For Parents

Montessori For Families

Supporting your child’s full development

Schools and Centres

All Montessori schools and centres in Australia are independently owned and operated not governed by Montessori Australia.  We provide a listing of Montessori programmes on our website and encourage prospective parents to contact them directly.  Those with the Montessori Registered™ logo have been assessed as part of the Montessori Quality Assurance Programme as running a quality Montessori programme.  Those with the Montessori Australia logo have joined our membership programme.  Click here for more details about what these logos mean.

Directory

Open Days

New South Wales

DateTime & DetailsSchool
School ToursSchool tours are available by appointment (02) 9557 0022.The Athena School

Queensland

DateTime & DetailsSchool
School ToursBook your private school tour via https://www.bms.qld.edu.au/. Several slots are available each morning during the school week.Brisbane Montessori School

Victoria

DateTime & DetailsSchool
Saturday, 2 September10:00am – 12:00pm Registrations Essential
Caulfield Campus Open Day: Early Learners, Kindergarten, and Early Primary (Cycle 1 and Cycle 2)
Melbourne Montessori School
Saturday, 9 September10:00am – 12:00pm Registrations Essential
Brighton Campus Open Day: Parent & Toddler Group, Upper Primary (Cycle 3), and Secondary (Cycle 4, Cycle 5, and Cycle 6)
Melbourne Montessori School

Know Quality

Choosing the right Montessori environment for your child is important. Each school, centre or programme is run independently from Montessori Australia and is either privately owned, part of a public school, or run by a non-profit association.

“Montessori” is not trademarked so it is possible for any school or centre to include the word “Montessori” in their name. Most “Montessori” schools or centres aim to offer a quality Montessori programme.

In its role as the national body, Montessori Australia has established an Australian system to identify Authentic Practice for Montessori programs and to support education services in maintaining these standards.

LOGOs on our Directory Listing

Montessori Australia logo: the school/centre has joined our membership programme.  This means that the school/centre pays a membership fee to receive services and support from Montessori Australia and are a contributing member of the Australian Montessori community.  

Montessori Registered logo: the school/centres has been assessed by the national body as meeting Montessori standards.  This assessment was undertaken as part of the previous incarnation of our Montessori Quality: Authentic Practice (MQ:AP) program, a supportive and positive means of continuous improvement by which education services strive to ensure quality and best practice.

MQAP Participating or MQAP Applied logos: show that they are on the journey to become Montessori Registered, but have not yet been assessed.

Click here to go to the new MQ:AP website providing further details about the program.

Your Visit

As all Montessori schools and centres are independently owned and operated, the quality of their Montessori programme may vary.  To know quality, we recommend prospective parents locate their nearest Montessori Registered™ school or centre, identified by these logos on our listing page here.  Visits to these and other schools and centres are encouraged to determine if they are a suitable fit for your child and family.  

When visiting, here are some questions to look for which will indicate a quality Montessori programme:

  • Is the physical environment beautiful?
  • Is there a feeling of peace?
  • Is there a variety of different kinds of work being done?
  • Is there an absence of worksheets and workbooks?
  • Do the children seem to be relaxed and happy?
  • Do the children seem to have a sense of purpose?
  • Are the children kind and courteous with each other?
  • Are the children concentrating very hard on their work?
  • Are the children in primary appearing to work seriously even while some are casually carrying on conversations with others?
  • Does the teacher appear to be constantly aware of the whole room, intervening only when children seem aimless or nonconstructive, or are bothering others?

These are the traits of quality Montessori classrooms.

(List courtesy of Montessori: The Science Behind the Genius, Angeline Stoll Lillard)

We would also recommend that parents assess a Montessori school or centre using the same values as the Montessori Quality: Authentic Practice (MQ:AP) program:

  • All children have the right to an environment that is carefully prepared so that it meets and nurtures the developmental needs of each child.
  • The child is an active participant in the learning process.
  • Multi-age groups aligned with developmental planes provide for optimal social, emotional and cognitive learning.
  • Self-discovery and exploration are important parts of the learning process.
  • A non-competitive approach and the use of self- correcting materials promotes independence and self-con dence.
  • The culturally diverse backgrounds of families and their active involvement in the centre enrich and foster a community that embraces tolerance and cooperation.

Watch a video: Why choose Montessori education for your child?

About My Child

Montessori For Families

Supporting your child’s full development

My Newborn

A special environment is required for a new baby. An environment which reflects the place they have come from and is a half-way house into the world. Newborns need to be in a warm, peaceful environment, which is consistent in its rhythms and routines.

Your new baby may surprise you with their strong urge to communicate. Even very young babies are able to reach their fingers out towards you. They will focus intently on your face and try to copy your mouth movements as you speak.

Their nervous system is still immature and so they will pass through very obvious behavioural states. Newborn babies sleep a lot and can become tired very easily, being barely able to stay away long enough to feed. They indicate their tiredness through jerky body movements or tensed muscles; increasingly loud vocalization and a change in interest in making eye contact. They will quickly move from quiet alertness into this more restless state which heralds their need to sleep. You can respond by providing loose wrapping and skin to skin contact.

During period of alertness your newborn will begin to take in their first impressions of the world and their senses. Newborn babies see in black and white only and enjoy looking at contrasting colours. They actually have a preference for circles. This helps them to find the nipple when its time to feed.
You might consider offering a black and white mobile for them to look at whilst they are on a movement mat on the floor.

My Infant

Birth to 5 Months

During the period from birth to 5 months, your baby will be learning how to use their hands, their limbs and their body in a co-ordinated and purposeful way.

Communication

  • Your baby is fascinated by the sound of and emotion in your voice and your facial expressions. Your baby will love to hear you talking and singing. You can talk about what you are doing as you do it, when you are changing their nappy. You can talk about your plans for the day, or the things you can see in the room. Your baby enjoys listening to you and watching your mouth move as your speak.
  • When your baby watches your mouth move, their mouth will move too. Avoiding the use of a dummy will allow your baby to make these mouth movements and to practice making sounds.
  • Keeping background noise down (e.g. the television or music) will mean that your baby can tune into your language.
  • It is never too young to read to your baby. Very young babies enjoy colourful picture books with one or two words on each page.

Movement

  • Young babies need lots of opportunity for free movement. Your baby will learn how to coordinate their movement and become stronger in their limbs if they have lots of practice time.
  • A safe and comfortable space on the floor on a mat will provide your baby with room to move. A large mirror lying sideways alongside the mat will give your baby an opportunity to watch their whole body move. Mirrors are also great for social interaction! It will be a whie until your baby realises that they are the baby in the mirror.
  • Young babies seem to prefer lying on their backs, but time on the tummy everyday is important too. If your baby is comfortable on their tummy, you could lie down with them until they are happy in that position.
  • Allowing your baby to practice new movements at their own pace will ensure that they build up the necessary muscle strength. Encouraging your baby to sit or stand before they are able to achieve these movements spontaneously could push them before their bodies are strong enough.
  • When your baby is moving, have look at their clothing to make sure that it is not in their way. Loose or tight clothing can hold your baby up!

We have lots of ideas to promote your baby’s movement in our online shop.

Love

  • When your baby feels safe and loved by you and others in their life, this feeds their healthy brain development.
  • Feeling loved and accepted supports a baby’s healthy emotional and social development.
  • You can show your love for your baby by responding when your baby cries, handling their body gently when you change their nappy and making eye contact as often as possible.

6 to 12 Months


The period from 6 to 12 months, is an exciting time for your baby’s development. This period can see babies developing from lying on their tummies or backs, to ‘cruising’ around on two feet supported by the furniture. They might even be walking!

Communication

  • Your baby is still very interested in listening to the sounds of and emotion in your voice and loves to watch your facial expressions. Singing and talking to your baby is how your baby will learn how to speak. Special brain cells enable young children to absorb language simply by listening. The more your baby is surrounded by language, the more they will learn. You can tell your baby about what you are doing, when you change their nappy, or about what will come next in the day. You can name things in your baby’s environment to provide even more language. Your baby enjoys listening to you and watching your mouth move as you speak.
  • When your baby watches your mouth move, their mouth will move too. Avoiding the use of a dummy will allow your baby to make these mouth movements and to practice making sounds.
  • Keeping background noise down (e.g. the television or music) will mean that your baby can tune into your language.
  • It is never too young to read to your baby. Very young babies enjoy colourful picture books with one or two words on each page. Your baby will be able to grasp a board or cloth book now and look through it with you, or by themselves.

Movement


From 6 months onwards, it is all go!  Your baby will reach each milestone in their own time. The developmental continuum looks like this.

  • Young babies need lots of opportunity for free movement. Your baby will learn how to coordinate their movement and become stronger in their limbs if they have lots of practice time.
  • A safe and comfortable space on the floor on a play mat will provide your baby with room to move. A large mirror lying sideways alongside the mat will give your baby an opportunity to watch their whole body move. Mirrors are also great for social interaction!
  • Your baby is hardwired to achieve their movement milestones, Allowing your baby to practice new movements at their own pace will ensure that they build up the necessary muscle strength. Encouraging your baby to sit or stand before they are able to achieve these movements spontaneously could push them before their bodies are strong enough.
  • Everything looks pretty different once you’re sitting up! Your baby will need lots of opportunity to practice co-ordinating their eye-hand movements from each new perspective. The more practice they have, the stronger the pathway in their brain will become.
  • When your baby is moving, have look at their clothing to make sure that it is not in their way. Loose or tight clothing can hold your baby up! The same is true for objects in their environment. Once your baby is crawling, their play mat might start to get in their way.

Love and connection


Babies and young children need secure and loving relationships, which enable them to moderate their stress levels. These significant relationships can include the mother and father, other family members and also caregivers such as childcare workers. When your baby feels loved, this feeds their healthy brain development.

  • Feeling loved and accepted supports your baby’s emotional and social growth and development.
  • Babies and young children receive their information about how to behave in social situations by watching the adults in their lives. You are their role model.

My Toddler

12 months to 2 years


This period in your child’s development heralds a major change in your lived experience as a parent. Your child is beginning to use language to communicate with you and their ability to move, anywhere, is changing by the day. Your child’s movement and language acquisition patterns will complement one another. Whilst your child is busy developing their language skills, their development of new ‘moves’ will plateau. Then once they have made the language acquisition they were working on, their movement will take off again.

Communication

  • 1 word by 1-year-old is the general rule of thumb with children’s language development.
  • You are your child’s greatest resource when it comes to language and communication. Your child will watch your mouth avidly when you speak, they are taking in the way in which your lips move in order to form the words. If you are trying to show your child something by demonstrating with your hands, be sure not to speak as they will watch your mouth instead!
  • Naming things in your child’s environment will provide them with a rich source of language.
  • Your baby will enjoy spending time reading books, with you and on their own. Books with 1 or 2 words to a page and simple stories will be most engaging.

Movement


Some children learn to walk before their first birthday and others take until 16 months or longer. Your baby will reach each milestone in their own time. The developmental continuum looks like this.

  • New walkers benefit from going barefoot. It provides them with greater sensory feedback and makes it easier to learn how to walk.
  • New walkers tend to fall over. Your child will need a environment which is safe to learn and practice walking in.
  • Young children love learning how to walk up and down stairs, climb hills and run. Safe outdoor spaces will help with this
  • Games such as ‘Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes’ will help your child develop body awareness.
  • Even if you provide a safe place for your child to practice refining their walking skills, they will probably still fall over. Learning how to fall without injury is a skill and your child will need practice to learn how to catch themselves.

Love and connection

  • Young children need secure and loving relationships, which enable them to moderate their stress levels. These significant relationships can include the mother and father, other family members and also caregivers such as childcare workers. When your child feels loved, this feeds their healthy brain development.
  • Feeling loved and accepted supports your child’s emotional and social growth and development.
  • Young children receive their information about how to behave in social situations by watching the adults in their lives. You are their role model.
  • This is a great time to begin teaching your child about emotions. The simplest way to do this is to connect with your child when they are emotional by acknowledging their feelings verbally and non-verbally (hugs)  e.g. ‘You’re feeling sad, aren’t you?’ This lets your child know that you have understood and it names the feeling for them. It is important to your child that their feelings are acknowledged and that you are there to provide comfort.
  • It can also be helpful to let them know that although they are feeling sad now, later on they will feel better. This is the beginning of lessons around differentiating between their feelings and their sense of self, or ‘I feel’ and ‘I am’.

Discipline

  • The word ‘discipline’ really means ‘to teach’, rather than ‘to punish’. When we think about disciplining a young child, we can think about using challenging behaviours and times of conflict as opportunities to help our child to learn and build new skills.
  • Very young children have limited capacity for self-discipline. They need support from us to learn what is appropriate and how to regulate their behaviour.
  • When ‘correcting’ your toddler’s behaviour try to connect first and then redirect them. For example, if your child bites another child, you could connect with them first, ‘You’re frustrated aren’t you?” Then once your child has more control and is able to listen, you could provide the key message you wish to convey and set the boundary, ‘Biting hurts, Be gentle.’ Then you can redirect by moving them on to something else, ‘Let’s go and look at the fish in the pond.’

2 to 3 Years


Your child’s third year is a time of critical brain development. Their continued exploration of and experience in the world enables them to build a strong sense of their own capacities. For the majority of children the major movement milestones have been achieved and they have begun to use language to communicate. Though your child will continue to refine their abilities in both of these areas, now is the time to focus upon their growing ability to do more for themselves.
Communication

  • You are your child’s greatest resource when it comes to language and communication. Your child will absorb your version of language, which makes you a role model! If you say, ‘Please’ and ‘Thank you’, your child will absorb this and copy.
  • Naming things in your child’s environment will provide them with a rich source of language.
  • Reading to your child regularly will enable them to build a love of books and stories. Your child will develop some favourites which you will probably come to know by heart! You can discuss what is happening in the story as it unfolds. This helps your child build comprehension skills.
  • 3 word sentences by age 3 is considered normal language development.
  • Your child might start to show interest in using pencils to draw and write familiar letters or ‘sounds’. Writing requires significant fine motor control. Having opportunities to refine their fine and gross motor movements will support your child’s ability to control a pencil

Movement

  • Even though your child is walking, they will still need lots of opportunity to refine this skill and build up strength.
  • Your child will enjoy running, jumping, hopping, climbing, pushing, pulling, balancing and carrying.
  • The brains of young children are designed to enable them to learn how to perform tasks simply by watching others. Your child will be particularly interested in imitating the activities they regularly see you involved in around the home.
  • There is a strong connection between movement and learning. Young children are not made to sit in a chair for long periods of time. Movement supports their developing brain.
  • Current research suggests that children under 3 years old should have screen time limited to 1 hour per day.

Emotional and Social Development

  • Getting enough sleep is important for your child’s healthy brain development. Some children will have stopped sleeping during the day at this point and others will not. Planning a quiet time during the day will support your child to process all the experiences they have had during the day and to wind down.
  • Your child will be ready for social experiences with children they own age. This will give them the opportunity to practice their social skills.
  • This is a great time to begin teaching your child about emotions. The simplest way to do this is to connect with your child when they are emotional by acknowledging their feelings verbally and non-verbally (hugs)  e.g. ‘You’re feeling sad, aren’t you?’ This lets your child know that you have understood and it names the feeling for them. It is important to your child that their feelings are acknowledged and that you are there to provide comfort.
  • Children at this stage of development benefit from being encouraged to tell the story about what is upsetting them. This helps them to make sense of their experience and feel more in control. Begin by acknowledging the feeling first, ‘You look so sad. That really hurt, didn’t it?’ Then depending upon your child’s language ability, you may need to tell the story initially and encourage them to join in / take over. You could dramatise it, adding humour when appropriate. Your child might need to go over their story a number of times. This can be frustrating from an adult perspective, but storytelling produces understanding, healing and integration
  • It can also be helpful to let them know that although they are feeling sad now, later on they will feel better. This is the beginning of lessons around differentiating between their feelings and their sense of self, or ‘I feel’ and ‘I am’.

Discipline

  • Very young children have limited capacity for self-discipline. They need support from us to learn what is appropriate and how to regulate their behaviour.
  • When ‘correcting’ your toddler’s behaviour try to connect first and then redirect them. For example, if your child bites another child, you could connect with them first, ‘You’re frustrated aren’t you?” Then once your child has more control and is able to listen, you could provide the key message you wish to convey and set the boundary, ‘Biting hurts, Be gentle.’ Then you can redirect by moving them on to something else, ‘Let’s go and look at the fish in the pond.’

My Three - Six Years Child

By the time your child is three they will have some level of functional independence, good control over their body’s movements and have complete oral language. That’s a lot to have achieved in just three years! Yet it happened without effort because of the unique quality of the young child’s mind. Your three year old is still very much sensorial explorer. They use their senses to absorb every aspect of the environment, their language and culture, in the process constructing their own intellects. In Montessori we call this the phenomenon the ‘absorbent mind’.

Throughout this time of development your child will also experience periods during which they display heightened sensitivity to, or interest in, particular aspects of the environment. These periods, named sensitive periods by Montessori educators, represent windows of opportunity during which children’s intense interest, enables them to learn the corresponding knowledge and skill with ease and enjoyment. These periods occur universally for all children at approximately the same age. If you observe child closely you might see signs of these sensitive periods.

My Six - Twelve Years Child

Your six to twelve-year-old child has reached a new stage of development. They have moved out of early childhood and into a period characterised by physical stability and steady growth. They will have increased stamina and will undoubtably be healthier, more adventurous and daring. They may also experience an increased capacity for sustained intellectual work. Children in of this age are more receptive to intellectual learning than at any other time in their lives.

Your child’s mind is also changing as it loses ability to absorb the environment unconsciously. Instead you will find that your child begins to use reason and logic to learn about their world consciously. Typical questions asked by children of this age include why, how and when. This is a time when children are developing great intellectual power.

Children in these primary school years are far more social, they gravitate to others with increased enthusiasm. They wish to broaden their horizons beyond the confines of the family and into the wider society, most specifically into a new level of social life with their peers. They exhibit a great loyalty to their peer group and the evaluation of the group becomes paramount. During this time, children are
beginning the process of becoming independent from the family, a step they must take if they are eventually to make mature attachments beyond the family.

Your primary school aged child will probably be intrigued by the unusual and the extraordinary. They may look up to those they perceive to be heroes. These potential role models inspire children to stretch themselves and better themselves in some way. At the same time your child may be working on the development of their moral compass, their internal ability to tell right from wrong. They will want to be able to work this out for themselves.

My Teenager

The adolescent years from 12 to 18 are the child’s journey to adulthood. They are no longer a child, but not yet an adult.

The rapid physical growth of adolescence also echoes the rapid physical growth of the first six years of your child’s life, but this time physical growth is accompanied by the intense hormonal activity that ushers in sexual maturity. The energy the adolescence needs during periods of rapid physical growth can sometimes diminish the energy the adolescent has available to concentrate on their academic work.

Similarly, to early childhood, the adolescent brain undergoes significant re-organisation, as the child transforms into an adult. At the onset of adolescence young people are ready to take further steps away from their families and towards adult independence in society. They also become idealistic and peer-oriented. They can find it difficult to concentrate on structured academic learning but love to interact conversationally and collaboratively with other adolescents in the context of projects and issues that are important to them; they feel supported and nurtured in a cooperative community of peers.

During this odyssey, young people become humanistic explorers seeking to understand their place in society, and to contribute to society.  Personal dignity, social justice and belonging are key drivers.  The adolescents are asking of themselves, who am I and who am I in this world? 

Your teenager may have a huge capacity for creative expression, and their style of learning may become more practical and experiential, an approach they use to explore previously introduced concepts in more depth and in real-life contexts.

Positive Discipline Parenting Course

Positive Discipline Course

  • Want to gain the cooperation of your child or students without the power struggles?
  • Do you need better strategies for those moments when yelling feels like the only thing that works?
  • Want to rebuild respectful and encouraging relationships with your child or students?

In this enjoyable, hands-on course, parents and educators will come away with a cache of 52 tools and strategies for gaining the cooperation of children in situations that typically produce conflict between adults and children. Adult carers will learn the four Mistaken Goals that lead children to misbehave and how to counter them with words and actions that promote connection and cooperation. 

Positive Discipline by Jane Nelsen was first published in 1981 and has since sold over 3 million copies in 16 languages with trained facilitators offering courses in over 70 countries. It is considered the gold standard in parenting classes and is deeply compatible with Montessori principles. Classes consist of role plays, Socratic questioning, and other experiential learning techniques that allow parents to internalise and retain new parenting strategies successfully. 

While most parenting classes seek to control children’s behaviour with rewards and punishments, Positive Discipline teaches parents how to gain the cooperation of their children by examining aspects of their own behaviour that may be sources of misbehaviour in children, and by empowering children with skills that develop resilience, empathy, self-control and the ability to solve their own problems without tantrums or acting out. Positive Discipline sees the misbehaving child as a discouraged child, and equips parents with a repertoire of 52 tools to help them re-establish the positive connection that leaves children more receptive to redirection. Positive Discipline is evidence-based, with years of research that has proven its effectiveness in putting the joy back in parenting for families all over the world. 

Presenter: Mark Powell, Director of Education Services at Montessori Australia and accredited Positive Discipline facilitator, trained directly under Jane Nelsen in the US.

The length of the course is 15 hours in total, preferrably delivered over six weeks in 2½ hour sessions. This allows time for participants to integrate the new techniques and to read the book.  Alternatively, it can be delivered over 2 days.

Course Inclusions:

  • Workbooks are included, but purchase of the Positive Discpline book is required.
  • Partners are welcome to attend for FREE.
  • Parents may repeat the course as often as needed for FREE.
  • Childcare provided where possible during the sessions (fees apply).

* Discounted rate for Montessori Australia Individual Members and all staff and parents at member schools and centres.  Ask for the PROMO CODE from your school/centre or contact info@montessori.org.au

Scheduled courses listed on our Events page or book directly via Eventbrite.

Come along to a free Intro Session to learn about Positive Discipline!  For parents and educators.

Request an Intro Session at your school/centre or enquire about running the course for your parents (in person or Zoom). Enquires to mark@montessori.org.au.

PDF icon DOWNLOAD BROCHURE

Why Montessori

Montessori is often described as the best kept secret in education. This is not what Montessori had in mind. She envisioned her approach to education as “an aid to life” that would create peace by transforming society from within, one child at a time. 

Looking at the current state of the world it seems her transformative educational model aimed at nurturing peaceful humans is needed now more than ever before. If Montessori is such a beneficial approach to educating children, why is it still a secret? Too many parents have not heard about Montessori’s life and legacy, perhaps because there has never been a popular book or feature movie made about Dr Montessori’s captivating life story. 

Perhaps another reason this method is still a secret is that Montessori’s name has been tied to the method, and since she died in 1952 it’s tempting for people to see it as obsolete and not relevant to present day conditions. 

Those who learn what the secret is about know that the Montessori method is everything that modern research on best practice in education recommends, and more! This is because the Montessori method is based on scientific observation of how children actually learn.

Watch this video to hear the secret, then help spread the word by linking to this video on your favourite social media sites.

Blog

Articles tagged with Parenting

Child and parent food preparation

What is the best age to start Montessori at home?

11 April 2023 – 8:50am

It’s never too early – nor too late, for that matter – to start Montessori at home and witness the profound benefits of this time-tested and transformational approach to raising confident, joyful, independent young people.

When they think of Montessori, most people picture child-sized furniture that first appeared in Montessori schools over a century ago and those gorgeous hands-on manipulatives that make learning concrete and active in Montessori classrooms worldwide.

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Elderly man teaching young child chess

Learning at Home

1 September 2021 – 12:00am

“Following the Child” at Home.

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Two children cooking. Photo Annie Spratt, Unsplash

Fostering Independence at Home (for the 6-9 year old child)

1 June 2021 – 12:00am

Children are capable of more self reliance than their parents sometimes think. With the right support your child can learn to meet many of their own needs, and will often joyfully rise to an opportunity convincingly put.

Self-care, care of others, community care

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Preparing the Home Environment for the 0-3 Year Old Child

1 March 2021 – 12:00am

Consistency

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Child walking on a line

Walking on the Line

1 January 2021 – 1:00am

Practical Life activities in a Montessori classroom assist the child to control and coordinate their moments, and one of the earliest activities introduced in a 3-6 classroom is called “Walking on the Line”.  Montessori saw this as a natural extension of something children liked to do (walking on curbs or tracks) and developed the activity not only to help them control their body, develop balance and perfect equilibrium, but to strengthen the mind’s control of its body’s movements.

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Montessori Adolescent Programs – Developing Identity

3 December 2020 – 9:50am

Alumnus Madeline Cross-Parkin has braved mental health challenges on her journey to becoming a passionate classical pianist, Instagram sensation and physics undergraduate student.  

Always top of her class in academics and piano, she reflects fondly on her time at Brisbane Montessori School, from the time she was eight months old to 12 years, and again from 15 to 16 years of age. 

“Primary School was pretty good for me. I started learning piano at Brisbane Montessori School and had lovely teachers who started me off on a path of determination,” Maddy said. 

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Offering Encouragement not Empty Praise

1 December 2020 – 9:00am

Practical suggestions for offering encouragement, not empty praise.

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Montessori Parent and Toddler Program

1 November 2020 – 9:00am

In Montessori Education, the specially designed place that children come to work in is called a ‘prepared learning environment’. The first ‘work’ your child will do in the program is to orientate themselves to the new space in which they find themselves, which may take a couple of sessions. 

The space will be arranged in exactly the same way each week in order to assist this orientation process. Each area in the ‘environment’ has a specific order and contains activities or ‘materials’ which serve different purposes for your child’s development.

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Montessori Materials

1 October 2020 – 8:00am

The preparation of each Montessori environment includes the careful preparation of the Montessori developmental materials appropriate to that environment. The Montessori materials are sets of objects, each set designed to exacting specifications. In general the materials are designed to:

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Digital Technologies for the 3-6 Year Old Child

1 September 2020 – 8:00am

In recent years there has been much debate about the integration of digital technologies, specifically the use of computers, in early childhood settings. In the view of Montessori educators the disadvantages of computer use in early childhood settings outweigh the advantages. For this reason, computers are generally not found in Montessori early childhood settings for children under six years of age.

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Maria Montessori – The Pioneer

31 August 2020 – 8:00am

Maria Montessori was born on the 31st August 1870, in Chiaravalle, Italy. From an early age she broke through the traditional barriers for women, attending a technical school with initial ambitions to be an engineer, to go on to choose a career in medicine. In 1896 Montessori became one of the first Italian women ever to obtain a medical degree. In her early career as a doctor, she was asked to represent Italy at the International Congress for women’s rights in Berlin, where she called for equal pay for women.

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Assessment and Evaluation

1 August 2020 – 8:00am

The Montessori curriculum is organised in a developmental sequence from one phase of learning to the next. Individual students, however, are able to work successfully through elements of the curriculum in a sequence unique to themselves. For this reason, comparisons between students may not be meaningful. The validity of norm-referenced assessment and the ranking of students are further reduced in the Montessori context because, in a multi-age classroom, there are comparatively small numbers of children at the same age and stage.

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Beauty and Order

1 July 2020 – 8:00am

Montessori environments are prepared to be both beautiful and ordered.

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Freedom

1 June 2020 – 8:00am

From birth children are deeply interested in everything around them. They are driven to explore their world in the service of their own development. If they are to respond to this drive, children need the freedom to explore and discover their environment independently, and to engage their full attention on what interests them with a minimum of interference and interruption.

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Lessons of Grace and Courtesy (Personal Development)

1 May 2020 – 12:00am

Personal development in Montessori early childhood settings revolves around the lessons of grace and courtesy, the Montessori lessons designed to ensure the needs of everyone in the setting are respected and to promote social harmony. These lessons are given to individual children, small groups or to the whole group. The lessons can be given:

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Learning from Home Resources

Resources for Parents

The Stamp Game – learn how to make and present the Stamp Game, a Montessori maths material for children to independently practice the operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. 

AMI Digital – free digital resources to schools, educators and families, starting with language materails for 3-6 year olds.

Online Montessori courses – learn more about Montessori

Montessori Short Videos – Rising Tide Montessori provides a free library of short videos about Montessori theory and practice

Build your own Montessori maths materials – download instructions for making the Addition Strip Board, Bead Frame, Checkerboard, Snake Game and Strip Board.

Montessori as an Aid to Life – supporting children aged 0-3 years in the home environment

Parenting Blog – see our blog postings for practical advice on Montessori parenting

The Montessori Notebook – Montessori at home for babies and toddlers

Montessori at Home – encouraging Montessori principles of order, independence, and self-motivation in the home 

How We Montessori – Montessori in the home environment (24-36-month-olds) 

Learning from Home Handbook for Parents

Montessori inspired indoor activities

Montessori inspired activities for toddlers

Continuing the Learning at Home – inspiration for activities at home (early childhood)

How to create an at-home Montessori for your children

Family Music For Mixed Ages – early childhood music programme

The Math Institute (Great Work Inc) & YouTube Channel – Montessori adolescent maths support

ABC Me – ABC ME is a place for school-aged children to find all the best shows from Australia and around the world. 

100 Ideas for Montessori Early Childhood Students at Home (courtesy of St. Joseph Montessori School faculty and the American Montessori Society)

100 Ideas for Montessori Primary Students at Home (courtesy of teacher Michelle Jacob and the American Montessori Society).

49 Montessori Inspired Indoor Activities

Resources for Children

Google Arts and Culture – explore collections from around the world with Google Arts and Culture, created by Google Cultural Institute. 

ABC Kids – watch shows, play games, share stories, sing, make science experiments, and much more.

Khan Academy – free online courses, lessions and schedules

Outdoor Classroom – video series of outdoor learning experiences with environmental educators including Stories with Snails, Snacks with Snakes, and a virtual Walk in the Woods.

Taronga TV – YouTube videos from Taronga Zoo, Sydney

Museum of the World – Interactive tour through the artifacts of the British Museum

Resource for Educators

The Stamp Game – a Montessori maths material for children to independently practice the operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. 

AMI Digital – free digital resources to schools, educators and families, starting with language materails for 3-6 year olds.

Learning from Home Handbook (template) – template for schools/centres to download and customise for their parents

Learning from Home Handbook (Montessori School of Tokyo) & Learning from Home Handbook (Omni Montessori School) – samples from schools

What Works in Online Distance Teaching & Learning – AITSL Spotlight identifies best practice evidence to guide teachers on setting up online learning and advice teachers can give to parents

The Math Institute (Great Work Inc) & YouTube Channel – Montessori adolescent maths support

ABC Education & ABC Kids Early Education – education resources for schools, teachers and students

Teach from Home – Google resource hub of information and tools to help teachers

Distance learning solutions – UNESCO list of educational applications, platforms and resources below aim to help parents, teachers, schools and school administrators facilitate student learning and provide social care and interaction during periods of school closure. 

Scootle – a national repository that provides Australian schools with more than 20,000 digital resources aligned to the Australian Curriculum.

Montessori Mondays – a free Zoom webinar session from MINT (Montessori Institute of North Texas). It looks at how educators can offer help to parents at a distance. The Zoom meetings are recorded and posted with any resources on their website so you can listen at any time.

Online Montessori Training

Montessori Training Australia offers online introductory Montessori training course.

Our introductory Montessori programs are a great way to commence your journey to an understanding of Montessori education or a career path in a Montessori classroom. Training is delivered in formats to suit a variety of learning styles: video, text, and interactive online modules. Access your learning when and where you want through our secure online portal. 

There’s a Montessori training program for everyone. Whether you want to learn new skills for early years development, or want to further develop your expertise in Montessori teaching, or just want to know more detail about Montessori education, we have the course to suit you. 

Begin studying anytime, from anywhere, online.

This self-paced learning series includes:

  • Key Montessori Principles and Theory
  • The Prepared Environment
  • The Role of the Prepared Adult
  • Montessori Materials
  • Documenting Children’s Learning
  • Montessori and the Early Years Learning Framework

For details and access: https://montessoritraining.org.au

Please Note: If you are interested in progressing to a Diploma course in Montessori education, these online courses are a great place to start. Once completed, you may want to continue your professional training, specialising in a particular plane of development (e.g. 0-3, 3-6, 6-12 or 12-18). There are several organisations that you may want to consider such as AMI, BFE, MI and AMTI.

Montessori Training Australia 

Learn More

Online Montessori Training

Montessori Training Australia offers online introductory Montessori training course.

Our introductory Montessori programs are a great way to commence your journey to an understanding of Montessori education or a career path in a Montessori classroom. Training is delivered in formats to suit a variety of learning styles: video, text, and interactive online modules. Access your learning when and where you want through our secure online portal. 

There’s a Montessori training program for everyone. Whether you want to learn new skills for early years development or want to further develop your expertise in Montessori teaching, or just want to know more detail about Montessori education, we have the course to suit you. 

Begin studying anytime, from anywhere, online.

This self-paced learning series includes:

  • Key Montessori Principles and Theory
  • The Prepared Environment
  • The Role of the Prepared Adult
  • Montessori Materials
  • Documenting Children’s Learning
  • Montessori and the Early Years Learning Framework

For details and access: https://montessoritraining.org.au

Please Note: If you are interested in progressing to a Diploma course in Montessori education, these online courses are a great place to start. Once completed, you may want to continue your professional training, specializing in a particular plane of development (e.g. 0-3, 3-6, 6-12 or 12-18). There are several organisations that you may want to consider such as AMI, BFE, MI and AMTI.

Montessori Training Australia

Aid to Life

You want to do the best for your child but no one ever trained you to be a parent. Sometimes the information you find in books, magazines, parent groups and websites is conflicting and overwhelming. It is difficult to know which route to take to help your child.

Aid to Life offers clear, simple, straightforward advice that is easy to understand and most importantly easy to apply for children from birth to three years of age.

The Aid to Life Initiative is founded on the idea that children develop optimally when they are brought up in an environment that supports their natural development, with an adult who understands how to connect them to positive activity and then allows them enough time to grow and develop according to their own pace and rhythm.

Vist the website Aid to Life.

Montessori National Curriculum

In 2011, Montessori Australia received official notification from the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) that the Montessori National Curriculum (MNC) has been recognised as an alternative national curriculum framework to be included on ACARA’s Recognition Register. This is a fantastic achievement and has positive implications for everyone working in Montessori classrooms, not only in Australia but also worldwide. ACARA established a very rigorous recognition process to determine the extent to which a well-established alternative national curriculum can deliver comparable educational outcomes for students to those based on the Australian National Curriculum. ACARA have advised that our curriculum aligns with the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians, meets the particular principles and guidelines in relation to the Shape of the Australian Curriculum V3 Dec 2010, and allows for broadly comparable educational outcomes in English, mathematics, science and history by the end of Year 10. The recognition is almost completely unqualified and further acknowledges our different approach to learning, the different approach to ICT in the early years, that our history programme begins with the universe following through human civilisations to the local level, and notes the role of Montessori materials and activities in delivering the curriculum.

The 2011 version of the Montessori National Curriculum is available to Australian Montessori schools and centres.

We are currently working on recognition for the additional subjects and an online portal.

International schools requiring accreditation in their country may join as an international member to access the Montessori National Curriculum.  Contact info@montessori.org.au for details.

Parents – please note that the Montessori National Curriculum document is not a parent document.  Is has been designed for a Montessori classroom environment, with a full complement of Montessori materials, multi-aged classroom of children, and trained Montessori educators. Parents who are wanting to create a Montessori home-school environment are encouraged to attend workshops and training courses.

PDF icon Review Timeline

PDF icon Update (June 2023)

Biography of Dr. Maria Montessori

Maria Montessori was born on the 31st August 1870 in the town of Chiaravalle, Italy. Her father, Alessandro, was an accountant in the civil service, and her mother, Renilde Stoppani, was well educated and had a passion for reading.

The Montessori family moved to Rome in 1875 and the following year Maria was enrolled in the local state school. Breaking conventional barriers from the beginning of her education, Maria initially had aspirations to become an engineer. 

When Maria graduated secondary school, she became determined to enter medical school and become a doctor. Despite her parents’ encouragement to enter teaching, Maria wanted to study the male dominated field of medicine. After initially being refused, with the endorsement of Pope Leo XIII, Maria was eventually given entry to the University of Rome in 1890, becoming one of the first women in medical school in Italy. Despite facing many obstacles due to her gender, Maria qualified as a doctor in July 1896.

Soon after her medical career began, Maria became involved in the Women’s Rights movement. She became known for her high levels of competency in treating patients, but also for the respect she showed to patients from all social classes. In 1897, Maria joined a research programme at the psychiatric clinic of the University of Rome, as a volunteer. This work initiated a deep interest in the needs of children with learning disabilities. In particular, the work of two early 19th century Frenchmen, Jean-Marc Itard, who had made his name working with the ‘wild boy of Aveyron’, and Edouard Séguin, his student. Maria was appointed as co-director of a new institution called the Orthophrenic School.  In 1898 Maria gave birth to Mario, following her relationship with Giusseppe Montesano, her codirector at the school.

At the age of twenty-eight Maria began advocating her controversial theory that the lack of support for mentally and developmentally disabled children was the cause of their delinquency. The notion of social reform became a strong theme throughout Maria’s life, whether it was for gender roles, or advocacy for children. 

In 1901 Maria began her own studies of educational philosophy and anthropology, lecturing and teaching students. From 1904-1908 she was a lecturer at the Pedagogic School of the University of Rome.  This period saw a rapid development of Rome, but the speculative nature of the market led to bankruptcies and ghetto districts.  One such area was San Lorenzo, where its children were left to run amok at home as their parents worked. In an attempt to provide the children with activities during the day to fend of the destruction of property, Maria was offered the opportunity to introduce her materials and practice to ‘normal’ children.  There, in 1907, she opened the first Casa dei Bambini (Children’s House) bringing some of the educational materials she had developed at the Orthophrenic School.  

Maria put many different activities and other materials into the children’s environment but kept only those that engaged them. What she came to realise was that children who were placed in an environment where activities were designed to support their natural development had the power to educate themselves. By 1909 Maria gave her first training course in her new approach to around 100 students. Her notes from this period provided the material for her first book published that same year in Italy, appearing in translation in the United States in 1912 as The Montessori Method, and later translated into 20 languages. 

A period of great expansion in the Montessori approach now followed. Montessori societies, training programmes and schools sprang to life all over the world, and a period of travel with public speaking and lecturing occupied Maria, much of it in America, but also in the UK and throughout Europe. 

Maria lived in Spain from 1917, and was joined by Mario and his wife Helen Christy, where they raised their 4 children Mario Jr, Rolando, Marilena and Renilde. In 1929, mother and son established the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) to perpetuate her work.

The rise of fascism in Europe substantially impacted the progress of the Montessori movement. By 1933 the Nazis had closed of all the Montessori schools in Germany, with Mussolini doing the same in Italy.  Fleeing the Spanish civil war in 1936, Maria and Mario travelled to England, then to the Netherlands where they stayed with the family of Ada Pierson, who would later become Mario’s second wife.  A three month lecture tour of India in 1939 turned to a seven year stay when the outbreak of war had Mario interned and Maria put under house arrest, detained as Italian citizens by the British government. In India, Maria began the development of her approach to support the 6-12 child through ‘Cosmic Education’.  Her 70th birthday request to free Mario was granted and together they trained over a thousand Indian teachers.

In 1946 they returned to the Netherlands and the following year she addressed UNESCO on the theme ‘Education and Peace’. Maria was nominationed for the Nobel Peace Prize in three consecutive years: 1949, 1950 and 1951. Her last public engagement was the 9th International Montessori Congress in London in 1951. Maria Montessori passed away at age 81 on 6th May1952 in the Netherlands, bequeathing the legacy of her work to her son Mario.

Our Role

Montessori Australia

Montessori Australia is the leading national organisation dedicated to promoting and advancing the Montessori philosophy and education system in Australia. Our goal is to provide comprehensive support and guidance to Montessori schools, centres, educators and families to ensure that every child in Australia has access to a high-quality Montessori education. We support a ‘whole of life’ approach, sharing how Montessori principles can support independence and self-esteem, from birth to the elderly.

At Montessori Australia, we believe that children should be supported to develop their full potential through an education system that prioritises their unique interests and learning style. We are committed to promoting the benefits of Montessori education to parents, educators, and the wider community. Our website serves as a hub of information, offering resources, news, and events for anyone interested in learning more about Montessori education and its benefits.

We believe that education is a collaborative effort and that families and educators are key partners in helping children achieve their full potential. We work closely with Montessori schools, centres and families across Australia to provide support and guidance on a wide range of issues related to Montessori education. We invite you to explore our website and learn more about how we can help support your Montessori journey.

We are proud to provide member services to 62% of the Montessori providers across the country.

Overview

Montessori Australia

Montessori Australia is the leading national organisation dedicated to promoting and advancing the Montessori philosophy and education system in Australia. Our goal is to provide comprehensive support and guidance to Montessori schools, centres, educators and families to ensure that every child in Australia has access to a high-quality Montessori education. We support a ‘whole of life’ approach, sharing how Montessori principles can support independence and self-esteem, from birth to the elderly.

At Montessori Australia, we believe that children should be supported to develop their full potential through an education system that prioritises their unique interests and learning style. We are committed to promoting the benefits of Montessori education to parents, educators, and the wider community. Our website serves as a hub of information, offering resources, news, and events for anyone interested in learning more about Montessori education and its benefits.

We believe that education is a collaborative effort and that families and educators are key partners in helping children achieve their full potential. We work closely with Montessori schools, centres and families across Australia to provide support and guidance on a wide range of issues related to Montessori education. We invite you to explore our website and learn more about how we can help support your Montessori journey.

We are proud to provide member services to 62% of the Montessori providers across the country.

Mission and Goal

Montessori Australia shares the mission of the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) and works to support the natural development of the human being from birth, early childhood through to maturity. Montessori works to enable children to become the transforming elements of society leading to a harmonious and peaceful world.

At our launch in 2007, there were 150 Montessori schools and centres in Australia, educating 12,000 children.  

In 2020, this has risen to over 300 Montessori schools and centres, educating more than 22,000 children.

Founding Principles

Centralised and Streamlined

In order for Montessori to achieve its potential, there needs to be a centralised access point for Montessori service provision in Australia. In short, we need to simplify and demystify Montessori for schools, parents, educators, government and outside agencies. In the past there was enormous duplication of effort as individual schools produced essentially the same documents, faced the same compliance challenges, and attempted to develop the same resources. Montessori Australia is working to provide all these resources centrally.

Visionary and Altruistic

Given the underlying aims of the Montessori movement, we believe a well structured benevolent organisation is a key to providing support for the work of raising public awareness of Montessori. Our prime aim is to make as widely available as possible the fundamental principles of human development and supporting practices to as many people as possible. “Aid to Life” remains the single most defining statement of Montessori purpose and guides all our endeavours.

AMI Provides Enduring Strength

Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) was founded by Dr Maria Montessori in 1929 to maintain the integrity of her life’s work, and to ensure that it would be perpetuated after her death. AMI is an international Montessori organisation. Through our association with AMI we tap into enormous resources and expertise from around the world that has and will continue to greatly assist Montessori in Australia.

Service Provision for All Montessorians and All Children

While we see AMI as underpinning our organisational strength, we see it is as fundamental that services be made available as widely as possible to all Montessorians. We further seek to work collaboratively with the major Montessori training organisations in Australia and to represent Montessori to government and outside agencies with one voice. We actively communicate with all Montessori schools in Australia. Our ultimate focus is to champion the cause of all children.

Professional Staff, Resources and Infrastructure

While volunteers will continue to play an important part in our organisation, we have made the quantum leap and put in place professional staff, resources and infrastructure. Professionally implemented and staffed initiatives will assist us to meet current challenges and to advance the Montessori movement.

Community Updates

30 November 2022

PDF icon DOWNLOAD UPDATE

Thank you to our Montessori community. It’s been a transformational year for Montessori Australia!

Your many ideas and suggestions over the past year – gathered from personal site visits to early childhood centres, schools and aged care facilities, meetings with educators and leaders, surveys, interactions and feedback – have all been invaluable in helping us better understand your needs. Your feedback has allowed us to refine our services to better suit the changing needs of a modern, post-Covid workforce. Although its fundamental principles remain as powerful today as they did a hundred years ago, we believe that Montessori must adapt to the times to stay relevant and to take the movement forward.

Below are some highlights from our efforts to collaborate and innovate. Montessori Australia has achieved the highest level of community support in its 15-year history as the national peak body with nearly 65% of all Montessori programs in the country, including 84% of all schools, now members.

Quality Standards for all Training Traditions

We have brought globally recognised standards for Montessori training to Australia through our accreditation with the Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education (MACTE). Over the last 25 years the Montessori community worldwide has increasingly come to recognise MACTE accreditation as a sign of quality Montessori training and we are proud to represent MACTE in Australasia. 

Quality Standards for all Schools and Centres

Now in its second year, the Montessori Quality: Authentic Practice program (MQ:AP) is reinvigorating the quality improvement process for centres and schools through a self-reflective process that is now more in line with Montessori principles. 

