WHO AM I?
Marie Pajot, 45 year-old mother of three boys, all of whom are bilingual in French and English.
I had a traditional education, during the course of which I continued to pursue my two passions at a high level; playing the cello, as well as classic and contemporary dance.
After 11 years of high-profile marketing positions in several leading international companies, I followed my husband to China, where I taught French at the University of Chengdu (Sichuan) for two years, and provided distance-learning tuition for two French students.
Following this amazing experience, I moved to South Africa, where I worked as a substitute teacher at the French school in Johannesburg (the “Lycée Jules Verne”) for nursery and primary school students.
In this role, as well as in that of a mother, I began to research different teaching methods and educational practices which were centred around children as individuals, and their personal and social development.
The Montessori educational system seemed especially attractive to me, and as a result of one of life's chance encounters, I decided to send my eldest son to an English-speaking Montessori school in Johannesburg. My two other sons soon followed.
It was at this point that I decided that I myself wanted to become a Montessori teacher. I pursued two years of full-time study, the first of which was for nursery school in South Africa (at the College of Modern Montessori,) and the other a distance learning course offered in Canada (at the North American Montessori Center.) I subsequently have two international Montessori teaching diplomas, accredited by:
The Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education (MACTE)
The International Association of Montessori Educators (IAME)
I developed my knowledge and expertise through my experience in several English-speaking Montessori schools in Johannesburg, before returning to the French school in Johannesburg as a teacher, where I was able to implement aspects of the Montessori method within the context of a traditional classroom.
After 9 years in South Africa, my husband's placement came to an end, and he was subsequently offered a position in Tarnos. The move to the Basque country has presented me with a new opportunity for personal growth. I am confident in the benefits of a Montessori education for a child's development, and feel that this teaching method lays solid foundations upon which children can build over the course of their educational career. It is my intention to share these benefits with as many children in France as possible, where the number of Montessori schools is growing, but remains insufficient.
This need for more Montessori schools was particularly prevalent when I created my school in the Basque country.
I was struck by the Basque country's double "identity": firmly-engrained Basque traditions, culture and language, alongside an international identity as a result of the tourist and surfing industries. It is in this context that the idea for “Les Enfants de la Ruche” was born; a primary school drawing on the Montessori educational principles with an international outlook rooted in French-English teaching.
I had a traditional education, during the course of which I continued to pursue my two passions at a high level; playing the cello, as well as classic and contemporary dance.
After 11 years of high-profile marketing positions in several leading international companies, I followed my husband to China, where I taught French at the University of Chengdu (Sichuan) for two years, and provided distance-learning tuition for two French students.
Following this amazing experience, I moved to South Africa, where I worked as a substitute teacher at the French school in Johannesburg (the “Lycée Jules Verne”) for nursery and primary school students.
In this role, as well as in that of a mother, I began to research different teaching methods and educational practices which were centred around children as individuals, and their personal and social development.
The Montessori educational system seemed especially attractive to me, and as a result of one of life's chance encounters, I decided to send my eldest son to an English-speaking Montessori school in Johannesburg. My two other sons soon followed.
It was at this point that I decided that I myself wanted to become a Montessori teacher. I pursued two years of full-time study, the first of which was for nursery school in South Africa (at the College of Modern Montessori,) and the other a distance learning course offered in Canada (at the North American Montessori Center.) I subsequently have two international Montessori teaching diplomas, accredited by:
The Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education (MACTE)
The International Association of Montessori Educators (IAME)
I developed my knowledge and expertise through my experience in several English-speaking Montessori schools in Johannesburg, before returning to the French school in Johannesburg as a teacher, where I was able to implement aspects of the Montessori method within the context of a traditional classroom.
After 9 years in South Africa, my husband's placement came to an end, and he was subsequently offered a position in Tarnos. The move to the Basque country has presented me with a new opportunity for personal growth. I am confident in the benefits of a Montessori education for a child's development, and feel that this teaching method lays solid foundations upon which children can build over the course of their educational career. It is my intention to share these benefits with as many children in France as possible, where the number of Montessori schools is growing, but remains insufficient.
This need for more Montessori schools was particularly prevalent when I created my school in the Basque country.
I was struck by the Basque country's double "identity": firmly-engrained Basque traditions, culture and language, alongside an international identity as a result of the tourist and surfing industries. It is in this context that the idea for “Les Enfants de la Ruche” was born; a primary school drawing on the Montessori educational principles with an international outlook rooted in French-English teaching.