Creating A Montessori Community for ALL...

If you believe Montessori is a movement for real and lasting change in this world -- capable of transforming children and society -- we invite you to join us at the NAMTA/OMA 2014 Fall Conference, "Creating a Montessori Community For ALL" to explore what possibilities might unfold when presenters from both AMI and AMS, national leaders in the field of community and Montessori advocacy, and parents/families, guides of all levels, and administrators, join together.

Why Community?

Community and a sense of belonging are important... 

...for our children!  Alfred Adler, (an eminent psychologist and student of Maria Montessori) suggested the primary need of every child is to feel a sense of belonging and significance...many consider the psychological sense that one belongs, to be a necessary condition for successful learning experiences.

...for ourselves!  Community shapes our identity and bolsters our physical, mental, emotional, and economic health.

...for Dr. Montessori’s vision of peace!  Our capacity to contribute to the creation of a world that works for all is intimately tied to the vitality and connectedness of our communities.

Why Collective Impact?

The potential for the Montessori community to create real and lasting change for children and society grows exponentially as more and more Montessorians begin to work collaboratively to protect high quality Montessori education and ensure it becomes an option available for all children. But how might we orient ourselves to be successful?  One model to consider is Collective Impact -- a powerful paradigm for social progress that enables diverse organizations to create lasting large-scale change.

The power of Collective Impact lies in the heightened vigilance that comes from multiple organizations looking for resources and innovations through the same lens, the rapid learning that comes from continuous feedback loops, and the immediacy of action that comes from a unified and simultaneous response among all participants. (SSIR) [Click here to learn more about Collective Impact.]

Why Paul Born?

Holding the intention that whatever results we are hoping to accomplish in the world, community needs to be at the center of our thinking has enabled Paul Born and the Tamarack Institute to leverage the power of Collective Impact and transform how social issues like poverty are being addressed across Canada -- changing more than fifty government policies, supporting over two hundred social innovations, and reducing poverty for more than two hundred thousand people.  Paul is a Montessori Dad who believes “that we do have the time, the money, and all the tools necessary to solve any challenge, by coming together in community.” (Deepening Community, Pg XIV)

Work Harder or Work Together?

These are chaotic times! The pace and scale of change -- as well as the number of issues that impact our ability to optimally serve children -- continues to grow. As a result, we often find ourselves working harder -- running full-speed, deeply immersed in our isolated spheres...What else can we do? 

Paul Born (keynote speaker for the 2014 Fall Conference) suggests that there is indeed another way to navigate through these chaotic times, which will not only quench our thirst for belonging, but bolster our physical, mental, emotional, and economic health, as well -- by working together and deepening our experience of community! 

In his book, Deepening Community, Paul suggests that "community has the power to change everything". Rather than trying to survive in chaos, community can help us thrive by "finding joy together in chaotic times". Through his immense experience, Paul has found that "people can learn and make choices to work together and to care together. That no matter how difficult the task, through community engagement and collaboration we can create a positive vision, organize ourselves to achieve it, and realize a better future for all...The deeper the community, the easier and better the outcome."

The OMA and NAMTA are partnering to host a Fall Conference which warmly welcomes ALL members of the Montessori community -- family members, admins, and guides of all levels, from all settings (private and public), training, and regions -- to gather together in community to:

(1) share information and develop relationships and skills to help us work more effectively together
(2) earn professional development credits
(3) appreciate the significant part each of us plays in the whole of our community,

We hope you join us in Columbus, September 26 - 28, 2014, to consider the possibilities of what we might create together -- for our children and the world!

"Light A Candle for Peace"*: A Story About the Power of Conversation & Networks

Montessorians are becoming increasingly concerned by the growing number of issues and regulations constricting our ability to effectively serve the developmental needs of children.  What can we do to affect change?  Do any of us really have time to work with others on these issues, when too often it feels that it is more talk than action? 

