Connections

"Hello, what's your name?"


"Jennifer."


"Hi Jennifer. Where are you from?"


"I'm from St. Louis."


"Really, what part?"


"I live in Glendale."


"Nice, my aunt used to run a bakery in Warson Woods"


"Friends Bakery on Dunwoody? I've been there........


When I greet our graduate students on campus this summer there will be a lot of these conversations. Everyone has them. I enjoy them all. The older I get, the more places I have in common with people and the more important it is for me to connect; to reflect on common experience, to share time and place.


Children have this too, from an early age. We give children a task... "to grow up". Instinctively they seem to know that growing up involves connection. In supportive environments (like Montessori classrooms) we design the entire experience to make these connections. It's more important than the skills. It's about gratitude and appreciation. There is nothing trivial. Everything is important. Everything is connected. Making these connections to our world and feeling the interconnectedness of our universe is critical for children. It drives them, it is their Cosmic Task. It is the essence of peacemaking.


Our Cosmic Task is the title of the talk that will be delivered by Judith Cunningham, Executive Director of the Montessori Model UN program at a gathering on campus on June 30th. The Montessori Model United Nations is a transformational experience for children - I'll let her give you the details... not surprisingly ... it is about connection.


To all the incoming Montessori Teachers from all corners of the country I look forward to meeting you on campus, to greeting you, to our conversations and to connecting. This is the culminating experience of your Graduate Degree, enjoy it, experience it and connect. It is not trivial - it is not virtual, it is real.


See you soon,


Peace,


Jack

Reflections

It's that time of year. The one where we list all of things we'd like to accomplish in the New Year. My strategy is to make it a bold list so that even if I make it half way, there will be plenty to talk about by the end.

 

When I reflect on 2015 at Loyola's Center for Montessori Education, there were a number of notable accomplishments that make me proud of the work that got done. Although the initial list we tried to tick off was long and likely ... overly ambitious, by the end, I was very proud of the landmarks we achieved.

Here's the Top 10.

1.  The Center added Montessori Northwest's new A to I and Primary trainings in San Francisco to our list of partner locations. I wish I could explain all of the internal compliance and certification processes that underlay the addition of a new site... but if you're like me, you'd rather see the baby than hear about the delivery. Suffice it to say, it took a team and we are thrilled to be adding more students to our graduate program from across the country.
2. And we didn't stop there - in 2015 we also welcomed the Southwest Institute for Montessori Studies in Phoenix, Arizona. The family continues to grow!
3. One Hundred Montessori Teachers completed their M.Ed. in Montessori Education this summer. That's one hundred new leaders of our movement that will serve thousands of Montessori Students in the coming years. Ultimately - that's what its all about.
4. One Hundred New Montessori Teachers began the program in 2015. The journey began anew for so many teachers in so many destinations. I am humbled by the talented young teachers who chose our program.
5.  This summer Loyola recognized the Inclusive Education course in San Diego as 10 Continuing Education Units from the University; this assists all teachers in showing recognized progress of their continued Professional Growth. This model of recognizing professional learning activities is one we would like to share throughout our Network of Training Partners in the future.
6. I love all Montessori Associations. They all have a place at my table. However I do acknowledge that the activities of the Center for Montessori Education at Loyola would not be possible without our strong association with AMI and AMI USA. AMI is our True North. All of our training partners have been and will continue to be AMI affiliated programs. Our faculty at the Washington Montessori Institute and our affiliates across the county are a veritable all star cast of the Leadership within the AMI community and indeed the global Montessori movement. In fact, many of our faculty completed their M.Ed. degrees at Loyola. They make us proud everyday. To all of our faculty a tremendous thank you and a debt of gratitude for all you do. I'll see you all in Los Angeles in February.
7. 2015 marked the first of a now annual speaker series on campus hosted by the Center for Montessori Education. Our first speaker was Laura Shaw who demystified and debunked a number of "Neuromyths". It was important for a group like ourselves that aspires to a model of scientific pedagogy to challenge our own assumptions about what recent advances in Neuroscience are telling us. It was a great night, a big crowd and lovely reception on campus afterwards. The planning for the 2016 speaker is in the works and the details will be finalized shortly...
8. Two of our 2015 summer graduate students submitted papers for publication! It is a trend that we hope to encourage in the future. In addition an alumni of the Loyola program and now an Affiliate Faculty member in the program, Dr. Andree Rolfe, completed an excellent Independent Study on the topic of Spelling, a tremendous contribution to our field. In addition Dr. Rolfe is participating in additional scholarship around the topic of Special Education inclusion. Well Done!
9. I have become convinced in the past year that as a Montessori Movement we need to address the need for Leadership Training and Development. I have begun lecturing in Loyola's Department of Educational Leadership and have spoken at a number of venues including the International Montessori Council's recent conference in Sarasota. Myself and my colleague Dr. Peter Litchka are planning a Montessori Leadership Cohort to commence at Loyola in the summer of 2017. Leadership Development throughout all levels of the Montessori movement will be crucial to ensure that Dr. Montessori's work survives and thrives in the next 100 years.
10. 2015 continued to see an expansion of Montessori Education in the Public Sector. I personally worked with many candidates to secure a pathway to state certification in their jurisdictions. In some states the process was seamless, in others it was a challenge. Still! there exists no Universal, National or Statewide process towards teaching certification for Montessori Teachers; even in states that are proud to claim Montessori pubic schools and charters! This universal recognition is my aim (and the charge of many others), I confess it did not occur in 2015 but new year's hope springs eternal and we will redouble our efforts in 2016. It's been 110 years and our movement lives on ... we're not going anywhere!

