Friday, Oct. 10, 2008

Montessori Internationale Comes to Town

Barbara Gordon, Texas Educators Host Conference

Staff Report

The Courier

The Montessori Institute of Texas hosted a conference of the Association of Montessori Internationale at the Hilton Hotel in Southlake this past weekend. The AMI was represented by President Andre’ Roberfroid of Belgium, and Executive Director Lynne Lawrence, of Amsterdam and London.

Barbara Gordon, President of the [MIT], helped organize the event. Gordon has retired from her full-time activities, which included running the Barbara Gordon Montessori School in Colleyville as well as working with St. Alcuin Montessori School in Dallas. She is still active as a consultant to Montessori educators and schools worldwide.

Montessori is a type of education in which children pursue self-directed and physically interactive learning with the aid of instructors and developmentally appropriate materials. It has been practiced around the world for the past 100 years.

Dr. Maria Montessori developed the Montessori method as a result of research with children who had disabilities. She began using this method with unimpaired children with equal success.

The method is based on the premise that children learn and develop differently than adults. Among many other things it includes the use of sensorial materials, phonics as a means of teaching reading, and guides (instructors) who also function as observers in order to direct each child at his or her own developmental level. Children in Montessori settings tend to learn more, faster.

"We instill in each child a love of learning which stays with them throughout their lives," Gordon said.

According to the Montessori Method Web site, some of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world were once Montessori students, and many credit their Montessori education for their creative innovations.

Will Wright, creator of the computer games SimCity and SPORE, said simply, "SimCity comes right out of Montessori…". Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, both former Montessori students, told ABC’s Barbara Walters that their Montessori educations allowed them to learn to think for themselves and to pursue their own interests.

They said that it also taught them to be self-directed and to be self-starters, according to the Web site.

By bringing the Montessori method to the public through conferences such as these, conference organizers hope to spread the word not only about the educational style of Montessori, but what they see as the benefits to society of producing citizens "who are self-confident, and cooperative," Lawrence said.

Roberfroid and Lawrence have been traveling around the world, speaking with leaders in countries such as China, Thailand, and Tanzania. "AMI is in the process of developing a global strategic plan for stimulating more outreach," he said. "This is a different, more ambitious way of learning," Roberfroid said. "It works regardless of the child’s background."