But the power of conversation is becoming increasingly recognized in a variety of fields (including Politics, Information Technology, Executive Development, and Evolutionary Biology).  In fact, some scientists suggest that,"because we live in language -- and in the sophisticated coordination of actions that language makes possible -- we 'bring forth a world' through the networks of conversation in which we participate." (Maturana & Vaela, as described in The World Cafe)

In The World Cafe: Shaping Our Futures Through Conversations that Matter, the authors relate a story describing how a dinner conversation among four friends evolved into one of the largest mass movements in Germany since the end of WWII: 

"Over dinner, 4 friends decided it was time for them to step out from the 'silent majority' and show their repudiation of the rising number of neo-Nazi attacks on foreigners.  By the time dessert was over, each agreed to call several friends and colleagues and share the idea of creating a silent candlelight vigil to bear witness to these injustices.  Their first gathering drew 100 friends to a popular downtown bar, each of whom agreed to call 10 others to encourage a larger turnout for a second event.  Within days the "candlelight conversation" spread across the city through circles of acquaintances in businesses, schools, churches, and civic groups.  The original group of friends -- and the nation as a whole -- were stunned when 400,000 people turned out in Munich for the vigil.  Inspired by the Munich gathering, citizens in other cities held conversations and created vigils over the following weeks...The seemingly endless chains of flickering candlelight became a powerful symbol of the nation's collective commitment, born in conversation, to turn the tide against such behavior." (Pg 20)

When viewed from this perspective, "conversations ARE action -- the very lifeblood and heartbeat of social systems like organizations, communities, and societies.  As new meanings and the coordinated actions based on them begin to spread through wider networks, the future comes into being."(Pg 18)

If, before the internet, 400,000 people can rally to action within days, imagine what we could do together to defend the developmental rights of children, given the current technology and our community's passion! 

Here are 3 ways to leverage the power of conversation and networks:

• Save the date! Saturday, September 27, 2014 for the OMA/NAMTA Conference: "Building A Community For All", to gather as a statewide community and engage in conversations that matter.
• Join in conversations!  To facilitate conversations amongst Ohio Montessorians, the OMA has created virtual forums for Montessori families, administrators, guides serving all planes of development, and Montessorians in public schools.  Contact us to get connected!
• Widen the network! Talk to those within your networks and encourage them to engage in the conversation by joining the OMA mailing list and virtual forums.

*May this song that Montessorians around the globe sing remind us of the power of conversations and networks to affect change and spread peace around the world.

A Call to Action (by Jill Wilson)

I often think of the old proverb that says, “The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago.  The second-best time is now.”  The same holds true for so many things in my life, and especially for advocacy of Montessori.  I just returned from the AMS National Conference in Dallas, Texas and I have been spurred into action.   It became overwhelmingly obvious to me that our children need more Montessori programs.  But at the same time, Montessori programs are struggling when it comes to legislative and regulatory challenges at the federal, state and local levels.  Many of these policies are weighted against and adversely affect Montessori classrooms and practices.  For instance, in many Quality Rating and Improvement Systems, quality Montessori programs are given low scores due to the lack of building blocks, stuffed animals and toys in the classroom.  It is up to us to educate legislators to what is a quality Montessori program.  The best time to begin grassroots advocacy was 20 years ago.  The second best time is NOW!

Big movements are happening in the Montessori circles.   The circles are beginning to overlap and they are big enough to include everyone.  In order to impact policy, we need everyone from the large national organizations to the smallest local schools and classrooms.   Montessori Forward andThe National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector are two websites that are bringing together multiple Montessori organizations to collaborate and disseminate valuable information. AMS and AMI/USA have joined forces to support state organizations in developing their voice, strengthening their platform and providing them with the necessary tools needed to succeed.  

The Ohio Montessori Alliance is the state organization created to do these things (and more!) for children and Montessori schools in Ohio.  As they state on their website, “The OMA is a call to action and a commitment to community.”  I have been called to action and now I am calling on you, too.

So, what can you as a parent, teacher or administrator do?

1.  Invite your state representative and senator to your school.  No agenda, no issues to discuss, and no speeches, but just a casual visit as an introduction to some Montessori constituents.  Not only does this provide an opportunity for the politician to be awed by the Montessori environment and touched by the children working, but also it aides in raising an awareness of just how many Montessori schools may be in the district.  Contact your state representatives here:  www.ohiohouse.gov andwww.ohiosenate.gov/senate/index

2. Be Counted!  At the CMS and/or AMS conference, you may have seen and heard people talking about the 2013-14 USA Montessori Census.  This is a collaborative project to strengthen the US Montessori Community.  The information gathered through the census can be used by the general public and researchers, as well as federal, state, and local governments, in making important decisions about education reform and the proper role of Montessori in that reform effort.