Peace,


Jack

 

 

 

 

 

New Friends

I have just returned from a whirlwind tour of our partner institutes.

The first stop was just up the road in Columbia, where I met the new Primary and Elementary students at our home grown training center, the Washington Montessori Institute. It was the first day and there was so much enthusiasm and energy in the air - great to see.

Next stops: San Francisco, Portland, Milwaukee, Atlanta, and Phoenix. Carrie pinch hit for me in San Diego - though I promise to get out to see that cohort soon! I am extremely lucky to be able to be on hand when the next great leaders of our precious and important movement are born.

In all, 118 students have been admitted into our graduate program in Montessori Education this year. A number we are very proud of: but makes me think of a meeting that I had in my first week as a Head of School...

I was taking over the leadership of the Montessori Country School in Ontario, Canada and my predecessor agreed to spend a week with me to get me oriented. I needed it! By Friday, after a week of policy review, risk assessments, procedures and budgets, I noticed that she had gathered her belongings and was standing at the exit - waiting to be dismissed :)

I went over to shake her hand and I knew that she had one more thing left to say.

"Any final words of advice," I asked.

She just smiled and said "Don't Count".

Wise.

So today I will stop counting, the new students are no longer applications, interviews and essays. They are part of the fabric of the Loyola Community. I look forward to welcoming each of them on to campus when their time comes and playing a small part in their journey.

Peace,

My tribe

The first time I felt it was at McGill University in Montreal. Over a few brief weeks in the Faculty of Education, working together with best friends I had only just met. I realized I was with My people. Shared values and shared experience.

The next time I felt it was was at the Toronto Montessori Institute, where Sheila Fitzgerald and Paula Glasgow welcomed me into a community that would define my Place, for the remainder of my career.

I felt it again this week at Dean Smith's house, at an event hosted by the Center for Montessori Education at Loyola University Maryland. I stood looking out over 100 Educators who had just concluded the Intensive Summer Session and would soon be conferred their Master's Degrees in
Montessori Education. I knew I was looking at the future leadership of the Montessori Movement, a group that would continue to move us in a direction towards the lofty goals that Dr. Montessori held for humanity.

I don't know what "it" is. But it has something to do with the following words that one of the students passed along to me at the end of the program. All I know is that I can't wait to feel it again and I know that I will.

Peace,

Jack

Laura Shaw and a Very Enjoyable Evening at Loyola

I make people laugh. At me...With me... whatever it takes.

Last Friday was the first of what will become an annual speaker series, from the Center for Montessori Education at Loyola University Maryland.

Laura Flores Shaw discussed several everyday myths that prevail around the fringes of education. Her message to our students: become a savvy consumer of educational research and don't let the media or popular notions guide your practice.

It was fantastic to have Laura on campus for our intensive summer session. Laura is right in the middle of contemporary Montessori research as a member of AMI's research committee, publisher and founder of the White Paper Press and a doctoral student in Mind, Brain Teaching at Johns Hopkins University.

A great night. Laura. Your signed poster is now framed and in the annals of Loyola's Center for Montessori Education. And as for the summer lecture series ... no one else will ever be first.