Montessori in Action Podcast

Episode eight of this season is a conversation with Antria Goss. Antria is the first Montessori Coach to serve in the Cincinnati Public School District. Antria works in the public Montessori schools in Cincinnati as a Montessori Coach to the teachers. In our conversation, she shares about her role, the work she does and the support she receives from the district.

Our next episode of Montessori in Action features Guest Host, Genevieve D’Cruz. In this conversation, Genevieve speaks with two Montessorians- Elena Gonzalez. and Jamila Ford who were Assistants in Genevieve’s classroom when she was a Primary Guide. Both of these educators went on to take their Montessori training and are now leading classrooms of their own. In reminiscing about their time together, they talk about their experience in Montessori training, and share insight and wisdom for Assistants, Guides, and anyone aspiring to go to Montessori training themselves.

This episode brings together three Montessorians from three different Montessori organizations for a conversation about social justice. Maati Wafford, the Director of Equity and Engagement for the American Montessori Society (AMS), Jacqui Miller, the Human Rights and Social Justice Committee chair for the Association Montessori International United States of America (AMI USA) and Cindy Acker leader of the Social Justice Task Force for the International Montessori Council (IMC) come together to talk about their work and the work we all need to continue to do in order to bring about change in our society. “Adults must defend children. We adults must see the real humanity in children, the humanity which will take our place one day, if we are to have social progress. Social progress means that the next generation is better than the one before.” Dr. Montessori, 1946 London Lectures Check out our free tool to support your work: Collectively Renewing Montessori Curriculum: An Invitation (pdf)

Our first episode for this calendar year is with two authors who are coming out with a new book. Junnifa Uzodike and Simone Davies are co-authors of the book The Montessori Baby which came out in 2021. They are now about to release their new book The Montessori Child which will be available for purchase March 5, 2024. They last spoke with Montessori in Action in Season 2 for Episode 2 about their first book together. Now they’ve returned to share with us The Montessori Child.

Season four continues with a conversation with Sheri Bishop. Sheri will be giving a talk in January entitled: Are Montessori Educators Barely Awake, Woke, or Too Woke for Our Time and Place? In this episode, she discusses the history of the term woke as well as her thoughts on the topic of awakening.

Sankofa Montessori is a new charter public school in Georgia that just opened its doors this school year. Our episode this month features two of their five-member leadership team- Jasmine See, who is the Manager of Student Culture and Family Engagement, and Chantille Chelich who is the Associate Director of Academics. This conversation explores their experience opening a public school as they share the school’s vision and their commitment to fully implementing it.

Recently a systematic review of Montessori research was released that found that relative to traditional education, Montessori education has a positive effect on children’s academic and non-academic outcomes. The review looked at 32 rigorous studies from 8 countries around the world, focused on children from early childhood through to high school. As the plain summary concludes “Across a wide range of implementations (likely reflecting the range of Montessori implementations in the real world) and in studies of moderate to high quality, Montessori education has a nontrivial impact on children’s academic and non-academic outcomes.” This episode is a conversation with two people on the research team: Angeline Lillard, the author of Montessori: The Science Behind the Genius as well as numerous Montessori studies, and Justus Randolph, the lead researcher on the project who is the author of Multidisciplinary Methods in Educational Technology Research and Development as well as many other manuscripts and publications.

To launch Season 4 of the Montessori in Action Podcast, our topic is dual language and Montessori. We have two guests who have recently written articles about this unique combination. Gabriela Iturrald Espejo, the biliteracy coordinator at Montessori del Mundo, wrote The Science of Reading for Bilingual Children which appeared in Montessori Public’s recent issue. Sally Ness, the Director of Admissions at Intercultural Montessori Language School, wrote Dual Language, Montessori Education- The Pathway for Peace, which appeared in Montessori Life. These two educators unpacked some of the complexities of schools that offer both Montessori and dual language programs.

