Where We Are Now...
I believe we live at a crucial juncture in history. Due to the pace and scale of change in our globally interconnected world, we are increasingly bumping up against the limits and potentially dire consequences of the prevailing paradigm that is based on competition, conquest and consumption.
The prevalent view of "life as a machine" has caused us to seek understanding by breaking things into parts, create plans expecting predictability and linear progress, attempt to maintain order by exerting control (domination), view people/the environment in terms of production and use, and continually search for better methods of measurement. A relic of the industrial economy, this paradigm is crumbling as our population grows, resources dwindle, and we transition to a knowledge economy. Society desperately needs an alternative worldview ... which is exactly what Dr. Montessori gave us. Not only did she provide us with a vision of a “genuine community of all mankind”, she also gave us a map (“The Method”) for how to get there.
The great task remaining before our community is to unite and bring this transforming education into the lives of more children!
On the local, state, and national level, more and more people are joining the movement to collaboratively move Montessori education forward, ensuring that it becomes an educational option available to all children. The momentum is growing to strengthen our community’s ties, and coordinate our advocacy, public awareness, and research efforts. These are exciting times!
Where We Want to Be...
As the winds of change blow in our world, and uncertainty about the future grows, Dr. Montessori’s vision of peace shines like a Northstar; a beacon guiding us towards a new way of being in the world. Might the visceral longing we share for a "different form of society on a higher plane" suggest that in addition to developing "the spiritual life of man" we must also "organize humanity for peace"? (Montessori, xii)
I am fueled by the belief that the Montessori community* has an essential role to play in shifting humanity’s trajectory towards a more just, harmonious, and sustainable future.
I believe this because Montessori education embraces “Life” (in the sense of the dynamic energy and innate wisdom which orients leaves towards sunlight and guides migratory animals on heroic journeys), rather than trying to control or contort it. In doing so, Montessori education embodies an alternative worldview that not only whispers the wisdom of our ancestors, but is being substantiated by discoveries in modern science and a growing number of fields (including quantum physics, biology, and chaos theory).
Science is now describing “a world of interconnected networks, where slight disturbances in one part of the system may create major impacts far from where they originate...a world that knows how to organize itself without command, control, or charisma...[with no] independent reality that exists without our observations...[in which] the ‘basic building blocks’ of life are relationships...and we are all ‘bundles of potential’.” (Wheatley, Pg 170)
Few, I believe, are better equipped to help humanity navigate the transition to the paradigm of living systems and fluid reality, than Montessorians, who, in their quest to “aid life”, have grown experienced in trusting its wisdom and cultivating its creative energy.
Montessorians understand what modern science is confirming about our “participatory universe” -- that “all life participates in the creation of itself, insisting on the freedom to self-determine. All life participates actively with its environment in the process of co-adaption and co-evolution.” (Wheatley, Pg 163) The emerging worldview, which is foreign to many, is rather familiar terrain for Montessorians. Through our work with children, we anticipate the awe and wonder of Life, and recognize that change takes its own path, emerges in its own time and often comes in seemingly sudden bursts. We appreciate the value of indirect preparation, and the focus on cultivating conditions rather than controlling outcomes. We understand the role of differentiation, integration, and interdependency in complex living systems; we know that the whole IS greater than the sum of its parts and that relationships are everything. Great change will happen as our increasingly unified Montessori community, aware of our destiny and “guided by nature”, recognizes the fractal landscape of this world (in the sense that the shape we see at one magnification will be similar to what we’ll find at all others), and uses this understanding to leverage our expertise in aiding the development of life of an individual child, to aid the development of the collective life of humanity-as-an-organism.
Great change will happen when our increasingly unified community leverages our expertise in aiding the life of an individual child, to aid the collective life of humanity-as-an-organism.
Resolutions
(Daily practices to transform ourselves into the change we wish to see in the world)
I feel called, as I believe many of us do, to work in community to help humanity transition to this new paradigm that embraces the creative force of life since "the forces that create the world are precisely the forces that must create peace”. (Montessori, 115) Yet, such a grand task is intimidating and humbling. What can I really do to make a difference?
