Erik Erikson

Erik Erikson (June 15, 1902 – May 12, 1994) was a prominent psychologist and psychoanalyst.  He trained in psychoanalysis at the Vienna Psychoanalytic Institute and also studied the Montessori method.

He developed a theory of Psychosocial Development with 8 stages that bear a remarkable intellectual debt to the 4 Planes of development.  I encourage you to take a few minutes to read this brief summary of the stages outlined below, and compare to these to the 4 Planes.

Birth to 18 months            Infancy

18 months to 3 years       Early Childhood

3 to 6 years                          Play Age

6 to 12 years                        School Age

12-18 years                          Adolescence

19-35 years                          Young Adulthood

35-65 years                         Middle Adulthood

65+                                         Late Adulthood

Dr. Montessori influenced many of the great psychologists who came after her, most notably Erikson and Piaget.  In the interests of being well informed about the field of psychology and making connections to Montessori’s work, please take a look.

Dr. Maria Montessori developed auto-didactic materials, or materials that teach when manipulated by a learner.  She was born in the 1870’s and passed on the 1950’s.

Think about the technology that was introduced within her lifetime (automobiles, radio, television, airplanes, telephones) and the technology introduced after her death (computers, cell phones, the internet, space travel, satellite communication, GPS).

Dr. Montessori never saw photographs of the earth from space.  She never saw a computer in action or marveled at the information available on the internet.

What kind of auto-didactic materials would she create if she were alive today?

These thoughts were inspired by a TED talk by Will Wright, the developer of the SIMS computer games which he says were inspired by the Montessori materials of his youth.

Do you suppose that Larry Page & Sergei Brin (Google founders) Will Wright (Game designer) Jeff Bezos (founder of Amazon) and others might be interested in endowing an annual prize for the development of new, developmentally appropriate auto-didactic materials?

The Montessori Prize could be like a Nobel Prize for material design, maybe with age categories 0-3, 3-6, 6-12, 12-18, adult.

This would be an interesting way to raise awareness of Montessori education principles within the “toy” and education industry.

Check out this brief article from Harvard Business Review describing research into how Innovators think.

The final paragraph has a quick mention about Montessori.

We also believe that the most innovative entrepreneurs were very lucky to have been raised in an atmosphere where inquisitiveness was encouraged. We were stuck by the stories they told about being sustained by people who cared about experimentation and exploration. Sometimes these people were relatives, but sometimes they were neighbors, teachers or other influential adults. A number of the innovative entrepreneurs also went to Montessori schools, where they learned to follow their curiosity. To paraphrase the famous Apple ad campaign, innovators not only learned early on to think different, they act different (and even talk different).

On Friday, September 18, 2009, Dr. Steve Hughes inspired hundreds of Montessori parents and professionals at the Auckland University Campus with a presentation he calls Good At Doing Things.

Dr. Hughes began by sharing the simple story of how he first heard about Montessori, in passing, from a friend over dinner.  This simple story, complete with slides, engaged everyone in the audience from first time parents seeking to learn more about this Montessori-thing, to  professionals with decades of expertise, because everyone has a similar story about being introduced to Montessori or sharing it with others.  Stories are a powerful tool that Dr. Hughes utilized here to engage the entire audience, which is crucial for maximum effect as a public speaker, before he shared more specific scientific information.  His story, and the triggered personal memories, created an emotional context that helps focus a listener’s attention and gives the extra incentive to stick with academic material that may become challenging.

Dr. Hughes however, did not present challenging academic material.  Instead he presented solid scientific evidence in a clear and direct way that was comprehensible for everyone.  As anyone who has ever attempted to describe the Montessori Method can attest, it is very difficult to condense complex ideas into digestible bits, but this is exactly what Dr. Hughes managed with a seemingly effortless charm and humor.

I won’t discuss too many specifics of his talk, as a screencast is available on his website.  However, I did want to specifcally mention two things.

Dr. Montessori described “Normalization” a century ago, at the birth of the field of psychology and before the invention of MRI and brain imaging technologies, and Dr Hughes, modern neuropsychologist would call this phenomenon “mature executive function”.

There was a palpable buzz of energy in the room as the lecture let out, a shared feeling that anything is possible.   As wonderful as the screencast is, the internet is as yet incapable of communicating the electricity that was in the air as we poured out to our cars.

I was fortunate enough to attend the grand opening dedication ceremony for the new AMI Training Center in Auckland on Friday, June 26, 2009.  The result of several years of concentrated and diligent effort by the trustees of the Maria Montessori Education Foundation, the Primary level course will be instructed by Cheryl Ferreira a senior member of the Maria Montessori Training Organisation staff in England, U.K.

The ceremony was simple and meaningful, which suited the environment of the Quaker Meeting House that will be home to the training course this year.  Much of the ceremony was in Maori including songs and recitations. 

I want to share this interesting offering from the MMEF course described on the MMEF Blog…

Study the theory-only component of the AMI 3-6 Course . . .
MMEF recently invited Montessori school owners, administrators and trustees to study the theory–only component of the AMI 3-6 Course as an underpinning to their centre’s philosophy, policies and practice. This is essentially the first 4 week module between June 29th and 24th July plus the occasional day throughout the course.
If you know of anyone within your school that this may be particularly relevant for, please email mmef@ihug.co.nz for more details.