Currently, there are only 30 schools listed in the state of Ohio – a small fraction of what is really out there. There is strength in numbers and every Montessori school along with every Montessori student must be counted.  With current accurate numbers of schools and students, we can make a greater impact on policymakers!

Please do your part to add your school right now!  Go to www.MontessoriCensus.org  You will be asked to create an account.  The census has 30 questions and will take you less than 15 minutes to complete. Questions are asked on four broad areas:

• Demographic Information
• Leadership
• Affiliations and Accreditations
• Program

You will also have the opportunity to provide a brief overview of your school and to provide a photo of your school. The ideal size for the photo is 220px by 220px, and photos must be less than 1 MB in size.

At the very least, just add the name and address of your school to get it on the map today and do the rest later.

3.  Get Connected!  In addition to showing the SIZE of our community, our CONNECTIVITY to one another is equally crucial!  The more we can link together, the more capable we'll become!  Reach out to other schools, organizations, and communities, linking your networks together.  Our power would grow exponentially if each of us shared this newsletter with 5 people in our network, and asked them to forward it to 5 people in their network, and so on.

If all of those reading this do these three things, here is what I envision would happen:  The next time a piece of legislation comes up, the question is asked by many legislators, “How does this affect the 45 Montessori schools, 5000 students and 10,000+ voting parents in my district?”  That is powerful.

If you find yourself called into action and want to do more than these three things, please email the Ohio Montessori Alliance president, Laureen Golden.

There is not a moment to spare.  Change is going to happen and it is up to us, individually and collectively, to ensure that it changes to our benefit, not detriment. 

Rising Together for Children

We are living during an exciting time, in which a major resurgence in the Montessori Movement continues to gain momentum, fueled by a collective longing for quality Montessori education to become an option available to all children. The possibility for real change is growing, but is not to be taken for granted.  Twice before, the popularity of Montessori education in America has swelled...and then waned.  In order to rise together in time to leverage this "third wave" of intense interest to create lasting change for children and society, we must define who "we" are, and cultivate "the experience of belonging" for all in our community.

The Montessori Community: Defining Who "We"Are

We will rise together as a powerful and unified whole once we become clear on who "we" are.  Is who we consider to be "in" our community defined by their role? school? setting? type of training? location? similarity of values and ideas?  When we encounter Montessorians who are different from us (in role, school, setting, type of training, location, or way of thinking) do we recognize them as "self" or do we ignore them, or perhaps treat them as "other"?  Wisdom from the Mindfulness Community helps us realize that we train our attention to include or exclude.   Our community can harness the healing power of inclusion by cultivating our awareness and creating intentional choices that expand who "we" become. 

"Belonging" to the Montessori Community

Rising together to catalyze real change for children and society requires us to move beyond the notion of "community as a collection" of schools or individuals (connected mostly in name only), to one that is focused on "the experience of belonging". 

1. "Belong can mean to be related to, and a part of something.  It is membership, the experience of being 'at home'".
2. "Belong has to do with being an owner. Something belongs to me. To belong to a community, is to act as a creator and co-owner in that community."
3. "Belonging can also be thought of as longing-to-be.  Being is our capacity to find our deeper purpose; the capacity to be present, and to discover our authenticity and whole selves. Community is the container within which our longing to be is fulfilled." (Peter Block, Community: The Structure of Belonging, Pg xii)

Imagine what being a part of the Montessori community might come to mean for each of us when we prioritize the experience of belonging!  This is the vision that guides the development of the OMA.  We define a "Montessorian" as anyone who feels touched by Montessori education (students, alumni, family members, guides, administrators -- anyone who has discovered and feels moved by Dr. Montessori's work), and invite all such people to join us in creating a community that feels like a "place for you", in which you are a co-owner, and in which your deeper purpose may be fulfilled.  Use our newsletter, FB page, and website to give feedback about what is, and is not, working for you...Connect your community with the statewide community (which connects with our national and international community) by sharing our newsletter with your networks...Save the Date: We will gather together as a statewide community the Weekend of September 27, 2014...Participate in the development of this conference so it is most meaningful to you and supports you in the issues you care most about...Envision the possibilities of what we can create together...Welcome each other as fearless learners, inventors and discovers, agents of change, who, together, will surf this “third wave” to ensure the developmental rights of all children are understood, nurtured, and secured. 