Connections with Like-Minded Education Organisations

Many of our workshops, conferences and professional development programs are now accredited with NESA and ACT for Professional Learning hours. Montessori Australia has also sought to increase the exposure of the Montessori movement by making connections with other educational organisations, including the establishment of Transforming Education Australasia (TEA), a new collective for promoting the common agenda of alternative education organisations.

Advancing Montessori Across Australia

In response to your calls for increased advocacy, visibility and marketing, we have held ongoing discussions with ACECQA, NESA, ACARA, and ISA, among other regulatory bodies. Montessori Australia has been working with ACECQA to provide articles, resources and assessor training. Our video Why Montessori? has been used widely to promote Montessori to new schools, services, and is available to centres and schools to use for their own promotional purposes. Traffic on the Montessori Australia website is currently increasing at an average rate of about 12% monthly with unprecedented high click rates on pages in Australia, US, Canada and the UK! We have also sought to showcase Montessori to wider audiences through our conferences and professional development programs, which we have begun to market outside the Montessori community. 

Fostering Australian Research

Montessori Australia has liaised with independent researchers to showcase their work, and supported those embarking upon research in Australia through discussions with several universities. Our website now highlights some excellent contemporary Australian research. Working with you, the community and leading academics in the area, the Early Childhood Focus Group has compiled research on floor beds and has conducted a review of data management systems, two issues of high need for early childhood centres across Australia. Montessori educators, parents, and alumni took part in the second phase of a research project with UNSW to begin to consider and examine alternative outcomes of school success with an invitation to come to take part in the next phase of research with UNSW’s Alternative indicators of school success project. Stay tuned.

Grassroots Work in Focus Groups

We have also become an organisation of unity and inclusion within the Montessori community in Australia. Our action-based Focus Groups are open to everyone, no matter their training background. If you have an interest in participating in any of these focus groups please contact us at info@montessori.org.au

Mentoring and Networking

Montessori Australia has also supported the Montessori community by honouring experienced Montessorians in the community and connecting them with younger educators with two dozen interviews with Montessorians from a range of backgrounds on our bi-monthly Zoom program Montessori Lives! 

Montessori Australia has actively promoted networking within the Montessori community and between Montessorians and the wider educational community with live conferences. Our Early Childhood Best Practice Conference will be on 11-12 March 2023 on the Gold Coast, packed with an impressive lineup of speakers, fun and engaging entertainment and long-missed networking opportunities.  Save the dates for our 2023 events.

Join Us and Get Involved!

We are YOUR peak body. Montessori Australia welcomes everyone with an interest in the Montessori community to get involved at whatever level they are comfortable with. We welcome Montessori educators and leaders of all levels and training traditions. With nearly 65% of all Montessori schools and centres around the country as members, we offer tangible benefits and services. Click here for membership options or to inquire about getting involved with a Focus Group, email us at info@montessori.org.au.

Montessori Australia…Transformational

Strategic Plan

Montessori Australia is proud of the progress that the organisation has made since 2019 to build on the previous work of the Montessori Australia Foundation and improve the structure and inclusivity of the organisation going forward.

Montessori Australia works with compelling intent to advance Montessori education in Australia. Montessori Australia acknowledges previous incredible achievements and acts as custodians of the intellectual property on behalf of the Montessori community.

Our aim is to add value to a broad spectrum of services in the community (early childhood, long day care services, schools and aged care) and to place the organisation under a strong and collaborative leadership team with aspirations to drive the organisation towards an exciting future so that we can be proud of our global position as an impressive national representative body.

To this end, Montessori Australia has developed a triune structure which includes an administrative arm known as the Montessori Australia Group (MAG), a not-for-profit services arm known as Montessori Australia Organisation (MAO), and an entity to safeguard IP, the Montessori Australia Assets Trust (MAAT). Developments also include the offering of several types of membership that enables everyone to participate in the organisation including Directors, individual Montessori practitioners, Montessori service providers (early childhood centres, schools, aged care centres, etc), associates such as ancillary service providers, as well as parents and caregivers.

We invite you to download our Strategic Plan.

Overview

Montessori Australia

Montessori Australia is the leading national organisation dedicated to promoting and advancing the Montessori philosophy and education system in Australia. Our goal is to provide comprehensive support and guidance to Montessori schools, centres, educators and families to ensure that every child in Australia has access to a high-quality Montessori education. We support a ‘whole of life’ approach, sharing how Montessori principles can support independence and self-esteem, from birth to the elderly.

At Montessori Australia, we believe that children should be supported to develop their full potential through an education system that prioritises their unique interests and learning style. We are committed to promoting the benefits of Montessori education to parents, educators, and the wider community. Our website serves as a hub of information, offering resources, news, and events for anyone interested in learning more about Montessori education and its benefits.

We believe that education is a collaborative effort and that families and educators are key partners in helping children achieve their full potential. We work closely with Montessori schools, centres and families across Australia to provide support and guidance on a wide range of issues related to Montessori education. We invite you to explore our website and learn more about how we can help support your Montessori journey.

We are proud to provide member services to 62% of the Montessori providers across the country.

Directory

Job Openings

Schools and Centres

All Montessori schools and centres in Australia are independently owned and operated not governed by Montessori Australia.  We provide a listing of Montessori programmes on our website and encourage prospective parents to contact them directly.  Those with the Montessori Registered™ logo have been assessed as part of the Montessori Quality Assurance Programme as running a quality Montessori programme.  Those with the Montessori Australia logo have joined our membership programme.  Click here for more details about what these logos mean.

Directory

Open Days

New South Wales

DateTime & DetailsSchool
School ToursSchool tours are available by appointment (02) 9557 0022.The Athena School

Queensland

DateTime & DetailsSchool
School ToursBook your private school tour via https://www.bms.qld.edu.au/. Several slots are available each morning during the school week.Brisbane Montessori School

Victoria

DateTime & DetailsSchool
Saturday, 2 September10:00am – 12:00pm Registrations Essential
Caulfield Campus Open Day: Early Learners, Kindergarten, and Early Primary (Cycle 1 and Cycle 2)
Melbourne Montessori School
Saturday, 9 September10:00am – 12:00pm Registrations Essential
Brighton Campus Open Day: Parent & Toddler Group, Upper Primary (Cycle 3), and Secondary (Cycle 4, Cycle 5, and Cycle 6)
Melbourne Montessori School

Know Quality

Choosing the right Montessori environment for your child is important. Each school, centre or programme is run independently from Montessori Australia and is either privately owned, part of a public school, or run by a non-profit association.

“Montessori” is not trademarked so it is possible for any school or centre to include the word “Montessori” in their name. Most “Montessori” schools or centres aim to offer a quality Montessori programme.

In its role as the national body, Montessori Australia has established an Australian system to identify Authentic Practice for Montessori programs and to support education services in maintaining these standards.

LOGOs on our Directory Listing

Montessori Australia logo: the school/centre has joined our membership programme.  This means that the school/centre pays a membership fee to receive services and support from Montessori Australia and are a contributing member of the Australian Montessori community.  

Montessori Registered logo: the school/centres has been assessed by the national body as meeting Montessori standards.  This assessment was undertaken as part of the previous incarnation of our Montessori Quality: Authentic Practice (MQ:AP) program, a supportive and positive means of continuous improvement by which education services strive to ensure quality and best practice.

MQAP Participating or MQAP Applied logos: show that they are on the journey to become Montessori Registered, but have not yet been assessed.

Click here to go to the new MQ:AP website providing further details about the program.

Your Visit

As all Montessori schools and centres are independently owned and operated, the quality of their Montessori programme may vary.  To know quality, we recommend prospective parents locate their nearest Montessori Registered™ school or centre, identified by these logos on our listing page here.  Visits to these and other schools and centres are encouraged to determine if they are a suitable fit for your child and family.  

When visiting, here are some questions to look for which will indicate a quality Montessori programme:

  • Is the physical environment beautiful?
  • Is there a feeling of peace?
  • Is there a variety of different kinds of work being done?
  • Is there an absence of worksheets and workbooks?
  • Do the children seem to be relaxed and happy?
  • Do the children seem to have a sense of purpose?
  • Are the children kind and courteous with each other?
  • Are the children concentrating very hard on their work?
  • Are the children in primary appearing to work seriously even while some are casually carrying on conversations with others?
  • Does the teacher appear to be constantly aware of the whole room, intervening only when children seem aimless or nonconstructive, or are bothering others?

These are the traits of quality Montessori classrooms.

(List courtesy of Montessori: The Science Behind the Genius, Angeline Stoll Lillard)

We would also recommend that parents assess a Montessori school or centre using the same values as the Montessori Quality: Authentic Practice (MQ:AP) program:

  • All children have the right to an environment that is carefully prepared so that it meets and nurtures the developmental needs of each child.
  • The child is an active participant in the learning process.
  • Multi-age groups aligned with developmental planes provide for optimal social, emotional and cognitive learning.
  • Self-discovery and exploration are important parts of the learning process.
  • A non-competitive approach and the use of self- correcting materials promotes independence and self-con dence.
  • The culturally diverse backgrounds of families and their active involvement in the centre enrich and foster a community that embraces tolerance and cooperation.

Watch a video: Why choose Montessori education for your child?

Curriculum

Recognised as a alternative national curriculum framework by ACARA

Montessori National Curriculum

In 2011, Montessori Australia received official notification from the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) that the Montessori National Curriculum (MNC) has been recognised as an alternative national curriculum framework to be included on ACARA’s Recognition Register. This is a fantastic achievement and has positive implications for everyone working in Montessori classrooms, not only in Australia but also worldwide. ACARA established a very rigorous recognition process to determine the extent to which a well-established alternative national curriculum can deliver comparable educational outcomes for students to those based on the Australian National Curriculum. ACARA have advised that our curriculum aligns with the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians, meets the particular principles and guidelines in relation to the Shape of the Australian Curriculum V3 Dec 2010, and allows for broadly comparable educational outcomes in English, mathematics, science and history by the end of Year 10. The recognition is almost completely unqualified and further acknowledges our different approach to learning, the different approach to ICT in the early years, that our history programme begins with the universe following through human civilisations to the local level, and notes the role of Montessori materials and activities in delivering the curriculum.

The 2011 version of the Montessori National Curriculum is available to Australian Montessori schools and centres.

We are currently working on recognition for the additional subjects and an online portal.

International schools requiring accreditation in their country may join as an international member to access the Montessori National Curriculum.  Contact info@montessori.org.au for details.

Parents – please note that the Montessori National Curriculum document is not a parent document.  Is has been designed for a Montessori classroom environment, with a full complement of Montessori materials, multi-aged classroom of children, and trained Montessori educators. Parents who are wanting to create a Montessori home-school environment are encouraged to attend workshops and training courses.

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Montessori Early Years Programme

Under the National Law and Regulations, early childhood education and care services are required to base their educational program on an approved learning framework. This should focus on addressing the developmental needs, interests and experiences of each child, while taking into account individual differences.

Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia (EYLF) is the approved learning framework under the National Quality Framework for young children from birth to five years of age.

Montessori Australia has developed a poster that visually articulates the mapping of the Montessori curriculum against the EYLF. This poster can be displayed in a classroom or childcare centre, or even distributed to families, as clear evidence of how the Montessori curriculum meets the outcomes of the EYLF.

Click here to purchase the Montessori Early Years Learning Programme (MEYLP) poster from our online shop.

Please note: The MEYLP poster is subject to copyright and can not be reproduced without the prior consent of Montessori Australia.

Montessori Australia members are provided a PDF copy of the MEYLP poster.

Montessori and the National Quality Agenda

The governments National Quality Agenda is an important set of reforms for the Early Childhood Education and Care sector. Changes include the National Quality Standards, the Early Years Learning Framework and other regulations for service provision.

Montessori Australia recommends a number of commercially available professional resources, including:

Montessori and the National Quality Standards

This document looks at each individual standard and element of the 7 quality areas in relation to a Montessori environment and in context of what the Authorised Officer may observe, discuss and sight during an Assessment visit.
Avaliable: http://www.montessorichild.com.au/products/guide-to-montessori-the-nqs

Montessori National Curriculum and the EYLF

A high-gloss poster that visually maps the Montessori National Curriculum for children under 6 years of age against the EYLF. This poster can be displayed in a classroom or childcare centre, or even distributed to families, as clear evidence of how the Montessori curriculum meets the outcomes of the EYLF.

The poster is available in A4 and A3 through Montessori Australia’s online store.

Montessori and the EYLF

This document articulates how Montessori practice fits the principles, practice and outcomes of the EYLF.
Avaliable: http://www.montessorichild.com.au/products/guide-to-montessori-the-eylf

Bridging the Gap

This document gives an analysis of the most likely areas where an Authorised Officer may find Montessori Practice and other settings diverge. It provides strategies on how to “bridge the gap” of understanding.
Avaliable: http://www.montessorichild.com.au/products/bridging-the-gap-between-mont…

Training Centres

Montessori classrooms offer an environment that serves the individual needs of each child’s stage of development and allows freedom for children to discover their own path to becoming capable individuals.  A Montessori classroom allows children to develop emotionally, socially, behaviorally, and academically, and the Montessori teacher is an integral part of this unique environment.

Montessori teacher training centres in Australia:

One of the most highly regarded Montessori training is the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) Montessori Diploma, which is internationally recognised for its high standard and authenticity.  AMI was founded in 1929 by Dr Maria Montessori, and is a global community that continues today to protect the integrity of her work and accredits training centres throughout the world.  The Sydney Montessori Training Centre is the only AMI training centre in Australia.

An important consideration is to ensure that educators have the appropriately recognised qualifications to work in early childhood, primary or secondary education. Montessori Institute is the only Montessori training institution in Australia to offer teacher and educator courses which are nationally accredited with ACECQA, AITSL and TEQSA. Building Futures Education Diploma of Montessori Early Childhood Education is a nationally accredited course (ASQA). 

Due to the small number of Montessori adolescent programmes in Australia, there are currently no training programmes for this age level in the country. The Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) website provides details of adolescent (12-18 years of age) courses.

Online Introduction Courses

Balancing quality, cost and convenience is an important decision that will be different for each new teacher’s circumstances. We encourage you to carefully research the options before choosing the one that is right for you. If you are unsure whether Montessori education is right for you, or which age group you would like to teach, a short introduction Course in Montessori Education may be the best place to begin. Montessori Training Australia provides a selection of high quality online Foundation Courses which address the needs of interested parents, teaching assistants, school leaders and prospective educators. 

Montessori Training Australia

Montessori Training Australia offers online introductory Montessori training course.

Our introductory Montessori programs are a great way to commence your journey to an understanding of Montessori education or a career path in a Montessori classroom. Training is delivered in formats to suit a variety of learning styles: video, text, and interactive online modules. Access your learning when and where you want through our secure online portal. 

There’s a Montessori training program for everyone. Whether you want to learn new skills for early years development, or want to further develop your expertise in Montessori teaching, or just want to know more detail about Montessori education, we have the course to suit you. 

Begin studying anytime, from anywhere, online.

This self-paced learning series includes:

  • Key Montessori Principles and Theory
  • The Prepared Environment
  • The Role of the Prepared Adult
  • Montessori Materials
  • Documenting Children’s Learning
  • Montessori and the Early Years Learning Framework

For details and access: https://montessoritraining.org.au

Please Note: If you are interested in progressing to a Diploma course in Montessori education, these online courses are a great place to start. Once completed, you may want to continue your professional training, specialising in a particular plane of development (e.g. 0-3, 3-6, 6-12 or 12-18). There are several organisations that you may want to consider such as AMI, BFE, MI and AMTI.

Montessori Training Australia 

Montessori Early Years Programme

Under the National Law and Regulations, early childhood education and care services are required to base their educational program on an approved learning framework. This should focus on addressing the developmental needs, interests and experiences of each child, while taking into account individual differences.

Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia (EYLF) is the approved learning framework under the National Quality Framework for young children from birth to five years of age.

Montessori Australia has developed a poster that visually articulates the mapping of the Montessori curriculum against the EYLF. This poster can be displayed in a classroom or childcare centre, or even distributed to families, as clear evidence of how the Montessori curriculum meets the outcomes of the EYLF.

Click here to purchase the Montessori Early Years Learning Programme (MEYLP) poster from our online shop.

Please note: The MEYLP poster is subject to copyright and can not be reproduced without the prior consent of Montessori Australia.

Montessori Australia members are provided a PDF copy of the MEYLP poster.

Montessori Quality: Authentic Practice

Montessori Quality: Authentic Practice (MQ:AP) has been developed to partner with and support all schools and early childhood programs (education services) providing Montessori environments. It will assist education services to engage in a process of review, improvement, and maintenance to ensure the highest level of Montessori experiences for children.

The emphasis for the MQ:AP is on continuous reflective development to provide authentic Montessori practice. It provides standards and guidelines for authentic practice and supports these with a model of guidance and professional development. Montessori Australia, the national body for Montessori, develops, implements, and reviews the Montessori Standards and Guidelines, and supports reflective development of Montessori programs through Guide training, networking, and professional mentoring. All Montessori education services are eligible to participate. The Montessori Australia’s Schools & Centres Directory lists all education services participating in the MQ:AP showing Participating and Montessori Registered™.

For updated information on the new Montessori Quality:Authentic Practice please go to www.montessoriregistered.org.au

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Montessori

Biography of Dr. Maria Montessori

Maria Montessori was born on the 31st August 1870 in the town of Chiaravalle, Italy. Her father, Alessandro, was an accountant in the civil service, and her mother, Renilde Stoppani, was well educated and had a passion for reading.

The Montessori family moved to Rome in 1875 and the following year Maria was enrolled in the local state school. Breaking conventional barriers from the beginning of her education, Maria initially had aspirations to become an engineer. 

When Maria graduated secondary school, she became determined to enter medical school and become a doctor. Despite her parents’ encouragement to enter teaching, Maria wanted to study the male dominated field of medicine. After initially being refused, with the endorsement of Pope Leo XIII, Maria was eventually given entry to the University of Rome in 1890, becoming one of the first women in medical school in Italy. Despite facing many obstacles due to her gender, Maria qualified as a doctor in July 1896.

Soon after her medical career began, Maria became involved in the Women’s Rights movement. She became known for her high levels of competency in treating patients, but also for the respect she showed to patients from all social classes. In 1897, Maria joined a research programme at the psychiatric clinic of the University of Rome, as a volunteer. This work initiated a deep interest in the needs of children with learning disabilities. In particular, the work of two early 19th century Frenchmen, Jean-Marc Itard, who had made his name working with the ‘wild boy of Aveyron’, and Edouard Séguin, his student. Maria was appointed as co-director of a new institution called the Orthophrenic School.  In 1898 Maria gave birth to Mario, following her relationship with Giusseppe Montesano, her codirector at the school.

At the age of twenty-eight Maria began advocating her controversial theory that the lack of support for mentally and developmentally disabled children was the cause of their delinquency. The notion of social reform became a strong theme throughout Maria’s life, whether it was for gender roles, or advocacy for children. 

In 1901 Maria began her own studies of educational philosophy and anthropology, lecturing and teaching students. From 1904-1908 she was a lecturer at the Pedagogic School of the University of Rome.  This period saw a rapid development of Rome, but the speculative nature of the market led to bankruptcies and ghetto districts.  One such area was San Lorenzo, where its children were left to run amok at home as their parents worked. In an attempt to provide the children with activities during the day to fend of the destruction of property, Maria was offered the opportunity to introduce her materials and practice to ‘normal’ children.  There, in 1907, she opened the first Casa dei Bambini (Children’s House) bringing some of the educational materials she had developed at the Orthophrenic School.  

Maria put many different activities and other materials into the children’s environment but kept only those that engaged them. What she came to realise was that children who were placed in an environment where activities were designed to support their natural development had the power to educate themselves. By 1909 Maria gave her first training course in her new approach to around 100 students. Her notes from this period provided the material for her first book published that same year in Italy, appearing in translation in the United States in 1912 as The Montessori Method, and later translated into 20 languages. 

A period of great expansion in the Montessori approach now followed. Montessori societies, training programmes and schools sprang to life all over the world, and a period of travel with public speaking and lecturing occupied Maria, much of it in America, but also in the UK and throughout Europe. 

Maria lived in Spain from 1917, and was joined by Mario and his wife Helen Christy, where they raised their 4 children Mario Jr, Rolando, Marilena and Renilde. In 1929, mother and son established the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) to perpetuate her work.

The rise of fascism in Europe substantially impacted the progress of the Montessori movement. By 1933 the Nazis had closed of all the Montessori schools in Germany, with Mussolini doing the same in Italy.  Fleeing the Spanish civil war in 1936, Maria and Mario travelled to England, then to the Netherlands where they stayed with the family of Ada Pierson, who would later become Mario’s second wife.  A three month lecture tour of India in 1939 turned to a seven year stay when the outbreak of war had Mario interned and Maria put under house arrest, detained as Italian citizens by the British government. In India, Maria began the development of her approach to support the 6-12 child through ‘Cosmic Education’.  Her 70th birthday request to free Mario was granted and together they trained over a thousand Indian teachers.

In 1946 they returned to the Netherlands and the following year she addressed UNESCO on the theme ‘Education and Peace’. Maria was nominationed for the Nobel Peace Prize in three consecutive years: 1949, 1950 and 1951. Her last public engagement was the 9th International Montessori Congress in London in 1951. Maria Montessori passed away at age 81 on 6th May1952 in the Netherlands, bequeathing the legacy of her work to her son Mario.

Timeline of Dr Maria Montessori's Life

1870

Maria Montessori born on August 31 in Chiaravalle, Ancona province, Italy.

Attends a boys’ school in Rome, with a science/engineering emphasis.

1890

Against opposition from her father, she pursues her wish to become a doctor.

1896

Becomes the first woman to obtain a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Rome.

Represents Italy at the International Women’s Congress in Berlin; delivers address on rights of working women, including equal pay for equal work.

Studies the writings of French doctors Itard and Séguin, who worked with disabled children.

1897-98

Audits courses in pedagogy at the University of Rome; reads all major works in educational philosophy over the past 200 years.

1899

Attends women’s congress in London; received by Queen Victoria.

1899-1906

Lectureship in hygiene and anthropology at the teacher training college for women in Rome.

1900

Works at the psychiatric clinic in Rome.

Appointed director of the Orthophrenic School, a model school for training teachers of children with developmental disabilities. For two years, she experiments at the model school with materials to stimulate the senses. She succeeds in fostering the development of some of the children to such an extent that they achieve the same results on state exams as typically developing schoolchildren.

1901

Begins a second degree—in education, experimental psychology, and anthropology—at the University of Rome. Visits elementary schools to do anthropological research.

1904-08

Lectures in anthropology and biology at the University of Rome’s school of education, incorporating her clinical observations of pupils in Rome’s elementary schools. These lectures become the basis of her book Pedagogical Anthropology (1910).

1907

First Children’s House (Casa dei Bambini) is opened at 53 Via dei Marsi in the San Lorenzo district of Rome on the Feast of the Epiphany, January 6.

1908

The Children’s House on Via Solari in Milan, run by Anna Maria Maccheroni, is opened.

1909

Gives the first training course in her method to about 100 students in Rome. There, she writes, in the space of a month, her first book, Il Metodo della Pedagogia Scientifica applicato all’educazione infantile nelle Case dei Bambini. In the years to follow, this book is translated into over 20 languages. The English edition is titled The Montessori Method.

1910

Two parallel teacher training courses are held in the Franciscan convent on Via Giusti in Rome, where there is a model Children’s House.

Second book: L’Antropologia pedagogica (Pedagogical Anthropology).

1911

Resigns her teaching post at the University of Rome and gives up her private medical practice to concentrate entirely on education.

The Montessori method is already being put into practice in English and Argentinean schools and is beginning to be introduced into Italian and Swiss primary schools.

Model schools set up in Paris, New York, and Boston.

1912

The English version of Il Metodo appears in the U.S. in an edition of 5,000 copies under the title The Montessori Method. Within a few days, it is sold out. It reaches second place on the year’s list of nonfiction bestsellers.

1913

Runs the First International Training Course in her apartment in Rome, under the patronage of Queen Margherita. Students come from Italy and other European countries, Australia, South Africa, India, China, the Philippines, the United States, and Canada.

Montessori Educational Association founded in the United States. Its membership includes Alexander Graham Bell, his wife, Mabel Bell, S.S. McClure, and President Wilson’s daughter, Margaret Woodrow Wilson.

First trip to the United States.

1914

Second International Training Course in Rome.

Montessori’s third book, Dr. Montessori’s Own Handbook, is published in New York.

1915

Second trip to the United States, accompanied by her son, Mario. Addresses International Kindergarten Union and National Educational Association (NEA), and runs a training course, the Third International Course.

At the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, a Montessori class works in a glass pavilion observed by visitors.

Dr. Montessori’s NEA lectures are published in New York: My System of Education, The Organization of Intellectual Work in School, Education in Relation to the Imagination of the Little Child, and The Mother and the Child.

1916

Moves to Barcelona at the invitation of the city government; Barcelona remains her home until the coup in 1936 that brings General Franco to power.

Fourth International Training Course in Barcelona.

Model Montessori school and a children’s chapel are set up in Barcelona, as well as a teacher training institute, with the backing of the Catalan government.

Her fourth book appears, L’autoeducazione nelle Scuole Elementari (English title: The Advanced Montessori Method).

1919

Training course in London using the format that would become standard: fifty hours of lectures, fifty hours of teaching using the materials, fifty hours of observation of Montessori classes.

1920

Lectures at Amsterdam University: for the first time, Maria Montessori outlines her ideas on secondary school education.

1921

Training courses in London and Milan.

Founding of the New Education Fellowship (today known as the World Education Fellowship), of which Maria Montessori is an active member, engaging in heated debate with the leading educational reformers of the time.

1922

Publication of I bambini viventi nella Chiesa in Naples (English edition The Child in the Church, London 1929), Maria Montessori’s first book on the Catholic liturgy from the child’s point of view.

First Children’s House in Vienna set up by Lili Roubiczek.

1923

Training courses in London and the Netherlands.

Montessori’s first visit to the Haus der Kinder in Vienna; start of her collaboration and friendship with Lili Roubiczek (Peller), Lisl Herbatschek (Braun), and others.

1924

Four-month training course in Amsterdam.

Meeting of Montessori with Benito Mussolini (who had come to power in 1922) results in official recognition and widespread establishment of Montessori schools by the Italian government.

1925

Training course in London. Dr. Montessori’s son, Mario, takes this course and receives his Montessori Diploma.

1926

Visits Argentina.

Speaks on “Education and Peace” at the League of Nations in Geneva.

1927

Presented at the English court.

Visits schools in Ireland for the first time.

1928

The book Das Kind in der Familie, based on lectures she gave in 1923 in Vienna, is published in German. (It will be issued in English as The Child in the Family in 1936.)

1929

A Montessori teacher training center with a model Montessori school has been built in Rome; collaboration between Maria Montessori and the architects.

First International Montessori Congress in Helsingør, Denmark.

In conjunction with her son, Mario, founds the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI), with headquarters in Berlin (until 1935; after that in Amsterdam).

1930

International Training Course in Rome.

Lectures in Vienna, during which she becomes acquainted with Anna Freud (founder of child psychoanalysis and daughter of Sigmund Freud).

1931

International Training Courses in Rome and England.

Lectures at Berlin University.

Mahatma Gandhi, leader of the Indian independence movement, visits Montessori schools in Rome.

1932

Second International Montessori Congress in Nice, France. Montessori delivers lecture Peace and Education, published by the International Bureau of Education, Geneva.

Publications: La Vita in Cristo (Rome), Ideas Generales Sobre Mi Método (Madrid), The Mass Explained to Children (London).

1933

The Nazis systematically destroy the Montessori movement in Germany, closing all Montessori schools.

Third International Montessori Congress in Amsterdam.

Training courses in London, Dublin, and Barcelona.

1934

Fourth International Montessori Congress in Rome.

After conflicts with the fascist system, all Montessori schools in Italy “cease to exist … in a single day” (Rita Kramer).

Psico-Aritmética and Psico-Geometría published in Barcelona.

1936

Fifth International Montessori Congress in Oxford, England; development of further principles of Montessori education for Elementary (Cosmic Education) and for secondary schools.

General Franco’s coup; Maria Montessori flees Barcelona for England and then Amsterdam. The Netherlands becomes her home; a training center with model school is set up in Laren, near Amsterdam (materials on Cosmic Education are used for the first time), and AMI moves its headquarters there. At this time there are over 200 Montessori schools in the Netherlands.

Publications: The Secret of Childhood (London), Les Etapes de L’Education (Bruges, Belgium).

1937

Sixth International Montessori Congress in Copenhagen; the theme is “Educate for Peace.” Montessori delivers several lectures later collected in Education and Peace (first published in Italy as Educazione e Pace, 1949).

1938

Seventh International Montessori Congress in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Speech at the Sorbonne in Paris in which she makes one of her numerous appeals for peace.

1939

God En het Kind (“God and the Child”) and The ‘Erdkinder’ and the Functions of the University: The Reform of Education During and After Adolescence published in the Netherlands.

Departs for India with Mario to run what was to be a three-month training course at the invitation of the Theosophical Society, which has been using the Montessori method to successfully combat illiteracy.

1940

Italy enters World War II on the side of the Germans. In June, Mario Montessori interned by the British colonial government in India as an enemy alien, and Maria Montessori confined to the compound of the Theosophical Society. Mario is released in August out of the Viceroy’s respect for Maria Montessori and to honor her 70th birthday. Still, the Montessoris are not allowed to leave the country until the war is over.

1939-1946

Training courses in Madras, Kodaikanal, Karachi, and Ahmedabad in India, and in Ceylon.

Further develops the Cosmic Education Plan for the Elementary years with Mario’s collaboration.

1941-1942

The Child (1941) and Reconstruction in Education (1942) published in India.

1946

The war over, Maria and Mario Montessori return to Europe.

Training course in London; visit to Scotland.

Education for a New World published in India.

1947

Maria and Mario Montessori establish a Montessori Centre in London.

Trip to Italy: revival of the Montessori Society. Montessori establishments start to be reopened. Assistants to Infancy work initiated in Rome.

Return to India to give a training course in Adyar.

1948

Training courses in Ahmedabad, Adyar, and Poona; lectures in Bombay.

Trip to Gwalior, India; supervises the opening of a model school up to age twelve.

Visit to the Montessori training centre with model school in Colombo (Ceylon).

De l’enfant á l’adolescent (From Childhood to Adolescence) published in French. This book sets out Maria Montessori’s concepts for elementary and adolescent education.

The Discovery of the Child, To Educate the Human Potential, What You Should Know about Your Child, and Child Training published in Madras, India.

1949

First nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize (again in 1950 and 1951).

One-month training course in Pakistan, assisted by Mario and Albert Joosten.

Definitive return to Europe. Eighth International Montessori Congress in San Remo, Italy.

The Absorbent Mind published in India.

Publication of her last major work: Formazione dell’uomo (in English, The Formation of Man, Adyar 1955).

1950

Lecture tour of Norway and Sweden.

Speaks at the General Conference of UNESCO in Florence.

International conference in Amsterdam in honor of Maria Montessori’s 80th birthday.

1951

Ninth International Montessori Congress in London.

Last training course run by Maria Montessori held in Innsbruck, Austria.

1952

Maria Montessori dies May 6 in Noordwijk aan Zee, Netherlands; she is buried at the local Catholic cemetery.

The First Casa dei Bambini

San Lorenzo, 1907

The first Montessori environment was opened on the 6 January 1907 in San Lorenzo, Rome, Italy, by Dr Maria Montessori. Through Dr Montessori’s observations and work with these children she discovered their astonishing, almost effortless ability to learn. Children taught themselves! This simple but profound truth formed the cornerstone of her life-long pursuit of educational reform.

The following is a summary of a talk by Dr. Maria Montessori to her students on the 6th January 1942, celebrating the anniversary of the inauguration day of the first House of Children:

Today is the anniversary of the opening of the first House of Children. When I tell you briefly how it started, the few words of its history will seem like a fairy-tale, but their message may also prove useful.

Many times people ask with doubt in their minds whether the method is suitable for poor children and whether it is at all adaptable to them.

In order that you may be able to answer such questions, I should like you to have a small idea of how our work started, of the indirect way in which it has arisen.

It came about in a strange way, I have pondered much about it and tried to understand the reason for it. I don’t know if it is an indication of destiny, or if it was established by fate itself. All that I know is that it has something to do with the House itself. It may seem curious that I express it in this way but I do so to render the ensuing story clear.

Many years ago, Rome was a capital of a state in very rapid development, which manifested itself in a mania for building. Every small available space was utilised to build houses, every little open square. One of the many was delimited on one side by the old Roman walls which had witnessed many battles and on the other by the modern cemetery. This area was the last place to be filled, no doubt because of the superstition that it was not lucky to live near the dead, for fear of ghosts and also for hygienic reasons.

But probably because of the beautiful and historical situation, one building society decided to stake its money into building there. It was a tremendous scheme, five houses on the scale of palaces, 5 or 6 stories high. But the idea had been too vast so that the society went bankrupt before the building were completed and the scheme failed. The work was interrupted and left to stand. There were only the walls with open holes for doors and windows, there was no plumbing and the erections stood as a sort of skeleton.

For many years this enormous skeleton remained abandoned and neglected. It became a shelter for homeless beggars, a hiding place for evildoers who wished to avoid recognition and who if discovered, could easily escape in this labyrinth. Criminals of all sorts, thieves and murderers, took refuge in them. People lived there in the same conditions as the cavemen of old did in their caves.

All those who were homeless, and those who wished to hide, found shelter within those walls. Even the police did not go near them, or dared to, as they did not know their way within these grim walls of crime and horror.

Slowly, the number grew, until thousands of people crowded in these abandoned buildings. People were found dead, murdered or succumbed to diseases; the place became a breeding place of infection for the whole land; a centre of crime and of the lowest prostitution.

The “Quartiere di San Lorenzo” became known as the shame of Italy. People were too afraid to do anything about it; no one knew what happened within those dark walls. There were no small shops for provisions anywhere near, no itinerant vendor would go there to sell. Even the lowest labourer, or the poorest fisherman would seem as princes in comparison, for however poor, they would have at least some honest livelihood whereas those who lived inside that gloom had no work, no means to pay, their only livelihood was derived from crime.

The problem of clearing this pit of inhumanity demanded a solution. Another building society of very wealthy bankers, considered the problem and decided that as the walls already stood, only a small expenditure would be necessary to make fruitful whatever capital was invested. The district, due to its ill–repute, would of course never become a fashionable quarter, therefore only small renovations were necessary to render it habitable for these people already so unfortunate. Regarding it thus as a business venture, they started with one building which they discovered would house a thousand people. They used some whitewash, put in some doors and windows, and laid in a few water pipes and drains.

It was estimated that in this area lived at least 10,000 people, therefore how could they discriminate which among them would be the best? They chose the married ones who by reason of their relation with one another would be the most human. As it happened there were only very few children. It seems perhaps logical that under such conditions although there were thousands of men and women there should be only fifty children.

But these children, wild and uncivilised as they were, presented a serious problem of damage to the houses. Left alone while the parents went to work, they were free to carry out any wild fancy. So the director of the concern decided that the only obvious thing to keep them out of mischief was to collect all the children and confine them.

One room was set aside for this purpose, resembling in every way a children’s prison. It was hoped that a person would be found with enough social courage to tackle the problem.

I in my capacity of medical officer of hygiene was approached to take an interest in the work. Having considered the situation I demanded that at least the commonest aids in hygiene, food and sanitation be made available.

At the time it had become fashionable among society ladies to interest themselves in social uplift. They were approached to do something to collect funds, because we were confronted with the strange problem that while the bankers had agreed to invest money to improve the housing situation, they were not at all interested in education. One could not expect any returns from money, put into anything with an educational purpose.

Although society had embraced the ideal of improving the condition of these unfortunate people, the children had been forgotten. There were no toys, no school, no teacher. There was nothing for them. I was able to find one woman of 40 years, whose help I asked and who I put in charge.

On the 6th of January 1907 this room was inaugurated to collect the 50 children. The room had already been in use for little time but it was inaugurated on that day. Throughout Italy the 6th of January is looked upon as “the” day of feast for the children. It was on this day that the three Kings arrived before the Child Christ and offered him their gifts. It is celebrated as the Feast of Epiphany.

It was striking at the time this interest of society imbued with the idea that their giving hygienic houses to the homeless would be the means of purifying the evil core in their midst, consisting of a group of ten-thousand criminals and pitiful humanity. I also was imbued with this sentiment.

But while everyone had had the idea that by giving houses and sanitation, the people would be purified, no one had taken in consideration the children; no one had thought to bring toys or food for them. When the children, ranging between the ages of 2 to 6 entered, they were dressed all alike in some thick, heavy, blue drill. They were frightened and being hindered by the stiff material, could move neither arms nor legs freely. Apart of their own community they had never seen any people. To get them to move together, they were made to hold hands. The first unwilling child was pulled, thus dragging along the whole line of the rest. All of them were crying miserably. The sympathy of the society ladies was aroused and they expressed the hope that in a few months they would improve.

I had been asked to make a speech for the occasion. Earlier that day, remembering that it was the feast of the Epiphany, I had read the lesson in my mass book. When I made my speech I read it as an omen for the work to follow.

“Arise, be enlightened, O Jerusalem; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee, For behold darkness shall cover the earth, and a mist the people; but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall walk in thy light, and kings in the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thy eyes round about, and see; all these are gathered together, they are come to thee: thy sons shall come from afar, and thy daughters shall rise up at thy side. Then shalt thou see, and abound and thy heart shall wonder and be enlarged, when the multitude of the sea shall be converted to thee, the strength of the Gentiles shall come to thee. The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Madian and Epha; all they from Saba shall come, bringing gold and frankincense, and showing forth praise to the Lord.”

I don’t know what came over me but I had a vision and inspired by it, I was enflamed and said that this work we were undertaking would prove to be very important and that some day people would come from all parts to see it.

In reporting this new whim of society, the press also mentioned that Dr. Montessori had made a beautiful speech, but what an exaggeration in what she had said!

It was from then that the real work began.

Remember that all these children were completely illiterate. Their parents were also illiterate and they were born and grown in the environment, I have described.

What happened more than thirty years ago now will always remain a mystery to me. I have tried since then to understand what took place in those children. Certainly there was nothing of what is to be found now in any House of Children. There were only rough large tables.

I brought them some of the materials which had been used for our work in experimental psychology, the items which we use today as sensorial material and materials for the exercises of practical life. I merely wanted to study the children’s reactions. I asked the woman in charge not to interfere with them in any way as otherwise I would not be able to observe them, Some one brought them paper and coloured pencils but in itself this was not the explanation of the further events. There was no one who loved them, I myself only visited them once a week and during the day the children had no communication with their parents.

The children were quiet, they had no interference either from the teacher or from the parents, but their environment contrasted vividly from that which they had been used to; compared to that of their previous life; it seemed fantastically beautiful. The walls were white, there was a green plot of grass outside, though no one had yet thought to plant flowers in it, but most beautiful of all was the fact that they had interesting occupations in which no one, no one at all, interfered. They were left alone and little by little the children began to work with concentration and the transformation they underwent, was noticeable. From timid and wild as they were before, the children became sociable and communicative. They showed a different relationship with each other, of which I have written in my books. Their personalities grew and, strange though it may seem, they showed extraordinary understanding, activity, vivacity and confidence. They were happy and joyous.

This fact was noticed after a while by the mothers who came to tell us about it. As the children had had no one to teach them or interfere with their actions, they acted spontaneously, their manners were natural.

But the most outstanding thing about these strange children of the St. Lawrence Quarter was their obvious gratitude. I was as much surprised by this as everyone else. When I entered the room all the children sprang to greet me and cried their welcome. Nobody had taught them any manner of good behaviour. And the strangest thing of all was that although nobody had cared for them physically, they flourished in health as if they had been secretly fed on some nourishing food, And so they had, but in their spirit. These children began to notice things in their homes, a spot of dirt on their mother’s dress, untidiness in the room. They told their mothers not to hang the washing in the windows but to put flowers there instead. Their influence spread into the homes, so that after a while also these became transformed.

Six months after the inauguration of the House of Children, some of the mothers came to me and pleaded that as I had already done so much for their children, and they themselves could do nothing about it because they were illiterate, would I not teach their children to read and write?

At first I did not want to, being as prejudiced as every one else that the Children were far too young for it. But I gave them the alphabet in the way I have told you. As then it was something new for me also, I analysed the words for them and showed that each sound of the words had a symbol by which it could be materialised. It was then that the explosion into writing occurred.

The news spread and the whole world became interested in this phenomenal activity of writing of these children who were so young and whom nobody had taught. The people realised that they were confronted by a phenomenon that could not be explained for besides writing, these children worked all the time without being forced by any one to do so. This was a great revelation but it was not the only contribution of the children. It was also they, who created the lesson of silence. They seemed to be a new type of children. Their fame spread and in consequence all kinds of people visited the House of Children, including State ministers and their wives, with whom the children behaved graciously and beautifully, without anyone urging then, that even the newspapers in Italy and abroad became excited. So the news spread, until finally also the Queen became interested. She came to that quarter so ill famed that it was considered hell’s doors, to see for herself the children about whom she had heard wonders.

What was the wonder due to? No one could state it clearly. But it conquered me for ever, because it penetrated my heart as a new light. One day I looked at them with eyes which saw them differently and I asked myself: “Who are you, are you the same children you were before?” And I said within myself: “Perhaps you are those children of whom it was said that they would come to save humanity. If so, I shall follow you.” Since then, I am she who tries to grasp their message and to follow them.

And in order to follow them, I changed my whole life. I was nearly 40. I had in front of me a doctors’ career and a professorship at the University. But I left all, because I felt compelled to follow them, and to find others who could follow them, for I saw that in them lay the secret of the soul.

You must realise that what happened was something so great and so stirring that its importance could never be sufficiently recognized. That it will never be sufficiently studied, is certain, for it is the secret of life itself. We cannot fully know its causes. It is not possible that it came because of my method, for at the time my method did not yet exist. This is the clearest proof that it was a revelation that emanated from the children themselves.

My educational method has grown from these as well as from many other revelations, given by the children, You know from what I have told you, that all the details included in the method, have come from the efforts to follow the child. The new path has been shown us. No one knows exactly how it arose, it just came into being and showed us the new way.

It has nothing to do with any educational method of the past, nor with any educational method of the future. It stands alone as the contribution of the child himself. Perhaps it is the first of its kind, which has been built by him step by step.

It cannot have come from an adult person; the thought, the very principle that the adult should stand aside to make room for the child, could never have come from the adult.

Anyone who wants to follow my method must understand that he should not honour me but follow the child as his leader.

Maria Montessori

Mario Montessori

From the writings of Mario Montessori’s daughter, Marilena Henny – Montessori:

Mario Montessori – a simple man, an innocent man. An extremely generous man, a shy man, an exuberant man. A contemplative man, but an active man. A man who loved life passionately and remained young till the day he died.

He loved the earth; what was hidden in it; what lived and grew on it. He loved the sky, the sun, the clouds, the moon and the stars. He loved the wind, the storms and the sea. He loved to fight the elements. He loved to ride, to row and to swim. Always impeccably groomed, he liked good clothes, and as a young man sported spats and hats and fancy waistcoats. He loved giving extravagant presents – never one rose but at least sixty! He loved food; he loved to cook; he loved to drink and smoke. He loved pretty girls, music and song: there was nothing ascetic about him, though he chose to live an ascetic life.

He was a born teacher. He loved children and especially tiny babies whom he called miracle makers, and with whom he held long conversations, which the newborns, staring at his lips, followed with fascination.

But all his many loves were nothing compared to his love for his mother and her work. An all-encompassing love which dominated his whole existence. His dedication to her was conscious and free choice, not a result of mother/son attachment. After all he was almost fifteen years old when he first knew and lived with her – too late in life to grow a subconscious Oedipus complex. She had no place in his absorbent mind period. There could have been no question on either side of being unable to sever the umbilical cord. He lived for her, with her but not through her. The amazing thing about this man with no real scholastic or academic background was the clarity of his total understanding of the working of her mind. His intuitive intelligence and openness of spirit allowed him to keep abreast with her quantum leaps from the first to the nth dimension – even sometimes arriving just ahead, thus enabling her to soar even further. Nothing she deducted, developed or stated ever surprised him.

Thanks to him, she never suffered the isolation common to genius, never became static. But he was not just a very bright sounding board for her ideas; he helped her to clarify them and give them shape, enabling her to continue developing her unique mind to the end. As she grew older he took more and more of her workload on himself, organising courses, examining students, lecturing on materials, practical life etc. He coped with all details and unexpected complications during the training courses.

By protecting her from all practical details, he enabled Maria Montessori to concentrate fully on her creative work. He presented her with new ideas, not only reactions. As the years advanced, their complicity became total. Without him she would have grown frustrated by the lack of understanding, retreating into her spiritual isolation, unable to cope and fight alone to preserve the purity of her work.

