Montessori Education Week—the Advocacy Continues!

Montessori Education Week lands in the last full week in February each year, about halfway through the school year, which often works out to be the perfect time! Its purpose is to both celebrate and promote the benefits of the Montessori Method of Education as an established, well-researched movement with successful schools on every major continent. Montessori teachers take this time to share with fellow educators, parents, and the wider community about the legacy of Dr. Maria Montessori.

Although recently inactive, many local Montessori teachers have volunteered for the Montana Montessori Educators’ Association (MMEA) since the late 1980s to hold educational events, share resources and support with fellow educators, and even contribute to public advocacy. Multi-day conferences have been held by volunteer teachers with keynote speakers and workshops on everything from incorporating Montana history into early childhood classrooms to building world-class school communities. Seemingly competing schools have united and taken out a full-page ad each year in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle sharing their logos in solidarity as being part of one, larger, movement here to benefit all children. 

For at least the last decade, our Bozeman area has had an unparalleled number of Montessori programs for a community our size. From Big Sky to Belgrade, Bozeman to Livingston, there are over twenty Montessori programs in our area serving infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and elementary-aged children. Some schools are smaller and home-based, and others have large campuses. 

Despite a large number of children happily attending bustling Montessori schools both in our region and around the state, Montessorians in Montana have some distance to cross towards recognition as early childhood professionals in the wider community. A few years ago, a trained Montessori teacher was not recognized in Montana’s professional development ladder for early childhood teachers. Many teachers attend their Montessori training after earning a university degree, and a MACTE*-accredited teacher education program is accepted as graduate level work in many universities. But not in Montana. 

*MACTE, by the way, stands for the Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education and is the international standard setting and accrediting body for Montessori teacher education that is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. 

After noting that MACTE-accredited teachers were not recognized on any level of Montana's Career Path for early childhood professionals, Bozeman Montessori founder Marissa SherKenney enlisted the support of others in spearheading a change in 2015. She was successful in her efforts in getting a Montessori credential on the Montana career path, and thanks to her advocacy, Montessori teachers today enjoy a long-deserved acknowledgement that is critical to their advancement in the world of childcare licensing and quality rating. Marissa is also quick to point out that Montessori teachers deserve to be recognized at an even higher level commensurate with the hundreds of hours they invest in their teacher education.

Yes, we still have a long way to go. But each year, more and more Montessori teachers step into classrooms for the first time, bursting with talent, energy, and new ideas. What will the next generation of Montana Montessori Educators bring to our community? Will it be advocacy? Public awareness?

You may not hear a lot about Montessori Education Week from other schools, many of whom are immersed in their own operational challenges. Times have not been easy as Montessori schools adjust to increasingly strained resources and staffing shortages of the past couple years. According to Bloomberg News, nearly one-third of early childhood centers have closed since the start of the pandemic and some 110,000 workers have left the profession. But increased awareness about the importance of quality care as a building block to a thriving economy has also helped remind the world of the importance of quality care for young children and the unique developmental needs of young humans during the first years of life, pandemic or not.

Maria Montessori called the young child, “the forgotten citizen,” and she was right. Together, we hope to change that fact as we advocate for the important role that early childhood educators play on a global scene—parents, caregivers, and teachers–educated in early childhood specifically, or not. So, as we reflect on this Montessori Education Week, we celebrate our beautiful legacy with expectancy. The future lies before us. What will we make of it together on behalf of children everywhere?

Note: Photo of Bozeman Montessori Owners Victoria Brailsford and Marissa SherKenney on a weekend hike in the beautiful mountains outside Bozeman, Montana. Proponents of “walking meetings,” Victoria and Marissa find that high-elevation thinking is often best supported by abundant fresh air.