I am just reflecting on the wonderful American Montessori Society annual seminar in Chicago as I head back into the day to day world of school after spring break.
The theme of this conference was very forward thinking--technology and new educational frontiers. AMS described it in this way:
When education fails, cries for increased uniformity and standards become louder. Where does the Montessori Method, which encourages individual growth and personal development, fit into the current educational system?
What are the ways in which Montessori education can harness the ever-growing powers of technology and use it to work toward transforming lives and advancing the world toward a better future.
With over 100 years of successful Montessori education in our collective history, and current research corroborating Maria Montessori’s work, we reflect on her statement, “The child is both hope and a promise for mankind.”
As always, I left the conference very glad to be a Montessorian, but also with a real sense of hope--that isn't always the case when discussing such profound subject matter as the state of education and the future that awaits today's children.
I realize that I live with hope every day. It's not because I am an overly optimistic person (although I tend to be just that). It is because of my work environment. I am immersed in hope. Each and every day I am greeted by and spend the day with hopeful and enthusiastic people. Of course I am talking about the young children who come to Montessori Children's House in Northfield, MN. I know that almost all of the attendees of the conference in Chicago--all 3000 of them, have that same privilige. How awesome is that? My attitude alone is not the point of this posting. I would like to share with our community some of the wonderful presentations that we were able to participate in over the course of the weekend. From the opening keynote to the unbelievable opportunity of the closing by Sir Ken Robinson, we were soaked in the juices of what we can do to facilitate the future. Heady stuff, to be sure. Not that different from our day to day workload, but realized on such a different level. Having it all synthesized and handed to us, spelling out the purpose with graphs and statistics and global comparisons, was perfectly enlightening and affirming. Please allow me to lead you to some of the links from our conference in Chicago and beyond. Perhaps, like us and the planners at AMS this will lead you to a place where you can see a picture of the future and the place where tommorrow's children will dwell. I think it will be a happy place. I am filled with hope, as usual.
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