In this essay, part of Earth Island Journal’s autumn 2026 issue, Sarah Menkedick highlights a Montessori-inspired school in Ensenada, Mexico, that fosters in its children autonomy, real-world responsibility, and a deep connection to nature. Menkedick, an instructor at the University of Pittsburgh, sees a disconnect between her own college-age students and their natural environments, and reflects on the outdated, one-size-fits-all education system in the US.
In talking about school, we often use the term “material.” What material will the students study? This tends to refer to the curricula, and those curricula are largely formed of abstract knowledge contained in worksheets, textbooks, or software, which students practice and master. But the material of Cocuy is tangible: It is mud, brick, paint, glass. It is herb, sun, animal, mineral. It is popo. And, also, it is the individual, embodied human being, a complex part of the whole. Cocuy calls itself a “permaculture school,” but it does not ask students to simply study nature but rather to inhabit and know it.
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