IME School Administrators Intensive

An educational intensive offered by the Academy of the American Islamic Montessori Association

TESTED: The Philosophical Crisis Facing Faith-Based Montessori Education Today

As the administrator of an Islamic Montessori school, this may be one of the most important workshops you will ever attend. Why? Because Montessori education has been pushed to a tipping point. You know it, your teachers know it – and your parents sense it. It is the elephant in the room. As an IME school administrator, you are in a unique and influential position, with the power to address the most critical issue facing the future of Islam in the West. Whether and how you choose to respond may be the most important decision of your professional career.

This course is designed specifically for IME school administrators, as an invitation to address the most important issue facing your school today: the invisible challenge to philosophical integrity. There is no more compelling reason to participate in this course. It is designed specifically for you. Participants will represent a collective of your peers – other Islamic Montessori school administrators who, along with their own school communities, are facing the very same challenges that you are.

WHY IT MATTERS…

…to you:

The philosophical foundation of your school is under siege. It is at risk of a fracture to its Islamic foundation with the capacity to compromise the integrity of the program.

…to your faculty:

Your faculty is quietly enduring the distress of active philosophical dissonance between the values they toil each day to instill, and the Montessori world in which they are deeply invested – personally and professionally.

…to your parents:

Your parents have entrusted their children to your school in large part, because they want their children to develop a strong Islamic identity. They trust that you will cultivate and protect the Islamic character of the school, to provide their children the foundation they need to navigate the tides and tempests of the Dunya.

THE PROBLEM

The greater Montessori world community has slipped, almost overnight, into a cultural narrative that is in many ways, antithetical to Islamic values and to an Islamic worldview. This presents a very clear challenge to IME schools – and it is a slippery slope. We must meet it head-on. Your school community looks to you for leadership in service to the enduring tenets of our Deen and it is your responsibility to hold the line.

As an IME school administrator, you play a crucial role in this matter.
You are the gatekeeper.

To ensure viability and success every IME school must possess, cultivate & reinforce:

A philosophical integrity and commitment to the practice of IME
Confidence of your parent body (current and future) in the ability to inculcate Islamic values
Confidence of your teachers in the knowledge that:

…you believe in this work, and you are their advocate in IME

…you will provide the tools they need to be effective in their work

…you will run interference on their behalf, to enable them to do what they do best – focus on the children in their classroom

YOU WILL LEARN HOW TO

Effectively communicate your philosophy as an IME school
Demonstrate for parents what distinguishes your school from secular Montessori school
Address the matters of race, gender identity and other ideological flashpoints
Separate your IME school from other brands of Montessori education.

To be Head of an IME school requires vision, commitment – and a whole lot of Iman. Whatever the reason, and whatever path you traveled that brought you here … you are a Leader. You set the tone. And your influence reverberates out into the world – extending far beyond the children and families you serve today.

REMEMBERING YOUR PURPOSE

If ever you questioned your life’s purpose, if ever you felt you have lost it, this course will remind you. You are here to do important work….the most important work. And AIMA is here to support you.

SIGNUP COMING SOON