I think this is a wonderful idea and I hope that all training centers offer this to the public.  Given the long term benefits of administrators and owners versed in Montessori theory it is my hope that this is provided free of charge, though I have not inquired directly.

I also wanted to discuss the modular format of the course, described thusly on the MMEF website…

The course will consist of 7 contact modules in 2009 and 2010 (see details below). These contact modules will average 4 weeks in duration (9:00 am – 4:30 pm), scheduled within the New Zealand school holidays and a week on either side. Students will return to their own schools in between contact modules to put into practice what they have learnt.

There will also be a minimum of 10 weeks of Observation and Teaching Practice to be completed in classrooms designated by the Director of Training and in accordance with AMI specifications.

The dates of the contact modules are:

Contact Module 1
29th June – 24th July 2009 (4 weeks)

Contact Module 2
21st Sept – 16th October 2009 (4 weeks)

Contact Module 3
4th – 29th January 2010 (4 weeks)

Contact Module 4
6th – 16th April 2010 (almost 2 weeks)

Contact Module 5
28th June – 23rd July 2010 (4 weeks)

Contact Module 6
20th Sept – 15th October 2010 (4 weeks)

Contact Module 7
10th – 21st January 2011 (2 weeks ic. ORAL EXAMS)

This is a format I have never seen before and may have been created specifically for New Zealand.  The NZ school calendar is composed of 4 school terms (approximately 10 weeks each) separated by 2 week term breaks.  As the New Zealand summer is in December, the longer summer break aligns with the holidays, unlike the Unites States which typically has a long break in December and June/July/August.  The US school calendar is composed of 4 quarters (approximately 9 weeks each) so comparatively, NZ children attend 4 more weeks of school than in the US.  The 3 Summer course option offered at many training centers in the United States is simply not possible in New Zealand because the only long break is also the holiday break.

My wife, Emily, and I have recently relocated to Auckland, New Zealand, and between culture shock and starting a new job I am strectched thin.

I will post more complete ideas soon, but for now you may enjoy checking out the Montessori Association of New Zealand website to learn more about the state of Montessori Education in New Zealand.

MapAList is a great little website that creates free Google Maps from data in a Google Spreadsheet. It has some impressive functionality although the interface is less than intuitive.

I gathered addresses of AMI Recognized, Affiliated, and Associated schools from the AMI-USA website to create this map. I continue to be interested in any number of aspects of the Montessori movement, including concentration of Montessori schools and other demographic considerations. Obviously these are not the only schools using AMI approved practices, but these are the school interested or dedicated enough to seek AMI recognition.

View the Map

I can’t help but wonder how the proximity of AMI consultants living in the area might influence clusters of recognition such as Phoenix, Arizona.

Donorschoose.org is an interesting way for Public Montessori Schools to make it easy for families to donate online for specific school projects while also reaching out to a larger internet community of possible donors.

Here is a brief description of How it Works

onorsChoose.org is a simple way to provide students in need with resources that our public schools often lack. At this not-for-profit web site, teachers submit project proposals for materials or experiences their students need to learn. These ideas become classroom reality when concerned individuals, whom we call Citizen Philanthropists, choose projects to fund.

This type of donation could be especially useful when a public school classroom is transitioning to Montessori and needs many auto-didactic materials.  A Montessori alumnus might be donating to the site and choose your school.

These words are not mine, though I wish they were as they clearly communicate my own thoughts on this matter…

The words marketing and public relations are rarely mentioned around the school yard of the typical Montessori school until the need is critical. And, too often, resources and budgets for such endeavors are inadequate. If this sounds like your school, you are not alone.

Apart from a handful of large schools that employ a marketing staff, most Montessori programs consist only of teachers, assistants and few administrators. These individuals’’ unwavering dedication to children, parents and the classroom is unparalleled, but all too frequently their focus on education causes proper marketing and public relations programs to be overlooked.

Unfortunately, when marketing is set aside, it results in classrooms that fall short of ideal enrollment numbers. Those unfilled classroom spaces, no matter how few, represent the continuing financial vitality of your school. Full enrollment can equate to teacher bonuses, updated materials, new playground equipment, qualifying for community sponsorships and more.

Clearly the question is not if to market your school, but how to market and to whom.

These comments are from an article/ad by  Morgan Childers, founder and President of Go Montessori.

Go Montessori is described thus…

Go Montessori is a successful team of marketing professionals,Montessori educators, parents, and administrators. Our vision is to help Montessori schools increase their enrollment through marketing, advertisingand public relations.

Go Montessori is relatively unique in offering specialized marketing tools and strategies to for the Montessori community.  

A less specialized approach to increasing a school’s marketing presence is Spot Runner, an advertising service described thus…

Spot Runner is a technology company that is developing the next generation of advertising services. Spot Runner’s mission is to make advertisers successful by revolutionizing the entire advertising process – including the way it is created, targeted, planned, bought and sold. Spot Runner is unique in that it employs proprietary technology and analytics to inform every media plan, target advertisers’ best prospects and optimize each campaign across television, the Web, radio or out-of-home. 

Whether you are a school owner, school administrator, or school employee,  if you are interested in growing your school please take a moment to consider these services and the opportunities they can create for your school.

A new AMI Elementary Training Program is opening soon at Lake Erie College in Ohio.  

Check out the Program Brochure.