Of collaborators and allies… the collective model that works

By: Neysha M. Murphy Cottes

School Transformation Coordinator at Instituto Nueva Escuela

A quite popular African proverb that goes: “It takes a village to raise a child”, perfectly expresses one of the most important principles of our practice and illustrates the importance it has in the formation of a boy or girl, a young person, the construction of a network that supports their development, a community and collective life, the experience of collaboration and alliances.

instituto nueva Escuela (INE) knows very well what collective life is all about. INE has been living a model for decades where we are a collective, and the collective is more important than the individual. INE and all the communities it serves have been the scenes of profound social transformations that are based on the power of the collective.

History has witnessed this since the reopening of the Juan Ponce De León school in the Juan Domingo neighborhood in Guaynabo in the 1990s, through the founding of the INE in 2008, and today, where there is a community of around 58 Montessori public schools (EPM) located in 29 municipalities all over Puerto Rico.

Over the years our organization has called on the country to mobilize in favor of public education, and for the benefit of children, youth and families that inhabit our beautiful archipelago. With this mobilization we refer to unity of purpose, to talking with people who want to contribute positively to the country, to dream together of the great possibilities of change for a better country, from a perspective of what is beneficial for the group, for the child  and the youths.

The success of the project has been possible thanks to collaborators and allies.

INE serves schools and the country through school transformation and community integration. Projects are managed to benefit the school through allies and collaborators who support them. This has resulted in more than 20 allies and collaborators of Montessori public schools. “The complete village in favor of children” The INE has created ties over time, it has invited society and the greater community to serve its public school, to make it improve over the decades. The INE serves as a meeting point, the INE invites and unites wills, brings the ally closer to the school and invites them to a table where school and ally trace the routes of their collaboration and transformation.

The allies and collaborators support the EPMs, the students, the families and the faculty in project management, in financial education, in projects related to nature and marine sciences such as orchards, butterfly farms, and astronomy, meteorology, mangrove planting, among others. In addition, these alliances have resulted in the beautification of areas in the schools, in reading promotion activities, in supporting families in parenting and emotional health issues, among others. In some instances, such as the school in la Parguera, it has integrated young people into community projects that result in the protection of important natural areas, such as Playita Rosada.

An example of these alliances is that of the Project Management Institute (PMI), a leading organization in the area of ​​project management. The PMI, Puerto Rico chapter, worked hand in hand with the Guillermo Riefkhol school in Patillas; A group of more than 20 students had the opportunity to learn about project management by presenting a value proposal for a social project. This included the search for information, dynamic activities for a day, until the final presentation of their proposal before an evaluation committee.

In the case of the Concepción Pérez Hernández school in Ciales, PMI volunteers supported a group of students age 8 and older to learn the key concepts of project management aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals. Through the team creation of a tower with glasses and other materials, the students enjoyed and learned the importance of analysis and strategies to achieve common objectives and goals.

Activities like these are examples of what alliances and collaborations can do to integrate and connect the Montessori curriculum with other experiences for students. These types of initiatives help children and young people strengthen their leadership, collaborative work, communication, creativity, and project management skills, for their full academic and social development.

In summary, allies and collaborators offer resources and tools to strengthen and expand the academic and social mission of the EPM. All of this with a look that dignifies human beings from their possibilities and not from their shortcomings.

Through these lines, we thank all the allies and collaborators who have seen fit to serve Puerto Rico, and the school communities who have welcomed the fact that the ally and the INE serve them with success and joy.