What makes a Montessori school?

Abstract

In the spring of 2014, a public Midwestern elementary Montessori charter school governance board president along with other governance board members set out on a journey of discovery. They began by inviting the staff into deep conversations regarding the trajectory of the school. The result of this meeting was a desire for all stakeholders to come to a consensus as to the Montessori identity of the school. To begin this process, the staff considered the following questions. 1. What are the most important tenets of a Montessori education to you? 2. What currently occurs at the school that supports a Montessori education? 3. What currently occurs at the school that inhibits a Montessori education? This study looks at staff input, as well as that of parents, through the use of collaborative meetings and a survey. It further considers the impact on students of adhering more closely to one of the tenets by pre- and post-implementation observation. Creating more uninterrupted work time was the plan. When weather, state-mandated assessments, parent/teacher conferences, and holidays rendered it impossible to control scheduling in the desired fashion, anecdotal records told the story of children's fragile confidence and the empowerment time offers.