support learners in making decisions, structuring their work, and navigating challenges. At the same time, they resist the impulse to over-direct.
This shift can be demanding. It requires new habits of observation, questioning, and intervention. But it also creates space for more responsive and meaningful interactions with learners.
A common concern when introducing more learner autonomy is whether students are ready for it.
The evidence—and the experience at Acadèmia Igualada—suggests that independence does not emerge in unstructured environments. It develops when learners are given responsibility within clear, well-designed frameworks.
At Acadèmia Igualada, this includes:
As Joan notes:
“They also learn how to plan, how to organise their time, and what they need to move their project forward.”
Learners are expected to make decisions, but they are not left to do so alone.
One of the most powerful aspects of this approach is the way learning is made visible.
At the recent learner showcase, families were invited to see and experience the projects learners had developed. What stood out was not only the diversity of outcomes, but the depth of work behind them.
As one parent reflected:
“There is much more work behind it than I thought.”
This visibility plays an important role. It allows schools to communicate learning in ways that go beyond grades or reports, and helps families better understand the processes their children are engaging in.
Perhaps the most significant impact of this work is not found in individual projects or events, but in the gradual shift in school culture.
Learners begin to take greater responsibility for their learning. Educators adopt more flexible and responsive roles. Collaboration becomes more natural across groups.
As Joan notes:
“It’s a process that takes time. But when it happens, you can see it—from the inside and from the outside.”
Over time, these shifts become embedded.
Deep change in schools is rarely the result of a single initiative. It requires sustained professional development, ongoing reflection, and alignment across teams. It also requires patience.
At Acadèmia Igualada, the changes visible today are the result of several years of collaboration—not a one-off intervention, but a continuous process of design, implementation, and refinement.
This is where many schools fall short. Not in vision, but in consistency.
For school leaders, the challenge is not simply to introduce more engaging learning experiences. It is to ask:
What conditions need to be in place for learners to take real ownership of their learning?
Because when those conditions are established, the outcomes begin to change—not only in what learners produce, but in how they think, act, and engage.
And that is where meaningful, lasting change begins.
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