By his understanding, his enthusiasm and belief in the significance of her cosmic vision for the development of mankind, he became a pillar of her work. He continued her fight after she died. Against all odds, all struggles for power, all intrigues, he continued the fight for the child – the child, father of man.

Mario Montessori, my father, was an extraordinary man.

Celebrating 150 years

31 August 2020 is 150 years since the birth of Maria Montessori. Montessori was ahead of her time in her research, educational approach and pioneering work for social reform. The work of Montessori today continues to motivate people to change the world for the better and has impacted the lives of children and teachers for more than 110 years. 

2020 is a year to celebrate her amazing legacy of Montessori education, as well as her commitment to advocating for the human rights of the child, a cause which is continued through the work of the Educateurs sans Frontières. To see more details on this global initiative, visit the Montessori 150 website.

Celebrating M150

We invite our Montessori schools and centres to your Montessori 150 celebrations in the following ways:

1. Use #Montessori150 to share your celebrations on social media.

2. Share your celebrations with us on Facebook or email so we can add to our special eBulletin celebratory edition.

3. Montessori Australia would like to coordinate with our Montessori community to join us in celebrating this milestone by voicing our reasons for choosing Montessori. 

We invite you to record and share short video clips that state your top reasons for liking the Montessori philosophy in less than a minute. Just using your phone or any other video recording device, tell us why you choose Montessori education.  Help us to raise awareness in the community about Montessori values and why it’s still such a loved system of education in the world today.  

Everyone is invited to start their video with these opening words “I choose Montessori because…”

Email your video to info@montessori.org.au and we’ll add this to the voices of our community.  They can be used into the future to promote and market Montessori education.

In the lead up to her birthday, feel free to share the video on your social media with hashtags #IchooseMontessori and #Montessori150.

Click here for details on the online MONTESSORI EVERYWHERE EVENT on 30 August 2020

Timeline of Dr Maria Montessori's Life

1870

Maria Montessori born on August 31 in Chiaravalle, Ancona province, Italy.

Attends a boys’ school in Rome, with a science/engineering emphasis.

1890

Against opposition from her father, she pursues her wish to become a doctor.

1896

Becomes the first woman to obtain a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Rome.

Represents Italy at the International Women’s Congress in Berlin; delivers address on rights of working women, including equal pay for equal work.

Studies the writings of French doctors Itard and Séguin, who worked with disabled children.

1897-98

Audits courses in pedagogy at the University of Rome; reads all major works in educational philosophy over the past 200 years.

1899

Attends women’s congress in London; received by Queen Victoria.

1899-1906

Lectureship in hygiene and anthropology at the teacher training college for women in Rome.

1900

Works at the psychiatric clinic in Rome.

Appointed director of the Orthophrenic School, a model school for training teachers of children with developmental disabilities. For two years, she experiments at the model school with materials to stimulate the senses. She succeeds in fostering the development of some of the children to such an extent that they achieve the same results on state exams as typically developing schoolchildren.

1901

Begins a second degree—in education, experimental psychology, and anthropology—at the University of Rome. Visits elementary schools to do anthropological research.

1904-08

Lectures in anthropology and biology at the University of Rome’s school of education, incorporating her clinical observations of pupils in Rome’s elementary schools. These lectures become the basis of her book Pedagogical Anthropology (1910).

1907

First Children’s House (Casa dei Bambini) is opened at 53 Via dei Marsi in the San Lorenzo district of Rome on the Feast of the Epiphany, January 6.

1908

The Children’s House on Via Solari in Milan, run by Anna Maria Maccheroni, is opened.

1909

Gives the first training course in her method to about 100 students in Rome. There, she writes, in the space of a month, her first book, Il Metodo della Pedagogia Scientifica applicato all’educazione infantile nelle Case dei Bambini. In the years to follow, this book is translated into over 20 languages. The English edition is titled The Montessori Method.

1910

Two parallel teacher training courses are held in the Franciscan convent on Via Giusti in Rome, where there is a model Children’s House.

Second book: L’Antropologia pedagogica (Pedagogical Anthropology).

1911

Resigns her teaching post at the University of Rome and gives up her private medical practice to concentrate entirely on education.

The Montessori method is already being put into practice in English and Argentinean schools and is beginning to be introduced into Italian and Swiss primary schools.

Model schools set up in Paris, New York, and Boston.

1912

The English version of Il Metodo appears in the U.S. in an edition of 5,000 copies under the title The Montessori Method. Within a few days, it is sold out. It reaches second place on the year’s list of nonfiction bestsellers.

1913

Runs the First International Training Course in her apartment in Rome, under the patronage of Queen Margherita. Students come from Italy and other European countries, Australia, South Africa, India, China, the Philippines, the United States, and Canada.

Montessori Educational Association founded in the United States. Its membership includes Alexander Graham Bell, his wife, Mabel Bell, S.S. McClure, and President Wilson’s daughter, Margaret Woodrow Wilson.

First trip to the United States.

1914

Second International Training Course in Rome.

Montessori’s third book, Dr. Montessori’s Own Handbook, is published in New York.

1915

Second trip to the United States, accompanied by her son, Mario. Addresses International Kindergarten Union and National Educational Association (NEA), and runs a training course, the Third International Course.

At the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, a Montessori class works in a glass pavilion observed by visitors.

Dr. Montessori’s NEA lectures are published in New York: My System of Education, The Organization of Intellectual Work in School, Education in Relation to the Imagination of the Little Child, and The Mother and the Child.

1916

Moves to Barcelona at the invitation of the city government; Barcelona remains her home until the coup in 1936 that brings General Franco to power.

Fourth International Training Course in Barcelona.

Model Montessori school and a children’s chapel are set up in Barcelona, as well as a teacher training institute, with the backing of the Catalan government.

Her fourth book appears, L’autoeducazione nelle Scuole Elementari (English title: The Advanced Montessori Method).

1919

Training course in London using the format that would become standard: fifty hours of lectures, fifty hours of teaching using the materials, fifty hours of observation of Montessori classes.

1920

Lectures at Amsterdam University: for the first time, Maria Montessori outlines her ideas on secondary school education.

1921

Training courses in London and Milan.

Founding of the New Education Fellowship (today known as the World Education Fellowship), of which Maria Montessori is an active member, engaging in heated debate with the leading educational reformers of the time.

1922

Publication of I bambini viventi nella Chiesa in Naples (English edition The Child in the Church, London 1929), Maria Montessori’s first book on the Catholic liturgy from the child’s point of view.

First Children’s House in Vienna set up by Lili Roubiczek.

1923

Training courses in London and the Netherlands.

Montessori’s first visit to the Haus der Kinder in Vienna; start of her collaboration and friendship with Lili Roubiczek (Peller), Lisl Herbatschek (Braun), and others.

1924

Four-month training course in Amsterdam.

Meeting of Montessori with Benito Mussolini (who had come to power in 1922) results in official recognition and widespread establishment of Montessori schools by the Italian government.

1925

Training course in London. Dr. Montessori’s son, Mario, takes this course and receives his Montessori Diploma.

1926

Visits Argentina.

Speaks on “Education and Peace” at the League of Nations in Geneva.

1927

Presented at the English court.

Visits schools in Ireland for the first time.

1928

The book Das Kind in der Familie, based on lectures she gave in 1923 in Vienna, is published in German. (It will be issued in English as The Child in the Family in 1936.)

1929

A Montessori teacher training center with a model Montessori school has been built in Rome; collaboration between Maria Montessori and the architects.

First International Montessori Congress in Helsingør, Denmark.

In conjunction with her son, Mario, founds the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI), with headquarters in Berlin (until 1935; after that in Amsterdam).

1930

International Training Course in Rome.

Lectures in Vienna, during which she becomes acquainted with Anna Freud (founder of child psychoanalysis and daughter of Sigmund Freud).

1931

International Training Courses in Rome and England.

Lectures at Berlin University.

Mahatma Gandhi, leader of the Indian independence movement, visits Montessori schools in Rome.

1932

Second International Montessori Congress in Nice, France. Montessori delivers lecture Peace and Education, published by the International Bureau of Education, Geneva.

Publications: La Vita in Cristo (Rome), Ideas Generales Sobre Mi Método (Madrid), The Mass Explained to Children (London).

1933

The Nazis systematically destroy the Montessori movement in Germany, closing all Montessori schools.

Third International Montessori Congress in Amsterdam.

Training courses in London, Dublin, and Barcelona.

1934

Fourth International Montessori Congress in Rome.

After conflicts with the fascist system, all Montessori schools in Italy “cease to exist … in a single day” (Rita Kramer).

Psico-Aritmética and Psico-Geometría published in Barcelona.

1936

Fifth International Montessori Congress in Oxford, England; development of further principles of Montessori education for Elementary (Cosmic Education) and for secondary schools.

General Franco’s coup; Maria Montessori flees Barcelona for England and then Amsterdam. The Netherlands becomes her home; a training center with model school is set up in Laren, near Amsterdam (materials on Cosmic Education are used for the first time), and AMI moves its headquarters there. At this time there are over 200 Montessori schools in the Netherlands.

Publications: The Secret of Childhood (London), Les Etapes de L’Education (Bruges, Belgium).

1937

Sixth International Montessori Congress in Copenhagen; the theme is “Educate for Peace.” Montessori delivers several lectures later collected in Education and Peace (first published in Italy as Educazione e Pace, 1949).

1938

Seventh International Montessori Congress in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Speech at the Sorbonne in Paris in which she makes one of her numerous appeals for peace.

1939

God En het Kind (“God and the Child”) and The ‘Erdkinder’ and the Functions of the University: The Reform of Education During and After Adolescence published in the Netherlands.

Departs for India with Mario to run what was to be a three-month training course at the invitation of the Theosophical Society, which has been using the Montessori method to successfully combat illiteracy.

1940

Italy enters World War II on the side of the Germans. In June, Mario Montessori interned by the British colonial government in India as an enemy alien, and Maria Montessori confined to the compound of the Theosophical Society. Mario is released in August out of the Viceroy’s respect for Maria Montessori and to honor her 70th birthday. Still, the Montessoris are not allowed to leave the country until the war is over.

1939-1946

Training courses in Madras, Kodaikanal, Karachi, and Ahmedabad in India, and in Ceylon.

Further develops the Cosmic Education Plan for the Elementary years with Mario’s collaboration.

1941-1942

The Child (1941) and Reconstruction in Education (1942) published in India.

1946

The war over, Maria and Mario Montessori return to Europe.

Training course in London; visit to Scotland.

Education for a New World published in India.

1947

Maria and Mario Montessori establish a Montessori Centre in London.

Trip to Italy: revival of the Montessori Society. Montessori establishments start to be reopened. Assistants to Infancy work initiated in Rome.

Return to India to give a training course in Adyar.

1948

Training courses in Ahmedabad, Adyar, and Poona; lectures in Bombay.

Trip to Gwalior, India; supervises the opening of a model school up to age twelve.

Visit to the Montessori training centre with model school in Colombo (Ceylon).

De l’enfant á l’adolescent (From Childhood to Adolescence) published in French. This book sets out Maria Montessori’s concepts for elementary and adolescent education.

The Discovery of the Child, To Educate the Human Potential, What You Should Know about Your Child, and Child Training published in Madras, India.

1949

First nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize (again in 1950 and 1951).

One-month training course in Pakistan, assisted by Mario and Albert Joosten.

Definitive return to Europe. Eighth International Montessori Congress in San Remo, Italy.

The Absorbent Mind published in India.

Publication of her last major work: Formazione dell’uomo (in English, The Formation of Man, Adyar 1955).

1950

Lecture tour of Norway and Sweden.

Speaks at the General Conference of UNESCO in Florence.

International conference in Amsterdam in honor of Maria Montessori’s 80th birthday.

1951

Ninth International Montessori Congress in London.

Last training course run by Maria Montessori held in Innsbruck, Austria.

1952

Maria Montessori dies May 6 in Noordwijk aan Zee, Netherlands; she is buried at the local Catholic cemetery.

About My Child

Montessori For Families

Supporting your child’s full development

My Newborn

A special environment is required for a new baby. An environment which reflects the place they have come from and is a half-way house into the world. Newborns need to be in a warm, peaceful environment, which is consistent in its rhythms and routines.

Your new baby may surprise you with their strong urge to communicate. Even very young babies are able to reach their fingers out towards you. They will focus intently on your face and try to copy your mouth movements as you speak.

Their nervous system is still immature and so they will pass through very obvious behavioural states. Newborn babies sleep a lot and can become tired very easily, being barely able to stay away long enough to feed. They indicate their tiredness through jerky body movements or tensed muscles; increasingly loud vocalization and a change in interest in making eye contact. They will quickly move from quiet alertness into this more restless state which heralds their need to sleep. You can respond by providing loose wrapping and skin to skin contact.

During period of alertness your newborn will begin to take in their first impressions of the world and their senses. Newborn babies see in black and white only and enjoy looking at contrasting colours. They actually have a preference for circles. This helps them to find the nipple when its time to feed.
You might consider offering a black and white mobile for them to look at whilst they are on a movement mat on the floor.

My Infant

Birth to 5 Months

During the period from birth to 5 months, your baby will be learning how to use their hands, their limbs and their body in a co-ordinated and purposeful way.

Communication

  • Your baby is fascinated by the sound of and emotion in your voice and your facial expressions. Your baby will love to hear you talking and singing. You can talk about what you are doing as you do it, when you are changing their nappy. You can talk about your plans for the day, or the things you can see in the room. Your baby enjoys listening to you and watching your mouth move as your speak.
  • When your baby watches your mouth move, their mouth will move too. Avoiding the use of a dummy will allow your baby to make these mouth movements and to practice making sounds.
  • Keeping background noise down (e.g. the television or music) will mean that your baby can tune into your language.
  • It is never too young to read to your baby. Very young babies enjoy colourful picture books with one or two words on each page.

Movement

  • Young babies need lots of opportunity for free movement. Your baby will learn how to coordinate their movement and become stronger in their limbs if they have lots of practice time.
  • A safe and comfortable space on the floor on a mat will provide your baby with room to move. A large mirror lying sideways alongside the mat will give your baby an opportunity to watch their whole body move. Mirrors are also great for social interaction! It will be a whie until your baby realises that they are the baby in the mirror.
  • Young babies seem to prefer lying on their backs, but time on the tummy everyday is important too. If your baby is comfortable on their tummy, you could lie down with them until they are happy in that position.
  • Allowing your baby to practice new movements at their own pace will ensure that they build up the necessary muscle strength. Encouraging your baby to sit or stand before they are able to achieve these movements spontaneously could push them before their bodies are strong enough.
  • When your baby is moving, have look at their clothing to make sure that it is not in their way. Loose or tight clothing can hold your baby up!

We have lots of ideas to promote your baby’s movement in our online shop.

Love

  • When your baby feels safe and loved by you and others in their life, this feeds their healthy brain development.
  • Feeling loved and accepted supports a baby’s healthy emotional and social development.
  • You can show your love for your baby by responding when your baby cries, handling their body gently when you change their nappy and making eye contact as often as possible.

6 to 12 Months


The period from 6 to 12 months, is an exciting time for your baby’s development. This period can see babies developing from lying on their tummies or backs, to ‘cruising’ around on two feet supported by the furniture. They might even be walking!

Communication

  • Your baby is still very interested in listening to the sounds of and emotion in your voice and loves to watch your facial expressions. Singing and talking to your baby is how your baby will learn how to speak. Special brain cells enable young children to absorb language simply by listening. The more your baby is surrounded by language, the more they will learn. You can tell your baby about what you are doing, when you change their nappy, or about what will come next in the day. You can name things in your baby’s environment to provide even more language. Your baby enjoys listening to you and watching your mouth move as you speak.
  • When your baby watches your mouth move, their mouth will move too. Avoiding the use of a dummy will allow your baby to make these mouth movements and to practice making sounds.
  • Keeping background noise down (e.g. the television or music) will mean that your baby can tune into your language.
  • It is never too young to read to your baby. Very young babies enjoy colourful picture books with one or two words on each page. Your baby will be able to grasp a board or cloth book now and look through it with you, or by themselves.

Movement


From 6 months onwards, it is all go!  Your baby will reach each milestone in their own time. The developmental continuum looks like this.

  • Young babies need lots of opportunity for free movement. Your baby will learn how to coordinate their movement and become stronger in their limbs if they have lots of practice time.
  • A safe and comfortable space on the floor on a play mat will provide your baby with room to move. A large mirror lying sideways alongside the mat will give your baby an opportunity to watch their whole body move. Mirrors are also great for social interaction!
  • Your baby is hardwired to achieve their movement milestones, Allowing your baby to practice new movements at their own pace will ensure that they build up the necessary muscle strength. Encouraging your baby to sit or stand before they are able to achieve these movements spontaneously could push them before their bodies are strong enough.
  • Everything looks pretty different once you’re sitting up! Your baby will need lots of opportunity to practice co-ordinating their eye-hand movements from each new perspective. The more practice they have, the stronger the pathway in their brain will become.
  • When your baby is moving, have look at their clothing to make sure that it is not in their way. Loose or tight clothing can hold your baby up! The same is true for objects in their environment. Once your baby is crawling, their play mat might start to get in their way.

Love and connection


Babies and young children need secure and loving relationships, which enable them to moderate their stress levels. These significant relationships can include the mother and father, other family members and also caregivers such as childcare workers. When your baby feels loved, this feeds their healthy brain development.

  • Feeling loved and accepted supports your baby’s emotional and social growth and development.
  • Babies and young children receive their information about how to behave in social situations by watching the adults in their lives. You are their role model.

My Toddler

12 months to 2 years


This period in your child’s development heralds a major change in your lived experience as a parent. Your child is beginning to use language to communicate with you and their ability to move, anywhere, is changing by the day. Your child’s movement and language acquisition patterns will complement one another. Whilst your child is busy developing their language skills, their development of new ‘moves’ will plateau. Then once they have made the language acquisition they were working on, their movement will take off again.

Communication

  • 1 word by 1-year-old is the general rule of thumb with children’s language development.
  • You are your child’s greatest resource when it comes to language and communication. Your child will watch your mouth avidly when you speak, they are taking in the way in which your lips move in order to form the words. If you are trying to show your child something by demonstrating with your hands, be sure not to speak as they will watch your mouth instead!
  • Naming things in your child’s environment will provide them with a rich source of language.
  • Your baby will enjoy spending time reading books, with you and on their own. Books with 1 or 2 words to a page and simple stories will be most engaging.

Movement


Some children learn to walk before their first birthday and others take until 16 months or longer. Your baby will reach each milestone in their own time. The developmental continuum looks like this.

  • New walkers benefit from going barefoot. It provides them with greater sensory feedback and makes it easier to learn how to walk.
  • New walkers tend to fall over. Your child will need a environment which is safe to learn and practice walking in.
  • Young children love learning how to walk up and down stairs, climb hills and run. Safe outdoor spaces will help with this
  • Games such as ‘Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes’ will help your child develop body awareness.
  • Even if you provide a safe place for your child to practice refining their walking skills, they will probably still fall over. Learning how to fall without injury is a skill and your child will need practice to learn how to catch themselves.

Love and connection

  • Young children need secure and loving relationships, which enable them to moderate their stress levels. These significant relationships can include the mother and father, other family members and also caregivers such as childcare workers. When your child feels loved, this feeds their healthy brain development.
  • Feeling loved and accepted supports your child’s emotional and social growth and development.
  • Young children receive their information about how to behave in social situations by watching the adults in their lives. You are their role model.
  • This is a great time to begin teaching your child about emotions. The simplest way to do this is to connect with your child when they are emotional by acknowledging their feelings verbally and non-verbally (hugs)  e.g. ‘You’re feeling sad, aren’t you?’ This lets your child know that you have understood and it names the feeling for them. It is important to your child that their feelings are acknowledged and that you are there to provide comfort.
  • It can also be helpful to let them know that although they are feeling sad now, later on they will feel better. This is the beginning of lessons around differentiating between their feelings and their sense of self, or ‘I feel’ and ‘I am’.

Discipline

  • The word ‘discipline’ really means ‘to teach’, rather than ‘to punish’. When we think about disciplining a young child, we can think about using challenging behaviours and times of conflict as opportunities to help our child to learn and build new skills.
  • Very young children have limited capacity for self-discipline. They need support from us to learn what is appropriate and how to regulate their behaviour.
  • When ‘correcting’ your toddler’s behaviour try to connect first and then redirect them. For example, if your child bites another child, you could connect with them first, ‘You’re frustrated aren’t you?” Then once your child has more control and is able to listen, you could provide the key message you wish to convey and set the boundary, ‘Biting hurts, Be gentle.’ Then you can redirect by moving them on to something else, ‘Let’s go and look at the fish in the pond.’

2 to 3 Years


Your child’s third year is a time of critical brain development. Their continued exploration of and experience in the world enables them to build a strong sense of their own capacities. For the majority of children the major movement milestones have been achieved and they have begun to use language to communicate. Though your child will continue to refine their abilities in both of these areas, now is the time to focus upon their growing ability to do more for themselves.
Communication

  • You are your child’s greatest resource when it comes to language and communication. Your child will absorb your version of language, which makes you a role model! If you say, ‘Please’ and ‘Thank you’, your child will absorb this and copy.
  • Naming things in your child’s environment will provide them with a rich source of language.
  • Reading to your child regularly will enable them to build a love of books and stories. Your child will develop some favourites which you will probably come to know by heart! You can discuss what is happening in the story as it unfolds. This helps your child build comprehension skills.
  • 3 word sentences by age 3 is considered normal language development.
  • Your child might start to show interest in using pencils to draw and write familiar letters or ‘sounds’. Writing requires significant fine motor control. Having opportunities to refine their fine and gross motor movements will support your child’s ability to control a pencil

Movement

  • Even though your child is walking, they will still need lots of opportunity to refine this skill and build up strength.
  • Your child will enjoy running, jumping, hopping, climbing, pushing, pulling, balancing and carrying.
  • The brains of young children are designed to enable them to learn how to perform tasks simply by watching others. Your child will be particularly interested in imitating the activities they regularly see you involved in around the home.
  • There is a strong connection between movement and learning. Young children are not made to sit in a chair for long periods of time. Movement supports their developing brain.
  • Current research suggests that children under 3 years old should have screen time limited to 1 hour per day.

Emotional and Social Development

  • Getting enough sleep is important for your child’s healthy brain development. Some children will have stopped sleeping during the day at this point and others will not. Planning a quiet time during the day will support your child to process all the experiences they have had during the day and to wind down.
  • Your child will be ready for social experiences with children they own age. This will give them the opportunity to practice their social skills.
  • This is a great time to begin teaching your child about emotions. The simplest way to do this is to connect with your child when they are emotional by acknowledging their feelings verbally and non-verbally (hugs)  e.g. ‘You’re feeling sad, aren’t you?’ This lets your child know that you have understood and it names the feeling for them. It is important to your child that their feelings are acknowledged and that you are there to provide comfort.
  • Children at this stage of development benefit from being encouraged to tell the story about what is upsetting them. This helps them to make sense of their experience and feel more in control. Begin by acknowledging the feeling first, ‘You look so sad. That really hurt, didn’t it?’ Then depending upon your child’s language ability, you may need to tell the story initially and encourage them to join in / take over. You could dramatise it, adding humour when appropriate. Your child might need to go over their story a number of times. This can be frustrating from an adult perspective, but storytelling produces understanding, healing and integration
  • It can also be helpful to let them know that although they are feeling sad now, later on they will feel better. This is the beginning of lessons around differentiating between their feelings and their sense of self, or ‘I feel’ and ‘I am’.

Discipline

  • Very young children have limited capacity for self-discipline. They need support from us to learn what is appropriate and how to regulate their behaviour.
  • When ‘correcting’ your toddler’s behaviour try to connect first and then redirect them. For example, if your child bites another child, you could connect with them first, ‘You’re frustrated aren’t you?” Then once your child has more control and is able to listen, you could provide the key message you wish to convey and set the boundary, ‘Biting hurts, Be gentle.’ Then you can redirect by moving them on to something else, ‘Let’s go and look at the fish in the pond.’

My Three - Six Years Child

By the time your child is three they will have some level of functional independence, good control over their body’s movements and have complete oral language. That’s a lot to have achieved in just three years! Yet it happened without effort because of the unique quality of the young child’s mind. Your three year old is still very much sensorial explorer. They use their senses to absorb every aspect of the environment, their language and culture, in the process constructing their own intellects. In Montessori we call this the phenomenon the ‘absorbent mind’.

Throughout this time of development your child will also experience periods during which they display heightened sensitivity to, or interest in, particular aspects of the environment. These periods, named sensitive periods by Montessori educators, represent windows of opportunity during which children’s intense interest, enables them to learn the corresponding knowledge and skill with ease and enjoyment. These periods occur universally for all children at approximately the same age. If you observe child closely you might see signs of these sensitive periods.

My Six - Twelve Years Child

Your six to twelve-year-old child has reached a new stage of development. They have moved out of early childhood and into a period characterised by physical stability and steady growth. They will have increased stamina and will undoubtably be healthier, more adventurous and daring. They may also experience an increased capacity for sustained intellectual work. Children in of this age are more receptive to intellectual learning than at any other time in their lives.

Your child’s mind is also changing as it loses ability to absorb the environment unconsciously. Instead you will find that your child begins to use reason and logic to learn about their world consciously. Typical questions asked by children of this age include why, how and when. This is a time when children are developing great intellectual power.

Children in these primary school years are far more social, they gravitate to others with increased enthusiasm. They wish to broaden their horizons beyond the confines of the family and into the wider society, most specifically into a new level of social life with their peers. They exhibit a great loyalty to their peer group and the evaluation of the group becomes paramount. During this time, children are
beginning the process of becoming independent from the family, a step they must take if they are eventually to make mature attachments beyond the family.

Your primary school aged child will probably be intrigued by the unusual and the extraordinary. They may look up to those they perceive to be heroes. These potential role models inspire children to stretch themselves and better themselves in some way. At the same time your child may be working on the development of their moral compass, their internal ability to tell right from wrong. They will want to be able to work this out for themselves.

My Teenager

The adolescent years from 12 to 18 are the child’s journey to adulthood. They are no longer a child, but not yet an adult.

The rapid physical growth of adolescence also echoes the rapid physical growth of the first six years of your child’s life, but this time physical growth is accompanied by the intense hormonal activity that ushers in sexual maturity. The energy the adolescence needs during periods of rapid physical growth can sometimes diminish the energy the adolescent has available to concentrate on their academic work.

Similarly, to early childhood, the adolescent brain undergoes significant re-organisation, as the child transforms into an adult. At the onset of adolescence young people are ready to take further steps away from their families and towards adult independence in society. They also become idealistic and peer-oriented. They can find it difficult to concentrate on structured academic learning but love to interact conversationally and collaboratively with other adolescents in the context of projects and issues that are important to them; they feel supported and nurtured in a cooperative community of peers.

During this odyssey, young people become humanistic explorers seeking to understand their place in society, and to contribute to society.  Personal dignity, social justice and belonging are key drivers.  The adolescents are asking of themselves, who am I and who am I in this world? 

Your teenager may have a huge capacity for creative expression, and their style of learning may become more practical and experiential, an approach they use to explore previously introduced concepts in more depth and in real-life contexts.

Membership (Provider)

MONTESSORI AUSTRALIA: PROVIDER MEMBERSHIP

Montessori Schools, Centres and Programmes member benefits include: 

PROFILE

  • A promoted profile on the number one Montessori website in the country. Members are highlighted in the Directory of schools and centres, with a dedicated website page for higher-profile marketing opportunities – our site is No.1 on Google when searching for Montessori.

PROMOTIONS

  • Free Job advertisement listings on our website and Facebook page – our site is No.1 on Google for Montessori jobs!
  • Free Open Day listings on our website
  • Member logo to add to your website and marketing material
  • Member poster to display

PUBLICATIONS 

DISCOUNTS 

CURRICULUM SUPPORT & ADDITIONAL SERVICES

Memberships are for a 12 month period

MEMBERSHIP FEES

Montessori Schools $700 

Montessori Centres $700 

Additional Centres (owned by the same provider) $100

Montessori in Public Schools $700

Montessori Start-ups $500 (discount for those starting a new school/centre or converting a school/centre) – please email us via info@montessori.org.au for an invoice

Home-based care and schooling (10 children or less) $100 – please email us via info@montessori.org.au for an invoice

Pricing excluding GST.

Use the Add to Cart buttons to join now and pay online

Invoice requests to info@montessori.org.au

Mission and Goal

Montessori Australia shares the mission of the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) and works to support the natural development of the human being from birth, early childhood through to maturity. Montessori works to enable children to become the transforming elements of society leading to a harmonious and peaceful world.

At our launch in 2007, there were 150 Montessori schools and centres in Australia, educating 12,000 children.  

In 2020, this has risen to over 300 Montessori schools and centres, educating more than 22,000 children.

Open Days

New South Wales

DateTime & DetailsSchool
School ToursSchool tours are available by appointment (02) 9557 0022.The Athena School

Queensland

DateTime & DetailsSchool
School ToursBook your private school tour via https://www.bms.qld.edu.au/. Several slots are available each morning during the school week.Brisbane Montessori School

Victoria

DateTime & DetailsSchool
Saturday, 2 September10:00am – 12:00pm Registrations Essential
Caulfield Campus Open Day: Early Learners, Kindergarten, and Early Primary (Cycle 1 and Cycle 2)
Melbourne Montessori School
Saturday, 9 September10:00am – 12:00pm Registrations Essential
Brighton Campus Open Day: Parent & Toddler Group, Upper Primary (Cycle 3), and Secondary (Cycle 4, Cycle 5, and Cycle 6)
Melbourne Montessori School

Frontline Team

For Professionals

Montessori Professionals

Committed to your professional growth

Job Openings

Montessori Training

Becoming a Montessori Educator

Montessori programmes cater for children from birth to eighteen years of age and may be delivered in Montessori early childhood or school settings.  In most cases, educators will have qualifications for working with children (early childhood 3-6 years of age, primary 6-12 years of age, or secondary 12-18 years of age) as well as specialised Montessori training. 

Watch a video: Why become a Montessori teacher? 

Online Training Courses

Online introductory Montessori training courses are available through Montessori Training Australia, with courses that promote best practice in Montessori education. Utilising a flexible online platform, packages allow users to customise their learning experience to suit their individual needs. Content is both engaging and informative and delivered through high quality audio-visual resources, interactive learning activities and thought-provoking discussions.

The online courses are suitable for educators, assistant staff, administrators, Board/Committee members, parents and anyone wishing to know more about Montessori principles and practice.  

Read more about these courses here.

Note that these online courses are introductory courses only, not full Montessori teacher training Diploma courses, and are not ACECQA registered.

Montessori Qualifications

Visit our Training Centre page for details on the Montessori training centres in Australia including:

Early Childhood Educator Qualifications

The National Quality Framework (NQF) sets out minimum qualification requirements for educators working in early childhood education and care services.  The NQF is administered through the Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality Authority (ACECQA).  The ACECQA website provides information on the approved early childhood qualifications and for assessment of existing and overseas qualifications.  

There are three main levels of educators, which apply to centre-based and family day care services from birth to preschool age:

  • Certificate III Level Educator
  • Diploma Level Educator
  • Early Childhood Teacher (ECT)

Refer to the ACECQA Qualifications List on their website for details on what Montessori courses are approved. 

Overseas Qualification Holders

Holders of overseas early childhood or Montessori qualifications may not be approved to work in early childhood in Australia. Your qualifications must be assessed individually by ACECQA as no overseas Montessori qualifications are accredited in Australia.  Please refer to the ACECQA website for details.  Unfortunately, most overseas Montessori qualifications will not be recognised by ACECQA, so you may need to undertake Australian early childhood qualifications.  

Primary and Secondary Educator Qualifications 

Montessori educators teaching primary aged children should have relevant Montessori primary training, as well as a teaching degree and teacher registration in the state/territory that they intend to teach.  Each state/territory in Australia has a regulatory body, which mandates these teaching qualifications.  In general, the qualification will be a four year tertiary study such as a Bachelor of Education (Montessori training qualifications are not assessed as part of their teaching qualfications).  Find your local regulatory authority here.

Due to the small number of Montessori adolescent programmes in Australia, there are currently no training programmes for this age level in the country.  Courses at this age level are listed on the AMI website.

Find out more by reading the PDF document: Which Training Program is right for you?

Job Openings

A listing of Montessori job opportunities is found on our website here.

Training Centres

Montessori classrooms offer an environment that serves the individual needs of each child’s stage of development and allows freedom for children to discover their own path to becoming capable individuals.  A Montessori classroom allows children to develop emotionally, socially, behaviorally, and academically, and the Montessori teacher is an integral part of this unique environment.

Montessori teacher training centres in Australia:

One of the most highly regarded Montessori training is the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) Montessori Diploma, which is internationally recognised for its high standard and authenticity.  AMI was founded in 1929 by Dr Maria Montessori, and is a global community that continues today to protect the integrity of her work and accredits training centres throughout the world.  The Sydney Montessori Training Centre is the only AMI training centre in Australia.

An important consideration is to ensure that educators have the appropriately recognised qualifications to work in early childhood, primary or secondary education. Montessori Institute is the only Montessori training institution in Australia to offer teacher and educator courses which are nationally accredited with ACECQA, AITSL and TEQSA. Building Futures Education Diploma of Montessori Early Childhood Education is a nationally accredited course (ASQA). 

Due to the small number of Montessori adolescent programmes in Australia, there are currently no training programmes for this age level in the country. The Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) website provides details of adolescent (12-18 years of age) courses.

Online Introduction Courses

Balancing quality, cost and convenience is an important decision that will be different for each new teacher’s circumstances. We encourage you to carefully research the options before choosing the one that is right for you. If you are unsure whether Montessori education is right for you, or which age group you would like to teach, a short introduction Course in Montessori Education may be the best place to begin. Montessori Training Australia provides a selection of high quality online Foundation Courses which address the needs of interested parents, teaching assistants, school leaders and prospective educators. 

Montessori Training Australia

Montessori Training Australia offers online introductory Montessori training course.

Our introductory Montessori programs are a great way to commence your journey to an understanding of Montessori education or a career path in a Montessori classroom. Training is delivered in formats to suit a variety of learning styles: video, text, and interactive online modules. Access your learning when and where you want through our secure online portal. 

There’s a Montessori training program for everyone. Whether you want to learn new skills for early years development, or want to further develop your expertise in Montessori teaching, or just want to know more detail about Montessori education, we have the course to suit you. 

Begin studying anytime, from anywhere, online.

This self-paced learning series includes:

  • Key Montessori Principles and Theory
  • The Prepared Environment
  • The Role of the Prepared Adult
  • Montessori Materials
  • Documenting Children’s Learning
  • Montessori and the Early Years Learning Framework

For details and access: https://montessoritraining.org.au

Please Note: If you are interested in progressing to a Diploma course in Montessori education, these online courses are a great place to start. Once completed, you may want to continue your professional training, specialising in a particular plane of development (e.g. 0-3, 3-6, 6-12 or 12-18). There are several organisations that you may want to consider such as AMI, BFE, MI and AMTI.

Montessori Training Australia 

Australian Montessori Training Institute

Montessori educators, whether they be a Montessori teacher, a Montessori assistant or a parent, work to support the child in his or her process of self-development. “To aid life…that is the basic task of the educator.” Dr Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind

The Australia Montessori Training Institute (AMTI) is committed to providing quality Montessori training courses to the Montessori community, and to those interested in becoming qualified in the Montessori Method. Every consideration is given to ensure flexible training options to best meet the growing demand for Montessori early childhood educators.

From high-quality online learning, to flexible classroom face-to-face courses, AMTI training is available when you need it.

Whether you’re an educator or parent, Montessori study offers valuable insight into discovering and supporting the natural development of the child. AMTI can introduce and help you to implement a Montessori approach in your home, childcare centre, preschool, or school.

AMTI’s Professional, Personal and Practical training packages are:

1. Affordable: Our courses are competitively priced including support for mentoring and finding internship work.

2. Flexible: Start any week when you are ready with your choice of study for supporting children in the age groupings of 0-3, 2.5-6, and 6-12.

3. Accessible – weekly face-to-face or Zoom meetings with your trainer and weekly lessons emailed directly to you.

Online Videos of almost every lesson available for unlimited reviews: Click here to view a sample of an online training video.

Contact info@amti.org.au for more information about AMTI courses.

Courses are also available in Chinese from our China Office in Yiwu, Hangzhou Sage Education, visit here for more information. 

Building Futures Education

Building Futures Education is a Training College focussing on Early Childhood Education. 

The Training College offers a unique classroom learning experience; providing students with a nationally recognised Diploma in Early Education and Care, Diploma of Montessori Early Childhood Education and Certificate III in Early Education and Care.

BFE has fully qualified experienced trainers who are hand-picked for their unique ability to understand all types of learning so each student can effectively strive and learn their own way.

Their Diploma of Montessori Early Childhood Education is Nationally Recognised, and provides a comprehensive and detailed study of the theory and skills involved in the delivery of a Montessori education program for children aged 0-6 years.  Click here to view the course brochure.

BFE also delivers Montessori short courses and workshops and parent development courses.

Based in Forest Lake Queensland, their stand-alone purpose built Training College is fully fitted out with a classroom set up and a student’s lounge for separate studying.

Contact Building Futures Education:

https://bfe.edu.au

admin@bfe.edu.au

(07) 3073 5000

Montessori Institute

As the largest Montessori training organisation in Australia, the Montessori Institute offers flexible, nationally recognised, Early Childhood and Primary teacher registration qualifications, alongside Diploma and Certificate level qualifications. They also provide professional development and education for schools, childcare centres and the wider community, with which they we have built strong relationships over forty years. Their ACECQA (early childhood regulator) and AITSL (teacher registration regulator) accredited courses are delivered via a blend of external, online study and intensive face to face workshops, Australia wide.

Incorporated in 1983, the Montessori Institute is a not-for-profit organisation and an accredited Higher Education Provider with the Tertiary Education Quality Standards Authority (TEQSA). They have dedicated their work to develop and present world class Montessori courses and workshops, to both students and non-students.

Graduate Diploma of Education (Montessori) 3-6 years or 6-12 years focus. Recognised nationally as a teaching qualification, this course enables students to become registered teachers in their State. It is AITSL and ACECQA listed.

Diploma of Early Childhood and Primary Education (Montessori) 0-3, 3-6 or 6-12 years focus. This course enables registered teachers to gain Montessori curriculum knowledge for their classroom. It is ACECQA listed as an Early Childhood qualification (0-3 and 3-6 focus). The Diploma also qualifies non registered teachers to work as education assistants in schools or as room leaders/supervisors in a child care centre.

Certificate in Montessori Studies 0-5 or 3-6. Ideal for students who already hold a Certificate III or Diploma level qualification, but want to obtain Montessori curriculum knowledge for use in child care centres.

Diploma of Montessori Leadership and Practice. Ideal for principals or Montessori centre managers who wish to gain an understanding of Montessori theory, philosophy and curriculum.

Visit their website www.mwei.edu.au for further details.

Resources

PDF icon Graduate Diploma Brochure

PDF icon Diploma Brochure

PDF icon Certificate Brochure

PDF icon Leadership Brochure

Sydney Montessori Training Centre

Sydney Montessori Training Centre (SMTC) is a national organisation committed to providing quality training to the Montessori community and to those interested in becoming qualified in the Montessori method. 

SMTC is authorised to deliver Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) Montessori courses. AMI was established by Maria Montessori and affiliates training centres around the world. AMI courses are recognised internationally for their authenticity and quality.

SMTC offer AMI training courses in the following:

  • AMI Montessori 6-12 Diploma
  • AMI Montessori 6-12 Orientation Certificate
  • AMI Montessori 3-6 Diploma
  • AMI Montessori 3-6 Orientation Certificate
  • AMI Montessori 0-3 Orientation Certificate
  • AMI Montessori Foundation Course

Click here to visit their website for further details.

Professional Learning

Montessori Australia event programme is designed to meet the needs of all Montessorians, whether they are involved in supporting the development of the child and the care of our elders. We offer a range of events for Montessori educators, carers and parents, as well as Montessori school principals, business managers and administrators, and Montessori centre owners, managers and operators. Our events programme reflects the annual feedback and suggestions we receive from our community and incorporates an impressive range of topics and presenters.  

Visit our events page here.

For those new to Montessori and needing an immeditate introduction to Montessori early childhood education, Montessori Training Australia offers online training courses.

Research

Montessori Australia recognises and is committed to the role of research in promoting greater awareness, acceptance and understanding of the Montessori Method within the Australian community. We recognise that education requires a strong evidence base, and we are committed to working towards building a complete research framework. By establishing a comprehensive research framework, Montessori Australia will be able to share the evidence-based value of the Montessori Method for families, educators, leaders, legislators and researchers.This research framework incorporates, but is not limited to:

  • The encouragement of Australian research and its publication
  • Facilitating a network for research, including links to international Montessori research 
  • The collection of historical data and links with the broader field of education
  • Inclusive education
  • Montessori materials
  • Montessori principles 
  • Research partnerships and opportunities
  • Teacher education & career development
  • Supporting innovation

Current Research

Research activities exist across a number of key areas, by both Montessorians and independent academic researchers.  

The following list indicates some of the research areas within the Montessori and broader context, recently or currently being pursued:

  • Montessori and Indigenous communities
  • Reflective practice
  • Leadership and governance 
  • Strategic investigations for the future development of the Montessori movement in Australia
  • Studies relating to Montessori principles and practices and links to ELYF
  • Research relating to Montessori materials 
  • Research projects with universities, particularly with UNSW
  • Research work to develop Montessori teacher training and career development

Current Research Opportunities

Montessori Australia supports the following research opportunities. Contact Alex Ioannou on alex@montessori.org.au for enquiries.

Responsive and inclusive education in diverse schools (VIC primary or secondary teachers)

Monash University is delighted to invite Victorian primary or secondary teachers to participate in a ground-breaking survey about responsive and inclusive education in diverse schools. As a teacher who is committed to creating an inclusive and welcoming learning environment, your valuable insights and experiences are critical to our research.

The survey aims to identify what you value and can do in order to create an inclusive learning environment that promotes equity and social justice. The results of this survey will help inform educational policies, teacher professional education, and practices that support diverse students and promote their academic success and well-being.

The survey is available here: https://monash.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_7VQq2851qaMik2W

Your participation in this survey is completely voluntary and all responses will be kept confidential. The survey will take approximately 15 minutes to complete. Your responses will be invaluable in advancing our understanding of responsive and inclusive education.

Evidence-based Education

The Montessori program is not only a unique philosophy offering parents an alternative to the traditional schooling system. The Montessori Method has been demonstrated to improve education outcomes for children in multiple different settings and variables.

Australian

The introduction of Montessori teaching and learning practices in an early childhood classroom in a remote Indigenous school

Holmes, C. (2016) Master by Dissertation, The University of Notre Dame, Fremantle. 

Montessori education in the Ngaanyatjarra Lands

Holmes, C. (2018) Journal of Montessori Research, 4(2), 33-60. 

The Montessori method, Aboriginal students and Linnaean zoology taxonomy teaching: three-staged lesson

Rioux J, Ewing B, & Cooper TJ. (2019). The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education. 1–11. 

Convergence and Divergence of Ethnomathematics (D’Ambrosio) and Mathematics (Montessori): An Ethnomathematics Program

Rioux, J. (2021). E-article. Montessori Australia. Issue 4 November. 

Montessori Educators and the Australian Early Years Learning Framework in Montessori Early Childhood Environments in Western Australia: A qualitative study

Stevens, R. (2020).  (Master by Research, University of Western Australia) 

International

An Intervention Study: Removing Supplemented Materials from Montessori Classrooms Associated with Better Child Outcomes

Montessori classrooms vary a good deal in implementation, and one way in which implementation differs is the provision of materials.  Specifically, some classrooms use only Montessori materials, whereas others supplement the Montessori materials with commercially available materials like puzzles and games.  A prior study suggested this might be a reason for observed differences across studies and classrooms (Author, 2012) but an intervention study is the best test.  The present study presents such an intervention with 52 children in 3 Montessori classrooms with Supplementary materials. All children were given 6 pretests, and non-Montessori materials were removed from 2 of the classrooms.  Four months later, children were retested to see how much they changed across that period.  Children in the classrooms from which the non-Montessori materials were removed advanced significantly more in early reading and executive function, and to some degree advanced more in early math.  There were no differences across the classroom types in amount of change on the tests of vocabulary, social knowledge, or social skills.

Lillard, A. S., & Heise, M. J. (2016). An Intervention Study: Removing Supplemented Materials from Montessori Classrooms Associated with Better Child Outcomes. Journal of Montessori Research, 2(1), 16–26. https://doi.org/10.17161/jomr.v2i1.5678

Montessori preschool elevates and equalizes child outcomes – Angeline S. Lillard, Megan J. Heise, Eve M. Richey, Xin Tong, Alyssa Hart and Paige M. Bray (Frontiers in Psychology, 2017)

A longitudinal study that took advantage of randomized lottery-based admission to two public Montessori magnet schools in a high-poverty American city. The final sample included 141 children, 70 in Montessori and 71 in other schools, most of whom were tested 4 times over 3 years, from the first semester to the end of preschool (ages 3 to 6), on a variety of cognitive and socio-emotional measures.

