Meet the Mexican mother who started her own preschool and became a global teacher

Elisa Guerra set up her own preschool in her home city of Aguascalientes in Mexico because she didn国产视频檛 like what the local school had to offer her own children.聽Now she国产视频檚 winning global awards as an educator.聽

Mother-of-three Elisa is聽helping to change聽the face of education in her country –聽and while she never envisaged herself as a teacher聽she knows she国产视频檚 found her vocation.

国产视频淚 became a teacher by accident,” she said. “But that might not be completely accurate.聽

“I was not expecting my life to take the path of education but once I found myself there聽it was my decision to stay.”

The first school,聽Colegio Valle de Diladelfia, was opened in 2004 with fewer than 20 students. Within six months, there were more than 80.聽Now it has close to 700 students at preschool, elementary and junior high levels.

Another聽15,000 children are learning to read and develop into global citizens using her series of聽learning books,聽printed by聽the educational publisher聽Pearson.

国产视频淔ounding a school is no piece of cake. But even more difficult was the thought of the school system slowly chewing away at my son国产视频檚 individuality and love of learning,国产视频� Elisa said.

Her main focus was聽the under-fives聽and their聽development, including聽promoting children to read from as young as three.聽

国产视频淥ur school has a very different approach,” she said.聽

“We believe that the traditional education systems are pretty much wasting tiny kids’聽learning potential.

“We have a very ambitious programme –聽early reading, violin, art, global citizenship, languages (all our schools teach three languages, most often Spanish, English and French聽but also Chinese and Portuguese in some) physical development (crawling, creeping,聽gymnastics and even a聽triathlon).

国产视频淲e do this in very brief sessions, we use tons of enthusiasm and a playful approach. We do not pressure children. Play is聽an integral part of our programme.

“Basically, all we do is enrich the learning environment, as much as possible, with exciting and high-quality stimuli and plenty of opportunity for movement. And then we see the children flourish.聽

“Learning should never be a dull task to complete聽but the greatest adventure to enjoy.国产视频�

Elisa borrowed money from her聽father, sold her聽car and聽rented a small space to open her聽pre-school with 17 children aged from one to five聽–聽including聽her聽own.聽

She said:聽“I had no experience or training. I hired a couple of teachers and began to teach myself. It was truly hard work.国产视频�

But that hard work paid off –聽and now 13 years after the first school opened, there is a network of schools in Mexico, Brazil and Costa Rica.

In 2015, Elisa received the Alas IDB Award as聽Best Educator in Latin America. In 2015 and 2016 she was named as a top 50 finalist for the聽Global Teacher Prize.

Elisa also studied for a degree in Early Childhood Education and a Master国产视频檚 Degree in Education with a specialisation in Teaching-Learning Process聽and has now won a string of global awards.

She has worked as a teacher in each one of the three basic education levels in M茅xico.聽

For junior high school level, she developed a聽flipped classroom (where students study at home before the class)聽for聽history and聽geography, including collaborative projects, videos, evaluation rubrics and teaching suggestions.聽These materials have been available聽online聽since 2009 to be used freely聽by teachers and students.

In 2012 and 2013聽Save the Children聽and the foundation聽O2 Bolivia聽invited Elisa to train more than 1000 teachers and parents in five Bolivian聽cities of Bolivia in聽how to develop stimulating learning environments for young children and children with disabilities.

She has volunteered as Director for聽The Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential for Latin America聽since 2001, where she has worked with well and brain-injured children and their families.

She still teaches today. And loves it.

国产视频淥ur school searches to embrace diversity, promote collaboration and provide rich opportunities for learning,” she said.

国产视频淲e focus on arts, music, global awareness, physical excellence and challenging academics. We soon opened elementary (primary) classes and years later, received secondary students.国产视频�

Elisa realised that when she had her own children that the early years were more important than anything –聽and she wanted to provide them with a proper start.

国产视频淔rom the time聽I taught my kids at home, I had become fascinated with the brain and learning. Over the years, the model for our school evolved and was franchised,国产视频� she explained.聽

There are now five schools operating in different cities in Mexico and聽two international schools have聽opened in Costa Rica and Brazil.

She said: 国产视频淚国产视频檝e taught children from pre-school to secondary school. I work mostly with little ones 国产视频� an early reading programme.国产视频� She teaches geography, history and technology to teenagers.

国产视频淢y team is committed and passionate. I have been fortunate to have great learning and growing opportunities.国产视频�

The ethos of the school is that all children have tremendous potential聽and that it is the responsibility of parents and educators to generate the best learning environment for children to fulfil that potential.聽

Their motto is:聽dream big, work hard. It国产视频檚 exactly what Elisa Guerra does.

Read: A day in my life by Lisa Guerra, in our Voices channel