We CAN Create What We Know is Possible!

Dr. Montessori's understanding of the world is so distinct from the prevalent worldview, that is has remained on the margins for over 100 years.  And yet, each member of our community discovered it -- often by synchronicity and chance -- and it resonated deeply within us, which suggests that in our bodies we know another way to be in this world; the possibility for a more just, harmonious, and sustainable future that works for all.

Together, we can create what we know, deep inside us, is possible!  Together, our power to create the world for which we long, is magnified exponentially!

Recognizing our community's power to affect change, Montessorians around the globe are linking up by forming a network of networks. Here are 2 small steps, that if each of us took, would make a big difference in our community's capacity to work as a unified whole:
1.  Make sure your school is included in the National Montessori Census, as it will be the foundation for research, advocacy, inclusion and support.
2.  Link your networks to other networks! Click here to sign up for the OMA Communications Network (mailing list).

Let It Flow! "Information as Nourishment"

Testing, regulations, enrollment...the number of issues that impact our ability to effectively serve the developmental needs of children continues to grow.  Rather than contorting ourselves to fit the antiquated notion of education, Montessorians are joining together to redefine it!  In order to grow a strong community and unified voice that is capable of effecting real change, it is essential for us to reconsider how we treat information.  

In the prevalent worldview based on competition, information is equated with power*, and access to it is restricted to the few.  But the holistic paradigm that Montessori education embodies, recognizes that we are all parts of a greater whole. In this world of interdependency and collaboration, information is heralded as nourishment*, and every effort must be made so it can freely flow because “innovation is fostered by information gathered from new connections; from insights gained by journeys into other disciplines or places; from active, collegial networks and fluid, open boundaries.  Knowledge grows inside relationships, from ongoing circles of exchange where information is not just accumulated by individuals, but is willingly shared.” (Wheatley, Pg 104)

Creating “circuitry” for information to flow freely and nourish all parts of our community is one of the primary tasks the OMA is spearheading.  Here is some of what we've been doing:

• We are increasingly using social media and our newsletter as a means to share relevant information.  
• Wanting to share information in a way that does not overwhelm, the OMA is trying to build a database that will enable us to share crucial information in a timely manner, with the members of our community who will be most impacted.  
• We have begun working with the National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector (NCMPS) to align our work developing a state database with their national Montessori Census Project, to limit redundancies in time and resources, while ensuring that everyone is counted and included. Look for us at the CMS Conference to learn more!
• Striving to build a “network of networks”, the OMA is linking up with Cincinnati Montessori Society (CMS) and other regional networks, as well as participating in the National Advocacy Project.
• Metaphorically, the OMA has been trying to move forward the ball-of-organizing-for-impact. What is really exciting is how schools and organizations are taking this ball and running with it! We appreciate those who are acting as conduits, spreading the word through conversations with those in their schools and networks, and linking the OMA’s Newsletter within theirs, thereby enabling the flow of information to reach individual families, students, and alumni.
• Prioritizing the importance of distributing information, the OMA has incorporated this value and capacity into our very structure by using Dynamic Governance (click here to see a current visual of the OMA's structure). With DG's trademark features of consent (everyone's input and thinking is valued) and double linking (information flows in two directions, from those with specialized, tacit knowledge to those with broad vision, and back from the broad vision to the specialized groups) we are able to develop into a more complex organization, capable of differentiation and integration -- the same capacities we seek to cultivate in our children.

If the concepts of "information as nourishment" and "developing a network of networks" resonates with you, please help link up our networks to ensure that information can nourish all the parts of the Montessori community!

Have other suggestions for ways the OMA can share info and strengthen our community's ties? Please share!