Montessori preschool elevated children’s outcomes in several ways. Although not different at the first test point, over time the Montessori children fared better on measures of academic achievement, social understanding, and mastery orientation, and they also reported relatively more liking of scholastic tasks. They also scored higher on executive function when they were 4.

In addition to elevating overall performance on these measures, Montessori preschool also equalised outcomes among subgroups that typically have unequal outcomes. First, the difference in academic achievement between lower income Montessori and higher income conventionally schooled children was smaller at each time point, and was not (statistically speaking) significantly different at the end of the study. Second, defying the typical finding that executive function predicts academic achievement, in Montessori classrooms children with lower executive function scored as well on academic achievement as those with higher executive function. 

Lillard, A. & Else-Quest, N. (2006) – Evaluating Montessori Education (Science 313)

This study compared outcomes of 59 children at a Milwaukee, Wisconsin public inner city Montessori school with 53 children who attended traditional schools in the same area. The results indicated that Montessori education leads to children with better social and academic skills. It was published by Angeline Lillard and Nicole Else-Quest in the Sept. 29 2006 issues of the journal Science.

The following summary was reported in The Times (London) September 29, 2006 and is an extract from an article by Alexandra Frean.

  • Pupils who learn at their own pace in Montessori schools may have an advantage over those in traditional classrooms
  • By the age of five, children at Montessori schools are better at basic word recognition and mathematics and are more likely to play co-operatively with other children. By the age of 12, they are more creative and better able to resolve social problems
  • Academically, they end up in the same place or better as non-Montessori children, but they are much better at getting on in a community.
  • Among the five year olds, Montessori students not only performed significantly better in maths and English, but were also better able to see the world through others’ eyes and performed better on “executive function”, which is the ability to adapt to change and approaching complex problems.
  • By the age of twelve, the difference in academic scores between the two groups was less pronounced. The Montessori children, however, wrote more creative essays, selected more positive responses to social dilemmas and reported a more positive sense of community at their school.
    Science Vol 3131 29 September 2006
    http://www.montessori-science.org/science_journal_article.htm

Chisnall, N. & Maher, M. (2007) – Montessori Mathematics in Early Childhood Education

The research project examined mathematical concept development in children prior to school entry and indicated Montessori may have a positive impact on children’s numeracy knowledge. The key outcomes were:

  • Montessori students showed significantly higher achievement regarding backward number word sequence (a precursor to subtraction); early addition and subtraction; and place value concepts.
  • Indicators that the Montessori system may be offering more opportunities for children to develop higher order skills and concepts in early childhood.
  • Indicators that Montessori can favourably impact students in low socioeconomic status areas.
    Source: Curriculum Matters 3, 6-28.

Harris, E. M. (2004) – Evaluation of the reorganization of Northboro Elementary School in Palm Beach County, Florida: a ten year perspective

This was an 11 year case study of one school and the impact that Montessori brought. It examined an at risk elementary school from 1991 to 2002. The school population was 86% African American, 12% Hispanic, and 2% White or mixed race. (98% on lunch program). The community decided on the Montessori magnet program and utilised reading recovery and a parent involvement program. The key outcomes were:

  • Math scores went from a 28% to a 52% pass rate
  • Parent involvement tripled.
  • School community became more diverse. 
  • 91% of all six year olds were reading at or above grade level. 
    Source: Dissertation, Union Institute and University.

Dohrmann, K. (2003) – Outcomes for Students in a Montessori Program, A Longitudinal Study of the Experience in the Milwaukee Public Schools Montessori

This study supports the hypothesis that Montessori education has a positive long-term impact. Additionally, it provides an affirmative answer to questions about whether Montessori students will be successful in traditional schools. The key outcomes were:

  • An association between a Montessori education and superior performance on the Math and Science scales of the ACT and WKCE, for those attending from the approximate ages of three to eleven.

Vance, T. L. (2003) – An exploration of the relationship between preschool experience and the acquisition of phonological awareness in kindergarten Comparison of four ECE experiences

This study involved a comparison of four early childhood education programmes. Students attending the Montessori program outscored all others on all tests administered on development of literacy skills and phonological awareness. 
Source: Dissertation, George Mason University.

Rathunde, K. (2003) – A comparison of Montessori and traditional middle schools: Motivation, quality of experience, and social context

With the help of co-investigator Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Dr. Rathunde compared the experiences and perceptions of middle school students in Montessori and traditional schools using the Experience Sampling Method (ESM). The key outcomes were:
Montessori students reported a significantly better quality of experience in their academic work than did traditional students.
Montessori students perceived their schools as a more positive community for learning, with more opportunities for active, rather than passive, learning.
Source: The NAMTA Journal 283 (Summer, 2003), pages 12-52

Reed, M. (2000) – A comparison of the place value understanding of Montessori and non-Montessori elementary school students Maths study

Montessori students consistently outperformed non-Montessori students on “tasks of a more conceptual nature, while performing the same or slightly better on counting and symbolic tasks”. 

Source: Electronic Thesis or Dissertation retrieved from https://etd.ohiolink.edu/

East Dallas Community School

East Dallas Community School offers accredited classroom programs for children ages twelve months through third grade in one of the most under-served communities in Dallas. 68% of students are Hispanic, 9% African American, 19% Anglo, and 4% other ethnicities.  67% of these families were living at or below poverty level and 49% were learning English as a second language. Programme outcomes are as listed:

  • In 2002, 78% of the school’s third graders applied to Dallas Independent School District’s gifted and talented program. All were accepted.
    100% of the public charter school students have passed the high stakes state reading competency tests.
  • According to a ten year study of standardised test scores (1993-2003), EDCS students’ average scores were in the top 36% nationwide in reading and math.
  • In a neighbourhood where the high school graduation rate is less than 50%, 94% of the third grade alumni have graduated from high school; 88% of those have gone on to college.
  •  In 2005, the school was ranked among the top 6% of charter school districts, and among the top 15% of all public school districts in the State of Texas.
  • In 2006 and 2007 the school received a Gold Performance acknowledgement from the state for our students’ accomplishments in reading.
    Source: http://www.edcschool.org/Our_Schools.html.

Alfred G. Zanetti School Springfield, Massachusetts Montessori

Until 1999, the school had low-test scores, high absenteeism and a student turnover rate of almost 50% a year. In 1999, the school converted to Montessori. Programme outcomes include:

  • Assessments all the way down to the youngest classrooms, exhibit a record of success.
  • Student turnover rate is now (2005) 5%. 
    Source: Public School Stakes Its Future on the Montessori Way, New York Times, 2nd February 2005.

AEDI Research

Success in school and life can be influenced by the outcomes in early childhood. The Australian Early Development Index (AEDI) is a national measure of the progress of early childhood development in Australia. The AEDI is an attempt by the council of Australian governments to measure how children are developing in communities throughout the country. The AEDI collected data on a number of quantitative and qualitative data sets, following physical health and well being, social competence, emotional maturity, language and cognitive skills and communication skills and general knowledge. The study was conducted throughout the country, surveying 261,203 children, making up 97.5% of aged five in Australia.

Montessori Educated children outperformed the national average for five year olds in all developmental domains. The most significant variance between the national average and children educated in the Montessori system were in Language and Cognitive Skills and Communications Skills and General Knowledge. While some controls in such socio-economic advantage must be considered, as the number of developmentally vulnerable children in Montessori was less than the National average, the performance of Montessori education relative to the national average is statistically significant. The study verifies the legitimacy of the Montessori Method for achieving real positive outcomes for children’s education and development.

Action Research

Montessori Australia launched the Montessori Action Research Advisory (MRAC) committee in 2010. The MRAC works to build a comprehensive research framework for Montessori in both New Zealand and Australia. One of the first schemes of the Montessori Research Advisory Committee has been to initiate the first Montessori Research Workshop. The workshop was first conducted back in May 2010 and was open to all Montessori educators working with children from birth to eighteen years as well as Montessori teacher trainers. The aim of the workshop was to involve educators in classroom based research.

Participants in the research project were asked to write a research question of their own and design a small research project to explore this question. The projects were ones that could be implemented simply and effectively in their own classrooms in order to reflect critically and systematically on a single area within the curriculum, or a classroom based problem, with the goal of achieving real positive change. The results of the project have each been published in an Action Research book, which provides a summary of the action research covered in the workshop. These reports demonstrate the breadth of the potential Montessori classrooms offer teachers for pursuing both practitioner based enquiry as well as research projects that can become the basis of study towards a higher degree.

Notice Board

Montessori Australia Foundation provides a Notice Board as a service to subscribing schools and centres, and individuals. If you wish to post a notice about an upcoming event, item of interest, or community announcement, please email info@montessori.org.au.

Responsibility for the contents of a notice is borne solely by the person or organisation posting the notice.

This service is provided free to subscribers.
Non-subscribers can post a notice for a fee.

Australia

Long Day Care Centre “Coming Soon”

Purpose built boutique centre located in the centre of the Gold Coast. Read More
Listed 3 November 2022

Buying / Selling a Childcare Business?


Listed 18 July 2022

Montessori National Curriculum

In 2011, Montessori Australia received official notification from the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) that the Montessori National Curriculum (MNC) has been recognised as an alternative national curriculum framework to be included on ACARA’s Recognition Register. This is a fantastic achievement and has positive implications for everyone working in Montessori classrooms, not only in Australia but also worldwide. ACARA established a very rigorous recognition process to determine the extent to which a well-established alternative national curriculum can deliver comparable educational outcomes for students to those based on the Australian National Curriculum. ACARA have advised that our curriculum aligns with the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians, meets the particular principles and guidelines in relation to the Shape of the Australian Curriculum V3 Dec 2010, and allows for broadly comparable educational outcomes in English, mathematics, science and history by the end of Year 10. The recognition is almost completely unqualified and further acknowledges our different approach to learning, the different approach to ICT in the early years, that our history programme begins with the universe following through human civilisations to the local level, and notes the role of Montessori materials and activities in delivering the curriculum.

The 2011 version of the Montessori National Curriculum is available to Australian Montessori schools and centres.

We are currently working on recognition for the additional subjects and an online portal.

International schools requiring accreditation in their country may join as an international member to access the Montessori National Curriculum.  Contact info@montessori.org.au for details.

Parents – please note that the Montessori National Curriculum document is not a parent document.  Is has been designed for a Montessori classroom environment, with a full complement of Montessori materials, multi-aged classroom of children, and trained Montessori educators. Parents who are wanting to create a Montessori home-school environment are encouraged to attend workshops and training courses.

Resources

PDF icon Update February 2020

PDF icon Update November 2020

PDF icon Update March 2021

Montessori Early Years Programme

Under the National Law and Regulations, early childhood education and care services are required to base their educational program on an approved learning framework. This should focus on addressing the developmental needs, interests and experiences of each child, while taking into account individual differences.

Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia (EYLF) is the approved learning framework under the National Quality Framework for young children from birth to five years of age.

Montessori Australia has developed a poster that visually articulates the mapping of the Montessori curriculum against the EYLF. This poster can be displayed in a classroom or childcare centre, or even distributed to families, as clear evidence of how the Montessori curriculum meets the outcomes of the EYLF.

Click here to purchase the Montessori Early Years Learning Programme (MEYLP) poster from our online shop.

Please note: The MEYLP poster is subject to copyright and can not be reproduced without the prior consent of Montessori Australia.

Montessori Australia members are provided a PDF copy of the MEYLP poster.

Montessori and the National Quality Agenda

The governments National Quality Agenda is an important set of reforms for the Early Childhood Education and Care sector. Changes include the National Quality Standards, the Early Years Learning Framework and other regulations for service provision.

Montessori Australia recommends a number of commercially available professional resources, including:

Montessori and the National Quality Standards

This document looks at each individual standard and element of the 7 quality areas in relation to a Montessori environment and in context of what the Authorised Officer may observe, discuss and sight during an Assessment visit.
Avaliable: http://www.montessorichild.com.au/products/guide-to-montessori-the-nqs

Montessori National Curriculum and the EYLF

A high-gloss poster that visually maps the Montessori National Curriculum for children under 6 years of age against the EYLF. This poster can be displayed in a classroom or childcare centre, or even distributed to families, as clear evidence of how the Montessori curriculum meets the outcomes of the EYLF.

The poster is available in A4 and A3 through Montessori Australia’s online store.

Montessori and the EYLF

This document articulates how Montessori practice fits the principles, practice and outcomes of the EYLF.
Avaliable: http://www.montessorichild.com.au/products/guide-to-montessori-the-eylf

Bridging the Gap

This document gives an analysis of the most likely areas where an Authorised Officer may find Montessori Practice and other settings diverge. It provides strategies on how to “bridge the gap” of understanding.
Avaliable: http://www.montessorichild.com.au/products/bridging-the-gap-between-mont…

Our Services

Support Services

Montessori Australia (MA) is the peak national body for Montessori in Australia, providing support services to Montessori schools, teachers and parents. MA maintains communication with all Montessori programmes across Australia and acts as a clearinghouse for Montessori information and communication. 

Schools & Centres

Membership

Montessori Australia offers membership to Montessori schools and centres, providing publications, discounted Montessori materials, communications and promotional services. These services are undergoing a review in consultation with the Montessori community to improve service delivery ensuring that we support the varied needs of our diverse community.  For membership enquiries, please contact info@montessori.org.au.

Consultancy

Montessori Australia offers consulting services to Montessori schools and centres on a wide variety of topics and issues. Our consulting services offer supportive advice using a mentoring model to encourage best practice and improve the delivery of the Montessori programme. 

Services for the General Public

Membership

Montessori staff and parents of member schools/centres benefit from their membership to Montessori Australia, including publications and discounts on events and shop products.

Individuals or Montessori teachers not currently with member schools/centres may join as Individual Members to receive similar benefits. 

Media

As the peak national body for Montessori in Australia, Montessori Australia takes a proactive role in promoting the Montessori approach across media platforms.  We also work with our Montessori schools, teachers and parents to help support their engagement with media. 

For media enquiries, please contact Sabrina Rashid at sabrina@montessori.org.au.

Government 

Montessori Australia acts as the government liaison representing Montessori on both a state and federal level. Visit our Government Liaison and Government Submissions sections on this website to learn more about our work. 

For Government enquiries, please contact hani@montessori.org.au

Employment Services

Job Openings

Montessori Australia provides the Job Openings section as a service to Montessori schools, centres and job seekers. Jobs are listed on the Montessori Australia website, and on the Montessori Australia Facebook page for a 3mth duration. The service is free to member schools/centres, or for a fee for non-members.

Government Liaison

Since its inception, Montessori Australia has represented the interests of the Montessori sector at both the state and national levels. MA has enabled Montessorians across the country to speak with “one voice” and we are delighted that Montessori is now seen as a significant sector by government and other agencies. With this in place we are working on a number of fronts to achieve further recognition of Montessori and to advocate for the interests of children, especially highlighting the importance of the first years of life.

One of our major focus areas is the drafting and submission of responses on behalf of the Montessori sector on major policy and regulation reviews both on a federal and state level. We constantly strive to support Montessori education in this complex and changing landscape.

Government Submissions

Most recent submissions/reports listed first: 

Submission: National Review of Teacher Registration – Early Childhood Education

Following attendance at the AITSL Forum, Montessori Australia has prepared a brief response to the National Review of Teacher Registration – Early Childhood Education. Overall, we believe there should be a nationally consistent approach with ACECQA, AITSL, regulatory bodies and authorities and that teacher registration should be a national process, not carried out at the state level, to support consistency.  The submission covers the following points:

  • Elements of Registration
  • Teacher Quality
  • Improvements
  • Nationally consistent approaches
  • Teacher standards and application to ECT registration

Submitted: 4 June 2018

Download the Montessori Submission

Submission: Social and Cultural Determinants of Indigenous Health

The Montessori Children’s Foundation made the following key recommendations:

  • Provide significant and secure funding support to enable the expansion of Montessori early childhood programs in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
  • Urgently develop mechanisms that will enable those wanting to train as Montessori teachers to have their Montessori training counted as part of their Bachelor of Education studies.
  • Investigate how greater numbers of public schools may be able to make the choice to offer Montessori programs either as a part, or as the whole of their pedagogic approach.
  • Foster and support the growth of capacity building initiatives such as the Puuya Foundation has undertaken, and facilitate the involvement of other key partner organisations. 

Submitted: 5 May 2017

Download the Montessori Submission

Submission: Productivity Commission Draft Report into Childcare and Early Childhood Learning

MAF has prepared a short submission in response to the July Productivity Commission Draft Report into Childcare and Early Childhood Learning. We were also able to contribute to the public enquiry through input to the ACECQA National Forum and the NSW Children’s Services Forum.

Our submission covers the following points:

  • The focus on children’s rights, their needs and interests is missing from the framing of the recommendations of the enquiry.
  • The workforce participation of women rather than the needs and interests of children is placed at the forefront of policy framework for ECEC.
  • The report privileges the needs and desires of employer groups over the needs and interests of children.
  • There is a fundamental disregard for the progress we have made in the last 30 years in recognising the interrelationship between care and education.
  • CCB should be made available for all children irrespective of family income levels.
  • The possible exclusion of some service types (such as preschools) from the NQF.
  • The removal of tax benefits for not-for-profit services who provide a large proportion of the education and care of young children.
  • The emergence of a division between “child care” for children under 3 and “preschool education” for children over 3.
  • The potential impact of a deemed rate of care on families and services that could cause significant disadvantage those in high cost provision in rural and remote locations.
  • The lack of provision of a plan to ensure supply of education and care meets demand.
  • The possible exclusion of children from vulnerable families to early education by the imposition of the proposed 24 hour work/activity test per fortnight.
  • Nannies should be linked to an approved service to ensure quality provision and to ensure they are supported to achieve quality outcomes for children.

Submitted: 6 September 2014  

Consultation – Reduction of command and control – Australian Education Act 2013

This submission is in response to Minister Pyne’s letter to the Montessori Australia Foundation seeking our comments on where we perceive the Australian Education Act 2013 or the associated Regulation afford an overreach of Commonwealth powers and involve unnecessary reporting to the Commonwealth in this regard.

Small independent schools have the same regulatory burdens as larger independent schools but do not have the same administrative capacity to meet increasing and constantly changing administrative and reporting requirements especially when these overlap with two different legislative jurisdictions. Many areas of the Act are overly prescriptive and can usually be dealt with in a collaborative way between jurisdictions. 

Whilst understanding the need for accountability and quality control, we would support any reduction in regulatory burden that would enable schools to focus on the provision of high quality teaching and learning and reduce administrative costs. There are many overlapping regulatory requirements between States/Territories, the Commonwealth Government and different Acts and Regulations with which Montessori schools have to comply.

Specific input was provided regarding various sections of the Act. 

Submitted: 23 June 2014 

Senate Select Committee Submission on School Funding  

This submission responded to the following points

  • Value of independent schooling
  • Current and new funding arrangements
  • Distribution of Funds
  • Montessori schools and students with disabilities
  • Agreement on 3% increase
  • Recommendations for future funding arrangements

Submitted: 20 March 2014

Productivity Commission Childcare and Early Childhood Learning

 This submission responded to the following points:  

  • Support for implementation of National Quality Framework
  • Affordability of childcare
  • Qualifications
  • Government support by State, Territory and Local Governments
  • Key support measures for childcare services
  • Options for regulatory reform
  • Initiatives of government to address workforce changes 

Submitted: 31 January 2014  

Beyond Gonski: Reviewing the Evidence on Quality Schooling 

Following the release of the Gonski Report, the Public Policy Institutue (PPI) was commissioned by the Independent Schools Council of Australia (ISCA) to prepare a response paper, authored by Scott Prasser and Helen Tracey. The paper was presented at a meeting attended by Christine Harrison, Presdient, Montessori Australia Foundation. She provides an update on the meeting and its bearing on the Montessori sector.  

Circulated: Montessori Australia Foundation eBulletin 2013 Edition 1

Parliamentary Inquiry into the Australian Education Bill 2012  

This submission outlines the Montessori sector’s response to the Parlimentary Inquiry in the areas of Quality Education, Transparancy and Accountability, Diversity and Choice, School and Student Assessment Benchmarks, and School Funding.

Submitted: 30 September 2011

Comments to ACECQA Regarding Draft Criteria for Excellent Rating

This report offers comments from the Montessori sector to the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) on the draft criteria for Excellent Ratings for childcare centres under the National Quality Standards national quality rating and assessment process. 

Circulated: 28 February 2012 

Montessori Report on the Gonski Briefing

This report summarises the briefing on the Gonski Review of Funding. 

Circulated: 20 February 2012

Review of Funding for Schooling – Response to Commissioned Research

On 31 August 2011, the Review of Funding for Schooling released its Paper on Commissioned Research and the following four research report

  • Feasibility of a National Schooling Recurrent Resource Standard
  • Assessing existing funding models for schooling in Australia
  • Schooling Challenges and Opportunities
  • Assessment of current process for targeting of schools funding to disadvantaged students  

The Montessori sector affirms our belief that any model for funding of non-government schools should be equitable, transparent and treat all schools and systems in the non-government sector consistently. Funding arrangements for feepaying independent schools should encourage, not discourage, parental investment in their child’s schooling. We concur with the independent school sector that it is critical that any proposed funding model be based on robust, reliable and up-to-date data. 

Submitted: 30 September 2011  

ACARA Submission: Recognition of Montessori National Curriculum

Submission to ACARA for the Recognition of Curriculum Framework to meet the requirements of the Australian Curriculum

Submitted: 17 June 2011

MAF, MCF and TSIREC Meeting with Minister Peter Garrett

Meeting date: 6 July 2011 

Key points of discussion were: 

  • The importance of endorsement of the three year age range in Montessori settings and provision of advice to state education authorities to that effect.
  • The Minister’s support for recognition of the Montessori National Curriculum including the Montessori Early Years Learning Programme (MEYLP)
  • Recognition of Montessori qualifications
  • Issues and challenges relating to the MySchool and MyChild websites
  • The success of the Strait Start programs in the Torres Strait Islands

The importance of the continued support of the Minister and the government for the TSIREC/MCF partnership in the Torres Strait to allow additional support for the existing programme, expansion due to community demand in other areas of the Torres Strait and North Queensland.

Submitted: 17 June 2011

National Quality Framework Regulations Exposure Draft

In response to the DEEWR National Quality Framework Regulations Exposure Draft the Montessori submission highlighted key areas of concern for the Montessori sector including: 

  • Educator to child ratios 
  • Requirements for early childhood teach
  • Approval and determination of qualifications
  • Declared approved learning frameworks
  • Qualifications and Experience of Assessors
  • Supervisor Certificate
  • Assessment and Ratings
  • Policies and Procedures
  • Review of Funding for Schooling: Emerging Issues Paper 2010 

Submitted: 31 March 2011 

In response to the DEEWR Review of Funding for Schooling Emerging Issues Paper the Montessori submission specified:  

  • Any changes to government funding arrangements should leave no Montessori school or student worse off in real te
  • Any funding arrangements should be simple to administer, transparent and offer stability and predictability
  • Montessori school enrolments are projected to increase significantly over the next decade. They will provide a significant contribution towards the future recurrent and capital costs of school education in Australia. We firmly agree with the independent sector that governments must encourage and appropriately support independent schools in order to leverage this contribution.
  • Montessori schools are chosen by many parents because of their ability to support students with special learning needs, including students with disabilities. These students must be resourced appropriately regardless of the type of school they attend.
  • We support the right of parents to exercise their entitlement to choose the type of schooling for their children. Montessori schools are often chosen because of their sense of community and ability for families to become more involved in their child’s education.
  • Small, community based schools such as Montessori schools show a significant commitment to transparent and effective governance with many school boards made up wholly of parents. There is a high degree of accountability to stakeholders who are fee-paying parents, founders and other financial supporters.
  • Montessori schools draw their enrolments from all income groups. Many of our schools offer low fees and serve lower SES communities that are the fastest growing group of independent schools thus increasing the load on our schools.

Our schools need to work with stability and predictability of funding arrangements to facilitate financial planning and management. We would like to see funding legislated for at least four years as per the current quadrennial arrangements. The value of recurrent, capital and targeted grants should be maintained in real terms by appropriate supplementation.

MAF Meeting with DEEWR Early Childhood Development Group 

Meeting Date: 25 November 2010 

Key points of discussion were:

  • Overview of Montessori in Australia and Overseas
  • Presentation on Elements of Quality Montessori ECEC Centres
  • Recognition of Montessori Early Years Learning Framework
  • Recognition of Montessori Qualifications
  • Assessment of Montessori Programmes under the NQS
  • Montessori Programmes in Indigenous Communities

Submitted: 22 November 2010

MCEECDYA National Biennial Forum 2010

Education for the Future: Improving Student Learning and School Performance

The Australian Education Ministers’ 2010 Biennial Forum to be held in Canberra on 15 October will showcase innovative and creative best-practice initiatives that are improving student outcomes, transforming schools and shaping the education environment into the future.

The forum will bring together over 300 of Australia’s educational leaders and practitioners from all jurisdictions and sectors for a range of highly engaging interactive presentations and discussions. It will report progress being made on the goals of the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians, while also providing a platform for considering ‘schooling for tomorrow’. 

MAF is pleased to have been invited to the Forum and to have been asked to submit a paper and project summaries to be published on the Forum’s website. 

  • Developing sustainable partnerships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders and communities to improve early childhood infrastruct
  • Montessori Parent Support Initiative as the key to lifelong learning
  • Hands on learning and experiences in Montessori Adolescent Programs as valuing the contributions of young people to a peaceful and sustainable society 

http://www.schoolsforum2010.edu.au

Early Childhood Development Strategy

Both MAF and MCF strongly support the Early Childhood Development Strategy and, especially as a consequence of our work in remote Indigenous communities, we are convinced that parent support and education are a vital part of supporting improved developmental outcomes for vulnerable children.

Specific recommendation were made in regard to:  

  • Strengthening universal maternal, child and family health services
  • Engaging parents and community in understanding the importance of early childhood
  • Improving early childhood infrastructure
  • Financial Health Assessment Framework Review (FHAF) Submission to DEEWRs

Submitted: 4 December 2009

Regulation Impact Statement for Early Childhood Education and Care Quality Reforms 

Issues of concern to the Montessori Sector, explored in more detail in the body of the submission, are summarised below.

  • Accreditation and regulation
    How accreditation and regulation will be implemented and by whom for diverse services which require assessors to have expert knowledge both of the regulations and of the nature of the methodology and contexts of particular services.
  • 1:3 ratio for children to 24 months
    Implementation should be achieved earlier than 2020
  • A clearer focus on children from birth to age three
    There is a need for a much stronger focus in the RIS on this most critical period of children’s development
  • Equity in diverse communities
    The need for financial investment, and investment in capacity building, especially in remote Indigenous communities, to ensure equity of access high quality services.
  • Staff qualifications
    Will staff with a Certificate lll qualification be accorded “qualified status” in relation to the prescribed child-to-staff ratios?
    Achievability within stated timelines of requirements to employ early childhood trained teacher.
    Further clarification of the ways in which RPL will work in relation to those teachers with Montessori diplomas but without and early childhood degree; and to those currently employed as Montessori assistants with Montessori assistant training.
  • Rating a service as excellent
    Might some services be precluded from obtaining a rating of “Excellence” because of size or location resulting in diminished access to resourcing or partnerships?
    Appropriate arrangements for the assessment of Montessori early childhood education and care services.
  • 3 year groupings
    The new regulations must accommodate the 3 year age cohorts in Montessori services; clarification needed in relation to child-to-staff ratios, group sizes and funding.
  • 15 hour universal access
    Clarification of the issue of the 15 hour program being able to be embedded in the 3-6 program in Montessori centres in ways which do not disrupt the usual functioning of Montessori programs.
  • Costs and funding
    The conclusions of the cost-benefit analysis are questioned, and concerns exist that families will ultimately bear any additional costs, risking the withdrawal of some children from early childhood services, and risking the viability of some centres.

It is imperative that the access of all families to CCB, including those who access services which do not meet the criterion of opening 48 weeks per year, is addressed if the National Quality Agenda is to incorporate current licensing and accreditation systems, and all families are to be supported in their right to choose services for their children. 

Submitted: 31 August 2009 

Schools Assistance Act Regulations

The Montessori sector supports the intention of the Act to foster transparency in reporting to parents so that they have “useful information about how their child and their school are performing… to assist them in making the right choice of school” (Clause 16). We support the provision of plain language student reports to parents. However, we do not support the requirement that such reports employ an A to E or equivalent scale. Nor do we support reporting that shows a student’s achievement relative to the performance of his/her peer group. We argue that our current methods of reporting both provide to parents “useful information about how their child and their school are performing”, and provide it in ways which are consistent with the Montessori philosophy that the parents of our students have consciously chosen for their children’s education.

Submitted: 22 May 2009

Victorian Children’s Services Regulations 2009

The Montessori Sector supports the directions of the Draft regulations, and is grateful for the opportunity to comment on issues of concern to our staff and parents. In particular, we seek the following: 

Consideration of official recognition of the equivalence of a Montessori Diploma to the two-year Diploma in Children’s Services which can be articulated to an early childhood education degree, and /or an arrangement based on recognition of prior learning which takes on-the-job learning into account; and we seek a meeting in the near future with DEECD officials to pursue these matters.

  • Consideration of recognition of the equivalence between Montessori Assistants Training and the Certificate III in Children’s Services and/or consideration of special dispensation for Montessori Assistants Training to be recognised as constituting appropriate entry level qualifications for working in Montessori settings only. These are matters we would also like to pursue in the abovementioned meeting we seek with DEECD official.
  • The opportunity to provide an orientation to DEECD officers and ministerial advisers regarding the operation of Montessori early childhood education and care services to provide a clear context for considerations of recognition of Montessori training. 
  • Special dispensation in regard to the occasional entry of children to the Montessori three to six program before their third birthdays without the requirement to meet the proposed adult-child ratio of 1:4 for children under three. 
  • Further discussion with DEECD officers with a view to resolving anomalies in relation to both the “double” qualifications requirement and funding arrangements for children whose parents wish them to complete the full 3 to 6 cycle in Montessori services.

Submitted: 23 March 2009

National Curriculum Feedback

Submitted: 24 February 2009

NSW Children’s Services Regulations Review

The Montessori sector supports the opportunity provided by the review to reduce the complexity of the regulatory framework for the delivery of children’s services while improving quality and outcomes, and asks for particular consideration of the following issues:

  • The relaxation of group sizes and total child numbers in early childhood services.
  • Recognition of Montessori qualifications.
  • Recognition of the distinct role of the assistant in Montessori services, and the validity of our approach to ensuring assistants work to appropriate professional standards.
  • MAF seeks inclusion on the Industry Reference Group.

 Submitted: 11 December 2008

Early Years Learning Framework

  • We are confident that the Framework will provide sufficient scope and direction for the Montessori approach to learning in the early years to maintain its integrity, and that the Framework makes an important contribution to highlighting key elements of quality learning for all early childhood education and care service
  • We would argue strongly for the use of simpler and more accessible language, and for each section to be very clearly focused and sequenced to make meanings as clear as poss
  • We would also urge that the section on Values and Guiding Principles be clarified, that its language be simplified and that clearer linkages are made between principle and practice.
  • Most importantly, we would urge that a greater focus be given to children’s drive for self-direction and self-development, and the implications of this for creating learning environments and employing pedagogies which respects and respond to the demonstrated needs and interests of individual children.

Submitted: 10 December 2008

Schools Assistance Bill Administrative Guidelines

  • Recognition of Montessori National Curriculum
  • Requested exemption from comparative reporting. The following clause was included in the Administrative Guidelines following our submission “Individual parents may wish to withdraw their child from comparative reporting or assessment conditions that they feel are inappropriate for their child. This is a matter for consideration by individual parents and must be requested in writing to the school.”
  • The Montessori sector is seeking representation on the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority given the unique nature of the Montessori educational philosophy and practice.

Submitted: 28 November 2008

ECEC National Quality Framework

The Montessori sectors seeks:  

  • Recognition that the Montessori curriculum exemplifies an effective pathway for realisation of the objectives set out in the National Quality Framework for ECEC discussion paper.
  • Recognition that the Montessori pedagogy, materials and classroom management together provide a well-established and well-integrated working illustration of a differentiated play-based curriculum, incorporating content and activities appropriately based on child development.
  • Ways to ensure that Montessori training can be articulated with existing training pathways for early childhood teachers to meet National Quality Framework standards.
  • Support for and protection of the mixed-age groups (3-6) with which Montessori programs work.
  • Delivery of the government guarantee for four year olds in the context of the Montessori mixed-age group (3-6) program.
  • Partnerships in early childhood education and care for children with special needs.
  • Partnerships in Indigenous early childhood education and care.

 Submitted: 19 September 2008

Media Releases

Latest Media Releases:

3 June 2022: Thinking Different Conference

4 April 2022: Digital-age curriculum to improve school kids’ financial literacy

Media Enquiries:

Anusha Shrestha anusha@montessori.org.au 

Montessori Training

Becoming a Montessori Educator

Montessori programmes cater for children from birth to eighteen years of age and may be delivered in Montessori early childhood or school settings.  In most cases, educators will have qualifications for working with children (early childhood 3-6 years of age, primary 6-12 years of age, or secondary 12-18 years of age) as well as specialised Montessori training. 

Watch a video: Why become a Montessori teacher? 

Online Training Courses

Online introductory Montessori training courses are available through Montessori Training Australia, with courses that promote best practice in Montessori education. Utilising a flexible online platform, packages allow users to customise their learning experience to suit their individual needs. Content is both engaging and informative and delivered through high quality audio-visual resources, interactive learning activities and thought-provoking discussions.

The online courses are suitable for educators, assistant staff, administrators, Board/Committee members, parents and anyone wishing to know more about Montessori principles and practice.  

Read more about these courses here.

Note that these online courses are introductory courses only, not full Montessori teacher training Diploma courses, and are not ACECQA registered.

Montessori Qualifications

Visit our Training Centre page for details on the Montessori training centres in Australia including:

Early Childhood Educator Qualifications

The National Quality Framework (NQF) sets out minimum qualification requirements for educators working in early childhood education and care services.  The NQF is administered through the Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality Authority (ACECQA).  The ACECQA website provides information on the approved early childhood qualifications and for assessment of existing and overseas qualifications.  

There are three main levels of educators, which apply to centre-based and family day care services from birth to preschool age:

  • Certificate III Level Educator
  • Diploma Level Educator
  • Early Childhood Teacher (ECT)

Refer to the ACECQA Qualifications List on their website for details on what Montessori courses are approved. 

Overseas Qualification Holders

Holders of overseas early childhood or Montessori qualifications may not be approved to work in early childhood in Australia. Your qualifications must be assessed individually by ACECQA as no overseas Montessori qualifications are accredited in Australia.  Please refer to the ACECQA website for details.  Unfortunately, most overseas Montessori qualifications will not be recognised by ACECQA, so you may need to undertake Australian early childhood qualifications.  

Primary and Secondary Educator Qualifications 

Montessori educators teaching primary aged children should have relevant Montessori primary training, as well as a teaching degree and teacher registration in the state/territory that they intend to teach.  Each state/territory in Australia has a regulatory body, which mandates these teaching qualifications.  In general, the qualification will be a four year tertiary study such as a Bachelor of Education (Montessori training qualifications are not assessed as part of their teaching qualfications).  Find your local regulatory authority here.

Due to the small number of Montessori adolescent programmes in Australia, there are currently no training programmes for this age level in the country.  Courses at this age level are listed on the AMI website.

Find out more by reading the PDF document: Which Training Program is right for you?

Job Openings

A listing of Montessori job opportunities is found on our website here.

Training Centres

Montessori classrooms offer an environment that serves the individual needs of each child’s stage of development and allows freedom for children to discover their own path to becoming capable individuals.  A Montessori classroom allows children to develop emotionally, socially, behaviorally, and academically, and the Montessori teacher is an integral part of this unique environment.

Montessori teacher training centres in Australia:

One of the most highly regarded Montessori training is the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) Montessori Diploma, which is internationally recognised for its high standard and authenticity.  AMI was founded in 1929 by Dr Maria Montessori, and is a global community that continues today to protect the integrity of her work and accredits training centres throughout the world.  The Sydney Montessori Training Centre is the only AMI training centre in Australia.

An important consideration is to ensure that educators have the appropriately recognised qualifications to work in early childhood, primary or secondary education. Montessori Institute is the only Montessori training institution in Australia to offer teacher and educator courses which are nationally accredited with ACECQA, AITSL and TEQSA. Building Futures Education Diploma of Montessori Early Childhood Education is a nationally accredited course (ASQA). 

Due to the small number of Montessori adolescent programmes in Australia, there are currently no training programmes for this age level in the country. The Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) website provides details of adolescent (12-18 years of age) courses.

Online Introduction Courses

Balancing quality, cost and convenience is an important decision that will be different for each new teacher’s circumstances. We encourage you to carefully research the options before choosing the one that is right for you. If you are unsure whether Montessori education is right for you, or which age group you would like to teach, a short introduction Course in Montessori Education may be the best place to begin. Montessori Training Australia provides a selection of high quality online Foundation Courses which address the needs of interested parents, teaching assistants, school leaders and prospective educators. 

Montessori Training Australia

Montessori Training Australia offers online introductory Montessori training course.

Our introductory Montessori programs are a great way to commence your journey to an understanding of Montessori education or a career path in a Montessori classroom. Training is delivered in formats to suit a variety of learning styles: video, text, and interactive online modules. Access your learning when and where you want through our secure online portal. 

There’s a Montessori training program for everyone. Whether you want to learn new skills for early years development, or want to further develop your expertise in Montessori teaching, or just want to know more detail about Montessori education, we have the course to suit you. 

Begin studying anytime, from anywhere, online.

This self-paced learning series includes:

  • Key Montessori Principles and Theory
  • The Prepared Environment
  • The Role of the Prepared Adult
  • Montessori Materials
  • Documenting Children’s Learning
  • Montessori and the Early Years Learning Framework

For details and access: https://montessoritraining.org.au

Please Note: If you are interested in progressing to a Diploma course in Montessori education, these online courses are a great place to start. Once completed, you may want to continue your professional training, specialising in a particular plane of development (e.g. 0-3, 3-6, 6-12 or 12-18). There are several organisations that you may want to consider such as AMI, BFE, MI and AMTI.

Montessori Training Australia 

Australian Montessori Training Institute

Montessori educators, whether they be a Montessori teacher, a Montessori assistant or a parent, work to support the child in his or her process of self-development. “To aid life…that is the basic task of the educator.” Dr Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind

The Australia Montessori Training Institute (AMTI) is committed to providing quality Montessori training courses to the Montessori community, and to those interested in becoming qualified in the Montessori Method. Every consideration is given to ensure flexible training options to best meet the growing demand for Montessori early childhood educators.

From high-quality online learning, to flexible classroom face-to-face courses, AMTI training is available when you need it.

Whether you’re an educator or parent, Montessori study offers valuable insight into discovering and supporting the natural development of the child. AMTI can introduce and help you to implement a Montessori approach in your home, childcare centre, preschool, or school.

AMTI’s Professional, Personal and Practical training packages are:

1. Affordable: Our courses are competitively priced including support for mentoring and finding internship work.

2. Flexible: Start any week when you are ready with your choice of study for supporting children in the age groupings of 0-3, 2.5-6, and 6-12.

3. Accessible – weekly face-to-face or Zoom meetings with your trainer and weekly lessons emailed directly to you.

Online Videos of almost every lesson available for unlimited reviews: Click here to view a sample of an online training video.

Contact info@amti.org.au for more information about AMTI courses.

Courses are also available in Chinese from our China Office in Yiwu, Hangzhou Sage Education, visit here for more information. 

Building Futures Education

Building Futures Education is a Training College focussing on Early Childhood Education. 

The Training College offers a unique classroom learning experience; providing students with a nationally recognised Diploma in Early Education and Care, Diploma of Montessori Early Childhood Education and Certificate III in Early Education and Care.

BFE has fully qualified experienced trainers who are hand-picked for their unique ability to understand all types of learning so each student can effectively strive and learn their own way.

Their Diploma of Montessori Early Childhood Education is Nationally Recognised, and provides a comprehensive and detailed study of the theory and skills involved in the delivery of a Montessori education program for children aged 0-6 years.  Click here to view the course brochure.

BFE also delivers Montessori short courses and workshops and parent development courses.

Based in Forest Lake Queensland, their stand-alone purpose built Training College is fully fitted out with a classroom set up and a student’s lounge for separate studying.

Contact Building Futures Education:

https://bfe.edu.au

admin@bfe.edu.au

(07) 3073 5000

Montessori Institute

As the largest Montessori training organisation in Australia, the Montessori Institute offers flexible, nationally recognised, Early Childhood and Primary teacher registration qualifications, alongside Diploma and Certificate level qualifications. They also provide professional development and education for schools, childcare centres and the wider community, with which they we have built strong relationships over forty years. Their ACECQA (early childhood regulator) and AITSL (teacher registration regulator) accredited courses are delivered via a blend of external, online study and intensive face to face workshops, Australia wide.

Incorporated in 1983, the Montessori Institute is a not-for-profit organisation and an accredited Higher Education Provider with the Tertiary Education Quality Standards Authority (TEQSA). They have dedicated their work to develop and present world class Montessori courses and workshops, to both students and non-students.

Graduate Diploma of Education (Montessori) 3-6 years or 6-12 years focus. Recognised nationally as a teaching qualification, this course enables students to become registered teachers in their State. It is AITSL and ACECQA listed.

Diploma of Early Childhood and Primary Education (Montessori) 0-3, 3-6 or 6-12 years focus. This course enables registered teachers to gain Montessori curriculum knowledge for their classroom. It is ACECQA listed as an Early Childhood qualification (0-3 and 3-6 focus). The Diploma also qualifies non registered teachers to work as education assistants in schools or as room leaders/supervisors in a child care centre.

Certificate in Montessori Studies 0-5 or 3-6. Ideal for students who already hold a Certificate III or Diploma level qualification, but want to obtain Montessori curriculum knowledge for use in child care centres.

Diploma of Montessori Leadership and Practice. Ideal for principals or Montessori centre managers who wish to gain an understanding of Montessori theory, philosophy and curriculum.

Visit their website www.mwei.edu.au for further details.

Resources

PDF icon Graduate Diploma Brochure

PDF icon Diploma Brochure

PDF icon Certificate Brochure

PDF icon Leadership Brochure

Sydney Montessori Training Centre

Sydney Montessori Training Centre (SMTC) is a national organisation committed to providing quality training to the Montessori community and to those interested in becoming qualified in the Montessori method. 

SMTC is authorised to deliver Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) Montessori courses. AMI was established by Maria Montessori and affiliates training centres around the world. AMI courses are recognised internationally for their authenticity and quality.

SMTC offer AMI training courses in the following:

  • AMI Montessori 6-12 Diploma
  • AMI Montessori 6-12 Orientation Certificate
  • AMI Montessori 3-6 Diploma
  • AMI Montessori 3-6 Orientation Certificate
  • AMI Montessori 0-3 Orientation Certificate
  • AMI Montessori Foundation Course

Click here to visit their website for further details.

Australian Montessori Training Institute

Montessori educators, whether they be a Montessori teacher, a Montessori assistant or a parent, work to support the child in his or her process of self-development. “To aid life…that is the basic task of the educator.” Dr Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind

The Australia Montessori Training Institute (AMTI) is committed to providing quality Montessori training courses to the Montessori community, and to those interested in becoming qualified in the Montessori Method. Every consideration is given to ensure flexible training options to best meet the growing demand for Montessori early childhood educators.

From high-quality online learning, to flexible classroom face-to-face courses, AMTI training is available when you need it.

Whether you’re an educator or parent, Montessori study offers valuable insight into discovering and supporting the natural development of the child. AMTI can introduce and help you to implement a Montessori approach in your home, childcare centre, preschool, or school.

AMTI’s Professional, Personal and Practical training packages are:

1. Affordable: Our courses are competitively priced including support for mentoring and finding internship work.

2. Flexible: Start any week when you are ready with your choice of study for supporting children in the age groupings of 0-3, 2.5-6, and 6-12.

3. Accessible – weekly face-to-face or Zoom meetings with your trainer and weekly lessons emailed directly to you.

Online Videos of almost every lesson available for unlimited reviews: Click here to view a sample of an online training video.

Contact info@amti.org.au for more information about AMTI courses.

Courses are also available in Chinese from our China Office in Yiwu, Hangzhou Sage Education, visit here for more information. 

Positive Discipline Parenting Course

Positive Discipline Course

  • Want to gain the cooperation of your child or students without the power struggles?
  • Do you need better strategies for those moments when yelling feels like the only thing that works?
  • Want to rebuild respectful and encouraging relationships with your child or students?

