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Montessori schools springing up: Key features to look out for

The Montessori theory of education is a concept initiated by Dr Maria Montessori, which is driven by an ambitious aim: To aid the child’s development into a complete adult human being, comfortable with himself/ herself, with his/her society and with humanity as a whole.

It seeks to provide the child with an environment ideally suited to his/her stage of development, which allows him/her to respond to the inner call of specific ‘sensitivities’. It also offers and secures a permanent foundation on which education is based, an independent activity, which constitutes about 80 per cent of work while teacher-directed activity accounts for the remaining 20 per cent.

Today, a number of educational institutions in the country use the ‘Montessori’ title, but as to whether they adopt the Montessori method of teaching and learning is another issue. Although the change of name might not be much of a problem as it may be a step towards rebranding a school, the concern lies with the quality of education delivery.

This is in view of the fact that the Montessori theory differs from the traditional teaching system and accordingly, the change of name must reflect the teaching and learning practice.

 

Learning process

Little Explorers Montessori School was established on the Montessori theory and practises that system of education. One of its Directors, Madam Kamilla Kirpalani, said the school was instituted to train little children with Montessori education to enhance their learning ability and individual self-development.

She added that to ensure strict Montessori learning process, management of the school recruited teachers who had had an extensive Montessori training.

“Dr Maria Montessori created this system with the aim of improving education in rural areas,” she said, adding that it was available and accessible by all.

Madam Kamilla said that the Montessori practice also promoted cultural diversity as the teaching materials could be made of several common, including paper, plastics, and beads.

“Although we cannot specifically count the number of accredited Montessori schools in Ghana, the number is certainly small, probably less than five. Currently, there is no network in Ghana that bounded accredited Montessori schools,” she said.

She explained further that there were many schools that perfectly practised the Montessori method of education but without Montessori Accreditation.

Accreditation, she said, could be done in the UK, America, Amsterdam, Malaysia, and South Africa but either way, it was tedious but cost-effective. Unfortunately, there was no local office in Ghana for Montessori accreditation, a factor, which he said discouraged some schools from pursuing that accreditation even though their practice was flawless.

“When we the directors of the school noticed that there was no certified specific training centre for Montessori teachers, we decided to obtain accreditation to establish one.”

Montessori training

As a hallmark of excellent practice in Montessori training, the Ghana Montessori International (GMI) Teacher Training Centre extends its childcare practice as it expands training to include pre-school staff training on many topics, a nanny and childcare assistant training and empowered parenting classes for effective childcare.

GMI students have the opportunity to understand the best practice in Early Childhood Education, understand the philosophy behind Montessori, and obtain a UK-validated and internationally recognised qualification, train with experienced and qualified trainers, join the most progressive Early Childhood Education community and become a member of the West Africa Montessori Association.

The Chief Executive Officer of Mummy’s Day Care Centre, Mrs Linda B. Dzameshie, said the Montessori Method allowed children to learn in a gradual process through visualising and identifying sounds. Unlike the traditional system, children in Montessori schools learn in a more flexible atmosphere, where each child gains understanding of what they study at their own pace.

She mentioned that any school could adopt the Montessori Method even without using the name.

Mrs Dzameshie explained further that, “My school is a day care which operates with the Montessori method but I don’t use the name ‘Montessori’ because I established it purposely to take care of little children and offer some support to busy parents.

 

Teacher training centre

The GMI Teacher Training Centre  was founded by Kamilla Kirpalani (MCI DIP, TTC) and Karine McVeigh (MCI DIP, TTC) in September 2009, when they decided to create a suitable environment for people to access quality Montessori training devoid of travel stress.

The centre, which began with six students for certificate level, now has 50 graduates and 32 students currently with trainers accredited by the Montessori Evaluation and Accreditation Board, UK.

By Ruby Efe Ani-Adjei

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