LUCIANA MAUX
Position: Bilingual Day Care Teacher
Nationality: Brazilian
Languages: PortugesePortuguese, English, Dutch, Spanish & French
Length of Time at Zein: Since 2017
LUCIANA’S STORY
I was born and raised in Brazil, but I have always been fascinated by learning new languages and cultures. For this reason, I moved to the USA in 2006 and to the Netherlands in 2008 – I have also lived in Belgium! I am an Early Childhood teacher and I have worked in International Schools in Brazil & Brussels. I have also been engaged in cultural programmes that support expat Brazilian children in learning Portuguese as a heritage language. I am currently studying Dance Therapy, which I strongly believe benefits physical and mental health, as well as allowsin children to express themselves and bond with their peers.
I chose to work at Zein because I felt inspired by both Zein’s philosophy and the fact that we have children and colleagues from all over the world. Working here feels like I am part of a big family, and this makes our workplace unique. I choose this field of work because I am passionate about working with children. Since becoming a mother, I have also become even more aware of the needs of children. I believe that every child is special and deserves our attention, love and support.
The opportunity to work in a bilingual environment is a bonus for me as I have always had an interest in languages. Bilingual care also positively impacts children’s cognitive abilities – when children learn more than one language, they tend to be more adaptable and more open-minded. I have learned a lot about how to help children adapt to the bilingual group and look forward to helping more children in their bilingual journey.
Zein feels like home. I feel happy from the moment I enter the building until the end of the day. I hope I can continue to grow at Zein and I also look forward to using my knowledge of dance therapy to support children through developing their intellectual, emotional, and motor skills.