In this enjoyable, hands-on course, parents and educators will come away with a cache of 52 tools and strategies for gaining the cooperation of children in situations that typically produce conflict between adults and children. Adult carers will learn the four Mistaken Goals that lead children to misbehave and how to counter them with words and actions that promote connection and cooperation. 

Positive Discipline by Jane Nelsen was first published in 1981 and has since sold over 3 million copies in 16 languages with trained facilitators offering courses in over 70 countries. It is considered the gold standard in parenting classes and is deeply compatible with Montessori principles. Classes consist of role plays, Socratic questioning, and other experiential learning techniques that allow parents to internalise and retain new parenting strategies successfully. 

While most parenting classes seek to control children’s behaviour with rewards and punishments, Positive Discipline teaches parents how to gain the cooperation of their children by examining aspects of their own behaviour that may be sources of misbehaviour in children, and by empowering children with skills that develop resilience, empathy, self-control and the ability to solve their own problems without tantrums or acting out. Positive Discipline sees the misbehaving child as a discouraged child, and equips parents with a repertoire of 52 tools to help them re-establish the positive connection that leaves children more receptive to redirection. Positive Discipline is evidence-based, with years of research that has proven its effectiveness in putting the joy back in parenting for families all over the world. 

Presenter: Mark Powell, Director of Education Services at Montessori Australia and accredited Positive Discipline facilitator, trained directly under Jane Nelsen in the US.

The length of the course is 15 hours in total, preferrably delivered over six weeks in 2½ hour sessions. This allows time for participants to integrate the new techniques and to read the book.  Alternatively, it can be delivered over 2 days.

Course Inclusions:

  • Workbooks are included, but purchase of the Positive Discpline book is required.
  • Partners are welcome to attend for FREE.
  • Parents may repeat the course as often as needed for FREE.
  • Childcare provided where possible during the sessions (fees apply).

* Discounted rate for Montessori Australia Individual Members and all staff and parents at member schools and centres.  Ask for the PROMO CODE from your school/centre or contact info@montessori.org.au

Scheduled courses listed on our Events page or book directly via Eventbrite.

Come along to a free Intro Session to learn about Positive Discipline!  For parents and educators.

Request an Intro Session at your school/centre or enquire about running the course for your parents (in person or Zoom). Enquires to mark@montessori.org.au.

PDF icon DOWNLOAD BROCHURE

Professional Learning

Montessori Australia event programme is designed to meet the needs of all Montessorians, whether they are involved in supporting the development of the child and the care of our elders. We offer a range of events for Montessori educators, carers and parents, as well as Montessori school principals, business managers and administrators, and Montessori centre owners, managers and operators. Our events programme reflects the annual feedback and suggestions we receive from our community and incorporates an impressive range of topics and presenters.  

Visit our events page here.

For those new to Montessori and needing an immeditate introduction to Montessori early childhood education, Montessori Training Australia offers online training courses.

Montessori and the National Quality Agenda

The governments National Quality Agenda is an important set of reforms for the Early Childhood Education and Care sector. Changes include the National Quality Standards, the Early Years Learning Framework and other regulations for service provision.

Montessori Australia recommends a number of commercially available professional resources, including:

Montessori and the National Quality Standards

This document looks at each individual standard and element of the 7 quality areas in relation to a Montessori environment and in context of what the Authorised Officer may observe, discuss and sight during an Assessment visit.
Avaliable: http://www.montessorichild.com.au/products/guide-to-montessori-the-nqs

Montessori National Curriculum and the EYLF

A high-gloss poster that visually maps the Montessori National Curriculum for children under 6 years of age against the EYLF. This poster can be displayed in a classroom or childcare centre, or even distributed to families, as clear evidence of how the Montessori curriculum meets the outcomes of the EYLF.

The poster is available in A4 and A3 through Montessori Australia’s online store.

Montessori and the EYLF

This document articulates how Montessori practice fits the principles, practice and outcomes of the EYLF.
Avaliable: http://www.montessorichild.com.au/products/guide-to-montessori-the-eylf

Bridging the Gap

This document gives an analysis of the most likely areas where an Authorised Officer may find Montessori Practice and other settings diverge. It provides strategies on how to “bridge the gap” of understanding.
Avaliable: http://www.montessorichild.com.au/products/bridging-the-gap-between-mont…

Publications

Publications from Montessori Australia, AMI and Affiliates

Click on the links to view other publications from Montessori Australia and other Montessori organisations. Montessori Australia members are able to download PDF copies of the publications (ensure you are logged in under your member account). Click here to become a member.

Current Publications

Montessori Australia produces an eArticle four times a year. The eArticle comes as a PDF file featuring an article by a prominent Montessorian.

Member schools and individuals receive an electronic bulletin (eBulletin) each quarter. The eBulletin comes as a PDF file featuring news and updates from Montessori in Australia and around the world. The eBulletin also includes a job bulletin listing the current positions available at Montessori schools.

Montessori Insights is an annual magazine, especially for Montessori parents. It aims to provide interesting, thought-provoking, and relevant articles about Montessori education and philosophy.

Publications Archive

The Annual Report showcases the diverse work of Montessori Australia to support the growing Australian Montessori community. The Annual Report offers clear communication of Montessori Australia’s vision, activity and future priorities to all stakeholders, including schools and centres, government and industry.

Each quarter Montessori Australia produces a newsletter designed especially for Montessori school board members who have responsibility for the governance of Montessori independent schools in Australia. The Montessori Board Bulletin comes as a PDF file featuring news and updates.

Montessori Australia members have access to a large selection of Montessori articles that can be used as professional resources and parent education tools.

The Alcove was the newsletter of the Australian AMI Alumni Association (the predecessor organisation of the Montessori Australia Foundation). It was published from 1998 to 2006. A complete archive is available to MAF subscribers.

Publications International

AMI produces a newsletter which is published throughout the year and features Montessori news and articles from around the world.

The AMI Journal includes articles by Dr Montessori as well as scholarly papers on Montessori and related topics. This website includes a searchable index of all articles contain in the AMI Journal. To purchase copies of an article or journal please contact publications@montessori-ami.org.

AMI releases treasure articles from its archives in between the main issues of the AMI Journal.

The Montessori Society AMI UK produces a magazine called Direction. It features news, readers’ letters, interviews, book reviews, essays and articles.

The Montessori Society of Canada produces a magazine twice a year featuring Montessori news and articles.

Magazine of the AMI Affiliated Society in China.

Online Montessori Training

Montessori Training Australia offers online introductory Montessori training course.

Our introductory Montessori programs are a great way to commence your journey to an understanding of Montessori education or a career path in a Montessori classroom. Training is delivered in formats to suit a variety of learning styles: video, text, and interactive online modules. Access your learning when and where you want through our secure online portal. 

There’s a Montessori training program for everyone. Whether you want to learn new skills for early years development, or want to further develop your expertise in Montessori teaching, or just want to know more detail about Montessori education, we have the course to suit you. 

Begin studying anytime, from anywhere, online.

This self-paced learning series includes:

  • Key Montessori Principles and Theory
  • The Prepared Environment
  • The Role of the Prepared Adult
  • Montessori Materials
  • Documenting Children’s Learning
  • Montessori and the Early Years Learning Framework

For details and access: https://montessoritraining.org.au

Please Note: If you are interested in progressing to a Diploma course in Montessori education, these online courses are a great place to start. Once completed, you may want to continue your professional training, specialising in a particular plane of development (e.g. 0-3, 3-6, 6-12 or 12-18). There are several organisations that you may want to consider such as AMI, BFE, MI and AMTI.

Montessori Training Australia

The First Casa dei Bambini

San Lorenzo, 1907

The first Montessori environment was opened on the 6 January 1907 in San Lorenzo, Rome, Italy, by Dr Maria Montessori. Through Dr Montessori’s observations and work with these children she discovered their astonishing, almost effortless ability to learn. Children taught themselves! This simple but profound truth formed the cornerstone of her life-long pursuit of educational reform.

The following is a summary of a talk by Dr. Maria Montessori to her students on the 6th January 1942, celebrating the anniversary of the inauguration day of the first House of Children:

Today is the anniversary of the opening of the first House of Children. When I tell you briefly how it started, the few words of its history will seem like a fairy-tale, but their message may also prove useful.

Many times people ask with doubt in their minds whether the method is suitable for poor children and whether it is at all adaptable to them.

In order that you may be able to answer such questions, I should like you to have a small idea of how our work started, of the indirect way in which it has arisen.

It came about in a strange way, I have pondered much about it and tried to understand the reason for it. I don’t know if it is an indication of destiny, or if it was established by fate itself. All that I know is that it has something to do with the House itself. It may seem curious that I express it in this way but I do so to render the ensuing story clear.

Many years ago, Rome was a capital of a state in very rapid development, which manifested itself in a mania for building. Every small available space was utilised to build houses, every little open square. One of the many was delimited on one side by the old Roman walls which had witnessed many battles and on the other by the modern cemetery. This area was the last place to be filled, no doubt because of the superstition that it was not lucky to live near the dead, for fear of ghosts and also for hygienic reasons.

But probably because of the beautiful and historical situation, one building society decided to stake its money into building there. It was a tremendous scheme, five houses on the scale of palaces, 5 or 6 stories high. But the idea had been too vast so that the society went bankrupt before the building were completed and the scheme failed. The work was interrupted and left to stand. There were only the walls with open holes for doors and windows, there was no plumbing and the erections stood as a sort of skeleton.

For many years this enormous skeleton remained abandoned and neglected. It became a shelter for homeless beggars, a hiding place for evildoers who wished to avoid recognition and who if discovered, could easily escape in this labyrinth. Criminals of all sorts, thieves and murderers, took refuge in them. People lived there in the same conditions as the cavemen of old did in their caves.

All those who were homeless, and those who wished to hide, found shelter within those walls. Even the police did not go near them, or dared to, as they did not know their way within these grim walls of crime and horror.

Slowly, the number grew, until thousands of people crowded in these abandoned buildings. People were found dead, murdered or succumbed to diseases; the place became a breeding place of infection for the whole land; a centre of crime and of the lowest prostitution.

The “Quartiere di San Lorenzo” became known as the shame of Italy. People were too afraid to do anything about it; no one knew what happened within those dark walls. There were no small shops for provisions anywhere near, no itinerant vendor would go there to sell. Even the lowest labourer, or the poorest fisherman would seem as princes in comparison, for however poor, they would have at least some honest livelihood whereas those who lived inside that gloom had no work, no means to pay, their only livelihood was derived from crime.

The problem of clearing this pit of inhumanity demanded a solution. Another building society of very wealthy bankers, considered the problem and decided that as the walls already stood, only a small expenditure would be necessary to make fruitful whatever capital was invested. The district, due to its ill–repute, would of course never become a fashionable quarter, therefore only small renovations were necessary to render it habitable for these people already so unfortunate. Regarding it thus as a business venture, they started with one building which they discovered would house a thousand people. They used some whitewash, put in some doors and windows, and laid in a few water pipes and drains.

It was estimated that in this area lived at least 10,000 people, therefore how could they discriminate which among them would be the best? They chose the married ones who by reason of their relation with one another would be the most human. As it happened there were only very few children. It seems perhaps logical that under such conditions although there were thousands of men and women there should be only fifty children.

But these children, wild and uncivilised as they were, presented a serious problem of damage to the houses. Left alone while the parents went to work, they were free to carry out any wild fancy. So the director of the concern decided that the only obvious thing to keep them out of mischief was to collect all the children and confine them.

One room was set aside for this purpose, resembling in every way a children’s prison. It was hoped that a person would be found with enough social courage to tackle the problem.

I in my capacity of medical officer of hygiene was approached to take an interest in the work. Having considered the situation I demanded that at least the commonest aids in hygiene, food and sanitation be made available.

At the time it had become fashionable among society ladies to interest themselves in social uplift. They were approached to do something to collect funds, because we were confronted with the strange problem that while the bankers had agreed to invest money to improve the housing situation, they were not at all interested in education. One could not expect any returns from money, put into anything with an educational purpose.

Although society had embraced the ideal of improving the condition of these unfortunate people, the children had been forgotten. There were no toys, no school, no teacher. There was nothing for them. I was able to find one woman of 40 years, whose help I asked and who I put in charge.

On the 6th of January 1907 this room was inaugurated to collect the 50 children. The room had already been in use for little time but it was inaugurated on that day. Throughout Italy the 6th of January is looked upon as “the” day of feast for the children. It was on this day that the three Kings arrived before the Child Christ and offered him their gifts. It is celebrated as the Feast of Epiphany.

It was striking at the time this interest of society imbued with the idea that their giving hygienic houses to the homeless would be the means of purifying the evil core in their midst, consisting of a group of ten-thousand criminals and pitiful humanity. I also was imbued with this sentiment.

But while everyone had had the idea that by giving houses and sanitation, the people would be purified, no one had taken in consideration the children; no one had thought to bring toys or food for them. When the children, ranging between the ages of 2 to 6 entered, they were dressed all alike in some thick, heavy, blue drill. They were frightened and being hindered by the stiff material, could move neither arms nor legs freely. Apart of their own community they had never seen any people. To get them to move together, they were made to hold hands. The first unwilling child was pulled, thus dragging along the whole line of the rest. All of them were crying miserably. The sympathy of the society ladies was aroused and they expressed the hope that in a few months they would improve.

I had been asked to make a speech for the occasion. Earlier that day, remembering that it was the feast of the Epiphany, I had read the lesson in my mass book. When I made my speech I read it as an omen for the work to follow.

“Arise, be enlightened, O Jerusalem; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee, For behold darkness shall cover the earth, and a mist the people; but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall walk in thy light, and kings in the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thy eyes round about, and see; all these are gathered together, they are come to thee: thy sons shall come from afar, and thy daughters shall rise up at thy side. Then shalt thou see, and abound and thy heart shall wonder and be enlarged, when the multitude of the sea shall be converted to thee, the strength of the Gentiles shall come to thee. The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Madian and Epha; all they from Saba shall come, bringing gold and frankincense, and showing forth praise to the Lord.”

I don’t know what came over me but I had a vision and inspired by it, I was enflamed and said that this work we were undertaking would prove to be very important and that some day people would come from all parts to see it.

In reporting this new whim of society, the press also mentioned that Dr. Montessori had made a beautiful speech, but what an exaggeration in what she had said!

It was from then that the real work began.

Remember that all these children were completely illiterate. Their parents were also illiterate and they were born and grown in the environment, I have described.

What happened more than thirty years ago now will always remain a mystery to me. I have tried since then to understand what took place in those children. Certainly there was nothing of what is to be found now in any House of Children. There were only rough large tables.

I brought them some of the materials which had been used for our work in experimental psychology, the items which we use today as sensorial material and materials for the exercises of practical life. I merely wanted to study the children’s reactions. I asked the woman in charge not to interfere with them in any way as otherwise I would not be able to observe them, Some one brought them paper and coloured pencils but in itself this was not the explanation of the further events. There was no one who loved them, I myself only visited them once a week and during the day the children had no communication with their parents.

The children were quiet, they had no interference either from the teacher or from the parents, but their environment contrasted vividly from that which they had been used to; compared to that of their previous life; it seemed fantastically beautiful. The walls were white, there was a green plot of grass outside, though no one had yet thought to plant flowers in it, but most beautiful of all was the fact that they had interesting occupations in which no one, no one at all, interfered. They were left alone and little by little the children began to work with concentration and the transformation they underwent, was noticeable. From timid and wild as they were before, the children became sociable and communicative. They showed a different relationship with each other, of which I have written in my books. Their personalities grew and, strange though it may seem, they showed extraordinary understanding, activity, vivacity and confidence. They were happy and joyous.

This fact was noticed after a while by the mothers who came to tell us about it. As the children had had no one to teach them or interfere with their actions, they acted spontaneously, their manners were natural.

But the most outstanding thing about these strange children of the St. Lawrence Quarter was their obvious gratitude. I was as much surprised by this as everyone else. When I entered the room all the children sprang to greet me and cried their welcome. Nobody had taught them any manner of good behaviour. And the strangest thing of all was that although nobody had cared for them physically, they flourished in health as if they had been secretly fed on some nourishing food, And so they had, but in their spirit. These children began to notice things in their homes, a spot of dirt on their mother’s dress, untidiness in the room. They told their mothers not to hang the washing in the windows but to put flowers there instead. Their influence spread into the homes, so that after a while also these became transformed.

Six months after the inauguration of the House of Children, some of the mothers came to me and pleaded that as I had already done so much for their children, and they themselves could do nothing about it because they were illiterate, would I not teach their children to read and write?

At first I did not want to, being as prejudiced as every one else that the Children were far too young for it. But I gave them the alphabet in the way I have told you. As then it was something new for me also, I analysed the words for them and showed that each sound of the words had a symbol by which it could be materialised. It was then that the explosion into writing occurred.

The news spread and the whole world became interested in this phenomenal activity of writing of these children who were so young and whom nobody had taught. The people realised that they were confronted by a phenomenon that could not be explained for besides writing, these children worked all the time without being forced by any one to do so. This was a great revelation but it was not the only contribution of the children. It was also they, who created the lesson of silence. They seemed to be a new type of children. Their fame spread and in consequence all kinds of people visited the House of Children, including State ministers and their wives, with whom the children behaved graciously and beautifully, without anyone urging then, that even the newspapers in Italy and abroad became excited. So the news spread, until finally also the Queen became interested. She came to that quarter so ill famed that it was considered hell’s doors, to see for herself the children about whom she had heard wonders.

What was the wonder due to? No one could state it clearly. But it conquered me for ever, because it penetrated my heart as a new light. One day I looked at them with eyes which saw them differently and I asked myself: “Who are you, are you the same children you were before?” And I said within myself: “Perhaps you are those children of whom it was said that they would come to save humanity. If so, I shall follow you.” Since then, I am she who tries to grasp their message and to follow them.

And in order to follow them, I changed my whole life. I was nearly 40. I had in front of me a doctors’ career and a professorship at the University. But I left all, because I felt compelled to follow them, and to find others who could follow them, for I saw that in them lay the secret of the soul.

You must realise that what happened was something so great and so stirring that its importance could never be sufficiently recognized. That it will never be sufficiently studied, is certain, for it is the secret of life itself. We cannot fully know its causes. It is not possible that it came because of my method, for at the time my method did not yet exist. This is the clearest proof that it was a revelation that emanated from the children themselves.

My educational method has grown from these as well as from many other revelations, given by the children, You know from what I have told you, that all the details included in the method, have come from the efforts to follow the child. The new path has been shown us. No one knows exactly how it arose, it just came into being and showed us the new way.

It has nothing to do with any educational method of the past, nor with any educational method of the future. It stands alone as the contribution of the child himself. Perhaps it is the first of its kind, which has been built by him step by step.

It cannot have come from an adult person; the thought, the very principle that the adult should stand aside to make room for the child, could never have come from the adult.

Anyone who wants to follow my method must understand that he should not honour me but follow the child as his leader.

Maria Montessori

Montessori Education

About Montessori

Montessori is an approach to supporting the full development of the human being. The Montessori approach offers a broad vision of education as an ‘aid to life’. As an educational system, it is used in over 22,000 schools worldwide, and has a longer track record of success than any other educational approach in the world. 

The Montessori approach to education, inspires children towards a lifelong love of learning, by following their natural developmental trajectory. Children become confident, responsible, independent learners, who trust in their own abilities. The inclusivity and positive social development facilitated by the Montessori programme forms the basis for a persistent attachment to learning and knowledge. 

Montessori classrooms provide a specially crafted learning environment where children are able to respond to their natural tendency to work. Children have an innate passion for learning, and the Montessori classroom encourages this by giving them opportunities to engage in spontaneous, purposeful activities with the guidance of a trained adult. Through their work, the children develop concentration and joyful self-discipline. Within a framework of order, the children progress at their own pace and rhythm, according to their individual capabilities.

Dr Maria Montessori, a physician, anthropologist and pedagogue, developed her unique method of educating children over a professional career that spanned over fifty years. The Montessori approach was developed through intense scientific observation of children from many ethnic, cultural and socio-economic backgrounds from birth to maturity. It is based upon a deep understanding of child development.

 In Australia, Montessori education is available for children of all ages with programmes offered for children as young as 8 weeks old to age 18, through early childhood education and care services, preschools and kindergartens, and primary and secondary schools. The number of Montessori programmes in Australia is growing steadily with more than 360 schools and centres across the country educating more than 26,000 children. The majority of Montessori programmes are operated by not-for-profit, community-based associations, with an increasing number of privately-owned programmes and also programmes within the public school system.

Montessori programmes are also serving children and families in remote, indigenous Australian communities, where the Montessori philosophy unites with the culture and heritage of Indigenous Australians.  

Watch a video: Why choose Montessori education for your child?

Montessori Educators

In a Montessori classroom the place of the traditional teacher is held by a fully trained Montessori educator, often called a Montessori Director or Directress. Montessori educators typically have a normal teacher qualification as well as an additional Montessori teacher education diploma. The Montessori Director is a guide or facilitator whose task it is to support the young child in his or her process of self-development. The Montessori Director is foremost an observer, unobtrusively yet carefully monitoring each child’s development, recognising and interpreting each child’s needs.

The Montessori Director provides a link between the child and the prepared environment, introducing the child to each piece of equipment when he or she is ready in a precise, clear and enticing way. On a broader level the educator provides a link between the classroom and the parent, meeting with each child’s parents to discuss progress. They need to be an example; calm, consistent, courteous and caring. The most important attribute of a Montessori educator is the love and respect they hold for each child’s total being.

In a Montessori classroom, the Montessori Director/Directress is supported by a Montessori Assistant.  They assist with the preparation of the environment and the group activities of the classroom.

Montessori Classrooms

Montessori classrooms, or Prepared Environments, are designed to meet the physical and psychological needs of the child at each stage of development. In Montessori, the curriculum is embedded within a learning environment or classroom, in the form of a carefully designed and sequenced range of hands-on learning materials and activities. Montessori materials are designed to stimulate the child into logical thought and discovery.

The beauty, order and accessibility in the classroom serve to entice the child into activity. Guided by the Montessori teacher, the child explores the materials independently, and this is when the learning occurs. Children are able to engage with the activities according to their individual interests and at their own pace. In this way learning becomes highly personalized.

The Montessori classroom is not merely a place for individual learning. It is a vibrant community of children, where the child learns to interact socially in a variety of ways. The three-year age range enables older children to teach the younger and learn much themselves from the experience while the younger children are inspired to more advanced work through observing the older ones. With such a variety of levels in the classroom, each child can work at his or her own pace, unhindered by competition and encouraged by co-operation. Children attend daily and for a three-year cycle.

Key Principles of the Prepared Environment

Independence – the environment must be prepared to enable the child to become physically independent of the adult. Because he is able to do things for himself he starts to be able to choose and decide things for himself. The environment must allow for this both in the way that the materials are prepared and in the approach of the adults.

Indirect preparation – although activities are prepared with their own developmental aim in mind they also prepare for something that will come later in the child’s development. Sometimes this preparation is for something that will occur in the same plane but it also refers to something that may occur much later in the child’s life e.g. the sensorial base for mathematical understanding in the abstract, or moral development.

Order – order is something that pervades a Montessori environment. For the small child in the Children’s House the physical order of the prepared environment is obvious but order also underlies all of the less tangible aspects of the environment e.g. the consistency of the adults and their approach, the order of presentation etc. For the older child the social order becomes more important.

Choice – the environment must give the child the opportunity to choose what he does from a range of activities that are suitable to his developmental needs.

Freedom – essential to the prepared environment is the child’s freedom – to choose, to work for as long as he wants to, to not work, to work without being interrupted by other children or by the constraints of a timetable etc. – as long as his activity does not interfere with other children’s right and freedom to do the same.

Mixed Age Range – another non-negotiable part of the environment is the formation of a community with at least a three-year age range, This allows for children to learn from each other in a non-competitive atmosphere and directly prepares the child for living in society.

Movement – the environment must allow the child’s free movement so that he can exercise his freedom to bring himself into contact with the things and people in his environment that he needs for his development.

Control of Error – the environment and in particular the materials should be prepared in a way that allows the child to become aware of his mistakes and to correct them for himself so that he understands that it is all right to be wrong and that we can learn from our mistakes.

Materials – the materials that we choose for the environment must act as keys to the child’s development and we need to prepare the environment with this in mind. The keys we choose will be directed by the child’s essential developmental needs at each age range.

Role of the Adult – the adult is also part of the Montessori environment. The role of this adult is not like the teacher in a traditional environment, however – whose role is to teach the children. The role of the adult in a Montessori environment is to facilitate the child to teach himself by following his own internal urges that will lead him to take what he needs from the things and people around him.

Montessori Programmes

Montessori classrooms are multi-aged learning environments, based on Dr. Montessori’s stage theory of human development, which she called The Four Planes of Development. In the first plane from birth to age six, the child is characterised by his or her “absorbent mind”, absorbing all aspects of his or her environment, language and culture. In the second plane from age six to twelve, the child uses a “reasoning mind” to explore the world with abstract thought and imagination. In the third plane from twelve to eighteen, the adolescent has a “humanistic mind” eager to understand humanity and the contribution he or she can make to society. In the last plane of development, from age eighteen to twenty-four, the adult explores the world with a “specialist mind” taking his or her place in the world. Maria Montessori believed that if education followed the natural development of the child, then society would gradually move to a higher level of co-operation, peace and harmony.

Birth to 3 years Programme

The first three years of life are the most fundamental in the development of human beings and their potential. The infant’s physical development is phenomenal and apparent and inspires our care and attention. Yet a profound and less obvious development is taking place within the child.

During the first three years of life the child’s intelligence is formed. They acquire the culture and language into which they have been born. It is a period when the core of personality and the social being are developed. An understanding of the child’s development and the development of the human mind allows environments to be prepared to meet the needs of the infant and foster independence, motor development and language acquisition.

Nido (Italian for ‘Nest’)

This the name given to the early childhood setting for children from eight weeks old to the developmental milestone of walking independently. This programme is created especially to support working parents.

Infant Community

After they begin to walk, children join the toddler group where their primary motor coordination, independence and language are cultivated. Rather than a classroom, it is a nurturing community where very young children experience their first structured contact with other children.

Parent-Infant / Parent-Toddler Programme

The Parent-Infant Programme provides an environment in which parents and children from 8 weeks to 3 years interact with the guidance of a trained Montessori educator. Parents learn how to observe what their children are doing, do in order to know what experiences to offer them.

Increasingly, these programmes are offered in Montessori Early Learning Centres as part of a long day care format.

3 to 6 years Programme

Montessori ‘school’ starts at 3 years of age.  The 3 to 6 year old child is undergoing a process of self-construction. The application of the Montessori philosophy and the specifically designed Montessori equipment aids the child’s ability to absorb knowledge and continue this path of self-construction. Acquisition of one’s own first culture is the child’s central developmental drive in the first plane of development.

The pre-school environment serves this drive abundantly, bringing the world to the child. Globes, maps, songs, land forms, collections of pictures of life in different cultures, and much more, is offered, with the aim of helping the child to grow as an individual appreciating the larger context of his or her world.

Children’s House

The ‘Children’s House’ is the pre-school and/or long day setting for children from three to six years of age. Often called ‘Stage 1’, children in a Montessori Children’s House preschool will normally attend 5 days a week, with 3-4 year olds attending morning sessions, then moving to the full day session in the final year (extended day).  Montessori Early Learning Centres offer this programme within their long day care settings.

There are four main areas in the pre-school program: Practical Life, Sensorial, Language and Mathematics. Considerable emphasis is also placed on Creative Arts, Music, Science, Geography and Cultural Studies.

Practical Life: The Practical Life component of the Montessori approach is the link between the child’s home environment and the classroom. The child’s desire to seek order and independence finds expression through the use of a variety of materials and activities which support the development of fine motor as well as other learning skills needed to advance to the more complex Montessori equipment. The practical life materials involve the children in precise movements which challenge them to concentrate, to work at their own pace uninterrupted, and to complete a cycle of work which typically results in the feelings of satisfaction and confidence. Practical life encompasses four main areas: Control of Movement, Care of Person, Care of Environment , and Grace and Courtesy.

Sensorial: From an early age children are developing a sense of order and they actively seek to sort, arrange and classify their many experiences. The sensorial component provides a key to the world, a means for a growth in perception, and understanding that forms the basis for abstraction in thought. The sensorial materials give the child experience initially in perceiving distinctions between similar and different things. Later the child learns to grade a set of similar objects that differ in a regular and measurable way from most to least. Each piece of equipment is generally a set of objects which isolate a fundamental quality perceived through the senses such as color, form, dimension, texture, temperature, volume, pitch, weight and taste. Precise language such as loud/soft, long/short, rough/smooth, circle, square, cube and so on is then attached to these sensorial experiences to make the world even more meaningful to the child.

Language: Maria Montessori did not believe that reading, writing, spelling and language should be taught as separate entities. Pre-primary children are immersed in the dynamics of their own language development and the Montessori approach provides a carefully thought-out program to facilitate this process. Oral language acquired since birth is further elaborated and refined through a variety of activities such as songs, games, poems, stories and classified language cards.

Indirect preparation for writing begins with the practical life exercises and sensorial training. Muscular movement and fine motor skills are developed along with the ability of the child to distinguish the sounds which make up language. With this spoken language background the directress begins to present the alphabet symbols to the child. Not only can children hear and see sounds but they can feel them by tracing the sandpaper letters. When a number of letters have been learned the movable alphabet is introduced. These cardboard or wooden letters enable the child to reproduce his or her own words, then phrases, sentences and finally stories. Creativity is encouraged and the child grows in appreciation of the mystery and power of language. Other materials follow which present the intricacies of non-phonetic spelling and grammar. Because children know what they have written, they soon discover they can read back their stories. Reading books both to themselves and others soon follows.

Mathematics: Mathematics is a way of looking at the world, a language for understanding and expressing measurable relationships inherent in our experience. A child is led to abstract ideas and relationships by dealing with the concrete. The child’s mind has already been awakened to mathematical ideas through the sensorial experiences. The child has seen the distinctions of distance, dimension, graduation, identity, similarity and sequence and will now be introduced to the functions and operations of numbers. Geometry, algebra and arithmetic are connected in the Montessori method as they are in life. For instance the golden bead material highlights the numerical, geometrical and dimensional relationships within the decimal system. Through concrete material the child learns to add, subtract, multiply and divide and gradually comes to understand many abstract mathematical concepts with ease and joy.

These programmes are also offered in Montessori Early Learning Centres as part of a long day care format.

Primary School

The primary school years programme incorporates either separate classrooms for children aged from six to nine years (Stage 2) and nine to twelve years (Stage 3), or single classrooms for children aged from six to twelve years.

Children work in a research style of learning, in small groups on a variety of projects which spark the imagination and engage the intellect. Lessons given by a trained Montessori teacher direct the children toward activities which help them to develop reasoning abilities and learn the arts of life.

Children, at this age, are driven to understand the universe and their place in it and their capacity to assimilate all aspects of culture is boundless. Elementary studies include geography, biology, history, language, mathematics in all its branches, science, music and art. Exploration of each area is encouraged through trips outside the classroom to community resources, such as library, planetarium, botanical garden, science centre, factory, hospital, etc. This inclusive approach to education fosters a feeling of connectedness to all humanity, and encourages their natural desire to make contributions to the world.

Secondary School

The Montessori program for children aged 12 to 18 years is based on the recognition of the special characteristics of adolescence. Adolescence is an age of great social development, an age of critical thinking and re-evaluation, and a period of self-concern and self-assessment. It is a transition from childhood to adulthood with the corresponding physical, mental and sexual maturation. In early puberty the adolescent finds it hard to concentrate on academic and structured learning. Above all adolescence is like an odyssey – an arduous yet exciting adventure – where the adolescent tries to find his or her place in the world.  

Cosmic Education

How does one satisfy but not diminish the child’s mind?
How does one bring order to vast knowledge?
How does one capitalise on the child’s imaginative tendencies?
How does one facilitate moral enquiry?

To meet these fundamental needs of the primary child Maria Montessori developed the concept of “Cosmic Education”.

“Since it has been … necessary to give so much to the child, let us give him a vision of the whole universe. The universe is an imposing reality, and an answer to all questions…. All things are part of the universe, and are connected with each other to form one whole unity. The idea helps the mind of the child to become focused, to stop wandering in an aimless quest for knowledge. He is satisfied having found the universal centre of himself with all things.”
(Maria Montessori, To Educate the Human Potential).

Cosmic education presents the universe as operating to a predetermined design in which all life, including humanity, has a part to play. Cosmic education allows children to develop a sense of awe and gratitude for the universe, their role in humanity and the work of people who came before them. Cosmic education begins with the story of the universe, through which the child sees the inter-relationship of all things. When the child is presented with the story of the universe, an overview, a set of first principles is established. This provides a context for the study of details. Studies are integrated and related to the whole. Different subjects are considered as interconnected, and are presented as such. For instance the history of Egypt is tied to the Nile, to geography, to art, to writing, to geometry – as in the 3-4-5 triangle used to survey following the floods – to flora and fauna and to papyrus, the writing paper used to record the history which was the point where we entered the chain.

Cosmic education provides a framework for all studies – subjects covered include mathematics, geometry, language, history, geography, biology, botany and science. Art, craft and music are also included in the program, and the child uses computers for research and presentation. Excursions which take the child out of his or her familiar environment into a variety of settings in the surrounding community are an essential means of learning for the child and are therefore an integral element in the program at this stage of development.

The Primary years are a great period of expansion, consolidation and intellectual growth. Having acquired a sound grasp of the basics in preschool, children are now ready and willing to acquire culture and to discover the world and their place in it. Their thirst for knowledge is such that by age 12 they will have been introduced to many of the areas of study usually reserved for the secondary years.

How it is Unique

Differences between Montessori and Traditional Education

Montessori EducationTraditional Education
Based on helping the natural development of the human beingBased on the transfer of a national curriculum
Children learn at their own pace and follow their own individual interestChildren learn from a set curriculum according to a time frame that is the same for everyone
Children teach themselves using materials specially prepared for the purposeChildren are taught by the teacher
Child is an active participant in learningChild is a passive participant in learning
Understanding comes through the child’s own experiences via the materials and the promotion of children’s ability to find things out for themselvesLearning is based on subjects and is limited to what is given
Learning is based on the fact that physical exploration and cognition are linkedChildren sit at desks and learn from a whiteboard and worksheets
Child can work where he/she is comfortable, move around and talk at will while not disturbing othersChild is usually assigned own chair and encouraged to sit still and listen during group sessions
The teacher works in collaboration with the childrenThe class is teacher led
The child’s individual development brings its own reward and therefore motivationMotivation is achieved by a system of reward and punishment
Environment and method encourage internal self-disciplineTeacher acts as primary enforcer of external discipline
Child works as long as he/she wishes on chosen projectChild generally given specific time limit for work
Uninterrupted work cyclesBlock time, period lessons
Mixed age groupsSame age groups
Working and learning matched to the social development of the childWorking and learning without emphasis on the social development of the child
Shared emphasis on intellectual, social, emotional and spiritual developmentMain emphasis on intellectual development
Shared focus on the acquisition of academic, social, practical and life skillsMain focus on academics

Glossary

Any science has it own vocabulary and terminology and the Montessori Method is no exception. Montessorians share a very specific set of references, references which of themselves are brief and succinct yet each one evokes the world of the child as described by Maria Montessori. 

Absorbent Mind

A mind able to absorb knowledge quickly and effortlessly. Montessori said the child from birth to six years has an absorbent mind.

Adaptation

Related to the idea of an absorbent mind (Haines, 1993) is a special power of the young child that can be called the power of adaptation. This power is a process whereby the young child uses the environment to develop and, in so doing, becomes a part of that environment. The young child absorbs the culture of her time and place, taking in all the spirit, the customs, the ambitions/aspirations and attitudes of a society simply by living in that society.

Analysis of Movement

A technique used by Montessori teachers. The adult, when showing a complex action to a child, breaks it down into its parts and shows one step at a time, executing each movement slowly and exactly. The action thus becomes a sequence of simple movements and the child has a greater chance of success when ‘given the liberty to make use of them.’ (Montessori, 1966, p. 108)

Children’s House

The English name for Montessori’s Casa dei Bambini (Italian). A place for children from 3-6 years to live and grow. Everything necessary for optimal human development is included in a safe and secure environment.

Classification

Sorting. Allocating or distributing according to common characteristics. The young child engages in classification activities because the process is essential for the construction of the intellect. The Montessori classroom offers many opportunities for classification.

Concentration

Recognising that ‘the longer one does attend to a topic the more mastery of it one has,’ the great American psychologist William James remarked, ‘An education which should improve this faculty would be the education par excellence.’ (1892/1985, p. 95) Montessori, who knew of James, set out to do just that. She believed that if environments could be prepared with ‘objects which correspond to…formative tendencies’ (1949/1967, p. 169) the child’s energy and interest would become focused on that aspect of the environment which corresponded to the developmental need.

Concrete to Abstract

A progression both logical and developmentally appropriate. The child is introduced first to a concrete material that embodies an abstract idea such as size or colour. Given hands-on experience, the child’s mind grasps the idea inherent in the material and forms an abstraction. Only as the child develops, is she gradually able to comprehend the same idea in symbolic form.

Control of Error

A way of providing instant feedback. Every Montessori activity provides the child with some way of assessing his own progress. This puts the control in the hands of the learner and protects the young child’s self-esteem and self-motivation. Control of error is an essential aspect of auto-education.

Coordination of Movement

One of the major accomplishments of early childhood. Through the child’s own effort, she wills herself to refine her muscular coordination and consequently acquires increasingly higher levels of independent functioning. Because of this developmental need, children are drawn to activities that involve movement and especially to those which demand a certain level of exactitude and precision.

Creativity/Imagination

Imagination involves the forming of a mental concept of what is not actually present to the senses. Creativity is a product of the imagination and results from the mental recombining of imagined ideas in new and inventive ways. Both are dependent on mental imagery formed through sensorial experience.

Cycle of Activity

Little children, when engaged in an activity which interests them, will repeat it many times and for no apparent reason, stopping suddenly only when the inner need which compelled the child to activity has been satisfied. To allow for the possibility of long and concentrated work cycles, Montessori advocates a three-hour uninterrupted work period.

Development of the Will

The ability to will, or choose to do something with conscious intent, develops gradually during the first phase of life and is strengthened through practice. The Montessori environment offers many opportunities for the child to choose. Willpower, or self-control, results from the many little choices of daily life in a Montessori school.

Deviations

Behaviour commonly seen in children that is the result of some obstacle to normal development. Such behaviour may be commonly understood as negative (a timid child, a destructive child, etc.) or positive (a passive, quiet child). Both positive and negative deviations disappear once the child begins to concentrate on a piece of work freely chosen.

Discipline from Within

Self-discipline. The discipline in a well-run Montessori classroom is not a result of the teacher’s control or of rewards or punishments. Its source comes from within each individual child, who can control his or her own actions and make positive choices regarding personal behaviour. Self-discipline is directly related to development of the will.

Exercises of Practical Life

One of the four areas of activities of the Montessori prepared environment. The exercises of Practical Life resemble the simple work of life in the home: sweeping, dusting, washing dishes, etc. These purposeful activities help the child adapt to his new community, learn self-control and begin to see himself as a contributing party of the social unit. His intellect grows as he works with his hands; his personality becomes integrated as body and mind function as a unit.

False Fatigue

A phenomenon observed in Children’s Houses around the world-often at approximately 10 a.m. The children seem to lose interest in work, their behaviour becomes disorderly and the noise level rises. It may appear as if the children are tired. However, if the Montessori Educator understands this is simply false fatigue, they will return to work on their own and their work will be at an even higher level than before.

Grace and Courtesy

An aspect of Practical Life. Little lessons which demonstrate positive social behaviour help the young child adapt to life in a group and arm her with knowledge of socially acceptable behaviour: practical information, useful both in and out of school.

Help from Periphery

The periphery is that part of the child that comes into contact with external reality. The child takes in impressions through the senses and through movement. Help from the periphery means presenting objects and activities in such a way so as to evoke purposeful movement on the part of the child. ‘We never give to the eye more than we give to the hand.’ (Standing, 1957, p. 237)

Human Tendencies

A central tenet of Montessori philosophy is that human beings exhibit certain predispositions that are universal, spanning age, cultural and racial barriers; they have existed since the dawn of the species and are probably evolutionary in origin. ‘Montessori stresses the need to serve those special traits that have proved to be tendencies of Man throughout his history.’ (Mario Montessori, 1966, p. 21)

Independence

Not depending on another‚ with various shades of meaning.’ (OED, p. 836) Normal developmental milestones such as weaning, walking, talking, etc. can be seen as a series of events which enable the child to achieve increased individuation, autonomy and self-regulation. Throughout the four planes of development, the child and young adult continuously seek to become more independent. It is as if the child says, Help me to help myself.

Indirect Preparation

The way nature has of preparing the intelligence. In every action, there is a conscious interest. Through this interest, the mind is being prepared for something in the future. For example, a young child will enjoy the putting together of various triangular shapes, totally unaware that because of this work his mind will later be more accepting of geometry. Also called remote preparation. the deeper educational purpose of many Montessori activities is remote in time.

Indirect Presentation

Because of the absorbent nature of the young child’s mind, every action or event can be seen as a lesson. It is understood that children learn by watching other children work or by overseeing a lesson given to another. In the same way, they quickly absorb the behaviour patterns and the language used by the family, the neighborhood children and even TV.

Isolation of a Difficulty

Before giving a presentation, the Montessori teacher analyses the activity she wants to show to the child. Procedures or movements that might prove troublesome are isolated and taught to the child separately. For example, holding and snipping with scissors, a simple movement, is shown before cutting curved or zigzag lines; folding cloths is shown before table washing, an activity requiring folding. A task should neither be so hard that it is overwhelming, nor so easy that it is boring.

Language Appreciation

From the very first days in the Montessori classroom, children are given the opportunity to listen to true stories about known subjects, told with great expression. Songs, poems and rhymes are a part of the daily life of the class. The teacher models the art of conversation and respectfully listens to her young students. Looking at beautiful books with lovely, realistic pictures is also a part of language appreciation.

Learning Explosions

Human development is often not slow and steady; acquisitions seem to arrive suddenly, almost overnight, and with explosive impact. Such learning explosions are the sudden outward manifestation of a long process of internal growth. For example, the explosion of spoken language around two years of age is the result of many months of inner preparation and mental development.

Mathematical Mind

All babies are born with mathematical minds, that is, they have a propensity to learn things which enhance their ability to be exact and orderly, to observe, compare, and classify. Humans naturally tend to calculate, measure, reason, abstract, imagine and create. But this vital part of intelligence must be given help and direction for it to develop and function. If mathematics is not part of the young child’s experience, his subconscious mind will not be accepting of it at a later date.

Maximum Effort

Children seem to enjoy difficult work, work which tests their abilities and provides a sense of their growing power. They exult in giving their maximum effort. For example, a tiny child will struggle to carry a tray with juice glasses or push a heavy wheelbarrow whereas school-age children, if allowed to make up their own problems will prefer to sink their teeth into a challenging equation (I + 2 + 3 + 4… + 10)2 rather than drill on 3 + 5 = … and 6 + 2 = … .

Mixed Ages

One of the hallmarks of the Montessori method is that children of mixed ages work together in the same class. Age groupings are based on developmental planes. Children from 3-6 years of age are together in the Children’s House; 6-9 year olds share the lower elementary and the upper elementary is made up of 9-12 year olds. Because the work is individual, children progress at their own pace; there is cooperation rather than competition between the ages.

Normalisation

If young children are repeatedly able to experience periods of spontaneous concentration on a piece of work freely chosen, they will begin to display the characteristics of normal development: a love of work, an attachment to reality, and a love of silence and working alone. Normalised children are happier children: enthusiastic, generous, and helpful to others. They make constructive work choices and their work reflects their level of development.

Obedience

Obedience is an act of will and develops gradually, showing itself ‘unexpectedly at the end of a long process of maturation.’ (Montessori, 1967, p. 257) While this inner development is going on, little children may obey occasionally, but be completely unable to obey consistently. As their will develops through the exercise of free choice, children begin to have the self-discipline or self-control necessary for obedience.

Points of Interest

Montessori realised that if children spent too long a time on a complex task or failed to master the necessary details, the exercise would cease to interest them. Therefore she suggested that points of interest be interspersed throughout each activity. These points guide the child toward his or her goal and stimulate repetition and interest by offering immediate feedback, or what Montessori called control of error. The child’s performance becomes refined through trial and error, the points of interest acting as signposts along the path to success.

Prepared Environment

The Montessori classroom is an environment prepared by the adult for children. It contains all the essentials for optimal development but nothing superfluous. Attributes of a prepared environment include order and reality, beauty and simplicity. Everything is child-sized to enhance the children’s independent functioning. A trained adult and a large enough group of children of mixed ages make up a vital part of the prepared environment.

