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The Montessori method arose across the Atlantic and more than a century ago. How is it rising to the challenges set in motion by the global pandemic and national reckoning over racism? A new generation of Montessori leaders is infusing the approach with a heavier dose of equity.

Since this can be a slippery concept, for our purposes, let鈥檚 use this : 鈥淭o approach education through the lens of equity is to acknowledge the disenfranchisement and discrimination faced by children, families and teachers, and to create schools and systems that eradicate barriers to success, empower children and families, and inspire a more just society.鈥�

Here are some insights from Montessori experts and practitioners Early Learning Nation interviewed about equity.

Montessori Originated During a Social Crisis

Major disruptions have a way of compelling societies to seek new answers. The cause of educating the masses took on added urgency at the end of the 19th century after Italian anarchists assassinated King Umberto I of Italy, Spanish Prime Minister Antonio C谩novas del Castillo and Empress Elisabeth of Austria 鈥� in separate incidents but in rapid succession.

Newspapers demanded, 鈥淲hat are we teaching in our schools? Are we educating killers?鈥� Maria Montessori gave a speech to the National Congress of Italian Educators and, as educator Larry Schaefer writes, 鈥渢ransformed a national disaster into a civic opportunity that inspired the nation.鈥�

Perhaps this history lesson says something about our own time. Trust for Learning鈥檚 Ellen Roche points out that the and the similarly sprung from social crisis.

Maria Montessori鈥檚 Example Continues to Inspire Today鈥檚 Leaders

Casa dei Bambini, the very first Montessori school, welcomed children living in tenement housing in Rome and embraced a new approach that built upon the work of 脡douard S茅guin and others who studied ways of teaching those with intellectual disabilities. According to Ayize Sabater, executive director of and cofounder of the  (BMEF), 鈥淢ontessori used her medical background, particularly observation and experimentation, to design materials and methods that would enable those children to advance in their human development.鈥�

More important than her credentials, however, were her ideals. Sabater cites her advocacy for women鈥檚 rights and the rights of the child, especially evident in her fiery :

鈥淩emember that people do not start at the age of 20, at 10 or at 6, but at birth. In your efforts at solving problems, do not forget that children and young people make up a vast population, a population without rights which is being crucified on school benches everywhere, which鈥攆or all that we talk about democracy, freedom and human rights鈥攊s enslaved by a school order, by intellectual rules which we impose on it.鈥�

鈥淪he was shouting from the rooftops!鈥� Sabater says. 鈥淪he verbally dragged these people over hot coals for not upholding the rights of the child! For me, applying these ideals today to racial justice seems like a natural extension of that speech.鈥�

Montessori is in the Same Boat as the Rest of the Field

As with most other sectors of our economy, early education in the United States has undergone one shock after another in the past three years. Montessori early-learning practitioners face the same challenges that other educators face: insufficient funding, inequitable distribution of assets, families in crisis and an overburdened, underpaid workforce.

Robust public investment can help, says recent Charlotte Petty. 鈥淢ontessori pedagogy in the U.S.,鈥� she elaborates, 鈥渉as become a mostly privatized experience available to highly resourced families, which is far from its original vision and population.鈥� She cites the work of Yale University鈥檚 , and in St. Louis as demonstrations of 鈥渢he power and reach that Montessori can have when accessibility and racial justice are woven into the fabric of how the method is carried out.鈥�

Montessori鈥檚 Relationship with Black Educators Goes Back Several Decades

鈥淚n the Black community,鈥� says Sabater, 鈥渆ducators had an eye toward Montessori early on,鈥� adding that admired Montessori and her philosophy. He鈥檚 continuing this tradition with BMEF, which aims to get more Black people engaged as Montessori teachers, more Black Montessori schools started and more Black children in Montessori settings, as well as supporting research into the Black Montessori experience.

Montessori Thrives in a Range of Settings

Montessori education exists in private centers, public and charter schools鈥攅ven homes. Sabater is a founding group member for , a public charter school in Washington, D.C. and says the public sector is a critical area of focus for Montessori’s growth, particularly if the approach hopes to serve children from all backgrounds.

Roche concurs: 鈥淥rganizations like and are working to overcome policy barriers and to expand Montessori’s presence in publicly funded programs.”

Marion Geiger, cofounder with S茅verine B. Meunier of in Cambridge, Mass., credits the (formerly Birth to 3rd Grade Partnership) for its flexible funding structure. Her school belongs to the , founded in 2014 by Sep Kamvar, a professor at MIT’s Media Lab.

According to Geiger, Montessori teachers start every Wildflower school. 鈥淭hey’re purposefully small micro-schools,鈥� she explains, 鈥渟o that we can manage doing the administrative piece as well as serve families and children.鈥�

鈥淲hat鈥檚 really beautiful about it,鈥� she continues, 鈥渋s that every community is different, and every community’s needs are going to be different.

Montessori鈥檚 Insights Anticipated Contemporary Brain Science

Education researchers continue to find parallels to Montessori鈥檚 vision in today鈥檚 classrooms. According to , for example, 鈥淗er work is even more relevant today in the context of adversity and trauma research, and that her methods, principles and approaches may be harnessed and used in ways that promote trauma-informed practice in contemporary education settings.鈥�

Geiger grew up in Brazil, where her mother currently trains Montessori teachers. 鈥淚 didn’t always think I’d follow in her footsteps,鈥� she reflects, 鈥渂ut the more I learned, the more I realized it was what I was looking for.鈥� During her Saul Zaentz fellowship at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, she found that while the program was not necessarily promoting the method, the research confirmed its validity. Geiger notes that when Montessori is done right, it encompasses such best practices as responsive relationships, sensory exploration of your environment, scientific observation of the child, mastery-based progression, and developing autonomy and executive function skills. Earlier this year, came to the same conclusion: Montessori is based on key principles of ideal early learning environments for young children.”

Geiger says her perspective on adapting Montessori for the present moment is:
鈥淚f you are going to make a change, be thoughtful about it. Everything Maria Montessori created was in response to observations. And so I don’t think, if she were here today, she would say, 鈥楧on’t change anything.鈥� She’d say, 鈥楾he world has changed, and we need to be responsive to the community that we’re serving鈥�.”

This story is the third part of a 3-part series. Check out and .

This story originally published on Early Learning Nation and is now archived on 蜜桃影视. Learn more here.