Course Overview

Many educators are drawn to working with children because they want to make a difference in the world. Touching the lives of young people is seen as an enjoyable and achievable way to change the world…or at least our corner of it! However sometimes teachers struggle in the classroom because they are unclear about what exactly their role is, or what their relationship to students should look like. This course will set the stage for your Montessori journey by looking at what teaching is all about and the difference that Montessori makes. We will encourage you to explore the reasons you may have chosen this path, and we will examine various ideas about the purpose of education and how these different purposes stem from divergent assumptions about how children learn. We will also look at the history of Montessori education worldwide and see how this method of education differs to traditional or mainstream education. This self-paced online course is designed for educators who are new to Montessori and non- Montessori classrooms at any level, as well as parents. It also serves as an excellent review for seasoned educators.

  • PART 1: What Are Schools For?

    This topic will ask participants to think about what attracted them to want to teach young people. It will then look at the reasons that students in classrooms. They may not be there because they want to learn! It examines the question of what schools are for and the various purposes schools have served throughout their evolution, and the purposes that different schools serve today. The two underlying (and somewhat conflicting) goals of education can be traced to the root of the word itself.

  • PART 2: Form Follows Function

    This topic will discuss how classroom design mirrors the purpose of education that it serves. Some assumptions about how children learn that underlie various classroom designs will also be examined. It will also look in detail at how the Montessori classroom functions to activate real choice, personal connection and collaborative learning. This topic concludes with a 15-minute video that offers a window into what a Montessori classroom for 3-6 year-olds looks like today.

  • PART 3: Who Was Maria Montessori?

    This topic explores the life of Maria Montessori and the evolution of her ideas in the early days of a movement that grew like wildfire as excitement spread about her revolutionary method. It looks at the events that helped shape Montessori's ideas about children and learning, and what she saw as the purpose of education.

 

 

  • PART 4: Early Expansion

    This topic will discuss the period of promising expansion that followed the opening of the first Children's House in 1907 as Montessori’s brilliant vision ignited the imaginations of progressive educators around the world, including in Australia. As the method became a movement, Montessori’s life would be dedicated to spreading the educational approach she had developed by delivering courses and giving lectures in many countries. The initial enthusiasm, and eventual obstacles, that the movement encountered in Australia reflected the situation in other countries as well, although the isolation of Montessorians in Australia presented greater challenges during this early phase of the Montessori movement.

  • PART 5: The Movement Matures

    This topic will discuss the development of the movement after Maria Montessori's death in 1952. It will examine the resurgence of interest in her "new education" around the world, as well as the emergence of different "brands" of Montessori that began to challenge the Montessori family's control of the movement through the AMI. While this tension left the Montessori community without a central governing authority, it has also presented Montessorians around the world with an opportunity to clarify the core principles of the method and its relevance in a modern world where the only constant is change.

  • PART 6: The Difference Montessori Makes

    Now that the purpose of education, the importance of classroom design, and the history and evolution of the Montessori approach have been explored, this final topic will look in detail at the fundamental differences between the Montessori approach and traditional education. While there are many of them, perhaps the key difference is in how this method allows educators to engage the child and touch their soul.

Course curriculum

    1. PART 1: What Are Schools For?

    2. PART 2: Form Follows Function

    3. PART 3: Who Was Maria Montessori?

    4. PART 4: Early Expansion

    5. PART 5: The Movement Matures

    6. PART 6: The Difference Montessori Makes

About this course

  • $189.00
  • 6 lessons
  • 20 Hours

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