Presentation

The adult in a Montessori environment does not teach in the traditional sense. Rather she shows the child how to use the various objects and then leaves her free to explore and experiment. This act of showing is called a presentation. To be effective, it must be done slowly and exactly, step by step, and with a minimum of words.

Psychic Embryo

The first three years of life is a period of mental creation, just as the 9 months in utero is a period of physical creation. The brain awaits experience in the environment to flesh out the genetic blueprint. Since so much mental development occurs after birth, Montessori called the human infant a psychic embryo.

Repetition

The young child’s work is very different from the adult’s. When an adult works, he sets out to accomplish some goal and stops working when the object has been achieved. A child, however, does not work to accomplish an external goal but rather an internal one. Consequently, she will repeat an activity until the inner goal is accomplished. The unconscious urge to repeat helps the child to coordinate a movement or acquire some ability.

Sensitive Periods

Young children experience transient periods of sensibility, and are intrinsically motivated or urged to activity by specific sensitivities. A child in a sensitive period is believed to exhibit spontaneous concentration when engaged in an activity that matches a particular sensitivity. For example, children in a sensitive period for order will be drawn to activities that involve ordering. They will be observed choosing such activities and becoming deeply concentrated, sometimes repeating the activity over and over, without external reward or encouragement. Young children are naturally drawn towards those specific aspects of the environment which meet their developmental needs.

Sensorial Materials

The sensorial materials were created to help young children in the process of creating and organising their intelligence. Each scientifically designed material isolates a quality found in the world such as colour, size, shape, etc. and this isolation focuses the attention on this one aspect. The child, through repeated manipulation of these objects, comes to form clear ideas or abstractions. What could not be explained by words, the child learns by experience working with the sensorial materials.

Simple to Complex

A principle used in the sequence of presentations in a Montessori classroom. Children are first introduced to a concept or idea in its simplest form. As they progress and become capable of making more complex connections, they are eventually able to handle information that is less isolated.

Socialisation

‘The process by which the individual acquires the knowledge and dispositions that enable him to participate as an effective member of a social group and a given social order.’ (Osterkorn, 1980, p. 12) ‘Optimal social learning takes place when the children are at different ages.’ (Hellbr_gge, 1979, p. 14)

Sound Games

Many children know the alphabet but have not analysed the sounds in words nor are they aware that words are made up of separate sounds (phonemic awareness). From the age of two (or as soon as the child is speaking fluently), sound games can make them aware of the sounds in words. In England, they use the nursery game “I Spy.” The sound of the letter and not the letter name is pronounced.

Three-Hour Work Cycle

Through years of observation around the world, Montessori came to understand that children, when left in freedom, displayed a distinct work cycle which was so predictable it could even be graphed. This cycle, with two peaks and one valley, lasted approximately three hours. In Montessori schools children have three hours of open, uninterrupted time to choose independent work, become deeply engaged, and repeat to their own satisfaction.

Vocabulary Enrichment

The young child’s vocabulary increases exponentially in the years from 3-6. To feed this natural hunger for words, vocabulary is given: the names of biology, geometry, geography, and so forth, can be learned as well as the names of qualities found in the Sensorial Material. The child’s absorbent mind takes in all these new words ‘rapidly and brilliantly.’ (Montessori, 1946, p. 10)

Work

From an evolutionary perspective, the long period of childhood exists so children can learn and experiment in a relatively pressure-free environment. Most social scientists refer to this pressure-free experimentation as play (e.g., see Groos, 1901), although Montessori preferred to call this activity the work of childhood. Children certainly are serious when engaged in the kind of play that meets developmental needs and, given freedom and time, will choose purposeful activities over frivolous make-believe ones.

The Glossary of Montessori Terms presented here relates to the theory and practice for the primary (3-6) level. It was prepared by Annette Haines at the request of Molly O’Shaughnessy to accompany her lecture at the Joint Annual Refresher Course, held in Tampa, Florida in February 2001. 

Membership (International)

MONTESSORI AUSTRALIA: INTERNATIONAL PROVIDER MEMBERSHIP

Montessori International Schools and Centres member benefits: 

PROMOTIONS

PUBLICATIONS 

  • A subscription to our annual Montessori Insights eMagazine
  • A subscription to our quarterly Montessori eArticle
  • A subscription to our quarterly Montessori eBulletin
  • Member-only access to the back library of all publications
  • All publications may be shared to your staff and parents

DISCOUNTS 

CURRICULUM SUPPORT & ADDITIONAL SERVICES

  • License for the Montessori National Curriculum*
  • Montessori Early Years Learning Programme e-poster
  • Montessori Early Childhood Education and Care Program Handbook
  • Montessori Australia membership e-poster and logo

* Continued membership required for continued use

JOIN ONLINE AND PAY BY CREDIT CARD USING THE ADD TO CART BUTTON

(Note: if there are any issues with the online payment, please select Australia as your country).

Founding Principles

Centralised and Streamlined

In order for Montessori to achieve its potential, there needs to be a centralised access point for Montessori service provision in Australia. In short, we need to simplify and demystify Montessori for schools, parents, educators, government and outside agencies. In the past there was enormous duplication of effort as individual schools produced essentially the same documents, faced the same compliance challenges, and attempted to develop the same resources. Montessori Australia is working to provide all these resources centrally.

Visionary and Altruistic

Given the underlying aims of the Montessori movement, we believe a well structured benevolent organisation is a key to providing support for the work of raising public awareness of Montessori. Our prime aim is to make as widely available as possible the fundamental principles of human development and supporting practices to as many people as possible. “Aid to Life” remains the single most defining statement of Montessori purpose and guides all our endeavours.

AMI Provides Enduring Strength

Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) was founded by Dr Maria Montessori in 1929 to maintain the integrity of her life’s work, and to ensure that it would be perpetuated after her death. AMI is an international Montessori organisation. Through our association with AMI we tap into enormous resources and expertise from around the world that has and will continue to greatly assist Montessori in Australia.

Service Provision for All Montessorians and All Children

While we see AMI as underpinning our organisational strength, we see it is as fundamental that services be made available as widely as possible to all Montessorians. We further seek to work collaboratively with the major Montessori training organisations in Australia and to represent Montessori to government and outside agencies with one voice. We actively communicate with all Montessori schools in Australia. Our ultimate focus is to champion the cause of all children.

Professional Staff, Resources and Infrastructure

While volunteers will continue to play an important part in our organisation, we have made the quantum leap and put in place professional staff, resources and infrastructure. Professionally implemented and staffed initiatives will assist us to meet current challenges and to advance the Montessori movement.

For Providers

Montessori Education Providers

Creating life long learners

Curriculum

Recognised as a alternative national curriculum framework by ACARA

Montessori National Curriculum

In 2011, Montessori Australia received official notification from the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) that the Montessori National Curriculum (MNC) has been recognised as an alternative national curriculum framework to be included on ACARA’s Recognition Register. This is a fantastic achievement and has positive implications for everyone working in Montessori classrooms, not only in Australia but also worldwide. ACARA established a very rigorous recognition process to determine the extent to which a well-established alternative national curriculum can deliver comparable educational outcomes for students to those based on the Australian National Curriculum. ACARA have advised that our curriculum aligns with the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians, meets the particular principles and guidelines in relation to the Shape of the Australian Curriculum V3 Dec 2010, and allows for broadly comparable educational outcomes in English, mathematics, science and history by the end of Year 10. The recognition is almost completely unqualified and further acknowledges our different approach to learning, the different approach to ICT in the early years, that our history programme begins with the universe following through human civilisations to the local level, and notes the role of Montessori materials and activities in delivering the curriculum.

The 2011 version of the Montessori National Curriculum is available to Australian Montessori schools and centres.

We are currently working on recognition for the additional subjects and an online portal.

International schools requiring accreditation in their country may join as an international member to access the Montessori National Curriculum.  Contact info@montessori.org.au for details.

Parents – please note that the Montessori National Curriculum document is not a parent document.  Is has been designed for a Montessori classroom environment, with a full complement of Montessori materials, multi-aged classroom of children, and trained Montessori educators. Parents who are wanting to create a Montessori home-school environment are encouraged to attend workshops and training courses.

PDF icon Review Timeline

PDF icon Update (June 2023)

Montessori Early Years Programme

Under the National Law and Regulations, early childhood education and care services are required to base their educational program on an approved learning framework. This should focus on addressing the developmental needs, interests and experiences of each child, while taking into account individual differences.

Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia (EYLF) is the approved learning framework under the National Quality Framework for young children from birth to five years of age.

Montessori Australia has developed a poster that visually articulates the mapping of the Montessori curriculum against the EYLF. This poster can be displayed in a classroom or childcare centre, or even distributed to families, as clear evidence of how the Montessori curriculum meets the outcomes of the EYLF.

Click here to purchase the Montessori Early Years Learning Programme (MEYLP) poster from our online shop.

Please note: The MEYLP poster is subject to copyright and can not be reproduced without the prior consent of Montessori Australia.

Montessori Australia members are provided a PDF copy of the MEYLP poster.

Montessori and the National Quality Agenda

The governments National Quality Agenda is an important set of reforms for the Early Childhood Education and Care sector. Changes include the National Quality Standards, the Early Years Learning Framework and other regulations for service provision.

Montessori Australia recommends a number of commercially available professional resources, including:

Montessori and the National Quality Standards

This document looks at each individual standard and element of the 7 quality areas in relation to a Montessori environment and in context of what the Authorised Officer may observe, discuss and sight during an Assessment visit.
Avaliable: http://www.montessorichild.com.au/products/guide-to-montessori-the-nqs

Montessori National Curriculum and the EYLF

A high-gloss poster that visually maps the Montessori National Curriculum for children under 6 years of age against the EYLF. This poster can be displayed in a classroom or childcare centre, or even distributed to families, as clear evidence of how the Montessori curriculum meets the outcomes of the EYLF.

The poster is available in A4 and A3 through Montessori Australia’s online store.

Montessori and the EYLF

This document articulates how Montessori practice fits the principles, practice and outcomes of the EYLF.
Avaliable: http://www.montessorichild.com.au/products/guide-to-montessori-the-eylf

Bridging the Gap

This document gives an analysis of the most likely areas where an Authorised Officer may find Montessori Practice and other settings diverge. It provides strategies on how to “bridge the gap” of understanding.
Avaliable: http://www.montessorichild.com.au/products/bridging-the-gap-between-mont…

Montessori Quality: Authentic Practice

Montessori Quality: Authentic Practice (MQ:AP) has been developed to partner with and support all schools and early childhood programs (education services) providing Montessori environments. It will assist education services to engage in a process of review, improvement, and maintenance to ensure the highest level of Montessori experiences for children.

The emphasis for the MQ:AP is on continuous reflective development to provide authentic Montessori practice. It provides standards and guidelines for authentic practice and supports these with a model of guidance and professional development. Montessori Australia, the national body for Montessori, develops, implements, and reviews the Montessori Standards and Guidelines, and supports reflective development of Montessori programs through Guide training, networking, and professional mentoring. All Montessori education services are eligible to participate. The Montessori Australia’s Schools & Centres Directory lists all education services participating in the MQ:AP showing Participating and Montessori Registered™.

For updated information on the new Montessori Quality:Authentic Practice please go to www.montessoriregistered.org.au

PDF icon Brochure

PDF icon Fees (from 1 May 2023)

PDF icon Features and Benefits

PDF icon Summary

PDF icon Charter (Sample)

Online Montessori Training

Montessori Training Australia offers online introductory Montessori training course.

Our introductory Montessori programs are a great way to commence your journey to an understanding of Montessori education or a career path in a Montessori classroom. Training is delivered in formats to suit a variety of learning styles: video, text, and interactive online modules. Access your learning when and where you want through our secure online portal. 

There’s a Montessori training program for everyone. Whether you want to learn new skills for early years development, or want to further develop your expertise in Montessori teaching, or just want to know more detail about Montessori education, we have the course to suit you. 

Begin studying anytime, from anywhere, online.

This self-paced learning series includes:

  • Key Montessori Principles and Theory
  • The Prepared Environment
  • The Role of the Prepared Adult
  • Montessori Materials
  • Documenting Children’s Learning
  • Montessori and the Early Years Learning Framework

For details and access: https://montessoritraining.org.au

Please Note: If you are interested in progressing to a Diploma course in Montessori education, these online courses are a great place to start. Once completed, you may want to continue your professional training, specialising in a particular plane of development (e.g. 0-3, 3-6, 6-12 or 12-18). There are several organisations that you may want to consider such as AMI, BFE, MI and AMTI.

Montessori Training Australia

Training Centres

Montessori classrooms offer an environment that serves the individual needs of each child’s stage of development and allows freedom for children to discover their own path to becoming capable individuals.  A Montessori classroom allows children to develop emotionally, socially, behaviorally, and academically, and the Montessori teacher is an integral part of this unique environment.

Montessori teacher training centres in Australia:

An important consideration is to ensure that educators have the appropriately recognised qualifications to work in early childhood, primary or secondary education. Montessori Institute is the only Montessori training institution in Australia to offer teacher and educator courses which are nationally accredited with ACECQA, AITSL and TEQSA. Building Futures Education Diploma of Montessori Early Childhood Education is a nationally accredited course (ASQA). 

Due to the small number of Montessori adolescent programmes in Australia, there are currently no training programmes for this age level in the country. The Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) website provides details of adolescent (12-18 years of age) courses.

Online Introduction Courses

Balancing quality, cost and convenience is an important decision that will be different for each new teacher’s circumstances. We encourage you to carefully research the options before choosing the one that is right for you. If you are unsure whether Montessori education is right for you, or which age group you would like to teach, a short introduction Course in Montessori Education may be the best place to begin. Montessori Training Australia provides a selection of high quality online Foundation Courses which address the needs of interested parents, teaching assistants, school leaders and prospective educators. 

Montessori Training

Becoming a Montessori Educator

Montessori programmes cater for children from birth to eighteen years of age and may be delivered in Montessori early childhood or school settings.  In most cases, educators will have qualifications for working with children (early childhood 3-6 years of age, primary 6-12 years of age, or secondary 12-18 years of age) as well as specialised Montessori training. 

Watch a video: Why become a Montessori teacher? 

Online Training Courses

Online introductory Montessori training courses are available through Montessori Training Australia, with courses that promote best practice in Montessori education. Utilising a flexible online platform, packages allow users to customise their learning experience to suit their individual needs. Content is both engaging and informative and delivered through high quality audio-visual resources, interactive learning activities and thought-provoking discussions.

The online courses are suitable for educators, assistant staff, administrators, Board/Committee members, parents and anyone wishing to know more about Montessori principles and practice.  

Read more about these courses here.

Note that these online courses are introductory courses only, not full Montessori teacher training Diploma courses, and are not ACECQA registered.

Montessori Qualifications

Visit our Training Centre page for details on the Montessori training centres in Australia including:

Early Childhood Educator Qualifications

The National Quality Framework (NQF) sets out minimum qualification requirements for educators working in early childhood education and care services.  The NQF is administered through the Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality Authority (ACECQA).  The ACECQA website provides information on the approved early childhood qualifications and for assessment of existing and overseas qualifications.  

There are three main levels of educators, which apply to centre-based and family day care services from birth to preschool age:

  • Certificate III Level Educator
  • Diploma Level Educator
  • Early Childhood Teacher (ECT)

Refer to the ACECQA Qualifications List on their website for details on what Montessori courses are approved. 

Overseas Qualification Holders

Holders of overseas early childhood or Montessori qualifications may not be approved to work in early childhood in Australia. Your qualifications must be assessed individually by ACECQA as no overseas Montessori qualifications are accredited in Australia.  Please refer to the ACECQA website for details.  Unfortunately, most overseas Montessori qualifications will not be recognised by ACECQA, so you may need to undertake Australian early childhood qualifications.  

Primary and Secondary Educator Qualifications 

Montessori educators teaching primary aged children should have relevant Montessori primary training, as well as a teaching degree and teacher registration in the state/territory that they intend to teach.  Each state/territory in Australia has a regulatory body, which mandates these teaching qualifications.  In general, the qualification will be a four year tertiary study such as a Bachelor of Education (Montessori training qualifications are not assessed as part of their teaching qualfications).  Find your local regulatory authority here.

Due to the small number of Montessori adolescent programmes in Australia, there are currently no training programmes for this age level in the country.  Courses at this age level are listed on the AMI website.

Find out more by reading the PDF document: Which Training Program is right for you?

Job Openings

A listing of Montessori job opportunities is found on our website here.

Montessori Training Australia

Montessori Training Australia offers online introductory Montessori training course.

Our introductory Montessori programs are a great way to commence your journey to an understanding of Montessori education or a career path in a Montessori classroom. Training is delivered in formats to suit a variety of learning styles: video, text, and interactive online modules. Access your learning when and where you want through our secure online portal. 

There’s a Montessori training program for everyone. Whether you want to learn new skills for early years development, or want to further develop your expertise in Montessori teaching, or just want to know more detail about Montessori education, we have the course to suit you. 

Begin studying anytime, from anywhere, online.

This self-paced learning series includes:

  • Key Montessori Principles and Theory
  • The Prepared Environment
  • The Role of the Prepared Adult
  • Montessori Materials
  • Documenting Children’s Learning
  • Montessori and the Early Years Learning Framework

For details and access: https://montessoritraining.org.au

Please Note: If you are interested in progressing to a Diploma course in Montessori education, these online courses are a great place to start. Once completed, you may want to continue your professional training, specialising in a particular plane of development (e.g. 0-3, 3-6, 6-12 or 12-18). There are several organisations that you may want to consider such as AMI, BFE, MI and AMTI.

Montessori Training Australia

Australian Montessori Training Institute

Montessori educators, whether they be a Montessori teacher, a Montessori assistant or a parent, work to support the child in his or her process of self-development. “To aid life…that is the basic task of the educator.” Dr Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind

The Australia Montessori Training Institute (AMTI) is committed to providing quality Montessori training courses to the Montessori community, and to those interested in becoming qualified in the Montessori Method. Every consideration is given to ensure flexible training options to best meet the growing demand for Montessori early childhood educators.

From high-quality online learning, to flexible classroom face-to-face courses, AMTI training is available when you need it.

Website: https://amti.org.au

Whether you’re an educator or parent, Montessori study offers valuable insight into discovering and supporting the natural development of the child. AMTI can introduce and help you to implement a Montessori approach in your home, childcare centre, preschool, or school.

AMTI’s Professional, Personal and Practical training packages are:

1. Affordable: Our courses are competitively priced including support for mentoring and finding internship work.

2. Flexible: Start any week when you are ready with your choice of study for supporting children in the age groupings of 0-3, 2.5-6, and 6-12.

3. Accessible – weekly face-to-face or Zoom meetings with your trainer and weekly lessons emailed directly to you.

Online Videos of almost every lesson available for unlimited reviews: Click here to view a sample of an online training video.

Contact info@amti.org.au for more information about AMTI courses.

Courses are also available in Chinese from our China Office in Yiwu, Hangzhou Sage Education, visit here for more information.

Building Futures Education

Building Futures Education is a Training College focussing on Early Childhood Education. 

The Training College offers a unique classroom learning experience; providing students with a nationally recognised Diploma in Early Education and Care, Diploma of Montessori Early Childhood Education and Certificate III in Early Education and Care.

BFE has fully qualified experienced trainers who are hand-picked for their unique ability to understand all types of learning so each student can effectively strive and learn their own way.

Their Diploma of Montessori Early Childhood Education is Nationally Recognised, and provides a comprehensive and detailed study of the theory and skills involved in the delivery of a Montessori education program for children aged 0-6 years.  Click here to view the course brochure.

BFE also delivers Montessori short courses and workshops and parent development courses.

Based in Forest Lake Queensland, their stand-alone purpose built Training College is fully fitted out with a classroom set up and a student’s lounge for separate studying.

Contact Building Futures Education:

admin@bfe.edu.au

(07) 3073 5000

Montessori Institute

Montessori Institute

As the largest Montessori training organisation in Australia, the Montessori Institute offers flexible, nationally recognised, Early Childhood and Primary teacher registration qualifications, alongside Diploma and Certificate level qualifications. They also provide professional development and education for schools, childcare centres and the wider community, with which they we have built strong relationships over forty years. Their ACECQA (early childhood regulator) and AITSL (teacher registration regulator) accredited courses are delivered via a blend of external, online study and intensive face to face workshops, Australia wide.

Incorporated in 1983, the Montessori Institute is a not-for-profit organisation and an accredited Higher Education Provider with the Tertiary Education Quality Standards Authority (TEQSA). They have dedicated their work to develop and present world class Montessori courses and workshops, to both students and non-students.

Graduate Diploma of Education (Montessori) 3-6 years or 6-12 years focus. Recognised nationally as a teaching qualification, this course enables students to become registered teachers in their State. It is AITSL and ACECQA listed.

Diploma of Early Childhood and Primary Education (Montessori) 0-3, 3-6 or 6-12 years focus. This course enables registered teachers to gain Montessori curriculum knowledge for their classroom. It is ACECQA listed as an Early Childhood qualification (0-3 and 3-6 focus). The Diploma also qualifies non registered teachers to work as education assistants in schools or as room leaders/supervisors in a child care centre.

Certificate in Montessori Studies 0-5 or 3-6. Ideal for students who already hold a Certificate III or Diploma level qualification, but want to obtain Montessori curriculum knowledge for use in child care centres.

Diploma of Montessori Leadership and Practice. Ideal for principals or Montessori centre managers who wish to gain an understanding of Montessori theory, philosophy and curriculum.

Visit their website www.mwei.edu.au for further details.

PDF icon Graduate Diploma Brochure

PDF icon Diploma Brochure

PDF icon Certificate Brochure

PDF icon Leadership Brochure

Sydney Montessori Training Centre

Sydney Montessori Training Centre (SMTC) is a national organisation committed to providing quality training to the Montessori community and to those interested in becoming qualified in the Montessori method. 

SMTC is authorised to deliver Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) Montessori courses. AMI was established by Maria Montessori and affiliates training centres around the world. AMI courses are recognised internationally for their authenticity and quality.

SMTC offer AMI training courses in the following:

  • AMI Montessori 6-12 Diploma
  • AMI Montessori 6-12 Orientation Certificate
  • AMI Montessori 3-6 Diploma
  • AMI Montessori 3-6 Orientation Certificate
  • AMI Montessori 0-3 Orientation Certificate
  • AMI Montessori Foundation Course

Click here to visit their website for further details.

Montessori Materials

“Nothing goes into the mind that does not first go through the hands.”
Dr. Maria Montessori

The Montessori materials, embody the learning curriculum and are designed to stimulate the child into logical thought and independent discovery. The Montessori teacher shows the child how to use the materials independently and the child engages with them, at their own pace and in accordance with their own needs and interests. In this way, the child experiences the learning curriculum in a highly personnalised format.

The Montessori materials are provocative, enticing and simple to use. However, beneath the beauty and simplicity, lies a deep intentionality. The Montessori materials in any given classroom, provide for sufficient independent learning and discovery to span three years of any individual child’s development.

The materials are each designed to meet one or more specific needs in the child, and every piece of material has been developed in the context of all the other materials. They are offered to the child in a sequence which promotes the gradual layering of learning and understanding. In addition, not only do the materials relate to all others in the classroom, but they also refer to the materials which the child has worked with an earlier classroom, and as well as referring to the materials they will see in the next Montessori classroom, when they are older.

Each piece of material has what is known as a “control of error”. If the child has done something incorrectly it will be self-evident. The geometric shape, for example, won’t fit the hole; the water will spill on the table or the last label will not match the last picture. Being able to see his or her own mistake allows the child to work independently.

You can explore our full range of Montessori materials in our online shop.

A2Z Montessori Australia

Montessori Materials & Educational Toys

A2Z Montessori & Educational Toys online store is an educational supplier specialising in progressive education such as Maria Montessori, Rudolf Steiner, Reggio Emilia and Frederic Froebel. They predominantly supply schools, preschools, childcare centres, long day care centres, home day care, home schools, and also parents and families with young children.

They offer an extensive range of Montessori toys, material, resources and equipment to cover the whole off the Montessori Curriculum, includeing Language, Mathematics, Biology, Geography, Music, Art, Sensory and Infant & Toddler Practical Life activities. They are unique to A2Z and are manufactured to a high standard using the very best quality materials. They also hand pick the best quality wooden toys from Australia and around the world of well known and famous brands.

At A2Z Montessori & Educational Toys, they aim to deliver more than just toys. Whether intended for solo or group, play or learning, our educational toys encourage imagination, communication and a love of learning to “help me to do it myself”. The product range is about creating special memories for you and your child. Memories are priceless moments that you will cherish forever, like your child’s infectious giggles when they are playing a game that fascinates their imagination, the comfort on their face when they cuddle their favourite toy and the pride they take in showing you their creations.

Click on a2zmontessori.com.au to visit the A2Z Montessori website.

Think Education Supplies - Gonzagarrdi and Nienhuis

Think Education Supplies

Think Education Supplies (TES) was formed in 2003 initially to market in Australia and New Zealand the high quality of the Gonzagarrdi range of Montessori materials 0-12 years and wooden furniture 0-12 years and in 2015 the Nienhuis Montessori range was added.

The  range at TES has been expanded to include the full range of constantly updated printed card materials from ETC covering from 0-15 years in subjects such as English, Mathematics, Science, Geography and Timelines plus a full range of general materials focusing on stimulating thinking and processing skills across the 0-15 educational curriculum.

The warehouse in Brisbane carries a substantial amount of stock to fill orders as soon as possible.

The founder of Think Education Supplies, David Knibbe, has over 40 years experience in marketing educational materials from 0-15 year old students including setup of schools and childcare centres.

Think Education Supplies is Montessori Australia’s primary partner supplier of Nienhuis and Gonzagarrdi products that can be purchsed online by clicking here to visit the TES website.

Montessori Startups

Montessori Startups

If you are considering starting a new Montessori early learning centre or converting an existing centre to a Montessori environment, we have resources to assist.

Option 1: Join Montessori Australia as a Montessori Provider member

When you join as a Montessori Provider member, you’ll have access to a wide range of services, support and discounts.  You can read all about this here.

New members not only get the Montessori Early Childhood Education and Care Program Handbook (see below) for free, but also a range of services that will help you get started, such as free job advertising to source Montessori staff, license to use the Montessori National Curriculum, discounts to purchase Montessori materials to setup your Montessori environment, and many other benefits.  Members can also access our Montessori consultancy services.

The 12mth membership rate is normally $700 (ex GST), but for startups we offer a discounted rate of $500 (ex GST) for Montessori startups.  Email info@montessori.org.au for further details.

Option 2: Montessori Early Childhood Education and Care Program Handbook 

Our Montessori Early Childhood Education and Care Program Handbook is a series of booklets providing a wealth of information to get you started.

Harnessing the experience of the Montessori Australia, it provides a summary of the essential information that operators require when planning for, operating, and eventually expanding, a high-quality Montessori early education and care program.

The Montessori Early Childhood Education and Care Program Handbook is divided into seven booklets. Each booklet includes practical advice, sample documentation and links to external information sources.

The booklets titles include:

1. Getting Started

2. National Quality Framework (NQF)

3. Educational Programming

4. The Prepared Environment

5. Human Resources

6. Program Administration

7. Family Engagement

This option is a great starting point for you to understand how to go about establishing a Montessori centre.  

The series handbook costs $210 (including GST) and can be ordered by emailing info@montessori.org.au.

Montessori Adult & Aging Support Services

Montessori Adult & Aging Support Services

The Montessori approach for Dementia, Ageing & Adult Care provides enriched environments for older people receiving care services. It promotes independence, self-esteem, choice and meaningful activity through the recognition of individual strengths, needs, interests and the establishment of expertly prepared environments.

Proven outcomes of Montessori environments are reduction in Behavioural and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia (BPSD), reduction in the use of psychotropic medication, improved resident, family and staff satisfaction, and prevention of excess disability.

Montessori Consulting

Montessori Consulting is a Montessori for Dementia & Ageing consulting and training provider that offer a range of face-to-face and online training, as well as custom consulting services depending on the requirements and goals of the organisation. Anne Kelly combines the Montessori philosophy with over 35 years of experience in the industry to fundamentally change the way we provide support and care to others. 

Contact Montessori Consulting to discuss how to enable people to live meaningful and engaged lives with dignity.

W: https://montessoriconsulting.com.au

M: 0418 526 808

E: info@montessoriconsulting.com.au

Montessori and Gonski

Montessori And Gonski

Montessori Australia supports Gonski’s recommendation to place the learning growth of each student at the centre of our education model.  

We view transformation of the current education model as an urgent priority and support evidence-based changes that provide students with the capabilities to flourish in the knowledge economy. 

We offer the following key message as a contribution to this vital discussion. Our hope is that this conversation leads to more substantive changes so Australia does not miss this critical opportunity and can instead become known as the world’s leader in education innovation.

Montessori Gonski Key Messages

PDF icon Download Montessori Gonski Key Messages

Montessori Australia supports Gonski’s recommendation to place the learning growth of each student at the centre of our education model.  

We view transformation of the current education model as an urgent priority and support evidence-based changes that provide students with the capabilities to flourish in the knowledge economy. 

We offer the following key message as a contribution to this vital discussion. Our hope is that this conversation leads to more substantive changes so Australia does not miss this critical opportunity and can instead become known as the world’s leader in education innovation.

Transforming the industrial model

To better support teachers’ ability to differentiate learning and partner with students, other aspects of the current industrial-education model, such as, segregating students by grade, teaching subjects in isolation, and instruction and knowledge transfer, must also change.   

Recommendations for education innovation:

  • Multi-age classrooms
  • Student-led rather than teacher-led learning

Developing self-regulated learning skills

Self-regulated learning is a key capacity for success in a knowledge economy. The current industrial-education model does not provide students with sufficient autonomy and time to effectively practice these skills.

Recommendations for education innovation:

  • Individualised learning based on the student’s development level
  • Utilising the interests of the student to facilitate engagement
  • Preparation of learning environments to encourage opportunities for self-regulated engagement
  • Open-ended time to learn

Developing a systems worldview

Teaching subjects in isolation is based on a mechanistic worldview that leads students to view problems of economy, society, and environment as discrete and solvable through reductionistic methods. We are in the midst of the “complexity turn”, which necessitates a systems worldview, essential to creative and critical thinking.

Recommendation for education innovation:

  • Holistic curriculum with interdisciplinary learning 

The developmental continuum of education

Any true innovation in education requires a model that understands how the brain develops, not a model based on factory efficiency that constrains students, teachers, and school leaders.

Recommendations for education innovation:

  • Recognition that movement and cognition are linked, and that an education system needs to incorporate opportunities to regulate movement, thinking and emotions, and build executive functions
  • Education begins at birth and continues and builds throughout life

Testing is not the true test

Gonski 2.0 assumes declining OECD PISA and stagnating NAPLAN literacy and numeracy scores indicate the potential of a future decline in Australia’s standard of living. However, some researchers point to an inverse relationship between PISA scores and entrepreneurial capabilities—capabilities that are directly related to a country’s economic success. Focusing on test scores could actually prevent Australia from fostering the very capabilities we want to develop. 

Recommendations for education innovation:

  • Reduced focus on comparative and academic testing
  • Preparation of the learning environment to allow for ongoing feedback and self-assessment 
  • Measures that focus on the engagement and well-being of students, teachers, school leaders, families and communities
  • Support at all levels so Australia can stay the course to be a world leader in education innovation

Montessori Gonski Position Paper

PDF icon Download Montessori Gonski Position Paper

MAKING AUSTRALIA THE WORLD LEADER IN EDUCATION INNOVATION 

Over the past 40 years, a new “knowledge economy,”characterised by a “greater dependence on knowledge, information and high skill levels” (p. 28),has arisen. However, as the Gonski 2.0 Report rightfully points out, Australia is still using an education model designed for the industrial age—an efficiency-based model that fails to differentiate learning and provide students with the “problem-solving, interactive and social skills, and critical and creative thinking” capabilities necessary to succeed in this economy (p. ix).3

To remedy this and improve Australia’s PISA test scores and schools’ NAPLAN scores, Gonski 2.0 recommends that school systems and schools place the “learning growth of each student at the centre of their education model” (p. 5). The assumption is that a shift from specified learning outcomes based on age and grade to a focus on each student’s learning growth will transform the current education model to one that differentiates learning for each student, ensuring “all Australian students reach their full learning potential in each year of schooling” (p. 5). 

We view transformation of the current education model as an urgent discussion to be had globally. Given the accelerating rate of change due to the proliferation of digital technologies and the creative destruction4of not only jobs but industries, teachers can no longer be constrained by a model designed for a past economy where change occurred more incrementally.5Gonski’s initiation of this discussion places Australia as a potential leader in what will inevitably be a worldwide education paradigm shift—a true innovation in education. Thus, Montessori Australia fully supports Gonski’s recommendation to prioritise learning growth rather than specified learning outcomes based on age and grade. We also support partnering with students in their learning, so they feel more ownership of it, as this fosters their lifelong love of learning.6

QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS FUNDAMENTAL TO INNOVATING EDUCATION

While we support the shift to learning growth, we also question whether this shift is significant enough to transform—truly innovate—Australia’s education model such that it provides students with the capabilities that the knowledge economy requires. We offer questions and comments we perceive as fundamental to the discussion of education innovation.

Do other aspects of the industrial model need to be changed?

If schools continue to be required to segregate students by grade, teach subjects in isolation, and emphasise teacher- rather than student-directed learning, then we will not “look back in a decade to a transformed education system” (p. 5), as key aspects of the model will have remained the same. In fact, it is unclear how teachers can truly differentiate learning while these key aspects are still in place. 

Any education model drives the behaviour of all the people within it: school leaders, teachers, and students. Segregating children by grades and dividing each day into subject blocks requires each classroom to be teacher-directed. But how do teacher-directed classrooms organically provide students with opportunities to practice “problem-solving, interactive and social skills, and critical and creative thinking”? Subject blocks are short. And because teachers will need to ensure that each student gains “at least one year’s growth in learning […] every year” (p. xii), teachers will ultimately have to determine each student’s learning pace, which may adversely impact students’ sense of educational ownership and, hence, their lifelong love of learning. 

To better support teachers’ ability to differentiate learning and partner with students, other aspects of the current efficiency-based model must also be reconsidered.   

Will students develop self-regulated learning skills? 

Self-regulated learning is a key capacity for success in a knowledge economy that requires constant learning to innovate. Self-regulated learners are “masters of their own learning process” who are able to “transform their mental abilities into task-related skills in diverse areas of functioning, such as academia, sport, music, and health” (p. 13855).Thus, self-regulated learners can effectively learn within any domain. If the education model, however, still requires teachers to give lessons to the entire class while simultaneously determining each student’s learning pace within each short subject block, when do students have the time to practice regulating their own learning during the school day? Does a school day divided into relatively short subject blocks provide this time? Or will students ultimately be directed as to what to do and when to do it? We assert that practicing self-regulated learning skills requires more time and autonomy than the current model allows. 

Will students gain a systems worldview? 

Continuing to teach subjects in isolation is based on a Newtonian, mechanistic worldview that systems biologistshave shown and physicistsare now arguing is insufficient to understanding complex structures. As sociologist John Urry notes, we are in the midst of the “complexity turn,” which “investigates emergent, dynamic and self-organising systems that interact in ways that heavily influence the probabilities of later events” (p. 3).10 Complexity is increasingly more prevalent “within many social and intellectual discourses and practices besides ‘science’”, including economics, management, defence studies, architecture, etc. (p. 2). But teaching subjects in siloed isolation fails to reveal their interrelatedness—their overall complexity—leading students to view problems of economy, society, and environment as discrete and solvable through reductionistic methods. In reality, however, such problems “are not,” as systems researcher, John Sterman states, “separate domains to be traded off against one another” (p. 26).11 Thus, a systems worldview is essential to creative and critical thinking, which is why education researchers are proposing new educational paradigms that foster this view. Maria Hofman nicely summarises one paradigm proposed by sustainability researcher Stephen Sterling: 

A policy change should develop education from being seen as a product to being described as an ongoing developmental process that develops potential and capacity throughout life at both the individual level and societal level through lifelong learning. Such learning requires a change in the methodology and practice within education. Instead of education limited to instruction and knowledge transfer, the change should result in education being developed into a dynamic, activity-based and participatory training based on generating knowledge and meaning in relation to the circumstances in local society and the world. Problem solution in such education is thus based on real events(p. 224).12

We wholeheartedly agree with this proposed shift, and we offer our own Montessori model as an example of one (see our Montessori Fact Sheet for more information). We also acknowledge and support those Australian schools and teachers who are working on other models that also exemplify this paradigm shift. 

How do we bridge early childhood education with primary and secondary education? 

Gonski 2.0 rightfully points out the importance of the early years on school readiness and later learning. However, in the current model, early childhood is disconnected from primary and secondary education. We assert that any true innovation in education requires a model based on human development rather than efficiency. Such a model can provide a continuous flow throughout students’ schooling—from birth through adolescence—bridging the early childhood years to the later years. It also has the potential to alleviate “disparities in school readiness,” allowing even “developmentally vulnerable children” (p. 17)to more easily settle into school and achieve, and to help equalise later academic outcomes.13

However, we are not suggesting that infants be taught academic subjects. Academics is only one part of a student’s learning, and focusing on thinking ignores how humans are fundamentally built. Conscious thinking is only one part of a dynamic response system necessary for effective adaptability within any environment (including the knowledge economy). Automatic behaviours are also required. The ability to smoothly switch between these two response systems—conscious intentional thinking and automatic behaviours—is foundational to having good executive functions.14,15 Executive functions are “those functions [a person] employs to act independently [in her] own best interest as a whole at any point in time, for the purpose of survival” (p. 506).15 Having good executive functions is necessary for both school and life success.16

To build good executive functions, infants need opportunities to move and interact with the environment, which develops their immature motor and sensory systems. Environments rich in purposeful sensorimotor materials essentially train these systems, allowing children to gain a large repertoire of automatic movements foundational to an effective dynamic response system. Research continues to show that children with poor motor skills generally have later problems with working memory and academic learning. And children with learning disabilities tend to have poor motor skills.17 Thus, movement and cognition are linked. 

Additionally, the neural circuits involved in movement regulate thinking and emotions just as they regulate movement,14,15 and the brain regions involved in these circuits continue to develop throughout childhood and adolescence.18Thus, an education system based on how humans actually develop should include extensive opportunities for students to engage in movement so they can build an increasing repertoire of complex automatic action patterns that not only support better conscious, intentional thinking, but also help to actually build the neural circuits that directly regulate thinking and emotion regulation. 

Bridging early childhood with primary and secondary education necessitates a model that understands how the brain develops—not a model based on factory efficiency that constrains students, teachers, and school leaders.

Does a continued focus on testing derail us from true educational innovation? 

The Gonski 2.0 Report states that “Australian education has failed a generation of Australian school children by not enabling them to reach their full learning potential” (p. 8). They cite declining OECD PISA and stagnating NAPLAN literacy and numeracy scores as evidence. The concern is that these scores indicate the potential of a future decline in Australia’s standard of living as schools will not produce workers with the capabilities necessary for success in the knowledge economy. But is this true? 

Gonski’s Exhibit 5 (p. 9) shows “a significant achievement gap between Australia and the highest performing country in both reading literacy and mathematics”—Singapore. Yet, as education researcher Yong Zhao notes, Singapore and the other high-ranking Asian countries consistently show a “negative relationship between PISA scores and entrepreneurial capabilities,” which are “directly related to economic prosperity and success” (p. 58).19 

In fact, according to Zhao, China and Singapore “blame their own supposedly excellent education for their inability to produce creative and entrepreneurial talents like Steve Jobs” (p. 58). He points out that “although products worth billions of dollars are made in China, they are not made by China” (p. 57; emphasis in original). Thus, the assumption that declining PISA scores are indicative of a future decline in Australia’s standard of living due to an inability to produce workers for the knowledge economy is highly questionable.

What is also questionable is whether focusing on test scores—PISA or NAPLAN—actually helps to improve a country’s educational system or whether it derails that process. If test scores are ultimately the target because it is (incorrectly) assumed those scores indicate a country’s future economic success, how do we not fall into the trap of teaching to the test, whatever that test is, while ignoring other important capabilities? Campbell’s Law states:

The more any quantitative social indicator is used for social decision-making, the more subject it will be to corruption pressures and the more apt it will be to distort and corrupt the social processes it is intended to monitor (p. 366).20

Singapore is not yielding high PISA scores because its school system is focused on teaching “problem-solving, interactive and social skills, and critical and creative thinking.”As Singaporean journalist Alexis Ong told Zhao, it is yielding high PISA scores because of “its strictly regimented curriculum and by-rote study techniques that sustain the city’s formal culture” (p. 58).19 Not only is such an educational system not innovative and fail to produce the capabilities we claim to want to teach, it does not fit with who we are as Australians. We should not become someone other than who we are to achieve success on tests that do not really measure what we think they measure. 

Finally, it should be noted that while PISA now claims to measure creativity and problem-solving, Zhao warns:

Remember that whatever these tests are, they are still testing. A test by no means reflects your true creativity—it just measures your capacity to take a creativity test. That actually can become more dangerous and drive governments to do even crazier things.”21

Technology innovators recognise the worthlessness of test scores. Google, for instance, conducted their own research and found that “as a criteria for hiring […] test scores are worthless,” as “they don’t predict anything.”22  

CONCLUSION

We are in the midst of a knowledge economy and the “complexity turn”. Yet our education model in Australia and throughout much of the world is still stuck within an education model designed for a different economy and a different turn—the “Newtonian turn.”23 Thus, we view Gonski 2.0 as an opportunity for Australia to engage in rich discussion and become the world leader in education innovation. We offer this position paper as a contribution to this vital discussion and welcome the thoughts and questions of others. Our hope is that this conversation leads to more substantive action so Australia does not miss this critical opportunity. 

REFERENCES

  1. Powell, W. W., & Snellman, K. (2004). The knowledge economy. Annual Review of Sociology, 30,199-220. 
  2. OECD. (2005). Oslo manual: Guidelines for collecting and interpreting innovation data. Retrieved from https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/science-and-technology/oslo-manual_9789264013100-en
  3. Gonski, D., Arcus, T., Boston, K., Gould, V., Johnson, W., O’Brien, L., . . . Roberts, M. (March 2018). Through growth to achievement: Report of the Review to Achieve Educational Excellence in Australian Schools. Retrieved from https://www.education.gov.au/review-achieve-educational-excellence-australian-schools
  4. Schumpeter, J. A. (1950/2008). Capitalism, socialism and democracy (Thrid ed.). New York, NY HarperPerennial.
  5. Castells, M. (2000). The rise of the network society: The information age: Economy, society, and culture (Second ed. Vol. 1). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.
  6. The World Bank Group. (2003). Lifelong learning in the global knowledge economy. Retrieved from http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTLL/Resources/Lifelong-Learning-in-the-Global-Knowledge-Economy/lifelonglearning_GKE.pdf; Hattie, J. (2009). Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. New York, NY: Routledge.
  7. Zimmerman, B. J. (2001). Self-regulated learning. In N. J. Smelser & P. B. Baltes (Eds.), International encyclopedia of the social & behavioral sciences (pp. 13855-13859). Oxford: Pergamon.
  8. Hood, L., Rowen, L., Galas, D. J., & Aitchison, J. D. (2008). Systems biology at the Institute for Systems Biology. Briefings in functional genomics and proteomics, 7(4), 239-248. 
  9. Unger, R. M., & Smolin, L. (2015). The singular universe and the reality of time. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.
  10. Urry, J. (2005). The complexity turn. Theory, culture & society, 22(5), 1-14. 
  11. Sterman, J. D. (2012). Sustaining sustainability: Creating a systems science in a fragmented academy and polarized world. In M. P. Weinstein & R. E. Turner (Eds.), Sustainability science: The emerging paradigm and the urban environment (pp. 21-58): Springer.
  12. Hofman, M. (2015). What is an education for sustainable development supposed to achieve—A question of what, how and why. Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, 9(2), 213-228. doi: 10.1177/0973408215588255
  13. Lillard, A. S., Heise, M. J., Richey, E. M., Tong, X., Hart, A., & Bray, P. M. (2017). Montessori preschool elevates and equalizes child outcomes: A longitudinal study. Frontiers in Psychology, 8(1783). doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01783
  14. Koziol, L. F. (2014). The myth of executive functioning: Missing elements in conceptualization, evaluation, and assessment (Vol. II). New York, NY: Springer; Koziol, L. F., Budding, D., Andreasen, N., D’Arrigo, S., Bulgheroni, S., Imamizu, H., . . . Yamazaki, T. (2014). Consensus paper: The cerebellum’s role in movement and cognition. The Cerebellum, 13(1), 151-177. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12311-013-0511-x; Koziol, L. F., & Budding, D. E. (2009). Subcortical structures and cognition: Implications for neuropsychological assessment. New York, NY: Springer; Koziol, L. F., & Lutz, J. T. (2013). From movement to thought: The development of executive function. Applied Neuropsychology: Child, 2(2), 104-115. ; Cisek, P., & Kalaska, J. F. (2010). Neural mechanisms for interacting with a world full of action choices. Annual review of neuroscience, 33(1), 269-298. doi: doi:10.1146/annurev.neuro.051508.135409
  15. Koziol, L. F., Budding, D. E., & Chidekel, D. (2012). From movement to thought: executive function, embodied cognition, and the cerebellum. The Cerebellum, 11(2), 505-525. 
  16. Diamond, A., & Lee, K. (2011). Interventions shown to aid executive function development in children 4 to 12 years old. Science, 333(6045), 959-964. doi: 10.1126/science.1204529
  17. Westendorp, M., Hartman, E., Houwen, S., Huijgen, B. C. H., Smith, J., & Visscher, C. (2014). A longitudinal study on gross motor development in children with learning disorders. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 35(2), 357-363. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2013.11.018; Westendorp, M., Hartman, E., Houwen, S., Smith, J., & Visscher, C. (2011). The relationship between gross motor skills and academic achievement in children with learning disabilities. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 32(6), 2773-2779. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2011.05.032; Westendorp, M., Hartman, E., Houwen, S., Smith, J., & Visscher, C. (2014). Specific associations between gross motor skills and executive functioning in children with learning disorders: A longitudinal study. Movement and Cognition, 59. ; Rigoli, D., Piek, J. P., Kane, R., & Oosterlaan, J. (2012). An examination of the relationship between motor coordination and executive functions in adolescents. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, 54(11), 1025-1031. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8749.2012.04403.x
  18. Diamond, A. (2000). Close interrelation of motor development and cognitive development and of the cerebellum and prefrontal cortex. Child Development, 71, 44-56. 
  19. Zhao, Y. (2012). Flunking innovation and creativity. Phi Delta Kappan, 94(1), 56-61. 
  20. Campbell, D. T. (1988). Methodology and epistemology for social science: Selected papers. In E. S. Overman (Ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
  21. Stewart, W. (December 2016). Long read: Does Pisa really tell us anything useful about schools? TES. Retrieved from https://www.tes.com/news/long-read-does-pisa-really-tell-us-anything-useful-about-schools
  22. Bryant, A. (June 19, 2013). In head-hunting, big data may not be such a big deal. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/20/business/in-head-hunting-big-data-may-not-be-such-a-big-deal.html
  23. Laudan, L. (1981). Thomas Reid and the Newtonian turn of British Methodological thought. Science and hypothesis: Historical essays on scientific methodology. (pp. 86-110). Dordrecht: Springer.

