Coni La Grotteria, teacher: "We intend to educate with four Instagram tips and that cannot be"

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She is a woman, a teacher and has been a migrant twice, so Coni La Grotteria (Buenos Aires, 1983) knows how necessary tolerance is.

From what she has felt in her own flesh and from what she sees in the classroom, she stakes everything on the

of education.

At home many things happen, but at school, too.

And the teachers, you know, it seems that sometimes they don't see beyond the blackboard but they don't miss one.

Coni La Grotteria is an Early Childhood teacher (0-6 years old), Educa National Award for best teacher in Spain and in 2021 she was one of the 50 finalists for the

, known as the 'nobel' of Education.

After some forays into children's literature and more academic fields, she has now just published her first popular book, '

.

How to live committed to equality and diversity' (Plataforma Editorial, 2023).

In it, she proposes to change the look to recognize the other knowing that differences

and must be

.

How much responsibility for the education of a child is shared between the family and the school? I do not understand the school without the family and vice versa.

We go accompanied.

Families have a fundamental role, it is where children receive their first socialization.

At school you have to leave space for the family because they both have to share the same perspective.She is the pedagogical director of a school in Valencia.

How do they work? We follow an active methodology with families, who are free to join us.

We follow the Montessori philosophy, because we put the child at the center of learning.

It is he who discovers.

We work from positive discipline, with the utmost respect for them.

I attach great importance to class assemblies: every day we start the day like this and in them we work on values ​​such as self-esteem, group cohesion,

Tolerance has always been in his sights... I started with children's books about racial diversity, like 'El negro mola', where I try to remove the negative connotation of the color black: it is not only the color of anger and darkness , but that of elegance, chocolate...;

or 'The color of the skin', from which the Schools of Peace project emerged, implemented in more than 30 schools in Spain and Latin America.

We send a book with pencils of different shades to paint the color of the skin. Some say that you can no longer say anything without being looked at badly. If we want what we sow to really reach society, we have to do a little of self-criticism.

We have to be a good linguistic model and attend to what we say and how we say it, with self-control.

It is essential to respect the other.

So we don't have very thin skin? To those who think we do, I would tell them to put themselves in the shoes of a child who is told 'go to your country'.

Are they phrases that do no harm?

We have to watch what we say.

The latest statistics from the Children's Observatory say that adolescents do not want to share a desk with a Moroccan.

What we say leaves an impact.

We have the opportunity to review phrases like 'what a gypsy hair you have', 'today I have a black day'... These are things that have always been said. But it is better to eradicate them and much more in Early Childhood Education.

That argument is like trivializing bullying by saying that they are children's things.

We don't give it importance but it does.

We say that children are selfish, even cruel,

Is it true? Paradoxically, in stages 0-6 and adolescence is when there is more altruism and volunteering, but we do not offer them situations to take advantage of it and they lose it.

We should take children to more solidarity actions.

Sometimes parents don't know how to get it right and we look for advice everywhere. There is a boom in videos on Instagram.

We intend to educate with four tips on matters such as tantrums or adolescence and it cannot be.

There is no other solution than to repeat and be very patient.

It is important to be firm in the limits and if the room is not collected, there has to be a consequence.

You have to educate with love, but it is not the same as permissiveness.

Adults are their reference and we are the ones who have to set the limits and make them clear.

How do we stop racism from school? In addition to language,

we can intervene in the costumes, for example.

At school they are used a lot to celebrate carnivals or Halloween.

It is easy to go as a Chinese or a geisha;

it should be done out of respect, not out of mockery.

And what about machismo? It is necessary to start in Infantile and talk about stereotypes, colors, games, etc., so as not to make gender distinctions.

At home we can start in the room itself.

How we speak also matters a lot: we speak to girls, from an early age, with a soft voice and with this we are communicating to them that they are fragile and sensitive.

To them, on the other hand, we say 'come on, champion, you can do it'.

If we say things like 'you look like a trucker' and 'kids don't cry', what do we expect next?

These differences influence the construction of their personality.

Through the stories we can work on this so that they are not worried about aesthetic issues and they have to be the active princes. What do you think about the so-called culture of cancellation of classic stories? I think we can take advantage of them to analyze them from another point of view. view and bring them to the present.

The 'Once upon a time' collection, for example, takes the classic tales and provides other content.

Her 'Snow White' does not want to marry the prince nor does she want to receive the kiss without permission.

She wants to be a photographer.

The classics perpetuate the stereotype of the rescued princess and it is good to offer these contrasts.

If even Disney movies have changed!

I would give these books a chance, but to compare with what is happening now and discuss in class.

What do you think about the so-called cancellation culture of classic stories? I think we can take advantage of them to analyze them from another point of view and bring them to the present day.

The 'Once upon a time' collection, for example, takes the classic tales and provides other content.

Her 'Snow White' does not want to marry the prince nor does she want to receive the kiss without permission.

She wants to be a photographer.

The classics perpetuate the stereotype of the rescued princess and it is good to offer these contrasts.

If even Disney movies have changed!

I would give these books a chance, but to compare with what is happening now and discuss in class.

What do you think about the so-called cancellation culture of classic stories? I think we can take advantage of them to analyze them from another point of view and bring them to the present day.

The 'Once upon a time' collection, for example, takes the classic tales and provides other content.

Her 'Snow White' does not want to marry the prince nor does she want to receive the kiss without permission.

She wants to be a photographer.

The classics perpetuate the stereotype of the rescued princess and it is good to offer these contrasts.

If even Disney movies have changed!

I would give these books a chance, but to compare with what is happening now and discuss in class.

The 'Once upon a time' collection, for example, takes the classic tales and provides other content.

Her 'Snow White' does not want to marry the prince nor does she want to receive the kiss without permission.

She wants to be a photographer.

The classics perpetuate the stereotype of the rescued princess and it is good to offer these contrasts.

If even Disney movies have changed!

I would give these books a chance, but to compare with what is happening now and discuss in class.

The 'Once upon a time' collection, for example, takes the classic tales and provides other content.

Her 'Snow White' does not want to marry the prince nor does she want to receive the kiss without permission.

She wants to be a photographer.

The classics perpetuate the stereotype of the rescued princess and it is good to offer these contrasts.

If even Disney movies have changed!

I would give these books a chance, but to compare with what is happening now and discuss in class.

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