Montessori Education In Context

Islamic Montessori schools and those who practice in this niche educational setting, need a collective – a unified voice and presence to champion faith education as a distinct subset of the larger Montessori community. The problem is that even the greater Montessori world continues to struggle for daylight. Indeed, no one since Dr. Montessori herself, has been as effective in winning the hearts of the masses. Still today, Montessori struggles to secure its rightful place in the sun, and our professional membership organizations are not making it easier.

This is an unfortunate state of affairs and Dr. Montessori would surely have been dismayed to know that her legacy and life’s work has failed to flourish in mainstream education. And this, when but a generation ago, the future of Montessori appeared so promising. Indeed, Montessori Education was met with a rather spectacular reception in Europe, the United Kingdom, Southeast Asia, India, and in the United States. It was applauded by some of the most prestigious institutions of higher learning and praised within circles of the most esteemed professionals and preeminent, scientific minds of the time. Interestingly, though, the issues that continue to hinder broad-based acceptance of Montessori Education have nothing to do with the theory and philosophy of Montessori itself.

After Dr. Montessori’s death in 1952, followed some years later by Mario, her sole heir and successor, responsibility for the preservation and expansion of Montessori Education passed to the two professional membership organizations then in existence; both, legacies to their namesake: Association Montessori Internationale (AMI, est.1929) and American Montessori Society (AMS, est.1960). These entities are still in operation, and they enjoy the support of a robust and dedicated following across the globe.

In the recent past, however, we have been witness to the extraordinary expansion of AMS. This remarkable surge in growth, relative to its European counterpart, can be measured not only by membership and number of affiliated schools and teacher education programs, but also by its sheer stature and influence throughout the world. In fact, AMS has become a veritable powerhouse of influence, to the point that it might well be presumed “the official voice of Montessori Education”.

While its growth and the global exposure that followed, might seem cause for celebration, it is important to understand that the function and purpose of AMS has undergone a decisive change from years past. At some point, AMS leadership made the bold decision to actively engage Montessori by underwriting and promoting social advocacy efforts on behalf of, and in concert with, its membership. With this singular decision, AMS assumed a decidedly different role on the world stage – no longer was AMS simply the conservator responsible for the preservation of Montessori. This shift in purpose is clearly outlined on the AMS website:

”The American Montessori Society is the leading member advocacy organization, research forum, and resource collaborative for the global community of Montessori educators.”

Whether AMS was simply an educational organization or whether it was an advocacy group, is a question that we, at AIMA, posed some time ago. We noted AMS’ increasing engagement in action around social issues, and we suggested that it evidenced a fundamental shift from the organization’s historical goals and objectives. In the absence of formal announcement by AMS, we proposed that perhaps the organization “inadvertently confounded the construct ‘Montessori’ with the context of the American culture in which it is anchored”. (The IME Report, 2022, Winter issue). It was a generous and forgiving – if naïve – explanation of the apparent shift in organizational purpose, one that was soon to be affirmed.

It is true that growing organizations reflect, evaluate, set goals and make strategic decisions all the time; and on occasion, they make substantive changes in the way they choose to operate. From this perspective, there was nothing improper about AMS’ decision to shift from “conservator” to “social advocate” – but it certainly warranted announcement – if for no other reason than to stem the multitude of implications it held for the greater Montessori community, particularly in light of its power and influence in the world today.

Important Implications
It is important for the world Montessori community to recognize and appreciate the gravity of what has occurred here. The intent of this writing is to examine this shift, to discuss it, and to highlight the implications for the edification of all Montessori-invested persons, regardless of connection to the Montessori community, at large.

Two points in particular, demand our attention, due to the gravity of their implications for the preservation of scientific integrity and theoretical fidelity – especially in the domain of educational research.

Scientific Integrity: Conflation of “Construct” and “Context”
To conflate a construct with the context or climate in which it exists suggests, at the very least, the loose application of a conventional research methodology, one long embraced and practiced by the greater scientific community, across all variety of disciplines. To conflate the two, raises questions of methodological integrity, scientific rigor, and/or intellectual honesty – the absence of any of which would be a non-starter for any serious research effort, regardless of the discipline of study.

