npr: Imagine a small, developing nation whose education system is severely lacking: schools are poor
npr: Imagine a small, developing nation whose education system is severely lacking: schools are poorly funded, students can’t afford tuition or books, fewer than half of indigenous girls even attend school — and often drop out to take care of siblings or get married. These are the schools of rural Guatemala. Now meet a firebrand educator who thinks he has a way to reinvent schools in Guatemala. His school is called Los Patojos, a Spanish word used in Guatemala that means “little ones.” Los Patojos is in the mold of Montessori and Waldorf schools. It focuses on the whole child — the intellectual, the artistic, the physical and the practical. Teachers show the students how to bake bread, to take photographs, to frame a building — and they also instill pride of place. “Guatemala wants to become Mexico. Mexico wants to become the United States. The United States wants to become Europe. I don’t want to become anything. I want to become Guatemala,” says Juan Pablo Romero Fuentes. He is the 34-year-old founder of Los Patojos and its unlikely headmaster. His arms are heavily tattooed, he careens around the cobblestone streets in a beat-up 4Runner, he dresses like a rock guitarist (which he used to be) and he f-bombs his way through interviews. Seeds Of Maya Genius Grow In A New Kind Of School Photos: James Rodriguez for NPR -- source link