For the final episode of Season Three we will be featuring a summer read. The Bloomsbury Handbook of Montessori Education is a brand new accessible resource tracing Montessori education from its historical roots to current scholarship and contemporary issues of culture, social justice, and environmentalism. It is offered in six sections covering a range of topics related to Maria Montessori and Montessori education including foundations and evolution of the field; key writings; pedagogy across the lifespan; scholarly research; global reach; and contemporary considerations such as gender, inclusive education, race and multilingualism. The book is authored by scholars and practitioners based in over 20 countries, and today we welcome two of the contributors: Sid Mohandas and Nacole Walker

Veronica Sias is the Montessori District Coordinator in Dallas for the Dallas Independent School District. In her first year in the position, she developed a district-wide professional development day to serve all the Montessori schools. Gathering for a day, and rotating through a variety of workshops and speakers, the staff of the schools learned together, connected and felt the power of their community. Join us as Veronica talks about her journey creating this experience for her district.

Dr. Montessori writes in Citizen of the World “What is most wanted is no patronizing charity for humanity, but a reverent consciousness of its dignity and worth.” This next conversation with professor, consultant, and author Donna Hicks explores her most recent book Leading with Dignity: How to Create a Culture That Brings Out the Best in People, which was published by Yale University Press in August 2018. Her dignity work is a result of her unofficial diplomatic efforts to bring peace to places in conflict around the world. Our discussion takes us into the importance of dignity work in classrooms and how our awareness is the beginning point of that work.

In this episode we learn about the Black Wildflowers Fund, a new entity and sister organization of Wildflower Schools that will be co-led by our guests Maia Blankenship and Dr. Erika McDowell. This fund has been created so more Wildflower Schools led by proven black educators can flourish in neighborhoods across the country.

This episode features two Montessori trainers who talked with us about the experience of serving their communities. Isabel Arce Garcia works at the Instituto Nueva Escuela in Puerto Rico and Khairieh Al Kalam works at the Sharjah Education Academy in the United Arab Emirates.

Our next episode is a conversation with Victoria Johnson, who shares the results of her research, Education Anywhere: A Constructivist Grounded Theory study of Montessori Around the World. In this study, Victoria spent multiple years exploring the experiences of individuals and communities connected with diverse Montessori environments across the globe. Her research has produced some insightful theoretical models that help us understand the deeper meanings and processes of diversity and adaptability within Montessori from a worldwide perspective. Together we discuss important aspects of these findings, including the tension we often experience between authenticity and adaptability in our journeys of Montessori implementation.

As times change, the preparation of Montessori educators must also. In this conversation, primary trainer, Uma Ramani shares ways in which she has shifted both the course and content to address the needs of the adult learner and in pursuit of reaching all learners.

This month is a conversation with Vonnie Brown, the new Chief Operating Officer at Association Montessori International- USA. Her Montessori connection began through the doorway of a Wôpanâak language cultural immersion Montessori school founded on her tribal land. She joins the team at AMI USA with a vision of greater access for all learners and an interest in inclusivity.

Our next episode features the emergence of public Montessori in Ukraine. Anna Volokhova and Viktoriia Shcherbyna and talk about their Montessori journeys, the impact of the war in Ukraine and their work together to support Montessori schools during this time. Anna is the CEO of Montessori UA, an organization founded this past spring in response to the war in Ukraine with a goal of bringing people together and spreading the Montessori method across the country. Viktoriia is the director of a Montessori program who working with the government to support open access to Montessori education.

Our next episode is a conversation with Trisha Moquino and Marcus Trujillo, the creators of new Montessori material coming out through Montessori Services. This material offers Montessori classrooms nomenclature cards created by Indigenous educators that represent Indigenous people across the land. Trisha is the author and Marcus is the illustrator of this new work created to reach children and educators with their words and beauty.

Rungano Montessori on Wheels is a mobile learning incubator whose mission is to create Montessori-based learning environments within Black, Indigenous and People of Color communities. In this episode we hear from Tatenda Blessing Muchiriri, the Founder and executive director of Rungano Montessori on Wheels as he shares the inspiration for and journey of actualizing this project.

Welcome to Season Three! Last season we launched with an episode about summer reads- Montessori-related books to explore. Our premier episode for this season will do the same as we discuss The Future of Smart: How Our Education System Needs to Change to Help all Young People Thrive. The author, Dr. Ulcca Joshi Hansen, shares her inspiration for the book and how Montessori schools play a role in changing our education system so all children flourish.