Media Release and Fact Sheets

PDF icon Montessori Gonski Media Release

PDF icon About Montessori Australia

PDF icon Overview Montessori in Australia

PDF icon Characteristics of Montessori Education

PDF icon Montessori Classrooms

PDF icon Montessori Programmes

PDF icon Difference Between Montessori and Traditional Education

PDF icon Montessori Assessment & Reporting

Media Realease

FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION: Thursday, 10 May 2018 

MAKING AUSTRALIA THE WORLD LEADER IN EDUCATION INNOVATION 

A RESPONSE TO GONSKI 2.0

Montessori Australia supports Gonski’s recommendation to place the learning growth of each student at the centre of our education model. 

We view transformation of the current education model as an urgent priority and support evidence-based changes that provide students with the capabilities to flourish in the knowledge economy. Any true innovation in education requires a model that understands how the brain develops, not a model based on factory efficiency that constrains students, teachers and school leaders.

“Gonski’s initiation of this discussion places Australia as a potential leader in what will inevitably be a worldwide education paradigm shift – a true innovation in education. Thus, we fully support Gonski’s recommendation to prioritise learning growth rather than specified learning outcomes based on age and grade”, Ms Christine Harrison, President of Montessori Australia said.

Transformation of the current education model needs to be an urgent discussion to be had globally. Given the accelerating rate of change due to the proliferation of digital technologies and the creative destruction of not only jobs but industries, teachers can no longer be constrained by a model designed for a past economy where change occurred more incrementally. 

“Segregating children by grades and dividing each day into subject blocks requires each classroom to be teacher-directed. But how do teacher-directed classrooms organically provide students with opportunities to practice problem-solving, interactive and social skills, and critical and creative thinking?” Ms Harrison said.

“Partnering with students so they feel more ownership of their education fosters a lifelong love of learning. Individualised learning based on the student’s developmental level and the interests of the student fosters engagement and self-regulated learning. Developing these capacities is essential to ensure Australia will be a leader in the knowledge economy”, said Ms Harrison “and Montessori education is one example of a pedagogy that offers these teaching and learning opportunities.”

Media Contacts:

Montessori Australia, National Office, 02 9986 2282, info@montessori.org.au

Gonski Background Information

PDF icon Download Review of Funding for Schooling Report 2011

PDF icon Download Report of the Review to Achieve Educational Excellence in Australian Schools 2018 (“Gonski 2.0”)

“Gonski” refers to David Gonski, who was commissioned back in 2010 by the Minister of Education to be chairman of a committee to make recommendations regarding funding of education in Australia.  

The findings and recommendations of the committee were presented to the government in November 2011, whereafter deliberations were entered into by the Federal and state governments to consider its content. The committee’s report is known as the Gonski Report.  Subsequently, the proposed reforms and funding model became known as “Gonski”. 

The Gonski Review stressed the need for an equitable school funding system.  To address the current imbalances, the review recommended a national needs‑based and sector-blind school funding model. The new funding model would provide a level of base funding to all schools and additional targeted funding to disadvantaged students in order to remove inequities and minimise the identified performance gap.  From this, the government adopted the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) which sets out how much it costs for every student to receive a good education.

In 2017, Gonski chaired an independent panel, the Review to Achieve Educational Excellence in Australian Schools, commissioned to examine evidence and make recommendations on how school funding should be used to improve school performance and student outcomes. The second Gonski report, referred to as Gonski 2.0, was published on 30 April 2018.

The three priorities recommended in the report are:

  1. Deliver at least one year’s growth in learning for every student every year
  2. Equip every child to be a creative, connected and engaged learner in a rapidly changing world
  3. Cultivate an adaptive, innovative and continuously improving education system

It makes recommendations across the following five areas to address these:

  1. Laying the foundations for learning
  2. Equipping every student to grow and success in a changing world
  3. Creating, supporting and valuing a profession of expert educators
  4. Empowering and supporting school leaders
  5. Raising and achieving aspirations through innovation and continuous improvement

Executive Team and Board Members

Know Quality

Choosing the right Montessori environment for your child is important. Each school, centre or programme is run independently from Montessori Australia and is either privately owned, part of a public school, or run by a non-profit association.

“Montessori” is not trademarked so it is possible for any school or centre to include the word “Montessori” in their name. Most “Montessori” schools or centres aim to offer a quality Montessori programme.

In its role as the national body, Montessori Australia has established an Australian system to identify Authentic Practice for Montessori programs and to support education services in maintaining these standards.

LOGOs on our Directory Listing

Montessori Australia logo: the school/centre has joined our membership programme.  This means that the school/centre pays a membership fee to receive services and support from Montessori Australia and are a contributing member of the Australian Montessori community.  

Montessori Registered logo: the school/centres has been assessed by the national body as meeting Montessori standards.  This assessment was undertaken as part of the previous incarnation of our Montessori Quality: Authentic Practice (MQ:AP) program, a supportive and positive means of continuous improvement by which education services strive to ensure quality and best practice.

MQAP Participating or MQAP Applied logos: show that they are on the journey to become Montessori Registered, but have not yet been assessed.

Click here to go to the new MQ:AP website providing further details about the program.

Building Futures Education

Building Futures Education is a Training College focussing on Early Childhood Education. 

The Training College offers a unique classroom learning experience; providing students with a nationally recognised Diploma in Early Education and Care, Diploma of Montessori Early Childhood Education and Certificate III in Early Education and Care.

BFE has fully qualified experienced trainers who are hand-picked for their unique ability to understand all types of learning so each student can effectively strive and learn their own way.

Their Diploma of Montessori Early Childhood Education is Nationally Recognised, and provides a comprehensive and detailed study of the theory and skills involved in the delivery of a Montessori education program for children aged 0-6 years.  Click here to view the course brochure.

BFE also delivers Montessori short courses and workshops and parent development courses.

Based in Forest Lake Queensland, their stand-alone purpose built Training College is fully fitted out with a classroom set up and a student’s lounge for separate studying.

Contact Building Futures Education:

https://bfe.edu.au

admin@bfe.edu.au

(07) 3073 5000

Research

Montessori Australia recognises and is committed to the role of research in promoting greater awareness, acceptance and understanding of the Montessori Method within the Australian community. We recognise that education requires a strong evidence base, and we are committed to working towards building a complete research framework. By establishing a comprehensive research framework, Montessori Australia will be able to share the evidence-based value of the Montessori Method for families, educators, leaders, legislators and researchers.This research framework incorporates, but is not limited to:

  • The encouragement of Australian research and its publication
  • Facilitating a network for research, including links to international Montessori research 
  • The collection of historical data and links with the broader field of education
  • Inclusive education
  • Montessori materials
  • Montessori principles 
  • Research partnerships and opportunities
  • Teacher education & career development
  • Supporting innovation

Current Research

Research activities exist across a number of key areas, by both Montessorians and independent academic researchers.  

The following list indicates some of the research areas within the Montessori and broader context, recently or currently being pursued:

  • Montessori and Indigenous communities
  • Reflective practice
  • Leadership and governance 
  • Strategic investigations for the future development of the Montessori movement in Australia
  • Studies relating to Montessori principles and practices and links to ELYF
  • Research relating to Montessori materials 
  • Research projects with universities, particularly with UNSW
  • Research work to develop Montessori teacher training and career development

Current Research Opportunities

Montessori Australia supports the following research opportunities. Contact Alex Ioannou on alex@montessori.org.au for enquiries.

Responsive and inclusive education in diverse schools (VIC primary or secondary teachers)

Monash University is delighted to invite Victorian primary or secondary teachers to participate in a ground-breaking survey about responsive and inclusive education in diverse schools. As a teacher who is committed to creating an inclusive and welcoming learning environment, your valuable insights and experiences are critical to our research.

The survey aims to identify what you value and can do in order to create an inclusive learning environment that promotes equity and social justice. The results of this survey will help inform educational policies, teacher professional education, and practices that support diverse students and promote their academic success and well-being.

The survey is available here: https://monash.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_7VQq2851qaMik2W

Your participation in this survey is completely voluntary and all responses will be kept confidential. The survey will take approximately 15 minutes to complete. Your responses will be invaluable in advancing our understanding of responsive and inclusive education.

Evidence-based Education

The Montessori program is not only a unique philosophy offering parents an alternative to the traditional schooling system. The Montessori Method has been demonstrated to improve education outcomes for children in multiple different settings and variables.

Australian

The introduction of Montessori teaching and learning practices in an early childhood classroom in a remote Indigenous school

Holmes, C. (2016) Master by Dissertation, The University of Notre Dame, Fremantle. 

Montessori education in the Ngaanyatjarra Lands

Holmes, C. (2018) Journal of Montessori Research, 4(2), 33-60. 

The Montessori method, Aboriginal students and Linnaean zoology taxonomy teaching: three-staged lesson

Rioux J, Ewing B, & Cooper TJ. (2019). The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education. 1–11. 

Convergence and Divergence of Ethnomathematics (D’Ambrosio) and Mathematics (Montessori): An Ethnomathematics Program

Rioux, J. (2021). E-article. Montessori Australia. Issue 4 November. 

Montessori Educators and the Australian Early Years Learning Framework in Montessori Early Childhood Environments in Western Australia: A qualitative study

Stevens, R. (2020).  (Master by Research, University of Western Australia) 

International

An Intervention Study: Removing Supplemented Materials from Montessori Classrooms Associated with Better Child Outcomes

Montessori classrooms vary a good deal in implementation, and one way in which implementation differs is the provision of materials.  Specifically, some classrooms use only Montessori materials, whereas others supplement the Montessori materials with commercially available materials like puzzles and games.  A prior study suggested this might be a reason for observed differences across studies and classrooms (Author, 2012) but an intervention study is the best test.  The present study presents such an intervention with 52 children in 3 Montessori classrooms with Supplementary materials. All children were given 6 pretests, and non-Montessori materials were removed from 2 of the classrooms.  Four months later, children were retested to see how much they changed across that period.  Children in the classrooms from which the non-Montessori materials were removed advanced significantly more in early reading and executive function, and to some degree advanced more in early math.  There were no differences across the classroom types in amount of change on the tests of vocabulary, social knowledge, or social skills.

Lillard, A. S., & Heise, M. J. (2016). An Intervention Study: Removing Supplemented Materials from Montessori Classrooms Associated with Better Child Outcomes. Journal of Montessori Research, 2(1), 16–26. https://doi.org/10.17161/jomr.v2i1.5678

Montessori preschool elevates and equalizes child outcomes – Angeline S. Lillard, Megan J. Heise, Eve M. Richey, Xin Tong, Alyssa Hart and Paige M. Bray (Frontiers in Psychology, 2017)

A longitudinal study that took advantage of randomized lottery-based admission to two public Montessori magnet schools in a high-poverty American city. The final sample included 141 children, 70 in Montessori and 71 in other schools, most of whom were tested 4 times over 3 years, from the first semester to the end of preschool (ages 3 to 6), on a variety of cognitive and socio-emotional measures.

Montessori preschool elevated children’s outcomes in several ways. Although not different at the first test point, over time the Montessori children fared better on measures of academic achievement, social understanding, and mastery orientation, and they also reported relatively more liking of scholastic tasks. They also scored higher on executive function when they were 4.

In addition to elevating overall performance on these measures, Montessori preschool also equalised outcomes among subgroups that typically have unequal outcomes. First, the difference in academic achievement between lower income Montessori and higher income conventionally schooled children was smaller at each time point, and was not (statistically speaking) significantly different at the end of the study. Second, defying the typical finding that executive function predicts academic achievement, in Montessori classrooms children with lower executive function scored as well on academic achievement as those with higher executive function. 

Lillard, A. & Else-Quest, N. (2006) – Evaluating Montessori Education (Science 313)

This study compared outcomes of 59 children at a Milwaukee, Wisconsin public inner city Montessori school with 53 children who attended traditional schools in the same area. The results indicated that Montessori education leads to children with better social and academic skills. It was published by Angeline Lillard and Nicole Else-Quest in the Sept. 29 2006 issues of the journal Science.

The following summary was reported in The Times (London) September 29, 2006 and is an extract from an article by Alexandra Frean.

  • Pupils who learn at their own pace in Montessori schools may have an advantage over those in traditional classrooms
  • By the age of five, children at Montessori schools are better at basic word recognition and mathematics and are more likely to play co-operatively with other children. By the age of 12, they are more creative and better able to resolve social problems
  • Academically, they end up in the same place or better as non-Montessori children, but they are much better at getting on in a community.
  • Among the five year olds, Montessori students not only performed significantly better in maths and English, but were also better able to see the world through others’ eyes and performed better on “executive function”, which is the ability to adapt to change and approaching complex problems.
  • By the age of twelve, the difference in academic scores between the two groups was less pronounced. The Montessori children, however, wrote more creative essays, selected more positive responses to social dilemmas and reported a more positive sense of community at their school.
    Science Vol 3131 29 September 2006
    http://www.montessori-science.org/science_journal_article.htm

Chisnall, N. & Maher, M. (2007) – Montessori Mathematics in Early Childhood Education

The research project examined mathematical concept development in children prior to school entry and indicated Montessori may have a positive impact on children’s numeracy knowledge. The key outcomes were:

  • Montessori students showed significantly higher achievement regarding backward number word sequence (a precursor to subtraction); early addition and subtraction; and place value concepts.
  • Indicators that the Montessori system may be offering more opportunities for children to develop higher order skills and concepts in early childhood.
  • Indicators that Montessori can favourably impact students in low socioeconomic status areas.
    Source: Curriculum Matters 3, 6-28.

Harris, E. M. (2004) – Evaluation of the reorganization of Northboro Elementary School in Palm Beach County, Florida: a ten year perspective

This was an 11 year case study of one school and the impact that Montessori brought. It examined an at risk elementary school from 1991 to 2002. The school population was 86% African American, 12% Hispanic, and 2% White or mixed race. (98% on lunch program). The community decided on the Montessori magnet program and utilised reading recovery and a parent involvement program. The key outcomes were:

  • Math scores went from a 28% to a 52% pass rate
  • Parent involvement tripled.
  • School community became more diverse. 
  • 91% of all six year olds were reading at or above grade level. 
    Source: Dissertation, Union Institute and University.

Dohrmann, K. (2003) – Outcomes for Students in a Montessori Program, A Longitudinal Study of the Experience in the Milwaukee Public Schools Montessori

This study supports the hypothesis that Montessori education has a positive long-term impact. Additionally, it provides an affirmative answer to questions about whether Montessori students will be successful in traditional schools. The key outcomes were:

  • An association between a Montessori education and superior performance on the Math and Science scales of the ACT and WKCE, for those attending from the approximate ages of three to eleven.

Vance, T. L. (2003) – An exploration of the relationship between preschool experience and the acquisition of phonological awareness in kindergarten Comparison of four ECE experiences

This study involved a comparison of four early childhood education programmes. Students attending the Montessori program outscored all others on all tests administered on development of literacy skills and phonological awareness. 
Source: Dissertation, George Mason University.

Rathunde, K. (2003) – A comparison of Montessori and traditional middle schools: Motivation, quality of experience, and social context

With the help of co-investigator Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Dr. Rathunde compared the experiences and perceptions of middle school students in Montessori and traditional schools using the Experience Sampling Method (ESM). The key outcomes were:
Montessori students reported a significantly better quality of experience in their academic work than did traditional students.
Montessori students perceived their schools as a more positive community for learning, with more opportunities for active, rather than passive, learning.
Source: The NAMTA Journal 283 (Summer, 2003), pages 12-52

Reed, M. (2000) – A comparison of the place value understanding of Montessori and non-Montessori elementary school students Maths study

Montessori students consistently outperformed non-Montessori students on “tasks of a more conceptual nature, while performing the same or slightly better on counting and symbolic tasks”. 

Source: Electronic Thesis or Dissertation retrieved from https://etd.ohiolink.edu/

East Dallas Community School

East Dallas Community School offers accredited classroom programs for children ages twelve months through third grade in one of the most under-served communities in Dallas. 68% of students are Hispanic, 9% African American, 19% Anglo, and 4% other ethnicities.  67% of these families were living at or below poverty level and 49% were learning English as a second language. Programme outcomes are as listed:

  • In 2002, 78% of the school’s third graders applied to Dallas Independent School District’s gifted and talented program. All were accepted.
    100% of the public charter school students have passed the high stakes state reading competency tests.
  • According to a ten year study of standardised test scores (1993-2003), EDCS students’ average scores were in the top 36% nationwide in reading and math.
  • In a neighbourhood where the high school graduation rate is less than 50%, 94% of the third grade alumni have graduated from high school; 88% of those have gone on to college.
  •  In 2005, the school was ranked among the top 6% of charter school districts, and among the top 15% of all public school districts in the State of Texas.
  • In 2006 and 2007 the school received a Gold Performance acknowledgement from the state for our students’ accomplishments in reading.
    Source: http://www.edcschool.org/Our_Schools.html.

Alfred G. Zanetti School Springfield, Massachusetts Montessori

Until 1999, the school had low-test scores, high absenteeism and a student turnover rate of almost 50% a year. In 1999, the school converted to Montessori. Programme outcomes include:

  • Assessments all the way down to the youngest classrooms, exhibit a record of success.
  • Student turnover rate is now (2005) 5%. 
    Source: Public School Stakes Its Future on the Montessori Way, New York Times, 2nd February 2005.

AEDI Research

Success in school and life can be influenced by the outcomes in early childhood. The Australian Early Development Index (AEDI) is a national measure of the progress of early childhood development in Australia. The AEDI is an attempt by the council of Australian governments to measure how children are developing in communities throughout the country. The AEDI collected data on a number of quantitative and qualitative data sets, following physical health and well being, social competence, emotional maturity, language and cognitive skills and communication skills and general knowledge. The study was conducted throughout the country, surveying 261,203 children, making up 97.5% of aged five in Australia.

Montessori Educated children outperformed the national average for five year olds in all developmental domains. The most significant variance between the national average and children educated in the Montessori system were in Language and Cognitive Skills and Communications Skills and General Knowledge. While some controls in such socio-economic advantage must be considered, as the number of developmentally vulnerable children in Montessori was less than the National average, the performance of Montessori education relative to the national average is statistically significant. The study verifies the legitimacy of the Montessori Method for achieving real positive outcomes for children’s education and development.

Action Research

Montessori Australia launched the Montessori Action Research Advisory (MRAC) committee in 2010. The MRAC works to build a comprehensive research framework for Montessori in both New Zealand and Australia. One of the first schemes of the Montessori Research Advisory Committee has been to initiate the first Montessori Research Workshop. The workshop was first conducted back in May 2010 and was open to all Montessori educators working with children from birth to eighteen years as well as Montessori teacher trainers. The aim of the workshop was to involve educators in classroom based research.

Participants in the research project were asked to write a research question of their own and design a small research project to explore this question. The projects were ones that could be implemented simply and effectively in their own classrooms in order to reflect critically and systematically on a single area within the curriculum, or a classroom based problem, with the goal of achieving real positive change. The results of the project have each been published in an Action Research book, which provides a summary of the action research covered in the workshop. These reports demonstrate the breadth of the potential Montessori classrooms offer teachers for pursuing both practitioner based enquiry as well as research projects that can become the basis of study towards a higher degree.

Our Team

Executive Member Appointees

Training Centres

Montessori classrooms offer an environment that serves the individual needs of each child’s stage of development and allows freedom for children to discover their own path to becoming capable individuals.  A Montessori classroom allows children to develop emotionally, socially, behaviorally, and academically, and the Montessori teacher is an integral part of this unique environment.

Montessori teacher training centres in Australia:

An important consideration is to ensure that educators have the appropriately recognised qualifications to work in early childhood, primary or secondary education. Montessori Institute is the only Montessori training institution in Australia to offer teacher and educator courses which are nationally accredited with ACECQA, AITSL and TEQSA. Building Futures Education Diploma of Montessori Early Childhood Education is a nationally accredited course (ASQA). 

Due to the small number of Montessori adolescent programmes in Australia, there are currently no training programmes for this age level in the country. The Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) website provides details of adolescent (12-18 years of age) courses.

Online Introduction Courses

Balancing quality, cost and convenience is an important decision that will be different for each new teacher’s circumstances. We encourage you to carefully research the options before choosing the one that is right for you. If you are unsure whether Montessori education is right for you, or which age group you would like to teach, a short introduction Course in Montessori Education may be the best place to begin. Montessori Training Australia provides a selection of high quality online Foundation Courses which address the needs of interested parents, teaching assistants, school leaders and prospective educators. 

Montessori Training

Becoming a Montessori Educator

Montessori programmes cater for children from birth to eighteen years of age and may be delivered in Montessori early childhood or school settings.  In most cases, educators will have qualifications for working with children (early childhood 3-6 years of age, primary 6-12 years of age, or secondary 12-18 years of age) as well as specialised Montessori training. 

Watch a video: Why become a Montessori teacher? 

Online Training Courses

Online introductory Montessori training courses are available through Montessori Training Australia, with courses that promote best practice in Montessori education. Utilising a flexible online platform, packages allow users to customise their learning experience to suit their individual needs. Content is both engaging and informative and delivered through high quality audio-visual resources, interactive learning activities and thought-provoking discussions.

The online courses are suitable for educators, assistant staff, administrators, Board/Committee members, parents and anyone wishing to know more about Montessori principles and practice.  

Read more about these courses here.

Note that these online courses are introductory courses only, not full Montessori teacher training Diploma courses, and are not ACECQA registered.

Montessori Qualifications

Visit our Training Centre page for details on the Montessori training centres in Australia including:

Early Childhood Educator Qualifications

The National Quality Framework (NQF) sets out minimum qualification requirements for educators working in early childhood education and care services.  The NQF is administered through the Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality Authority (ACECQA).  The ACECQA website provides information on the approved early childhood qualifications and for assessment of existing and overseas qualifications.  

There are three main levels of educators, which apply to centre-based and family day care services from birth to preschool age:

  • Certificate III Level Educator
  • Diploma Level Educator
  • Early Childhood Teacher (ECT)

Refer to the ACECQA Qualifications List on their website for details on what Montessori courses are approved. 

Overseas Qualification Holders

Holders of overseas early childhood or Montessori qualifications may not be approved to work in early childhood in Australia. Your qualifications must be assessed individually by ACECQA as no overseas Montessori qualifications are accredited in Australia.  Please refer to the ACECQA website for details.  Unfortunately, most overseas Montessori qualifications will not be recognised by ACECQA, so you may need to undertake Australian early childhood qualifications.  

Primary and Secondary Educator Qualifications 

Montessori educators teaching primary aged children should have relevant Montessori primary training, as well as a teaching degree and teacher registration in the state/territory that they intend to teach.  Each state/territory in Australia has a regulatory body, which mandates these teaching qualifications.  In general, the qualification will be a four year tertiary study such as a Bachelor of Education (Montessori training qualifications are not assessed as part of their teaching qualfications).  Find your local regulatory authority here.

Due to the small number of Montessori adolescent programmes in Australia, there are currently no training programmes for this age level in the country.  Courses at this age level are listed on the AMI website.

Find out more by reading the PDF document: Which Training Program is right for you?

Job Openings

A listing of Montessori job opportunities is found on our website here.

Montessori Training Australia

Montessori Training Australia offers online introductory Montessori training course.

Our introductory Montessori programs are a great way to commence your journey to an understanding of Montessori education or a career path in a Montessori classroom. Training is delivered in formats to suit a variety of learning styles: video, text, and interactive online modules. Access your learning when and where you want through our secure online portal. 

There’s a Montessori training program for everyone. Whether you want to learn new skills for early years development, or want to further develop your expertise in Montessori teaching, or just want to know more detail about Montessori education, we have the course to suit you. 

Begin studying anytime, from anywhere, online.

This self-paced learning series includes:

  • Key Montessori Principles and Theory
  • The Prepared Environment
  • The Role of the Prepared Adult
  • Montessori Materials
  • Documenting Children’s Learning
  • Montessori and the Early Years Learning Framework

For details and access: https://montessoritraining.org.au

Please Note: If you are interested in progressing to a Diploma course in Montessori education, these online courses are a great place to start. Once completed, you may want to continue your professional training, specialising in a particular plane of development (e.g. 0-3, 3-6, 6-12 or 12-18). There are several organisations that you may want to consider such as AMI, BFE, MI and AMTI.

Montessori Training Australia

Australian Montessori Training Institute

Montessori educators, whether they be a Montessori teacher, a Montessori assistant or a parent, work to support the child in his or her process of self-development. “To aid life…that is the basic task of the educator.” Dr Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind

The Australia Montessori Training Institute (AMTI) is committed to providing quality Montessori training courses to the Montessori community, and to those interested in becoming qualified in the Montessori Method. Every consideration is given to ensure flexible training options to best meet the growing demand for Montessori early childhood educators.

From high-quality online learning, to flexible classroom face-to-face courses, AMTI training is available when you need it.

Website: https://amti.org.au

Whether you’re an educator or parent, Montessori study offers valuable insight into discovering and supporting the natural development of the child. AMTI can introduce and help you to implement a Montessori approach in your home, childcare centre, preschool, or school.

AMTI’s Professional, Personal and Practical training packages are:

1. Affordable: Our courses are competitively priced including support for mentoring and finding internship work.

2. Flexible: Start any week when you are ready with your choice of study for supporting children in the age groupings of 0-3, 2.5-6, and 6-12.

3. Accessible – weekly face-to-face or Zoom meetings with your trainer and weekly lessons emailed directly to you.

Online Videos of almost every lesson available for unlimited reviews: Click here to view a sample of an online training video.

Contact info@amti.org.au for more information about AMTI courses.

Courses are also available in Chinese from our China Office in Yiwu, Hangzhou Sage Education, visit here for more information.

Building Futures Education

Building Futures Education is a Training College focussing on Early Childhood Education. 

The Training College offers a unique classroom learning experience; providing students with a nationally recognised Diploma in Early Education and Care, Diploma of Montessori Early Childhood Education and Certificate III in Early Education and Care.

BFE has fully qualified experienced trainers who are hand-picked for their unique ability to understand all types of learning so each student can effectively strive and learn their own way.

Their Diploma of Montessori Early Childhood Education is Nationally Recognised, and provides a comprehensive and detailed study of the theory and skills involved in the delivery of a Montessori education program for children aged 0-6 years.  Click here to view the course brochure.

BFE also delivers Montessori short courses and workshops and parent development courses.

Based in Forest Lake Queensland, their stand-alone purpose built Training College is fully fitted out with a classroom set up and a student’s lounge for separate studying.

Contact Building Futures Education:

admin@bfe.edu.au

(07) 3073 5000

Montessori Institute

Montessori Institute

As the largest Montessori training organisation in Australia, the Montessori Institute offers flexible, nationally recognised, Early Childhood and Primary teacher registration qualifications, alongside Diploma and Certificate level qualifications. They also provide professional development and education for schools, childcare centres and the wider community, with which they we have built strong relationships over forty years. Their ACECQA (early childhood regulator) and AITSL (teacher registration regulator) accredited courses are delivered via a blend of external, online study and intensive face to face workshops, Australia wide.

Incorporated in 1983, the Montessori Institute is a not-for-profit organisation and an accredited Higher Education Provider with the Tertiary Education Quality Standards Authority (TEQSA). They have dedicated their work to develop and present world class Montessori courses and workshops, to both students and non-students.

Graduate Diploma of Education (Montessori) 3-6 years or 6-12 years focus. Recognised nationally as a teaching qualification, this course enables students to become registered teachers in their State. It is AITSL and ACECQA listed.

Diploma of Early Childhood and Primary Education (Montessori) 0-3, 3-6 or 6-12 years focus. This course enables registered teachers to gain Montessori curriculum knowledge for their classroom. It is ACECQA listed as an Early Childhood qualification (0-3 and 3-6 focus). The Diploma also qualifies non registered teachers to work as education assistants in schools or as room leaders/supervisors in a child care centre.

Certificate in Montessori Studies 0-5 or 3-6. Ideal for students who already hold a Certificate III or Diploma level qualification, but want to obtain Montessori curriculum knowledge for use in child care centres.

Diploma of Montessori Leadership and Practice. Ideal for principals or Montessori centre managers who wish to gain an understanding of Montessori theory, philosophy and curriculum.

Visit their website www.mwei.edu.au for further details.

PDF icon Graduate Diploma Brochure

PDF icon Diploma Brochure

PDF icon Certificate Brochure

PDF icon Leadership Brochure

Sydney Montessori Training Centre

Sydney Montessori Training Centre (SMTC) is a national organisation committed to providing quality training to the Montessori community and to those interested in becoming qualified in the Montessori method. 

SMTC is authorised to deliver Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) Montessori courses. AMI was established by Maria Montessori and affiliates training centres around the world. AMI courses are recognised internationally for their authenticity and quality.

SMTC offer AMI training courses in the following:

  • AMI Montessori 6-12 Diploma
  • AMI Montessori 6-12 Orientation Certificate
  • AMI Montessori 3-6 Diploma
  • AMI Montessori 3-6 Orientation Certificate
  • AMI Montessori 0-3 Orientation Certificate
  • AMI Montessori Foundation Course

Click here to visit their website for further details.

Montessori Training

Becoming a Montessori Educator

Montessori programmes cater for children from birth to eighteen years of age and may be delivered in Montessori early childhood or school settings.  In most cases, educators will have qualifications for working with children (early childhood 3-6 years of age, primary 6-12 years of age, or secondary 12-18 years of age) as well as specialised Montessori training. 

Watch a video: Why become a Montessori teacher? 

Online Training Courses

Online introductory Montessori training courses are available through Montessori Training Australia, with courses that promote best practice in Montessori education. Utilising a flexible online platform, packages allow users to customise their learning experience to suit their individual needs. Content is both engaging and informative and delivered through high quality audio-visual resources, interactive learning activities and thought-provoking discussions.

The online courses are suitable for educators, assistant staff, administrators, Board/Committee members, parents and anyone wishing to know more about Montessori principles and practice.  

Read more about these courses here.

Note that these online courses are introductory courses only, not full Montessori teacher training Diploma courses, and are not ACECQA registered.

Montessori Qualifications

Visit our Training Centre page for details on the Montessori training centres in Australia including:

Early Childhood Educator Qualifications

The National Quality Framework (NQF) sets out minimum qualification requirements for educators working in early childhood education and care services.  The NQF is administered through the Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality Authority (ACECQA).  The ACECQA website provides information on the approved early childhood qualifications and for assessment of existing and overseas qualifications.  

There are three main levels of educators, which apply to centre-based and family day care services from birth to preschool age:

  • Certificate III Level Educator
  • Diploma Level Educator
  • Early Childhood Teacher (ECT)

Refer to the ACECQA Qualifications List on their website for details on what Montessori courses are approved. 

Overseas Qualification Holders

Holders of overseas early childhood or Montessori qualifications may not be approved to work in early childhood in Australia. Your qualifications must be assessed individually by ACECQA as no overseas Montessori qualifications are accredited in Australia.  Please refer to the ACECQA website for details.  Unfortunately, most overseas Montessori qualifications will not be recognised by ACECQA, so you may need to undertake Australian early childhood qualifications.  

Primary and Secondary Educator Qualifications 

Montessori educators teaching primary aged children should have relevant Montessori primary training, as well as a teaching degree and teacher registration in the state/territory that they intend to teach.  Each state/territory in Australia has a regulatory body, which mandates these teaching qualifications.  In general, the qualification will be a four year tertiary study such as a Bachelor of Education (Montessori training qualifications are not assessed as part of their teaching qualfications).  Find your local regulatory authority here.

Due to the small number of Montessori adolescent programmes in Australia, there are currently no training programmes for this age level in the country.  Courses at this age level are listed on the AMI website.

Find out more by reading the PDF document: Which Training Program is right for you?

Job Openings

A listing of Montessori job opportunities is found on our website here.

Social Reform

The Montessori Movement

Montessori pedagogical principles are rooted in a social movement that champions the cause of all children, in all strata of society, of all races and ethnic backgrounds, within and beyond educational institutions.

The Montessori movement began on 6 January 1907 when Maria Montessori opened the first Casa dei Bambini in San Lorenzo in Rome.

What followed has been called the “discovery of the child” and the realisation that: “…mankind can hope for a solution to its problems, among which the most urgent are those of peace and unity, only by turning its attention and energies to the discovery of the child and to the development of the great potentialities of the human personality in the course of its formation.”

Montessori is one of the most widely implemented educational approaches in the world with over 22,000 schools in 117 countries. The Montessori movement, however, is far broader and works to assist children and their families in a variety of settings.

Montessorians serve as advocates for all children-championing the rights of the child in society.

How Does Montessori Approach Religion

Throughout the world there are individuals, schools, childcare and aged care centres that apply the Montessori Method. They are located in a wide range of cultural and socio-economic settings. Montessori is fundamentally a method of education and as such can be implemented in a variety of educational settings including public schools, independent schools, religious schools, preschools and long day care centres. In recent years it has been applied as a method for reablement and support of people who are aging or perhaps living with dementia or traumatic brain injury. Both religious and secular care centres use this approach because of its person centredness and recognition of the personhood of every human being.

The Montessori approach to education and care has at its centre love for all people no matter the faith or creed by which one lives. Dr Montessori was born into the Christian (Catholic) tradition and much of her writing assumes the existence of a God with whom all people can connect and experience a personal relationship. As she travelled the globe her spiritual journey took many twists and turns, through humanist beliefs and eastern religion. She returned to her Christian faith after a lifetime of studying the development of the human being.

Montessori applied a scientific method to her study of human development and her discoveries led to a better understanding of the personhood of the child and the importance of supporting the child’s development with respect for their unique characteristics revealed from birth to 24 years of age. Personhood relates to the innate value of a human being. This perspective allows the Montessori approach to be applied throughout life into old age.

The Montessori approach is successfully applied to support a person, birth through adult, to explore and understand their spiritual nature and religious practice within their community. For this reason, it is applied across all continents in a variety of religious contexts. Depicted in the Fundamental Human Needs chart, a resource used extensively by children in Montessori schools, Dr Montessori proposed that fundamental human needs could be categorised as, material (shelter, food, clothing, transportation, defence/safety, communication) and spiritual (love, spirituality/religion, culture including the arts & music, and adornment). Montessori environments designed to aid the life of a person should also be designed to meet these needs.

In secular Montessori schools, religion is looked at from a cultural and sociological point of view. Children are invited to explore the cultures throughout the world and can see that there are many different religions. Many of these schools celebrate holidays, such as Christmas, Hanukah, and Chinese New Year, which are religious in origin, but they are experienced on a cultural level as special days of family feasting, merriment, and wonder.

In religious and faith-based schools the Montessori curriculum is freely extended to help the children understand the basis of the particular religious culture of the school or centre. The aim of the approach is to support the child to discover the spiritual truths for themselves by being guided in a specially prepared environment that provides age-appropriate learning materials that allow practical exploration and stimulation of thought.

Montessori schools may be independently owned/operated, Public/State, or faith based. As such, it is up to the individual school/centre to determine its own policies regarding religious education, spiritual beliefs and holiday practices.

Regardless of religious persuasion (humanist, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, etc), the Montessori approach encourages and supports the child to journey toward being fully alive and to achieve their potential, spiritual, physical, intellectual, psychological & social. In the words of Maria Montessori “The problem of religious education, the importance of which we do not fully realise, should be solved by positive pedagogy……To deny, a priori, the religious sentiment in man, and to deprive humanity of the education of this sentiment, is to commit a pedagogical error…”(Maria Montessori, The Montessori Method)

Montessori Australia, being an umbrella organisation, supports all educational programs that seek to apply the Montessori method for the furthering of human development by nurturing unconditional love and grace toward all people and promoting peace. Currently organisations available in Australia that support the Montessori approach in religious education include: –
• Godly Play Australia: www.godlyplay.com.au
• The Association of The Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Australia: www.cgsaust.org.au

References:
Montessori M, The Montessori Method, 1964, Schocken Books, New York.
Maria Montessori, Fundamental Needs of Humans Chart

Montessori Children's Foundation (MCF)

The Montessori Children’s Foundation’s goal is to make Montessori programmes available to children in Australia, who, for a multitude of reasons, would not otherwise be able to access them. MCF currently focuses on Indigenous and remote communities where the need for quality education and support is intensified by vast distances from the centres of Australian government decision-making, service-delivery and economic activity, and by histories of invasion, appropriation, and neglect. Despite this, in these communities there is a strong desire for a better future, and a deep awareness that the future lies with its children. MCF’s core area of business is early childhood and this is underpinned by four key principles Partnership, Sustainability, Quality and Flexibility.

Their mission is to enhance the dignity and quality of life for indigenous children by inspiring families to provide an ethical framework and a trusted environment that fosters independence, self-reliance and a love of learning and exploring.

Current projects include fundraising for the following community projects:

  • Training and supporting Indigenous facilitators
  • Community engagement
  • Raising Happy Kids program – Cairns
  • Research

Visit their website for details https://mcf.ngo/

International Outreach

Montessori Australia is proud to be able to support colleagues in the wider international Montessori community. Work is carried out in conjunction with the host country and often involves AMI who lead the way with international outreach to uphold the rights of the child in society and make known the child’s importance for the progress of civilisation. Individuals volunteer their time and experience and are financially supported by the host country or AMI, or are self-funded. Regular close liaison with AMI and attendance by many Australians at the AMI AGM and Open Forum in Amsterdam enables us to continue to meet and collaborate with colleagues from all over the world who have the same commitment to children.  Each year at the AMI AGM we hear of further successful efforts by other countries that are able to build on the work of the Australian National Montessori Curriculum and achieve greater levels of government recognition in their own countries.

Educateurs sans Frontieres

In 1999 the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) established the Educateurs sans Frontières (Educators without Borders) to champion the cause of all children and to revisit Montessori principles and practices from the perspective of society at large.

When using the term Educateurs sans Frontières, we refer to borders which transcend the obvious ones to do with nation states. The truly important ones are the psychological and spiritual frontiers – the ideological, religious, racial, social and economic, cultural and linguistic boundaries which artificially divide a humanity as yet largely unaware of its intrinsic unity and its interconnectedness with the earth that brought it forth.

Dr Montessori’s work can be applied in a wide variety of ways which can benefit the cause of the child beyond the school and the home. Her own term for the pedagogy she created was ‘Education as an Aid to Life’, and education as an aid to life is applicable at any time, in any place, within all social strata, through public or private agencies, in settings rural, urban and remote.

When Montessori principles are applied in the wider context of society, their possibilities are vast and all-encompassing. They can be of incalculable help to parents, social workers, child-care workers, family counsellors, in short, to any person involved with the developing human being; they can be, and have been applied with children undergoing lengthy hospitalisation, maladjusted children, physically impaired children, children victims of violence, children abandoned, children at risk.

For further information visit the EsF website http://montessori-esf.org

The Forgotten Citizen

In I947 Maria Montessori wrote a letter which she sent to all governments. Excerpts from this letter are printed below.

“My life has been spent in the research of truth. Through the study of children I have scrutinised human nature at its origin both in the East and the West and although it is forty years now since I began my work, childhood still seems to me an inexhaustible source of revelations and—let me say—hope.

Childhood has shown me that all humanity is one. All children talk, no matter what their race or their circumstances or their family, more or less at the same age; they walk, change their teeth, etc. at certain fixed periods of their life. In other aspects also, especially in the psychical field, they are just as similar, just as susceptible.

Children are the constructors of men whom they build, taking from the environment language, religion, customs and the peculiarities not only of the race, not only of the nation, but even of a special district in which they develop.

…The child is the forgotten citizen, and yet, if statesmen and educationists once came to realise the terrific force that is in childhood …, I feel they would give it priority above everything else. All problems of humanity depend on man himself; if man is disregarded in his construction, the problems will never be solved.

…Man must be cultivated from the beginning of life when the great powers of nature are at work. It is then that one can hope to plan for a better international understanding.”

Mario Montessori

From the writings of Mario Montessori’s daughter, Marilena Henny – Montessori:

Mario Montessori – a simple man, an innocent man. An extremely generous man, a shy man, an exuberant man. A contemplative man, but an active man. A man who loved life passionately and remained young till the day he died.

He loved the earth; what was hidden in it; what lived and grew on it. He loved the sky, the sun, the clouds, the moon and the stars. He loved the wind, the storms and the sea. He loved to fight the elements. He loved to ride, to row and to swim. Always impeccably groomed, he liked good clothes, and as a young man sported spats and hats and fancy waistcoats. He loved giving extravagant presents – never one rose but at least sixty! He loved food; he loved to cook; he loved to drink and smoke. He loved pretty girls, music and song: there was nothing ascetic about him, though he chose to live an ascetic life.

He was a born teacher. He loved children and especially tiny babies whom he called miracle makers, and with whom he held long conversations, which the newborns, staring at his lips, followed with fascination.

But all his many loves were nothing compared to his love for his mother and her work. An all-encompassing love which dominated his whole existence. His dedication to her was conscious and free choice, not a result of mother/son attachment. After all he was almost fifteen years old when he first knew and lived with her – too late in life to grow a subconscious Oedipus complex. She had no place in his absorbent mind period. There could have been no question on either side of being unable to sever the umbilical cord. He lived for her, with her but not through her. The amazing thing about this man with no real scholastic or academic background was the clarity of his total understanding of the working of her mind. His intuitive intelligence and openness of spirit allowed him to keep abreast with her quantum leaps from the first to the nth dimension – even sometimes arriving just ahead, thus enabling her to soar even further. Nothing she deducted, developed or stated ever surprised him.

Thanks to him, she never suffered the isolation common to genius, never became static. But he was not just a very bright sounding board for her ideas; he helped her to clarify them and give them shape, enabling her to continue developing her unique mind to the end. As she grew older he took more and more of her workload on himself, organising courses, examining students, lecturing on materials, practical life etc. He coped with all details and unexpected complications during the training courses.

By protecting her from all practical details, he enabled Maria Montessori to concentrate fully on her creative work. He presented her with new ideas, not only reactions. As the years advanced, their complicity became total. Without him she would have grown frustrated by the lack of understanding, retreating into her spiritual isolation, unable to cope and fight alone to preserve the purity of her work.

By his understanding, his enthusiasm and belief in the significance of her cosmic vision for the development of mankind, he became a pillar of her work. He continued her fight after she died. Against all odds, all struggles for power, all intrigues, he continued the fight for the child – the child, father of man.

Mario Montessori, my father, was an extraordinary man.

