The Universality of Montessori's Discoveries

The Second in a Series on Montessori Endeavours Worldwide

This issue of Communications presents accounts of some Montessori work undertaken with families and communities in Asia, Australia and Europe. We hope that these stories will encourage others to share their own experiences in future issues.

The examples from three continents show that the Montessori approach fits well within diverse cultures, also with refugee children, street-children, and those in vulnerable environments. We thank Victoria Barres for initiating the series and for keeping the idea alive. Our thanks also go to Zarin Malva, Dinny Rebild, and Takako Fukutsu for their contributions.

To give you an idea of the projects reported on:

Montessori Projects—Australia
At the recent Montessori Conference in Sydney, Australia it was heartening to learn that the indigenous communities especially appreciate the fact that within Montessori their own culture is respected, the children can progress at their own speed and there is no emphasis on competition. Australia is fortunate to have two Montessori projects with indigenous communities.

Aseema—India
Aseema, a non-governmental organisation established in 1995, promotes and protects the human rights of under-privileged children and women. It draws inspiration from the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child.

There has been a growing concern in India about the shortfalls in implementing the educational programmes, especially in the area of primary education. Aseema has dedicated the first phase of its programme to address exactly this issue and established the centre for street children in Mumbai on 15th December 1997. The uniqueness of this centre lies in its Montessori philosophy and teaching approach.

A Montessori centre has been established for children aged two-and-a-half to seven years. It is the first of its kind for the children living on the streets of Mumbai. Fully equipped with Montessori apparatus and run by two trained teachers, the children thrive under the nourishing love and learning they receive at the centre.

J.’s Story—Denmark
This is the story of a two-year-old child who has lived in a refugee centre her whole life. Her parents fled from one of the many wars the world is witness to in these years, together with two other children of then eight and ten years. Both parents were traumatised and more and more J. was looked after by other residents at the centre and by her siblings. To compensate for love that could not be given, J. was fed enormous amounts of food, so by the time she began in ‘Project Small Children’ she was very obese.

‘Commitment to a Wider Community: The Global Child An Example from Southeast Asia’
This was the title of a lecture presented by Takako Fukatsu at the Montessori Conference in Sydney, Australia: Sept. 26 to 28, 2003.She describes some of the work she did in a refugee camp and how she was haunted by the pressing question of how peace can be achieved. Her experiences eventually brought her to Montessori, and later to the Educateurs sans Frontières. Together with Victoria Barres she explained how the idea of Educateurs sans Frontières can propagate and spread ‘Education as an Aid to Life’— which is how Maria Montessori herself described the pedagogy she created.