Here’s Why the Italian Reggio Emilia educational philosophy works in a Mayan preschool in rural Guatemala.

Grupo Cajolá opened their Jaxnaq’tzb’il Xnaq’tzb’il Kynab’il Qchman (Wisdom of our Elders Preschool) in 2012 to provide a preschool learning experience to children while their mothers worked. The members of Grupo Cajolá in Cajolá wanted the preschool to be based on their Maya Mam language, culture, and spirituality. After considering several approaches to preschool education including Montessori and Waldorf. Grupo Cajolá selected Reggio Emilia, an Italian-rooted educational philosophy with a strong commitment to the children’s culture and to the children’s individual interests.

The Reggio Emilia philosophy posits that a child has “100 languages” to communicate and learn in – art, words, music, play, etc. and that learning comes from social interactions between the children themselves, the children and their teachers, and the children and their environment. The school focuses on the everyday context of the child’s community, involving parents and the wider community.

Activities at the preschool encourage the children's creativity and innate curiosity. Because children learn in diverse ways, they may choose their activities, becoming active participants in their own learning, fostering a sense of ownership and involvement in the process, and matching interests and learning styles.

The activities develop skills including language, analysis, problem-solving, differentiation, action, logic, creativity, imagination, comprehension, socialization, and practice of their Mam culture. Teachers provide experiences in art, music, and speaking. The children learn principles and values such as cooperation, solidarity, respect, generosity and tolerance. Children take an active role in planning and preparing celebrations throughout the year, where they can speak, sing, and play music in front of their peers and parents. This has contributed to a positive self-esteem. The teachers monitor how these learnings at the same time comply with the competencies required by the National Basic Curriculum for preschoolers (CNB).

During activities, the teacher, as the child's guide, observes, listens, and intervenes at opportune moments to ask questions or solicit feedback from the child. This allows the teacher to understand what is happening during the child's learning. In addition, the teacher observes each child's movements and takes photographs throughout the activities to document the child’s work and gather more information about his/her progress. These observations and the children’s interests inform the planning of activities and materials for the next session.

The documentation acts as a resource for the children as well. Through a display of photographs, artwork, and drawings, children can observe and discuss experiences and learning. Together with the teacher, they can initiate new learning ideas, delve deeper into a subject, and explore new topics.

With this focus on the children’s interests, for example, walking through town, children might express interest in the bakery. That could lead to visiting the bakery and learning how to make bread, returning to school and drawing a map of where they had been.  A visit to the zoo and an interest in fish recently prompted classroom learning about fish, counting fish, drawing & painting fish, describing the colors of fish and so on. The teachers form additional experiences and encourage further exploration based on the interests they observe during free play.

Implementing these principles has resulted in a strong preschool program with public-school teachers recognizing that the students are better prepared as they enter primary school.  

Reggio Emilia strategies include strong parent involvement, and preschool parents attend monthly school meetings. These meetings have become a powerful instrument to help parents in this still 50% illiterate community understand what education is, why it is valuable, and how they can participate in their children’s development. For example, parents have learned that playing with their children at home complements their “play” at school and that play is a critical component of childhood development (mothers in Cajolá are accustomed to feeding, clothing, and keeping their children clean, but they weren’t familiar with the idea that play at home is important).

The children are taught in Mam as learning is most effective in one’s maternal language. (Spanish is taught as a second language). A school based in this maternal language fosters self-esteem for the children, parents, and community in a country where speaking an indigenous language has resulted in severe discrimination. This philosophy will help to ensure that the Mam culture will not disappear in the community.

The implementation of the Reggio Emilia philosophy by Grupo Cajolá’s preschool Jaxnaq’tzb’il Xnaq’tzb’il Kynab’il Qchman (Wisdom of our Elders Preschool in English) has produced excellent outcomes for the children. The school’s reputation and impact in the community are recognized by parents and public school teachers. The preschool is a member of Guatemala’s Network for Reggio Emilia, where they have been able to access training and consultations.

Grupo Cajolá selected the Reggio Emilia philosophy not because it was Italian, but because it offered an effective way to work with children that was based on their own culture.