Membership (Individual)

MONTESSORI AUSTRALIA: INDIVIDUAL MEMBERSHIP

Montessori Educators, Parents and Friends member benefits:

PUBLICATIONS 

  • A subscription to our annual Montessori Insights eMagazine
  • A subscription to our quarterly Montessori eArticle
  • A subscription to our quarterly Montessori eBulletin
  • Member-only access to the back library of all publications

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To join, click on the Add to cart button on the right and pay online.

Community Updates

30 November 2022

PDF icon DOWNLOAD UPDATE

Thank you to our Montessori community. It’s been a transformational year for Montessori Australia!

Your many ideas and suggestions over the past year – gathered from personal site visits to early childhood centres, schools and aged care facilities, meetings with educators and leaders, surveys, interactions and feedback – have all been invaluable in helping us better understand your needs. Your feedback has allowed us to refine our services to better suit the changing needs of a modern, post-Covid workforce. Although its fundamental principles remain as powerful today as they did a hundred years ago, we believe that Montessori must adapt to the times to stay relevant and to take the movement forward.

Below are some highlights from our efforts to collaborate and innovate. Montessori Australia has achieved the highest level of community support in its 15-year history as the national peak body with nearly 65% of all Montessori programs in the country, including 84% of all schools, now members.

Quality Standards for all Training Traditions

We have brought globally recognised standards for Montessori training to Australia through our accreditation with the Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education (MACTE). Over the last 25 years the Montessori community worldwide has increasingly come to recognise MACTE accreditation as a sign of quality Montessori training and we are proud to represent MACTE in Australasia. 

Quality Standards for all Schools and Centres

Now in its second year, the Montessori Quality: Authentic Practice program (MQ:AP) is reinvigorating the quality improvement process for centres and schools through a self-reflective process that is now more in line with Montessori principles. 

Connections with Like-Minded Education Organisations

Many of our workshops, conferences and professional development programs are now accredited with NESA and ACT for Professional Learning hours. Montessori Australia has also sought to increase the exposure of the Montessori movement by making connections with other educational organisations, including the establishment of Transforming Education Australasia (TEA), a new collective for promoting the common agenda of alternative education organisations.

Advancing Montessori Across Australia

In response to your calls for increased advocacy, visibility and marketing, we have held ongoing discussions with ACECQA, NESA, ACARA, and ISA, among other regulatory bodies. Montessori Australia has been working with ACECQA to provide articles, resources and assessor training. Our video Why Montessori? has been used widely to promote Montessori to new schools, services, and is available to centres and schools to use for their own promotional purposes. Traffic on the Montessori Australia website is currently increasing at an average rate of about 12% monthly with unprecedented high click rates on pages in Australia, US, Canada and the UK! We have also sought to showcase Montessori to wider audiences through our conferences and professional development programs, which we have begun to market outside the Montessori community. 

Fostering Australian Research

Montessori Australia has liaised with independent researchers to showcase their work, and supported those embarking upon research in Australia through discussions with several universities. Our website now highlights some excellent contemporary Australian research. Working with you, the community and leading academics in the area, the Early Childhood Focus Group has compiled research on floor beds and has conducted a review of data management systems, two issues of high need for early childhood centres across Australia. Montessori educators, parents, and alumni took part in the second phase of a research project with UNSW to begin to consider and examine alternative outcomes of school success with an invitation to come to take part in the next phase of research with UNSW’s Alternative indicators of school success project. Stay tuned.

Grassroots Work in Focus Groups

We have also become an organisation of unity and inclusion within the Montessori community in Australia. Our action-based Focus Groups are open to everyone, no matter their training background. If you have an interest in participating in any of these focus groups please contact us at info@montessori.org.au

Mentoring and Networking

Montessori Australia has also supported the Montessori community by honouring experienced Montessorians in the community and connecting them with younger educators with two dozen interviews with Montessorians from a range of backgrounds on our bi-monthly Zoom program Montessori Lives! 

Montessori Australia has actively promoted networking within the Montessori community and between Montessorians and the wider educational community with live conferences. Our Early Childhood Best Practice Conference will be on 11-12 March 2023 on the Gold Coast, packed with an impressive lineup of speakers, fun and engaging entertainment and long-missed networking opportunities.  Save the dates for our 2023 events.

Join Us and Get Involved!

We are YOUR peak body. Montessori Australia welcomes everyone with an interest in the Montessori community to get involved at whatever level they are comfortable with. We welcome Montessori educators and leaders of all levels and training traditions. With nearly 65% of all Montessori schools and centres around the country as members, we offer tangible benefits and services. Click here for membership options or to inquire about getting involved with a Focus Group, email us at info@montessori.org.au.

Montessori Australia…Transformational

Your Visit

As all Montessori schools and centres are independently owned and operated, the quality of their Montessori programme may vary.  To know quality, we recommend prospective parents locate their nearest Montessori Registered™ school or centre, identified by these logos on our listing page here.  Visits to these and other schools and centres are encouraged to determine if they are a suitable fit for your child and family.  

When visiting, here are some questions to look for which will indicate a quality Montessori programme:

  • Is the physical environment beautiful?
  • Is there a feeling of peace?
  • Is there a variety of different kinds of work being done?
  • Is there an absence of worksheets and workbooks?
  • Do the children seem to be relaxed and happy?
  • Do the children seem to have a sense of purpose?
  • Are the children kind and courteous with each other?
  • Are the children concentrating very hard on their work?
  • Are the children in primary appearing to work seriously even while some are casually carrying on conversations with others?
  • Does the teacher appear to be constantly aware of the whole room, intervening only when children seem aimless or nonconstructive, or are bothering others?

These are the traits of quality Montessori classrooms.

(List courtesy of Montessori: The Science Behind the Genius, Angeline Stoll Lillard)

We would also recommend that parents assess a Montessori school or centre using the same values as the Montessori Quality: Authentic Practice (MQ:AP) program:

  • All children have the right to an environment that is carefully prepared so that it meets and nurtures the developmental needs of each child.
  • The child is an active participant in the learning process.
  • Multi-age groups aligned with developmental planes provide for optimal social, emotional and cognitive learning.
  • Self-discovery and exploration are important parts of the learning process.
  • A non-competitive approach and the use of self- correcting materials promotes independence and self-con dence.
  • The culturally diverse backgrounds of families and their active involvement in the centre enrich and foster a community that embraces tolerance and cooperation.

Watch a video: Why choose Montessori education for your child?

Why Montessori

Montessori is often described as the best kept secret in education. This is not what Montessori had in mind. She envisioned her approach to education as “an aid to life” that would create peace by transforming society from within, one child at a time. 

Looking at the current state of the world it seems her transformative educational model aimed at nurturing peaceful humans is needed now more than ever before. If Montessori is such a beneficial approach to educating children, why is it still a secret? Too many parents have not heard about Montessori’s life and legacy, perhaps because there has never been a popular book or feature movie made about Dr Montessori’s captivating life story. 

Perhaps another reason this method is still a secret is that Montessori’s name has been tied to the method, and since she died in 1952 it’s tempting for people to see it as obsolete and not relevant to present day conditions. 

Those who learn what the secret is about know that the Montessori method is everything that modern research on best practice in education recommends, and more! This is because the Montessori method is based on scientific observation of how children actually learn.

Watch this video to hear the secret, then help spread the word by linking to this video on your favourite social media sites.

Montessori

Living and learning environments for full human development

Montessori

Biography of Dr. Maria Montessori

Maria Montessori was born on the 31st August 1870 in the town of Chiaravalle, Italy. Her father, Alessandro, was an accountant in the civil service, and her mother, Renilde Stoppani, was well educated and had a passion for reading.

The Montessori family moved to Rome in 1875 and the following year Maria was enrolled in the local state school. Breaking conventional barriers from the beginning of her education, Maria initially had aspirations to become an engineer. 

When Maria graduated secondary school, she became determined to enter medical school and become a doctor. Despite her parents’ encouragement to enter teaching, Maria wanted to study the male dominated field of medicine. After initially being refused, with the endorsement of Pope Leo XIII, Maria was eventually given entry to the University of Rome in 1890, becoming one of the first women in medical school in Italy. Despite facing many obstacles due to her gender, Maria qualified as a doctor in July 1896.

Soon after her medical career began, Maria became involved in the Women’s Rights movement. She became known for her high levels of competency in treating patients, but also for the respect she showed to patients from all social classes. In 1897, Maria joined a research programme at the psychiatric clinic of the University of Rome, as a volunteer. This work initiated a deep interest in the needs of children with learning disabilities. In particular, the work of two early 19th century Frenchmen, Jean-Marc Itard, who had made his name working with the ‘wild boy of Aveyron’, and Edouard Séguin, his student. Maria was appointed as co-director of a new institution called the Orthophrenic School.  In 1898 Maria gave birth to Mario, following her relationship with Giusseppe Montesano, her codirector at the school.

At the age of twenty-eight Maria began advocating her controversial theory that the lack of support for mentally and developmentally disabled children was the cause of their delinquency. The notion of social reform became a strong theme throughout Maria’s life, whether it was for gender roles, or advocacy for children. 

In 1901 Maria began her own studies of educational philosophy and anthropology, lecturing and teaching students. From 1904-1908 she was a lecturer at the Pedagogic School of the University of Rome.  This period saw a rapid development of Rome, but the speculative nature of the market led to bankruptcies and ghetto districts.  One such area was San Lorenzo, where its children were left to run amok at home as their parents worked. In an attempt to provide the children with activities during the day to fend of the destruction of property, Maria was offered the opportunity to introduce her materials and practice to ‘normal’ children.  There, in 1907, she opened the first Casa dei Bambini (Children’s House) bringing some of the educational materials she had developed at the Orthophrenic School.  

Maria put many different activities and other materials into the children’s environment but kept only those that engaged them. What she came to realise was that children who were placed in an environment where activities were designed to support their natural development had the power to educate themselves. By 1909 Maria gave her first training course in her new approach to around 100 students. Her notes from this period provided the material for her first book published that same year in Italy, appearing in translation in the United States in 1912 as The Montessori Method, and later translated into 20 languages. 

A period of great expansion in the Montessori approach now followed. Montessori societies, training programmes and schools sprang to life all over the world, and a period of travel with public speaking and lecturing occupied Maria, much of it in America, but also in the UK and throughout Europe. 

Maria lived in Spain from 1917, and was joined by Mario and his wife Helen Christy, where they raised their 4 children Mario Jr, Rolando, Marilena and Renilde. In 1929, mother and son established the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) to perpetuate her work.

The rise of fascism in Europe substantially impacted the progress of the Montessori movement. By 1933 the Nazis had closed of all the Montessori schools in Germany, with Mussolini doing the same in Italy.  Fleeing the Spanish civil war in 1936, Maria and Mario travelled to England, then to the Netherlands where they stayed with the family of Ada Pierson, who would later become Mario’s second wife.  A three month lecture tour of India in 1939 turned to a seven year stay when the outbreak of war had Mario interned and Maria put under house arrest, detained as Italian citizens by the British government. In India, Maria began the development of her approach to support the 6-12 child through ‘Cosmic Education’.  Her 70th birthday request to free Mario was granted and together they trained over a thousand Indian teachers.

In 1946 they returned to the Netherlands and the following year she addressed UNESCO on the theme ‘Education and Peace’. Maria was nominationed for the Nobel Peace Prize in three consecutive years: 1949, 1950 and 1951. Her last public engagement was the 9th International Montessori Congress in London in 1951. Maria Montessori passed away at age 81 on 6th May1952 in the Netherlands, bequeathing the legacy of her work to her son Mario.

Timeline of Dr Maria Montessori's Life

1870

Maria Montessori born on August 31 in Chiaravalle, Ancona province, Italy.

Attends a boys’ school in Rome, with a science/engineering emphasis.

1890

Against opposition from her father, she pursues her wish to become a doctor.

1896

Becomes the first woman to obtain a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Rome.

Represents Italy at the International Women’s Congress in Berlin; delivers address on rights of working women, including equal pay for equal work.

Studies the writings of French doctors Itard and Séguin, who worked with disabled children.

1897-98

Audits courses in pedagogy at the University of Rome; reads all major works in educational philosophy over the past 200 years.

1899

Attends women’s congress in London; received by Queen Victoria.

1899-1906

Lectureship in hygiene and anthropology at the teacher training college for women in Rome.

1900

Works at the psychiatric clinic in Rome.

Appointed director of the Orthophrenic School, a model school for training teachers of children with developmental disabilities. For two years, she experiments at the model school with materials to stimulate the senses. She succeeds in fostering the development of some of the children to such an extent that they achieve the same results on state exams as typically developing schoolchildren.

1901

Begins a second degree—in education, experimental psychology, and anthropology—at the University of Rome. Visits elementary schools to do anthropological research.

1904-08

Lectures in anthropology and biology at the University of Rome’s school of education, incorporating her clinical observations of pupils in Rome’s elementary schools. These lectures become the basis of her book Pedagogical Anthropology (1910).

1907

First Children’s House (Casa dei Bambini) is opened at 53 Via dei Marsi in the San Lorenzo district of Rome on the Feast of the Epiphany, January 6.

1908

The Children’s House on Via Solari in Milan, run by Anna Maria Maccheroni, is opened.

1909

Gives the first training course in her method to about 100 students in Rome. There, she writes, in the space of a month, her first book, Il Metodo della Pedagogia Scientifica applicato all’educazione infantile nelle Case dei Bambini. In the years to follow, this book is translated into over 20 languages. The English edition is titled The Montessori Method.

1910

Two parallel teacher training courses are held in the Franciscan convent on Via Giusti in Rome, where there is a model Children’s House.

Second book: L’Antropologia pedagogica (Pedagogical Anthropology).

1911

Resigns her teaching post at the University of Rome and gives up her private medical practice to concentrate entirely on education.

The Montessori method is already being put into practice in English and Argentinean schools and is beginning to be introduced into Italian and Swiss primary schools.

Model schools set up in Paris, New York, and Boston.

1912

The English version of Il Metodo appears in the U.S. in an edition of 5,000 copies under the title The Montessori Method. Within a few days, it is sold out. It reaches second place on the year’s list of nonfiction bestsellers.

1913

Runs the First International Training Course in her apartment in Rome, under the patronage of Queen Margherita. Students come from Italy and other European countries, Australia, South Africa, India, China, the Philippines, the United States, and Canada.

Montessori Educational Association founded in the United States. Its membership includes Alexander Graham Bell, his wife, Mabel Bell, S.S. McClure, and President Wilson’s daughter, Margaret Woodrow Wilson.

First trip to the United States.

1914

Second International Training Course in Rome.

Montessori’s third book, Dr. Montessori’s Own Handbook, is published in New York.

1915

Second trip to the United States, accompanied by her son, Mario. Addresses International Kindergarten Union and National Educational Association (NEA), and runs a training course, the Third International Course.

At the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, a Montessori class works in a glass pavilion observed by visitors.

Dr. Montessori’s NEA lectures are published in New York: My System of Education, The Organization of Intellectual Work in School, Education in Relation to the Imagination of the Little Child, and The Mother and the Child.

1916

Moves to Barcelona at the invitation of the city government; Barcelona remains her home until the coup in 1936 that brings General Franco to power.

Fourth International Training Course in Barcelona.

Model Montessori school and a children’s chapel are set up in Barcelona, as well as a teacher training institute, with the backing of the Catalan government.

Her fourth book appears, L’autoeducazione nelle Scuole Elementari (English title: The Advanced Montessori Method).

1919

Training course in London using the format that would become standard: fifty hours of lectures, fifty hours of teaching using the materials, fifty hours of observation of Montessori classes.

1920

Lectures at Amsterdam University: for the first time, Maria Montessori outlines her ideas on secondary school education.

1921

Training courses in London and Milan.

Founding of the New Education Fellowship (today known as the World Education Fellowship), of which Maria Montessori is an active member, engaging in heated debate with the leading educational reformers of the time.

1922

Publication of I bambini viventi nella Chiesa in Naples (English edition The Child in the Church, London 1929), Maria Montessori’s first book on the Catholic liturgy from the child’s point of view.

First Children’s House in Vienna set up by Lili Roubiczek.

1923

Training courses in London and the Netherlands.

Montessori’s first visit to the Haus der Kinder in Vienna; start of her collaboration and friendship with Lili Roubiczek (Peller), Lisl Herbatschek (Braun), and others.

1924

Four-month training course in Amsterdam.

Meeting of Montessori with Benito Mussolini (who had come to power in 1922) results in official recognition and widespread establishment of Montessori schools by the Italian government.

1925

Training course in London. Dr. Montessori’s son, Mario, takes this course and receives his Montessori Diploma.

1926

Visits Argentina.

Speaks on “Education and Peace” at the League of Nations in Geneva.

1927

Presented at the English court.

Visits schools in Ireland for the first time.

1928

The book Das Kind in der Familie, based on lectures she gave in 1923 in Vienna, is published in German. (It will be issued in English as The Child in the Family in 1936.)

1929

A Montessori teacher training center with a model Montessori school has been built in Rome; collaboration between Maria Montessori and the architects.

First International Montessori Congress in Helsingør, Denmark.

In conjunction with her son, Mario, founds the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI), with headquarters in Berlin (until 1935; after that in Amsterdam).

1930

International Training Course in Rome.

Lectures in Vienna, during which she becomes acquainted with Anna Freud (founder of child psychoanalysis and daughter of Sigmund Freud).

1931

International Training Courses in Rome and England.

Lectures at Berlin University.

Mahatma Gandhi, leader of the Indian independence movement, visits Montessori schools in Rome.

1932

Second International Montessori Congress in Nice, France. Montessori delivers lecture Peace and Education, published by the International Bureau of Education, Geneva.

Publications: La Vita in Cristo (Rome), Ideas Generales Sobre Mi Método (Madrid), The Mass Explained to Children (London).

1933

The Nazis systematically destroy the Montessori movement in Germany, closing all Montessori schools.

Third International Montessori Congress in Amsterdam.

Training courses in London, Dublin, and Barcelona.

1934

Fourth International Montessori Congress in Rome.

After conflicts with the fascist system, all Montessori schools in Italy “cease to exist … in a single day” (Rita Kramer).

Psico-Aritmética and Psico-Geometría published in Barcelona.

1936

Fifth International Montessori Congress in Oxford, England; development of further principles of Montessori education for Elementary (Cosmic Education) and for secondary schools.

General Franco’s coup; Maria Montessori flees Barcelona for England and then Amsterdam. The Netherlands becomes her home; a training center with model school is set up in Laren, near Amsterdam (materials on Cosmic Education are used for the first time), and AMI moves its headquarters there. At this time there are over 200 Montessori schools in the Netherlands.

Publications: The Secret of Childhood (London), Les Etapes de L’Education (Bruges, Belgium).

1937

Sixth International Montessori Congress in Copenhagen; the theme is “Educate for Peace.” Montessori delivers several lectures later collected in Education and Peace (first published in Italy as Educazione e Pace, 1949).

1938

Seventh International Montessori Congress in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Speech at the Sorbonne in Paris in which she makes one of her numerous appeals for peace.

1939

God En het Kind (“God and the Child”) and The ‘Erdkinder’ and the Functions of the University: The Reform of Education During and After Adolescence published in the Netherlands.

Departs for India with Mario to run what was to be a three-month training course at the invitation of the Theosophical Society, which has been using the Montessori method to successfully combat illiteracy.

1940

Italy enters World War II on the side of the Germans. In June, Mario Montessori interned by the British colonial government in India as an enemy alien, and Maria Montessori confined to the compound of the Theosophical Society. Mario is released in August out of the Viceroy’s respect for Maria Montessori and to honor her 70th birthday. Still, the Montessoris are not allowed to leave the country until the war is over.

1939-1946

Training courses in Madras, Kodaikanal, Karachi, and Ahmedabad in India, and in Ceylon.

Further develops the Cosmic Education Plan for the Elementary years with Mario’s collaboration.

1941-1942

The Child (1941) and Reconstruction in Education (1942) published in India.

1946

The war over, Maria and Mario Montessori return to Europe.

Training course in London; visit to Scotland.

Education for a New World published in India.

1947

Maria and Mario Montessori establish a Montessori Centre in London.

Trip to Italy: revival of the Montessori Society. Montessori establishments start to be reopened. Assistants to Infancy work initiated in Rome.

Return to India to give a training course in Adyar.

1948

Training courses in Ahmedabad, Adyar, and Poona; lectures in Bombay.

Trip to Gwalior, India; supervises the opening of a model school up to age twelve.

Visit to the Montessori training centre with model school in Colombo (Ceylon).

De l’enfant á l’adolescent (From Childhood to Adolescence) published in French. This book sets out Maria Montessori’s concepts for elementary and adolescent education.

The Discovery of the Child, To Educate the Human Potential, What You Should Know about Your Child, and Child Training published in Madras, India.

1949

First nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize (again in 1950 and 1951).

One-month training course in Pakistan, assisted by Mario and Albert Joosten.

Definitive return to Europe. Eighth International Montessori Congress in San Remo, Italy.

The Absorbent Mind published in India.

Publication of her last major work: Formazione dell’uomo (in English, The Formation of Man, Adyar 1955).

1950

Lecture tour of Norway and Sweden.

Speaks at the General Conference of UNESCO in Florence.

International conference in Amsterdam in honor of Maria Montessori’s 80th birthday.

1951

Ninth International Montessori Congress in London.

Last training course run by Maria Montessori held in Innsbruck, Austria.

1952

Maria Montessori dies May 6 in Noordwijk aan Zee, Netherlands; she is buried at the local Catholic cemetery.

The First Casa dei Bambini

San Lorenzo, 1907

The first Montessori environment was opened on the 6 January 1907 in San Lorenzo, Rome, Italy, by Dr Maria Montessori. Through Dr Montessori’s observations and work with these children she discovered their astonishing, almost effortless ability to learn. Children taught themselves! This simple but profound truth formed the cornerstone of her life-long pursuit of educational reform.

The following is a summary of a talk by Dr. Maria Montessori to her students on the 6th January 1942, celebrating the anniversary of the inauguration day of the first House of Children:

Today is the anniversary of the opening of the first House of Children. When I tell you briefly how it started, the few words of its history will seem like a fairy-tale, but their message may also prove useful.

Many times people ask with doubt in their minds whether the method is suitable for poor children and whether it is at all adaptable to them.

In order that you may be able to answer such questions, I should like you to have a small idea of how our work started, of the indirect way in which it has arisen.

It came about in a strange way, I have pondered much about it and tried to understand the reason for it. I don’t know if it is an indication of destiny, or if it was established by fate itself. All that I know is that it has something to do with the House itself. It may seem curious that I express it in this way but I do so to render the ensuing story clear.

Many years ago, Rome was a capital of a state in very rapid development, which manifested itself in a mania for building. Every small available space was utilised to build houses, every little open square. One of the many was delimited on one side by the old Roman walls which had witnessed many battles and on the other by the modern cemetery. This area was the last place to be filled, no doubt because of the superstition that it was not lucky to live near the dead, for fear of ghosts and also for hygienic reasons.

But probably because of the beautiful and historical situation, one building society decided to stake its money into building there. It was a tremendous scheme, five houses on the scale of palaces, 5 or 6 stories high. But the idea had been too vast so that the society went bankrupt before the building were completed and the scheme failed. The work was interrupted and left to stand. There were only the walls with open holes for doors and windows, there was no plumbing and the erections stood as a sort of skeleton.

For many years this enormous skeleton remained abandoned and neglected. It became a shelter for homeless beggars, a hiding place for evildoers who wished to avoid recognition and who if discovered, could easily escape in this labyrinth. Criminals of all sorts, thieves and murderers, took refuge in them. People lived there in the same conditions as the cavemen of old did in their caves.

All those who were homeless, and those who wished to hide, found shelter within those walls. Even the police did not go near them, or dared to, as they did not know their way within these grim walls of crime and horror.

Slowly, the number grew, until thousands of people crowded in these abandoned buildings. People were found dead, murdered or succumbed to diseases; the place became a breeding place of infection for the whole land; a centre of crime and of the lowest prostitution.

The “Quartiere di San Lorenzo” became known as the shame of Italy. People were too afraid to do anything about it; no one knew what happened within those dark walls. There were no small shops for provisions anywhere near, no itinerant vendor would go there to sell. Even the lowest labourer, or the poorest fisherman would seem as princes in comparison, for however poor, they would have at least some honest livelihood whereas those who lived inside that gloom had no work, no means to pay, their only livelihood was derived from crime.

The problem of clearing this pit of inhumanity demanded a solution. Another building society of very wealthy bankers, considered the problem and decided that as the walls already stood, only a small expenditure would be necessary to make fruitful whatever capital was invested. The district, due to its ill–repute, would of course never become a fashionable quarter, therefore only small renovations were necessary to render it habitable for these people already so unfortunate. Regarding it thus as a business venture, they started with one building which they discovered would house a thousand people. They used some whitewash, put in some doors and windows, and laid in a few water pipes and drains.

It was estimated that in this area lived at least 10,000 people, therefore how could they discriminate which among them would be the best? They chose the married ones who by reason of their relation with one another would be the most human. As it happened there were only very few children. It seems perhaps logical that under such conditions although there were thousands of men and women there should be only fifty children.

But these children, wild and uncivilised as they were, presented a serious problem of damage to the houses. Left alone while the parents went to work, they were free to carry out any wild fancy. So the director of the concern decided that the only obvious thing to keep them out of mischief was to collect all the children and confine them.

One room was set aside for this purpose, resembling in every way a children’s prison. It was hoped that a person would be found with enough social courage to tackle the problem.

I in my capacity of medical officer of hygiene was approached to take an interest in the work. Having considered the situation I demanded that at least the commonest aids in hygiene, food and sanitation be made available.

At the time it had become fashionable among society ladies to interest themselves in social uplift. They were approached to do something to collect funds, because we were confronted with the strange problem that while the bankers had agreed to invest money to improve the housing situation, they were not at all interested in education. One could not expect any returns from money, put into anything with an educational purpose.

Although society had embraced the ideal of improving the condition of these unfortunate people, the children had been forgotten. There were no toys, no school, no teacher. There was nothing for them. I was able to find one woman of 40 years, whose help I asked and who I put in charge.

On the 6th of January 1907 this room was inaugurated to collect the 50 children. The room had already been in use for little time but it was inaugurated on that day. Throughout Italy the 6th of January is looked upon as “the” day of feast for the children. It was on this day that the three Kings arrived before the Child Christ and offered him their gifts. It is celebrated as the Feast of Epiphany.

It was striking at the time this interest of society imbued with the idea that their giving hygienic houses to the homeless would be the means of purifying the evil core in their midst, consisting of a group of ten-thousand criminals and pitiful humanity. I also was imbued with this sentiment.

But while everyone had had the idea that by giving houses and sanitation, the people would be purified, no one had taken in consideration the children; no one had thought to bring toys or food for them. When the children, ranging between the ages of 2 to 6 entered, they were dressed all alike in some thick, heavy, blue drill. They were frightened and being hindered by the stiff material, could move neither arms nor legs freely. Apart of their own community they had never seen any people. To get them to move together, they were made to hold hands. The first unwilling child was pulled, thus dragging along the whole line of the rest. All of them were crying miserably. The sympathy of the society ladies was aroused and they expressed the hope that in a few months they would improve.

I had been asked to make a speech for the occasion. Earlier that day, remembering that it was the feast of the Epiphany, I had read the lesson in my mass book. When I made my speech I read it as an omen for the work to follow.

“Arise, be enlightened, O Jerusalem; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee, For behold darkness shall cover the earth, and a mist the people; but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall walk in thy light, and kings in the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thy eyes round about, and see; all these are gathered together, they are come to thee: thy sons shall come from afar, and thy daughters shall rise up at thy side. Then shalt thou see, and abound and thy heart shall wonder and be enlarged, when the multitude of the sea shall be converted to thee, the strength of the Gentiles shall come to thee. The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Madian and Epha; all they from Saba shall come, bringing gold and frankincense, and showing forth praise to the Lord.”

I don’t know what came over me but I had a vision and inspired by it, I was enflamed and said that this work we were undertaking would prove to be very important and that some day people would come from all parts to see it.

In reporting this new whim of society, the press also mentioned that Dr. Montessori had made a beautiful speech, but what an exaggeration in what she had said!

It was from then that the real work began.

Remember that all these children were completely illiterate. Their parents were also illiterate and they were born and grown in the environment, I have described.

What happened more than thirty years ago now will always remain a mystery to me. I have tried since then to understand what took place in those children. Certainly there was nothing of what is to be found now in any House of Children. There were only rough large tables.

I brought them some of the materials which had been used for our work in experimental psychology, the items which we use today as sensorial material and materials for the exercises of practical life. I merely wanted to study the children’s reactions. I asked the woman in charge not to interfere with them in any way as otherwise I would not be able to observe them, Some one brought them paper and coloured pencils but in itself this was not the explanation of the further events. There was no one who loved them, I myself only visited them once a week and during the day the children had no communication with their parents.

The children were quiet, they had no interference either from the teacher or from the parents, but their environment contrasted vividly from that which they had been used to; compared to that of their previous life; it seemed fantastically beautiful. The walls were white, there was a green plot of grass outside, though no one had yet thought to plant flowers in it, but most beautiful of all was the fact that they had interesting occupations in which no one, no one at all, interfered. They were left alone and little by little the children began to work with concentration and the transformation they underwent, was noticeable. From timid and wild as they were before, the children became sociable and communicative. They showed a different relationship with each other, of which I have written in my books. Their personalities grew and, strange though it may seem, they showed extraordinary understanding, activity, vivacity and confidence. They were happy and joyous.

This fact was noticed after a while by the mothers who came to tell us about it. As the children had had no one to teach them or interfere with their actions, they acted spontaneously, their manners were natural.

But the most outstanding thing about these strange children of the St. Lawrence Quarter was their obvious gratitude. I was as much surprised by this as everyone else. When I entered the room all the children sprang to greet me and cried their welcome. Nobody had taught them any manner of good behaviour. And the strangest thing of all was that although nobody had cared for them physically, they flourished in health as if they had been secretly fed on some nourishing food, And so they had, but in their spirit. These children began to notice things in their homes, a spot of dirt on their mother’s dress, untidiness in the room. They told their mothers not to hang the washing in the windows but to put flowers there instead. Their influence spread into the homes, so that after a while also these became transformed.

Six months after the inauguration of the House of Children, some of the mothers came to me and pleaded that as I had already done so much for their children, and they themselves could do nothing about it because they were illiterate, would I not teach their children to read and write?

At first I did not want to, being as prejudiced as every one else that the Children were far too young for it. But I gave them the alphabet in the way I have told you. As then it was something new for me also, I analysed the words for them and showed that each sound of the words had a symbol by which it could be materialised. It was then that the explosion into writing occurred.

The news spread and the whole world became interested in this phenomenal activity of writing of these children who were so young and whom nobody had taught. The people realised that they were confronted by a phenomenon that could not be explained for besides writing, these children worked all the time without being forced by any one to do so. This was a great revelation but it was not the only contribution of the children. It was also they, who created the lesson of silence. They seemed to be a new type of children. Their fame spread and in consequence all kinds of people visited the House of Children, including State ministers and their wives, with whom the children behaved graciously and beautifully, without anyone urging then, that even the newspapers in Italy and abroad became excited. So the news spread, until finally also the Queen became interested. She came to that quarter so ill famed that it was considered hell’s doors, to see for herself the children about whom she had heard wonders.

What was the wonder due to? No one could state it clearly. But it conquered me for ever, because it penetrated my heart as a new light. One day I looked at them with eyes which saw them differently and I asked myself: “Who are you, are you the same children you were before?” And I said within myself: “Perhaps you are those children of whom it was said that they would come to save humanity. If so, I shall follow you.” Since then, I am she who tries to grasp their message and to follow them.

And in order to follow them, I changed my whole life. I was nearly 40. I had in front of me a doctors’ career and a professorship at the University. But I left all, because I felt compelled to follow them, and to find others who could follow them, for I saw that in them lay the secret of the soul.

You must realise that what happened was something so great and so stirring that its importance could never be sufficiently recognized. That it will never be sufficiently studied, is certain, for it is the secret of life itself. We cannot fully know its causes. It is not possible that it came because of my method, for at the time my method did not yet exist. This is the clearest proof that it was a revelation that emanated from the children themselves.

My educational method has grown from these as well as from many other revelations, given by the children, You know from what I have told you, that all the details included in the method, have come from the efforts to follow the child. The new path has been shown us. No one knows exactly how it arose, it just came into being and showed us the new way.

It has nothing to do with any educational method of the past, nor with any educational method of the future. It stands alone as the contribution of the child himself. Perhaps it is the first of its kind, which has been built by him step by step.

It cannot have come from an adult person; the thought, the very principle that the adult should stand aside to make room for the child, could never have come from the adult.

Anyone who wants to follow my method must understand that he should not honour me but follow the child as his leader.

Maria Montessori

Mario Montessori

From the writings of Mario Montessori’s daughter, Marilena Henny – Montessori:

Mario Montessori – a simple man, an innocent man. An extremely generous man, a shy man, an exuberant man. A contemplative man, but an active man. A man who loved life passionately and remained young till the day he died.

He loved the earth; what was hidden in it; what lived and grew on it. He loved the sky, the sun, the clouds, the moon and the stars. He loved the wind, the storms and the sea. He loved to fight the elements. He loved to ride, to row and to swim. Always impeccably groomed, he liked good clothes, and as a young man sported spats and hats and fancy waistcoats. He loved giving extravagant presents – never one rose but at least sixty! He loved food; he loved to cook; he loved to drink and smoke. He loved pretty girls, music and song: there was nothing ascetic about him, though he chose to live an ascetic life.

He was a born teacher. He loved children and especially tiny babies whom he called miracle makers, and with whom he held long conversations, which the newborns, staring at his lips, followed with fascination.

But all his many loves were nothing compared to his love for his mother and her work. An all-encompassing love which dominated his whole existence. His dedication to her was conscious and free choice, not a result of mother/son attachment. After all he was almost fifteen years old when he first knew and lived with her – too late in life to grow a subconscious Oedipus complex. She had no place in his absorbent mind period. There could have been no question on either side of being unable to sever the umbilical cord. He lived for her, with her but not through her. The amazing thing about this man with no real scholastic or academic background was the clarity of his total understanding of the working of her mind. His intuitive intelligence and openness of spirit allowed him to keep abreast with her quantum leaps from the first to the nth dimension – even sometimes arriving just ahead, thus enabling her to soar even further. Nothing she deducted, developed or stated ever surprised him.

Thanks to him, she never suffered the isolation common to genius, never became static. But he was not just a very bright sounding board for her ideas; he helped her to clarify them and give them shape, enabling her to continue developing her unique mind to the end. As she grew older he took more and more of her workload on himself, organising courses, examining students, lecturing on materials, practical life etc. He coped with all details and unexpected complications during the training courses.

By protecting her from all practical details, he enabled Maria Montessori to concentrate fully on her creative work. He presented her with new ideas, not only reactions. As the years advanced, their complicity became total. Without him she would have grown frustrated by the lack of understanding, retreating into her spiritual isolation, unable to cope and fight alone to preserve the purity of her work.

By his understanding, his enthusiasm and belief in the significance of her cosmic vision for the development of mankind, he became a pillar of her work. He continued her fight after she died. Against all odds, all struggles for power, all intrigues, he continued the fight for the child – the child, father of man.

Mario Montessori, my father, was an extraordinary man.

Celebrating 150 years

31 August 2020 is 150 years since the birth of Maria Montessori. Montessori was ahead of her time in her research, educational approach and pioneering work for social reform. The work of Montessori today continues to motivate people to change the world for the better and has impacted the lives of children and teachers for more than 110 years. 

2020 is a year to celebrate her amazing legacy of Montessori education, as well as her commitment to advocating for the human rights of the child, a cause which is continued through the work of the Educateurs sans Frontières. To see more details on this global initiative, visit the Montessori 150 website.

Celebrating M150

We invite our Montessori schools and centres to your Montessori 150 celebrations in the following ways:

1. Use #Montessori150 to share your celebrations on social media.

2. Share your celebrations with us on Facebook or email so we can add to our special eBulletin celebratory edition.

3. Montessori Australia would like to coordinate with our Montessori community to join us in celebrating this milestone by voicing our reasons for choosing Montessori. 

We invite you to record and share short video clips that state your top reasons for liking the Montessori philosophy in less than a minute. Just using your phone or any other video recording device, tell us why you choose Montessori education.  Help us to raise awareness in the community about Montessori values and why it’s still such a loved system of education in the world today.  

Everyone is invited to start their video with these opening words “I choose Montessori because…”

Email your video to info@montessori.org.au and we’ll add this to the voices of our community.  They can be used into the future to promote and market Montessori education.

In the lead up to her birthday, feel free to share the video on your social media with hashtags #IchooseMontessori and #Montessori150.

Click here for details on the online MONTESSORI EVERYWHERE EVENT on 30 August 2020

Montessori Education

About Montessori

Montessori is an approach to supporting the full development of the human being. The Montessori approach offers a broad vision of education as an ‘aid to life’. As an educational system, it is used in over 22,000 schools worldwide, and has a longer track record of success than any other educational approach in the world. 

The Montessori approach to education, inspires children towards a lifelong love of learning, by following their natural developmental trajectory. Children become confident, responsible, independent learners, who trust in their own abilities. The inclusivity and positive social development facilitated by the Montessori programme forms the basis for a persistent attachment to learning and knowledge. 

Montessori classrooms provide a specially crafted learning environment where children are able to respond to their natural tendency to work. Children have an innate passion for learning, and the Montessori classroom encourages this by giving them opportunities to engage in spontaneous, purposeful activities with the guidance of a trained adult. Through their work, the children develop concentration and joyful self-discipline. Within a framework of order, the children progress at their own pace and rhythm, according to their individual capabilities.

Dr Maria Montessori, a physician, anthropologist and pedagogue, developed her unique method of educating children over a professional career that spanned over fifty years. The Montessori approach was developed through intense scientific observation of children from many ethnic, cultural and socio-economic backgrounds from birth to maturity. It is based upon a deep understanding of child development.

 In Australia, Montessori education is available for children of all ages with programmes offered for children as young as 8 weeks old to age 18, through early childhood education and care services, preschools and kindergartens, and primary and secondary schools. The number of Montessori programmes in Australia is growing steadily with more than 360 schools and centres across the country educating more than 26,000 children. The majority of Montessori programmes are operated by not-for-profit, community-based associations, with an increasing number of privately-owned programmes and also programmes within the public school system.

Montessori programmes are also serving children and families in remote, indigenous Australian communities, where the Montessori philosophy unites with the culture and heritage of Indigenous Australians.  

Watch a video: Why choose Montessori education for your child?

Montessori Educators

In a Montessori classroom the place of the traditional teacher is held by a fully trained Montessori educator, often called a Montessori Director or Directress. Montessori educators typically have a normal teacher qualification as well as an additional Montessori teacher education diploma. The Montessori Director is a guide or facilitator whose task it is to support the young child in his or her process of self-development. The Montessori Director is foremost an observer, unobtrusively yet carefully monitoring each child’s development, recognising and interpreting each child’s needs.

The Montessori Director provides a link between the child and the prepared environment, introducing the child to each piece of equipment when he or she is ready in a precise, clear and enticing way. On a broader level the educator provides a link between the classroom and the parent, meeting with each child’s parents to discuss progress. They need to be an example; calm, consistent, courteous and caring. The most important attribute of a Montessori educator is the love and respect they hold for each child’s total being.

In a Montessori classroom, the Montessori Director/Directress is supported by a Montessori Assistant.  They assist with the preparation of the environment and the group activities of the classroom.

Montessori Classrooms

Montessori classrooms, or Prepared Environments, are designed to meet the physical and psychological needs of the child at each stage of development. In Montessori, the curriculum is embedded within a learning environment or classroom, in the form of a carefully designed and sequenced range of hands-on learning materials and activities. Montessori materials are designed to stimulate the child into logical thought and discovery.

The beauty, order and accessibility in the classroom serve to entice the child into activity. Guided by the Montessori teacher, the child explores the materials independently, and this is when the learning occurs. Children are able to engage with the activities according to their individual interests and at their own pace. In this way learning becomes highly personalized.

The Montessori classroom is not merely a place for individual learning. It is a vibrant community of children, where the child learns to interact socially in a variety of ways. The three-year age range enables older children to teach the younger and learn much themselves from the experience while the younger children are inspired to more advanced work through observing the older ones. With such a variety of levels in the classroom, each child can work at his or her own pace, unhindered by competition and encouraged by co-operation. Children attend daily and for a three-year cycle.

Key Principles of the Prepared Environment

Independence – the environment must be prepared to enable the child to become physically independent of the adult. Because he is able to do things for himself he starts to be able to choose and decide things for himself. The environment must allow for this both in the way that the materials are prepared and in the approach of the adults.

Indirect preparation – although activities are prepared with their own developmental aim in mind they also prepare for something that will come later in the child’s development. Sometimes this preparation is for something that will occur in the same plane but it also refers to something that may occur much later in the child’s life e.g. the sensorial base for mathematical understanding in the abstract, or moral development.

Order – order is something that pervades a Montessori environment. For the small child in the Children’s House the physical order of the prepared environment is obvious but order also underlies all of the less tangible aspects of the environment e.g. the consistency of the adults and their approach, the order of presentation etc. For the older child the social order becomes more important.

Choice – the environment must give the child the opportunity to choose what he does from a range of activities that are suitable to his developmental needs.

Freedom – essential to the prepared environment is the child’s freedom – to choose, to work for as long as he wants to, to not work, to work without being interrupted by other children or by the constraints of a timetable etc. – as long as his activity does not interfere with other children’s right and freedom to do the same.

Mixed Age Range – another non-negotiable part of the environment is the formation of a community with at least a three-year age range, This allows for children to learn from each other in a non-competitive atmosphere and directly prepares the child for living in society.

Movement – the environment must allow the child’s free movement so that he can exercise his freedom to bring himself into contact with the things and people in his environment that he needs for his development.

Control of Error – the environment and in particular the materials should be prepared in a way that allows the child to become aware of his mistakes and to correct them for himself so that he understands that it is all right to be wrong and that we can learn from our mistakes.

Materials – the materials that we choose for the environment must act as keys to the child’s development and we need to prepare the environment with this in mind. The keys we choose will be directed by the child’s essential developmental needs at each age range.

Role of the Adult – the adult is also part of the Montessori environment. The role of this adult is not like the teacher in a traditional environment, however – whose role is to teach the children. The role of the adult in a Montessori environment is to facilitate the child to teach himself by following his own internal urges that will lead him to take what he needs from the things and people around him.

Montessori Programmes

Montessori classrooms are multi-aged learning environments, based on Dr. Montessori’s stage theory of human development, which she called The Four Planes of Development. In the first plane from birth to age six, the child is characterised by his or her “absorbent mind”, absorbing all aspects of his or her environment, language and culture. In the second plane from age six to twelve, the child uses a “reasoning mind” to explore the world with abstract thought and imagination. In the third plane from twelve to eighteen, the adolescent has a “humanistic mind” eager to understand humanity and the contribution he or she can make to society. In the last plane of development, from age eighteen to twenty-four, the adult explores the world with a “specialist mind” taking his or her place in the world. Maria Montessori believed that if education followed the natural development of the child, then society would gradually move to a higher level of co-operation, peace and harmony.

Birth to 3 years Programme

The first three years of life are the most fundamental in the development of human beings and their potential. The infant’s physical development is phenomenal and apparent and inspires our care and attention. Yet a profound and less obvious development is taking place within the child.

During the first three years of life the child’s intelligence is formed. They acquire the culture and language into which they have been born. It is a period when the core of personality and the social being are developed. An understanding of the child’s development and the development of the human mind allows environments to be prepared to meet the needs of the infant and foster independence, motor development and language acquisition.

Nido (Italian for ‘Nest’)

This the name given to the early childhood setting for children from eight weeks old to the developmental milestone of walking independently. This programme is created especially to support working parents.

Infant Community

After they begin to walk, children join the toddler group where their primary motor coordination, independence and language are cultivated. Rather than a classroom, it is a nurturing community where very young children experience their first structured contact with other children.

Parent-Infant / Parent-Toddler Programme

The Parent-Infant Programme provides an environment in which parents and children from 8 weeks to 3 years interact with the guidance of a trained Montessori educator. Parents learn how to observe what their children are doing, do in order to know what experiences to offer them.

Increasingly, these programmes are offered in Montessori Early Learning Centres as part of a long day care format.

3 to 6 years Programme

Montessori ‘school’ starts at 3 years of age.  The 3 to 6 year old child is undergoing a process of self-construction. The application of the Montessori philosophy and the specifically designed Montessori equipment aids the child’s ability to absorb knowledge and continue this path of self-construction. Acquisition of one’s own first culture is the child’s central developmental drive in the first plane of development.

The pre-school environment serves this drive abundantly, bringing the world to the child. Globes, maps, songs, land forms, collections of pictures of life in different cultures, and much more, is offered, with the aim of helping the child to grow as an individual appreciating the larger context of his or her world.

Children’s House

The ‘Children’s House’ is the pre-school and/or long day setting for children from three to six years of age. Often called ‘Stage 1̵