Listing of AMI 'Communications' 

Contents

What About Free Expression?
Mario M. Montessori

In Memoriam—Nicolette van der Heide

24th International Montessori Congress
“Education as an Aid to Life”
Paris, July 2001

Obituaries

Introduction to the Refresher Course
Molly O’Shaughnessy

Report on Annual General Meeting

Farewells and Welcomes

Financial Report - 2000

AMI/USA Report

Report on the Activities of the MM 75 Fund in 2000

April in Amsterdam

General Report on AMI Training Centres in 2000

Other Reports

Question and Answer

Announcements

 Listing of AMI 'Communications' 

Highlights from 'Communications 2001/2-3'

The new double issue of Communications combines a lot of newsy bits/items from the AMI organisation with a well-balanced mix of pedagogical background articles.

Farewells and Welcomes to AMI officers and committee members

In recognition of their commitment and contribution to the work involved throughout their time on the Board of AMI, a presentation was made to the outgoing Board members during the reception which followed the AMI Board Meeting on April 20. AMI thanked Silvia Dubovoy, Elizabeth Hood and Fred Kelpin.

New appointees to the AMI Board are Eduardo J. Cuevas de González, Puerto Rico and Gary Goodwin, USA

Pedagogical Committee
Following ratification by the AMI Board, the Pedagogical Committee is pleased to welcome Mrs. Farida Akbar, Pakistan and Ms Sandra Girlato, Canada to its ranks.

Sponsoring Committee
Dr. Annette Haines was appointed to the Sponsoring Committee.

Gool K. Minwalla Honoured
Gool Minwalla started her own Montessori Casa dei Bambini in 1941. Since 1965 Mrs. Minwalla has been Director of Training at the Montessori Teachers Training Centre based in Karachi. In addition she has held many functions in the fields of welfare and education, receiving ample recognition for her work from official authorities. The latest award conferred upon Gool Minwalla was one given during a ceremony at the Seventh World Zoroastrian Congress, held in Houston, USA, where her efforts and dedication in the service of children in Pakistan were recognized. All three groups are composed of AMI alumni and are concentrating on bringing AMI graduates together in their respective countries as well as lending their support to the AMI endeavours locally and to the work of AMI as a whole.

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From the reports on & reactions to the Paris Congress we quote...

'The presence of a great many young participants indicates that Montessori has a firm footing in the 21st century and its future looks sound and healthy."

Thanks to the hard work of the Congress Organising Committee, spearheaded by Mme Marie-Louise Pasquier, Victoria Barres and Patricia Spinelli-Delivré, the Congress became a resounding success - a fact that has been endorsed by the many compliments and congratulatory remarks received by Head Office....

"New information integrated with existing Montessori beliefs made me reaffirm my commitment to this chosen profession of not only educating children but also being a part of the culture of peace."

" Education for life is a basic tenet of Montessori philosophy. I certainly experienced that at the Montessori Congress."

"Even though I don’t have formal Montessori training, it was a joyful experience to listen to all the speakers and take in the full essence of what they were getting across. During the breaks they happily answered any additional questions we had."

"The talks were most interesting and educational—it was an enriching experience.”
“Maria Montessori has left us a wealth of knowledge about the child. It is time to carry forward her work."

"Many, many thanks to everybody involved!"

The Congress was brought to a glittering conclusion with a gala dinner. In her closing words, Renilde Montessori defined three goals for the future:
• to establish a three-year training course embracing Assistants to Infancy, Primary and Elementary - as a first step to the University for the Study of Human Development
• to focus on the Erdkinder programme as envisaged by Maria Montessori
• to carry forth, in a broader spectrum, the work represented by Educateurs sans Frontières.’

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“What About Free Expression” is the full version of the special web-adaptation of Mario Montessori’s article on drawing and free expression. (Found under section ‘articles’)

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Molly O’Shaughnessy, AMI director of training at the primary level, was one of the main speakers at the joint Annual Refresher Course, Tampa 2001. She gave the participants much food for thought, by stressing the importance of refresher courses and sharing her own experiences, reaffirming her commitment to Montessori and the need to keep on learning.

From the “Introduction to the Refresher Course” we quote...
...From my own experience with working with children, I eventually came to trust that to truly serve the child and provide for his or her needs, I always had to go back to the principles to guide my actions. So I thought ‘what do we mean when we say principles?’ This is something we hear over and over in our work: ‘the Montessori principles, let the principles guide our actions.’

...Montessori education should consist, therefore, of giving adults understanding and insightful principles, which in turn become directive principles, not just a series of how-to directions that simply convert the directress into a puppet or actress.

...You have come to a "refresher” course. You have different backgrounds and teaching situations. But no matter what the differences, there is one similarity among all of you - you are all a stake in the ground for children and the guardians of our Montessori principles, which represent our deepest faith and hopes. That is why you must keep your principles alive within yourselves and be constantly aware of yourselves as active guardians. We must all take the basic principles and then make important decisions based on them.

...I needed to go back to principles. I needed to be refreshed in the sense of encountering the prepared environment scientifically, through a series of decisions in relation to careful questioning as to how to apply principles. I needed to go back to a community.

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This issue’s Question and Answer section deals with offering Montessori materials during extended day hours at school. The response focuses mainly on activities connected with art, music and dancing.

AMI invites questions for this section of Communications. Just send an e-mail to info@montessori-ami.org

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Announcements - Educateurs sans Frontières

AMI is planning on holding the Second Assembly of the Educateurs sans Frontières during July and August of 2002. The venue and details of the programme - which will cover a full six weeks - will be settled shortly and posted on AMI’s website.

Participation in the Assembly is open to AMI diploma holders only. Those requesting application forms, should write, fax or e-mail the AMI Secretariat, giving the name of the training centre attended, as well as the level(s) of training taken and the diploma number(s).

As was the case with the First Assembly, the number of places available is limited. Prospective applicants are therefore asked to contact the Secretariat for an application form by October 30.

Please note that the names of people who already wrote expressing interest in attending the Second Assembly are on file. They will be contacted by the Secretariat in due course.

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Announcements - Affiliated Societies

The AMI Executive Committee is pleased to announce that three societies have been granted affiliated status. This brings the number of AMI affiliated societies to eighteen and extends the boundaries to Australia, Canada and Sweden. We look forward to the support and collaboration of these new affiliates and would like to introduce them to our readers:
Australian AMI Alumni Association Inc.
Montessori Society of Canada
AMI Kamratförening, Sweden

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