*Believe If the beating of a butterfly's wings can affect change, then with hope for a better world, I commit to making small consistent steps each day to create impact.
*SHOW UP!!! In this participative universe, nothing is more important than connecting with others in conversations that matter! I commit to carving time to connect with other Montessorians.
*Go with the flow Although I don't know how I am going to help, each day I will commit to chipping away at whatever I can to get this work done. This is the world of emergence -- once we are in relationship with each other and eager to participate, problems and opportunities will emerge and suddenly each of us will clearly see the unique gifts we have to offer.
*Build our virtual central nervous system Our community will be as strong as we are connected and united. Through technology, we are capable of universal connection, but we need to choose to participate in the collective body. I commit to joining and growing networks, and to encourage others to join me in linking up with our larger community.
*Build our virtual central nervous system Our community will be as strong as we are connected and united. Through technology, we are capable of universal connection, but we need to choose to participate in the collective body. I commit to joining and growing networks, and to encourage others to join me in linking up with our larger community.
*Go slow to go fast Valuing indirect preparation and the primacy of relationships, how can I attend to the wholeness of others? "What makes community building so complex is that it occurs in an infinite number of small steps...It calls for us to treat as important many things that we thought were incidental." (Block, 9) I commit to inquiring more about the lives of the people with whom I interact before "getting down to business".
*Banish the "empty echo" Almost all of us have had the experience of what I call the "empty echo"-- when you put yourself out there, reaching out to others, and hear nothing back. And as lonely and disheartening as it is, I know there are times when I play a part in the silence. "I see you" are some of the most meaningful words we can say to one another. We don't need to agree with each other, we don't need to join every event, but we can acknowledge each other's overtures. I commit to noticing, acknowledging and appreciating the efforts of others.
*Banish the "empty echo" Almost all of us have had the experience of what I call the "empty echo"-- when you put yourself out there, reaching out to others, and hear nothing back. And as lonely and disheartening as it is, I know there are times when I play a part in the silence. "I see you" are some of the most meaningful words we can say to one another. We don't need to agree with each other, we don't need to join every event, but we can acknowledge each other's overtures. I commit to noticing, acknowledging and appreciating the efforts of others.
*Pay attention The Mindfulness Community considers compassion a skill we can cultivate by noticing, "Who do I pay attention to? Who do I ignore? Who becomes 'the other'?" I commit to observing and reflecting upon where I put my attention.
*Hold our attention at two levels simultaneously (Wheatley, 141). Just as when we work with a student in our classroom, we attend to the immediate interaction while remaining aware of the entire room, so too, is it important to be aware of our own specific sphere while remaining aware of the happenings of the broader community. "Transformation unfolds and is given structure by a consciousness of the whole." (Block, 19) I commit to learning more about what is happening regionally, statewide and nationally by staying connected with colleagues and resources.
*In the safe cocoon of community, allow vulnerability to dissolve my ego, and emerge as a fearless learner There is a learning curve to figuring out how to be together and work together, to leverage diversity while building cohesion. I commit to stretching myself, embracing my mistakes, and iterating as I go.
*Explore structures and tools that focus on "establishing the conditions". Dynamic Governance, Open Space Technology, Collective Impact, collective creating, World Cafe, and more ... I commit to read and experience different structures to learn more.
*And when I bump up against the feeling that I just don't have enough time for this work, I commit to remind myself how much I care for my children -- for all children -- and the world that sustains us, and remember that I don't have time NOT to do this work!
Wishing our community a wondrous 2014! May it be a year in which we greet each other as fearless learners, discoverers of new ways of being, and agents of change who are ready to work together in the realm of magic and possibility!
(*I define the Montessori community as anyone who feels a visceral connection to Montessori education, regardless of their role or title.)
Have other ideas for 2014 Resolutions to move us towards a more peaceful world? Please share them with our community by using the form below.
Have other ideas for 2014 Resolutions to move us towards a more peaceful world? Please share them with our community by using the form below.
