The Society's teacher education is an " inner preparation" for Montessori teaching which follows the path of being committed to such fundamental principles as: (1) "Observation"; (2) "Individual Liberty" and (3) "Preparation of the Environment".
The primary level (for ages 2-6) course consists of 22 lessons in a 204 page study guide which is completed entirely through mail correspondence. The course work is divided into the categories of: "Observation" (5 lessons), "Montessori Principles" (9 lessons), "Child Development" (4 lessons) and "Montessori Materials" (4 lessons). A substantial response and dialogue is assured between course evaluator and student, to work through and resolve the various issues and skills needed for effective Montessori teaching.
The course is approved by the State of California, and accredited by the International Montessori Accreditation Council (IMAC) An elementary level course (for children 6-12) is also available for those who have successfully completed the primary level course.
Background and Purpose
The IMS Montessori teacher education program provides essential inner preparation for Montessori teaching. It equips you with practical tools for consciously following the same scientific approach that led Dr. Maria Montessori to accidentally discover the child’s true nature in 1907. Applying this approach with young children allows their true nature to freely emerge, showing such normal qualities as precocious intelligence, love of order, self-discipline and complete harmony with others.
Dr. Montessori studied and described her discoveries and research into this true normal being to others throughout the world until her death in 1952. Unfortunately, her understanding of how to bring about this hopeful new phenomenon was limited and incomplete, leaving practitioners with a considerable confusion and mystery about exactly what is Montessori teaching.
What is Montessori Teaching.
After 1952, Montessori teaching became increasingly confused with conventional ideas and opinions, limiting its understanding to some particular personality or culture. Within this conventional context, practitioners could only achieve partial and incomplete results at best. In 1969, Lee Havis began studying this problem first as a classroom teacher, and then later by directing training programs for Montessori teaching in the 1970’s.
In 1979, Lee discovered what is Montessori teaching, and how it works to permit the child’s true nature to fully emerge. Based on this discovery, he established the International Montessori Society (IMS) to share his experience and knowledge with others through such means as the IMS Montessori teacher education program.
The IMS course presents Montessori teaching as a scientific way of being committed to laws of nature. In practice, it functions to control the environment, not the child, viewing the child as an unknown spiritual being and the environment as everything around that child, consisting of three distinct elements: (1) other children (2) physical objects and (3) adult personality. Controlling the environment means to experimentally remove its various detrimental influences so that the child’s true normal being can freely emerge according to its own perfect inner guidance of nature.
In the IMS course, you will learn the practical skills of Montessori teaching through academic study, inner preparation and various observation exercises. The coursework is set forth in a detailed study guide, presenting a series of 22 lessons that leads you gradually to a clear understanding of Montessori teaching and its practical application with children. The course also equips you with a precise technology for practicing this scientific approach in a consistently effective manner.
The Technology
In 2003, Lee consolidated a comprehensive technology for Montessori teaching, consisting of 10 techniques, 20 protocols, 3 lesson presentations and various safe words. Taken together, these tools allow you to conduct scientific experiments to control the child’s enviornment with great skill, precision, and confidence.
The Challenge
The greatest challenge in Montessori teaching is to control the adult personality. In the IMS course, you will learn how to do this through the power of imagination and deep self-examination. The course evaluator guides you in this process of inner preparation by providing personalized written comments in response to each lesson you submit. In addition, you can contact the evaluator at any time for individual follow-up consultation through private e-mail or direct telephone conversation.
The Choice
The IMS course offers a clear choice for following laws of nature, rather than personality or culture. Now, you can follow Dr. Montessori’s original scientific approach in a conscious, objective way that was never possible before. Applying this approach with children, you will see for yourself the same wonderful qualities of true normal being that appeared to Dr. Montessori in 1907. Choose the IMS course if you want to equip yourself for this type of Montessori teaching to help children bring about a whole new and better humanity in the world. |
