Con Pazion primary school

At this moment we are working on the realization of the first Con Pazion primary school. Con Pazion shall open its first primary school in March 2021! Until then we’ll be executing a pilot project to measure and monitor the impact of our teachings and methodology. The holistic primary school for unprivileged children will be established in Manchay, in the slums of Lima, Perú. Con Pazion has created a revolutionary and innovative educational concept through which we empower the children from the inside out so they can obtain social and civil mobility and break the cycle of poverty. Con Pazion creates sustainable improvement for students in behavior and lifestyle by integrating yoga, mindfulness, and health and environmental awareness into the core curriculum. Our goal is to provide the opportunity to access a quality, personal, holistic education for children that live in extreme poverty. 

Approach

The Con Pazion school supports the children in becoming aware of their own strength and of the world they live in so that they become self-aware and self-confident from within. By giving them the chance to discover and decide what is important and meaningful to them, to others, to society, and to the world they live in, we can create lasting change. We work with what is already there: a child's heart, their strength, the families, the community, nature, and the world. We believe many kids worldwide can benefit from this innovative approach. Lima is just the beginning, we dream of expanding globally to continue the movement.

Holistic Education

The Con Pazion primary school uses the national curriculum in which we integrated yoga, mindfulness, and health and environmental awareness. This approach nurtures a sense of wonder and invites students to explore the world. Cooperation is the norm, rather than competition and the rewards of helping one another grow and succeed is emphasized over students being ranked.

We focus on the teaching of practical skills through yoga, meditation, ecological gardening, and environmental education. These teachings increase the children's confidence in themselves and feed their self-esteem, which helps them to manifest the best of themselves. This, in turn, has a positive effect on their lives and on those around them.

Pedagogical principles and values

1) RESPECT: We teach the children to respect themselves as well as others, nature, animals, and the surrounding with love, compassion, dignity, gratitude, and care. 

2) TOLERANCE: The children will be taught to value themselves, appreciate themselves, and recognize themselves as subjects of rights and duties, but also will be taught to respect others and be tolerant of diversity with those who are different and don't share the same beliefs, language, political, or religious thoughts.

3) INTEGRITY: We teach the importance of being honest and loyal both in words and in actions. We teach them to act from internal motivation, from their heart, and therefore live with peace and passion.  

4) UNITY: Students will learn and master humanitarian values such as peace and compassion. Through our holistic approach we promote unity, the idea that everything is connected. We teach children that each of them is part of something bigger than themselves, like their school, their community, their family, nature, and the world. We teach them communication skills that allow them to see others as 'the other me.' They will learn social responsibilities, empathy, and tolerance, and we will teach them to identify social influence.  

5) RESPONSIBILITY: We teach children to reflect on themselves and their actions; we teach them to take responsibility that they are in charge of their own lives, their opportunities, their behavior, and their own happiness. We motivate their critical thinking and reflection skills and make them aware of their place in society and their responsibilities to become the best versions of themselves.   

6) SAFETY: Con Pazion will create a place where children feel safe and can thrive. A place where children feel at peace, at home, safe, and free. We create a space in which children can flourish and thrive. Cooperation is our norm, instead of competition. Emphasis is placed on helping each other and growing together as the reward, instead of being categorized and placed one above the other.