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Contents

2004 Assembly of Educateurs sans Frontières

Message from AMI's President Renilde Montessori

In Passionate Defence of Peace
Renilde Montessori

Remembering Camillo Grazzini Renilde Montessori, David Kahn

San Remo Lectures: III, The Absorbent Mind
Maria Montessori

Remembering Joyce Goonesekera Sister M. Stanislaus

Annual General Meeting of the Association Montessori Internationale
Agenda and Venue

Secretarial Report for 2003

Report on "Montessori: Education for Peace—from Pre-school through Adolescence" Munich, Germany, 9-11 January, 2003
Tobias Fürstenau

This year 90 years ago…Focus on important events of 1914

Question and Answer: The importance and role of food in the Montessori Infant Community, Judi Orion

Changes to Blueprints

Montessori—A Pioneer in the Movement of Social Reform for Children
Victoria Barres

Announcements

Membership Fees

AMI Courses Worldwide as at January 1, 2004

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Highlights from Communications 2004/1

"In Passionate Defence of Peace"

...In Education and Peace Maria Montessori states 'As for peace, it has never been the object of an orderly and ongoing process of investigation that goes by the name of a science; on the contrary, a clear concept of peace does not figure among the countless ideas that enrich our human awareness.' The essence of peace remains undefined and no sensible human being would spend time and energy, let alone passion, on chasing an ignis fatuus. The perception of peace is nebulous and subjective, both collectively and individually. Usually it is understood as an absence or cessation of greater or lesser sources of disquiet that beset humanity-war being cardinal among them.

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San Remo Lectures: III

The Absorbent Mind, Maria Montessori

...The first formative years of the child are of exceptional importance in the formation and evolution. They embody a nucleus of energies and capacities that must be assisted to develop wholesomely, for if they deviate, the consequences are irreparable.

We know that in this period man's positive as well as his negative qualities come into being and that the sum total of these qualities will characterise the adult.

(...) We have the possibility to form the citizen of the world and the study of the young child is fundamental to the peace and progress of humanity.

The child does not absorb things haphazardly; he has a strict inner guide. He follows unalterable laws that determine not only events, but also the time when these events will normally take place. At two years of age, for example, all children speak, the African child, the Indian child, the European child; they speak African languages, Indian languages and European languages. And apparently there are no teachers, there is no curriculum to be followed, there are no exams. It is an invisible teacher that instils knowledge into the pupils without their being aware of it. It is a marvellous thing.

The school, conceived as an institution for the cultivation of humanity, assumes an aspect totally different from that of the modern schools where teachers dedicate all their efforts to making the children study. The school, in my view, should be considered as a help to development. The hunger of developing minds is akin to the hunger of a starved body.

Children want to know everything and ask an infinite variety of questions and their unfortunate teachers, as a rule, know so little.

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From Montessori Education for Peace

Montessori Internationales Ausbildungszentrum (MIA e.V), the AMI Teacher Training Centre in Germany, hosted, for the first time, an international conference. The interest from Germany and Europe in general was vast and speakers addressed a 'full house'.  One fifth of the participants came from outside Germany, i.e. from the Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, Iran, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Russia, Switzerland, the UK, and the USA. Tobias Fürstenau, a communications expert specialising in Montessori topics, covered the conference and wrote a report especially for AMI.

Lecturers from various countries addressed an audience of about 250 Montessori professionals and other teachers. The weekend of January 9 to 11 was packed with reports and practical demonstrations on how, for all levels of child development, the Montessori Method is implemented today.

The conference speakers emphasised how Education for Peace could be a possible solution to many of the world's future problems. They expanded on the need to allow young people to grow up in a prepared environment, so that they are able to develop their personal and social capabilities and competencies. This would equip the children to manage their future life, and care for this world. They want to be part of our future society, and will be. They want to take a positive attitude and play a role in their own future, and they will. They are ambitious to learn all about nature and human existence, and they do learn.

The following keynote speakers gave presentations: Lilian Bryan provided a deep insight into the phenomenon of normalisation.

David Kahn reported on the theory of flow of Csikszentmihalyi's findings, who himself was stunned on finding out he had been beaten to the post by Montessori so many years ago.

Practical demonstrations on how to present complex mathematical operations or the cycles of night and day on earth were given by Dr. Peter Gebhardt-Seele, the only German AMI elementary teacher trainer (for 6 to 12 years).

Bilingual education principles and practical demonstrations were presented by Lynne Lawrence, AMI primary teacher trainer in London, together with Maria Roth, Germany's only AMI primary teacher trainer (for 3-6 years).

Furthermore, workshops were held on the following topics:

• the prepared environment for 0-3 year-olds by Cordula Lehrer
• the prepared environment for 3-6 year-olds by Maria Roth
• Montessori work with the aging adult by Bianca Mattern
• people with special needs by Lore Anderlik
• how to work with parents of children in Montessori institutions by Bärbel Klaukien
• theory and examples of Cosmic Education by Anne Dunne
• religion in the context of Montessori by Claudia Schmidt.

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From "Montessori - a Pioneer in the Movement of Social Reform for Children"

During the Conference "The Child as Builder of Humanity", held from 26 to 28 September 2003, in Sydney, Australia, Takako Fukatsu and Victoria Barres gave a joint presentation on Montessori initiatives outside the classroom, around the world. An important aspect was the consideration of how "Montessori Principles Contribute to an International Movement of Social Reform".

Montessori was intrigued by several fundamental questions: can physical health be achieved separately from emotional, intellectual and spiritual health? Are there links between "inner peace" and "outer peace"? Can ordinary people contribute to peace? For Montessori, these issues were linked to the harmonious development of the child.

Dr. Montessori's principles are used successfully in families and schools. Not all people, however, are fully aware that Montessori advocated a movement of social reform for children, whom she called the "forgotten citizens". Schools were a means to reach her goal of helping children develop harmoniously in healthy environments; they were never an end in themselves. Families, communities, and countries needed to understand the child's developmental needs, so that they could provide appropriate environments that would allow all children to develop their human potential. Montessori used her lectures, training courses and publications as means to reach the general public and shape opinion.

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