Mateus Junqueira

With Brazilian and Italian backgrounds, I left my home country Brazil when I was 20 years old. I went to Sydney, Australia, where I studied English and afterwards, Business and Management. After almost three years in Sydney, I moved to Switzerland, where I studied General History and History of Religions at the University of Geneva (UNIGE). During my History studies, I came across Maria Montessori and her pedagogy. I was fascinated by the method, so I decided to do the AMI 3-6 Course. I’ve been a Montessori teacher since 2016. I am married and father of three children. During my free time I love to read novels, play basketball, travel and cook!

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How do you see your job?

I see it as a great responsibility. For many years we thought that higher education was the most important part of the academic life, but in fact, since Maria Montessori we know that primary education is the most important part. This is the period where the child will build his character, his personality. Given the right tools, the child will be able to tackle pretty much everything that will come afterwards in his life. Montessori pedagogy can give the right tools for every child, so I consider myself lucky to be part of this process.

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What can you bring to your students?

For me one of the most important things is to sparkle their curiosity and make them eager to learn and to absorb knowledge. The child from 3 to 6 years old has an absorbent mind. Their brain is like a sponge, they will absorb everything without prejudice or effort. Our role as Montessori teachers is to guide the students to make the best use of their absorbent minds. It’s very rewarding when you see a 4-year-old learning geography, math's, literacy, etc...

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Relation with parents

The relation with parents is, above all, built with trust. When a parent drops her/his child at school, he must have a peace of mind to go to work; knowing that the child is in a safe haven. It’s our job to provide the perfect environment for parents and children. The best way to provide these conditions is to be honest with parents, always communicate frankly. I’m always eager to talk to parents, to answer their questions. When the parents feel that their children are in a safe place, that they are learning social skills, math's, geography, literacy, etc. they start to trust us. Once this trust is stablished, everybody wins: teachers, parents and students.