In this case, AMS has conflated the construct “Montessori” with the context of the society in which it exists and operates: America, “the West”. However, construct and context are simply not the same: Montessori exists in the context of America. Montessori is not America; America is not Montessori.

This is a vital distinction, and its relevance becomes apparent when, for example, the values of a society are used to define the parameters of education – that is, what precisely constitutes education. One need not be a social scientist to recognize the problem – particularly given that social values are malleable and mutable by nature; thus, the “anchor” is always subject to shift. So, when education is defined by the values of the society in which it exists, the outcome is not really education at all; to the contrary, the outcome is indoctrination.

This is a slippery slope, the dangers of which become obvious when taken to the extreme. For example, when such “logic” is applied in the context of a nation wherein the socio-political climate is charged with a power differential (i.e., between peoples or between people and the government), the result may easily escalate from indoctrination to marginalization, to control, and ultimately, to systematic subjugation of the disenfranchised. Indeed, this is precisely the circumstance that exists in China today – where the government itself, defines education for its populace. Consider the “re-education camps” routinely used to indoctrinate and control untold masses. The dangers are frightfully real.

Indeed, it is difficult to imagine a research question wherein the implications are more profound and far reaching than when the construct under examination is “education”. The importance of integrity and fidelity within the realm of Social Science research – and the domain of Education in particular, cannot be overstated.

Theoretical Fidelity: The Appropriation of Montessori Education
The AMS Strategic Priorities, as defined by the organization itself, clearly align with the politics and social policies that currently prevail in a deeply-divided American society. Given this fact, it can easily be argued that “socio-cultural bias” (context) has been introduced and synthesized with the construct “Montessori”. Synthesis of context and construct suggests “appropriation” – intended or not – and in this case, the appropriation of Montessori theory for the manifest purpose to propagate a specific, desired, progressive, socio-political ideology.

Given its current modus operandi, this is precisely the circumstance that has been set into motion and presented to the world Montessori community. With it, the nature of AMS’ influence in the world has transformed: AMS no longer operates as mere fiduciary or guardian of Montessori Education. It functions, now, as an advocacy organization that effectively engages Montessori, while it simultaneously disseminates Western values wherever in the world it may operate, wherever in the world it may have a voice.

For many Islamic Montessori schools (and other faith-based, Montessori institutions) however, this is problematic, for their teachings are often at odds with prevailing social values and trends of Western society. And there is a wry irony here, in the fact of the innumerable references, from untold scholarly sources over the course of a century of writing and research, concerning the implicitly spiritual nature of Montessori theory and philosophy – inclusive of works authored by Dr. Montessori, herself. Indeed, it could be argued that much of what we see happening in the West today, is at least to some extent, incompatible with many of the beliefs Dr. Montessori held dear.

End of the Innocence
Were the implications not so critical to the preservation of planet Earth and our collective future, we might have laughed at the fact that until now, we believed the greatest challenge to Montessori education was illegitimate use of the term by schools that did not practice it. Indeed, we look back at this and see a time of innocence– a naivete, if you will. For the idea that Montessori might undergo a substantive, conceptual shift from within, was not even on the radar.

This is the end of the innocence, indeed – but we are not alone. These concerns are not unique to Islamic Montessori schools; to the contrary, they are shared by all faith-based, educational institutions. Interestingly, the root of the divide is not religion. Rather, it is a controversy of perspective, concerning the fundamental nature and source of Truth (and all the derivations thereof: i.e., wisdom, enlightenment, education, and so on).

The crux of debate is whether Truth is a bequest of divine origin, or an article of social construction.

This is a question is for academics and institutions of all stripes – not only Montessori Educators, not only Montessori schools…and not only American educational institutions. The implications are as profound as they are far-reaching, and they will drive the future of Education in the West and around the world. How we answer this question will determine the future and it will foretell the quality of life for humankind and all the inhabitants of planet Earth, for generations to come.