Implementing Montessori in the public sector

This is the first of a three-part series on implementing Montessori programs in public schools.

By Elizabeth Slade

Part I: The Teacher

As Montessori moves into an increasing number of public school districts nationally, it is an important time to articulate the essential elements necessary for successful implementation. To do so, let us use the Montessori Triad of Teacher-Student-Environment as our lens.

This article will focus on the Montessori teacher as a critical component of any successful public Montessori school and the importance of building and supporting strong and skilled teachers.

One essential element during implementation is the teacher mentor.

A teacher mentor, or more specifically a Montessori mentor, is an experienced (at least six years teaching in the classroom) Montessori teacher who is confident in her or his craft and deeply connected to the philosophy.

These mentors bring with them a skill set that includes technical knowledge of the material as well as expertise in working with a diverse population of students. They also hold a crucial component: the vision of normalization. Montessori mentors have experienced a normalized classroom environment and as a result can steer new Montessori teachers along the rough waters of implementation.

Many public schools converting to Montessori are either training existing public school teachers or hiring previously-trained Montessori teachers from the private sector. Teachers without previous public Montessori experience need Montessori mentors for the first three years, following them through a three-year cycle of children. With the support and vision of a Montessori mentor, teachers are far more likely to persevere.

The data for this article comes from survey results of public Montessori teachers from Springfield, MA, where there are two public Montessori programs: Zanetti Montessori, which converted in 1999 and currently goes through 8th grade, and Gerena Community School, which began its transformation in 2007 when the first Children’s House classrooms opened.

The teachers at Zanetti represent a variety of training backgrounds and up to 10 years experience at the school. Zanetti now has only one Montessori mentor on staff covering any new Montessori teachers for their first years.

Gerena teachers have been primarily trainedat the Center for Contemporary Montessori Programs (AMS), though more recent staff are attending AMI training in Hartford. Gerena has three Montessori mentors who cover 32 classrooms—all but one of which are led by new Montessori teachers.

When asked in a survey about their experience having a Montessori mentor, and the needs met by their mentor, the responses fell easily into the two categories we are most familiar with on the Fundamental Needs of Humans Chart: Physical Needs and Spiritual Needs.

There were expressed needs that were practical and concrete, and others that were more abstract. They were all considered essential aspects of what teachers needed from a Montessori teacher.

Physical needs of the new Montessori teacher:

• Environment: Set up and design
• Montessori materials: Appropriate use and modeling
• Lessons: Rhythm and sequence
• Planning & recordkeeping: Lesson plans, follow-up work, observation notes, student portfolios, parent conferences
• Classroom management: Systems, Grace & Courtesy curriculum
• Student support: Approaches for struggling students, knowledge of child development
• Material making: Guidance and materials

Spiritual needs of the new Montessori teacher:

• Perspective: View of the big picture, vision of normalization, clarity of thinking
• Optimism: Surrounded by people with a positive attitude, upbeat
• Affirmation: Being encouraged and empowered
• Faith & trust: Belief and confidence in their ability
• Reflection: Time and space to review choices and reflect on outcomes, opportunity to revise decisions or beliefs
• Inspiration: Energy to keep working toward the goal

With the support of Montessori mentors, new teachers are able to approach the enormous task of turning a group of traditionally-educated students into a Montessori class. With the guidance of a mentor, they are able to take the training they have received and apply it in a classroom setting with students who have never used manipulatives. With the leadership of the mentor, they can rely on another’s compass when they’ve lost all sense of direction.

If in fact we want to deliver a first-rate Montessori education, we need to respect and meet the fundamental needs of our new public Montessori teachers.

Elizabeth Slade is the founder of New View Montessori Consultancy, a firm committed to supporting public schools implementing Montessori. She can be contacted at: newviewconsult@yahoo.com.