Agency and Identity

As Montessori educators, we must identify how are we called upon to serve children and families in the context of the broader cultural awareness and urgency of the pervasive and destructive harm caused by racism.

How diverse is Guidepost Montessori, as far as students and staff go? How diverse is the Montessori movement? The HGE Diversity and Inclusion Advisory team responds in this clip from the Montessorium panel, "Rethinking DEI in Schools: Systemic vs. Personalized Approaches".

An essential first question. Before exploring how, we need to understand why.

Chloe Valdary, developer of The Theory of Enchantment, joins Dr. Matt Bateman to discuss the Social-Emotional development of children and the role of educators in helping them develop healthy, happy relationships with themselves and others, and reach their maximum potential.

A humanistic approach to identity: creating meaning in work, finding belonging in our common nature, and conceptualizing oneself over time.

A panel discussion with Higher Ground’s Advisory Group on Montessori and Identity.

As Montessori educators, we must identify how are we called upon to serve children and families in the context of the broader cultural awareness and urgency of the pervasive and destructive harm caused by racism.

An essential first question. Before exploring how, we need to understand why.

How diverse is Guidepost Montessori, as far as students and staff go? How diverse is the Montessori movement? The HGE Diversity and Inclusion Advisory team responds in this clip from the Montessorium panel, "Rethinking DEI in Schools: Systemic vs. Personalized Approaches".

Higher Ground takes the minority and increasingly unpopular position that Montessori is incompatible with social justice approaches to education, insofar as such approaches elevate a socio-political aim above or equal to the aim of individual agency.

An exploration of the separation between education and advocacy—why there is a need to keep them separated, what it means to do so, and why doing so is challenging.

Baldwin on Shakespeare, Montessori on hero worship, and diversity in service of humanism.

Columbus Day has always been motivated by a muddle of identity politics (especially for Italian Americans), pride in the New World, and political issues. Indigenous Peoples’ Day is a modern, also-politicized counterweight. These features—and the fact that they contentiously compete—make it difficult for educators to approach this day successfully as school holidays.

Chloe Valdary, developer of The Theory of Enchantment, joins Dr. Matt Bateman to discuss the Social-Emotional development of children and the role of educators in helping them develop healthy, happy relationships with themselves and others, and reach their maximum potential.

In this special episode, Montessorium’s pedagogy and identity team shares their radical approach to DEI, one that centers around respect for individual agency and emphasizes direct, individualized interventions grounded in deep personal relationships.