Montessori International Issue 127 – JANUARY 2020
Sowing the seeds of renewal | Voice of the teacher in China | Reclaiming feminism Action research explained | Voice of the student in Brazil The Montessori call to UK government | Montessori entrepreneur showcase
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IN this ISSUE
Issue 127 – January 2020
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Montessori research Julie Compton introduces action research in the first of a two-part series
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Cov e r f e at u r e Catherine McTamaney explores the process of renewal
F e at u r e Helen Edwards examines the importance of self-reflection
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Voice of t h e STU D ENT Charlie Cavaliero’s life-changing trip to Brazil
Voice of the teacher Luca D’Andrea shares his new Montessori journey in China
Montessori insight Sid Mohandas on why Montessori classrooms need feminist perspectives
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F e at u r e Wendelien Bellinger compares three approaches to early years education
Montessori c o mm u n i t y Montessori Centre International news, Hannah Baynham’s conference digest, and Barbara Isaacs on the Montessori community’s call for change
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Voice of t h e pa r e n t Zainab Shamis-Saleem on introducing Montessori at home
Montessori Entrepreneur Emma Litvinova-Levermore on her Montessori materials business, Montessori Enterprises Januar y 20 20
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COVER FEATURE
Sowing the seeds for renewal As the season of renewal is upon us, it is time to create space for personal, spiritual and professional growth. Catherine McTamaney explores how It is cold where I am today. Not cold enough for hats or gloves or boots, but cold in that watery, silver way that you feel in the tips of your fingers and the space between your toes. It is almost winter here in North America and, looking out of the window beside my desk, my view is white with snow and grey with sleeping trees. A thick fog surrounds the house today, and I have to search to see the
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edge of the water, still steel against the muted shoreline. It is silent and heavy and dull in every direction. The stillness is an illusion, though, like the trick the fog is playing that hides my view of the lake. This place looks still. It is not still. It is kinetic with tiny movement, down under the crackling surface of the fallen leaves, inside the branches of the trees. Decay is rebirth. Spring will come.
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Voice of the student
It was in the favela where I first saw the immense and unlimited power of education to change the world
In 2014, I had just graduated from the University of St Andrews with a master’s degree in social anthropology, and my brain was fizzing with possibilities. I mulled all the interesting places in the world I could visit, and all the interesting people I could meet. Like all new graduates, I was hunting for the missing pieces of my puzzle. I ended up working in Bristol for an anti-slavery charity, organising campaign events, to spread awareness of modern-day slavery in the UK. I worked on issues including forced marriage, domestic servitude and sexual exploitation, which affect many people across the country, many of whom are children. But I wanted to do more. After a couple of years working for various charities in the Southwest of England, I decided to volunteer for a children’s charity in Brazil. I had first visited Brazil in 2010 after leaving school, and visited again during university to conduct the research for my dissertation. On both occasions, I had fallen in love with the country; the people, the music and the culture. Brazil had, without a doubt, captured my imagination. Local community I spent seven months working in Rocinha, one of the many favela communities in Rio de Janeiro, and the largest in Brazil. The favelas of Rio have gained notoriety, due to the high level of gang activity, violence and poverty, which their residents encounter daily. I worked for a small project, which ran a whole series of education programmes for the local community. In the morning we worked with young children aged three to six years, and in the afternoon we worked with older children aged six to 12 years, leaving the evening to work with teenagers and adults. More than 100 people came through our doors every day. The programmes were mainly centred around building English skills, something which opens many doors in Brazil, especially for favela residents, but we also ran more holistic programmes, including science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM), as well as foundational literacy and numeracy. Money, time, space and resources were always tight, but we did our best to give the children something to which to look forward in their incredibly challenging lives. It was in the favela where I first saw the immense and unlimited power of education to change the world. Despite 26 Ja n u a r y 2020
A boy studying in a favela in Brazil
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Peace crusader After seeing the affects of exploitation on the children with whom he worked in Brazil, Charlie Cavaliero went in search of an education to build peace and found Montessori Mo ntes s or i I nte r n at i o n a l
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