This article is the result of years of study, both formal and informal; hundreds of hours of traditional and Montessori classroom observations; reading and digesting articles and books on secondary education, Montessori education, adolescent brain research, leadership, and best practices in education; and most enlightening of all, 20 years of…

Educational institutions change slowly, and sometimes superficially at best. Large public (and sometimes smaller private) systems can be highly resistant to deep change. Schools are notorious for rearranging the desk chairs for a while, then reverting back to something very close to the original design. Even the most well-intentioned of…

This article presents edited transcripts of separate Skype conversations with Richard Ungerer, AMS executive director, in his office at AMS headquarters in New York and Andre Roberfroid, president of AMI, at his home in Vetraz-Monthoux, France. It also presents a discussion of the ways the two organizations can join forces to strengthen the…

Today, Montessori infant & toddler programs around the country usually have a similar look and feel--low floor beds, floor space for movement, low shelves, natural materials, tiny wooden chairs and tables for eating, and not a highchair or swing in sight. But Montessori toddler programs seem to fall into two paradigms--one model seeming more…

"The way you make your bed is the way your day will go." The way in which people gather is an extension of the making-the-bed analogy: "The way we gather is the way our school days go." The mindfulness people bring to the little ways they behave with one another sets the tone for the entire organization. When Montessori speaks of allowing the…

Like good government, thoughtful care of children requires those in power, whether teachers or parents, to recognize when it is appropriate for them to step back from day-to-day decision-making while still working behind the scenes to ensure an organizational structure that supports the independence and equitable development of those they serve.…

In this millennium, educators are faced with a number of issues that Dr. Maria Montessori could not have predicted. Today, students are different from the children Dr. Montessori observed in her "Casa dei Bambini." They are influenced by technology in all its forms. Some suffer from medical problems such as complex food allergies, which wreak…

The act of collaboration is important when improving communication between administration and teachers, guiding school personnel to collectively clarify teaching and learning outcomes, and facilitating school stakeholders to engage in strategic institutional planning. As necessary as collaboration is, adults often do not know how to collaborate…

The author of this article describes her week observing a Montessori class in the Adam Vesviva School at Kibbutz Ga'ash, located on the outskirts of Tel Aviv. The headmaster of the school, Yariv Ya'ari, had previously been associated with Democratic Schools, an alternate to the public educational system, whose philosophy was established at Adam…