What if School Didn’t Ask Students to Leave Their Identity at The Door? A Story from The Heart Of The Andes

Imagine a classroom without traditional desks. Instead, students carve wood, shape stone, and build things with their hands while teachers walk alongside them as mentors and guides. This is everyday life at the Don Bosco School in Chacas, a small town in the Peruvian Andes. And here raises an important question: what happens when education truly connects with where students come from?

The Gap Nobody Wants to Talk About

There is an uncomfortable truth about education systems in Peru, as in many other countries: they are often designed with urban realities in mind. For many rural students in the Andes, this creates a disconnect. Textbooks feel distant, examples seem unfamiliar, and the underlying message can be subtle yet persistent, suggesting that success belongs somewhere else.

Research shows that rural education often faces multiple challenges at once: limited infrastructure, frequent teacher turnover, and curricula that do not reflect students’ lived realities. The COVID-19 pandemic made these gaps even more visible (UNESCO, 2021; World Bank,

2022). When schools closed, many rural families had limited access to internet, devices, or alternative learning systems. For some students, learning simply faded into the background.

Over time, these conditions shape how students see themselves. The gap becomes internal, influencing confidence, expectations, and a sense of belonging in education.

A School That Dares to Do Things Differently

In Chacas, the Don Bosco School and Institute has built an alternative approach grounded in context and community.

Part of the Operación Mato Grosso movement, a Catholic initiative born in Italy that has been working alongside marginalized communities across Latin America for decades, the school weaves together formal secondary education and something far less common: technical and artistic training grounded in Andean tradition. Students learn woodcarving, stonecutting, and artisanal crafts that their own communities have practiced for generations.

One detail change everything. The objects students create have real value and are connected to the local economy. Through this process, learning becomes meaningful, practical, and closely tied to everyday life.

Responsibility is experienced directly. Students see the impact of their work, understand its value, and engage with their community in tangible ways.

Listening to the People in the Room

As part of my master’s thesis at the University of Helsinki, I interviewed four educators who work inside this model every day. Their perspectives offered insight into how education is experienced from within.

Three key ideas emerged:

Values that Become Habits

At Don Bosco, responsibility is lived rather than memorized. Through every shared task and every moment students are trusted to deliver, abstract values become concrete habits. They are woven into the daily rhythm of the workshops and the relationships students build with one another over time.

Learning As a Shared Process

Students work collaboratively, rely on one another, and engage actively in their learning. Teachers described a dynamic environment where participation is central and learning is connected to real purposes. This understanding of learning closely resonates with sociocultural perspectives that emphasize learning through interaction, participation, and shared experience (Vygotsky, 1978).

Growth Over Time

Development is gradual. Students build confidence step by step, moving from dependence to autonomy. As one teacher expressed, “I give you my hand… you walk, you decide.” That simple phrase captures a powerful vision of teaching grounded in guidance and independence.

Rethinking Inequality Through Education

The Don Bosco model offers a different way of thinking about educational inequality. Rather than focusing only on access to resources, it highlights the importance of relevance, connection, and meaning in learning. What works in Chacas works precisely because it was built for Chacas.

When education reflects students’ realities and values their context, engagement changes. Students participate more actively, develop confidence, and begin to see themselves as capable contributors to their communities.

This does not suggest a universal solution. The strength of the model lies in its deep connection to its local context. What it offers is a perspective: education can become more effective when it is grounded in the realities of the learners.

What Can We Take From This?

The experience of Don Bosco raises important reflections:

● Learning is shaped by context, relationships, and lived experience

● Skills and values develop through participation and practice

● Education can support personal growth and community engagement

These ideas extend beyond rural Peru. They invite broader questions about how education systems can become more responsive and meaningful.

Looking Ahead

This study opens the door for further exploration. Future research could include students’ perspectives to better understand how these experiences influence their lives over time. It could also examine how context-based approaches might be adapted to different settings while preserving their relevance.

Final Reflection

Education, at its best, begins with people. It grows through trust, context, and the recognition that every student already carries something worth building on.

In places like Chacas, this belief is lived every day; in the workshops, in the relationships, and in the quiet moments where students begin to see themselves differently. Meaningful change in education often starts in these spaces, shaped by intentional choices that honor where students come from and what they can become.

References

Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York, NY: Herder and Herder.

Freire, P. (2000) Pedagogy of the Oppressed (30th anniversary ed.). New York: Bloomsbury Academic.

Giroux, H. A. (2020). On critical pedagogy (2nd ed.). Bloomsbury Academic.

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes.Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

World Bank. (2022). The state of global learning poverty: 2022 update.https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/education/publication/state-of-global-learning-poverty

Yagiu, H., & de Castro-Silva, C. R. (2023). Social participation and empowerment in vulnerable communities: Scoping review. Revista Psicología Política, 23(56), 227–243.https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=9549624

Zimmerman, M. A. (1995). Psychological empowerment: Issues and illustrations. American Journal of Community Psychology, 23(5), 581–599. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02506983

Zimmerman, M. A. (2000). Empowerment theory. In J. Rappaport & E. Seidman

About the author:

Susana Ponce is an educator and education advocate with over five years of teaching experience and a strong commitment to creating equitable and inclusive educational systems. As a Master’s programme in Changing Education, Susana has developed a critical understanding of how education must continuously evolve to respond to the realities, challenges, and diverse needs of society.

Coming from the Peruvian context, Susana is deeply aware of the inequalities and structural challenges that impact access to quality education. She believes that education cannot be static; it must adapt to social, cultural, economic, and technological changes while responding to the specific necessities of students and communities. Her work and perspective are grounded in the belief that lesson planning, teaching practices, and educational policies should always be designed with students’ realities and individual needs at the center.

Passionate about education policy, teacher responsibility, and equity in education for all, Susana advocates for laws and educational reforms that reflect the unique contexts and necessities of each country. She is committed to contributing to educational systems that empower learners, support teachers, and prepare future generations to navigate a world of continuous change.