International Montessori Conference

10.15am – 11.30am        Breakout 1.1 - Marie Martin

Communicating Across the Generations - communicating with generation y and z children.

Generation Y students are confident and optimistic, need to be involved in decisions and seek variety and creativity.
Generation Z students have increasingly sophisticated tastes, live a multi tasking life in a media saturated
environment and see technology as simply a means to an end.

What does this mean for us as we teach and facilitate the learning of children in our schools and classrooms? How can we create learning environments that respect and respond to the changing attitudes that are borne from a technologically rich world?

This session will explore differences between generations and provoke thinking about ways in which teachers can work more effectively with children.

Healing the Swan - Creating Ripples

A special project that links Montessori students, scientists, historians and Indigenous elders in proactive learning, shared understandings and caring for their local waterways.

The Healing the Swan project that began in 2000 with students collecting oral histories and photos from local
residents documenting how their local catchment had changed over the last 100 years. It then developed into
collaboration with students at City Montessori School in India who energised their city to clean up the Gompti River.

The project has progressed over the last 9 years into the development of teaching materials and the sharing of skills and knowledge with other schools. Students work with experts and indigenous elders to learn the science of water monitoring and stories of place. They are challenged to act and to care when faced with real life issues relating to the conflicting needs of different users of the river. This helps students develop values and a greater awareness of the complexity of social and environmental issues.

Developing Global Citizens; Introducing a Second Language - Part 1.

Why have LOTE Education?

Primary school is where we provide for our community’s children to become whole people.
In primary school, we are all scientists, authors, artists, musicians and athletes. Later we specialize, and many of us no longer write poems, but we have done, and that matters. In primary school, we should be more than monolingual.

We should be, consciously, part of the World. To have communicated with friends who do not use English, is as important as to have high-jumped, or made something out of clay, or acted in a play. These potentials need activating early so we know them to be part of ourselves.

The Middle School.

In keeping with the nature of young adolescents, this discussion-based workshop will blitz through an ambitious array of topics in a very short period of time: Montessori Pedagogy; The Planes of Development; Adolescent Developmental Characteristics; Pedagogical Progressions; Montessori’s Educational Syllabus; The Adolescent Prepared Environment; the Pedagogy of Place; Schedules; and Outcomes.

12.30pm – 1.45pm            Breakout 2.1 - Anna Fiocco

Look Who’s Talking!

As educators and parents we are responsible for modelling positive communication for the children in our care. The challenge is that despite training we will always bring instinctual reactions and personal experiences to every moment and situation in our lives that potentially create stressful interactions.

This workshop will take a unique look at the instinctual patterns we bring to our relationship with ourselves and others (colleagues, students, family and partner) and the implications for personal power and choice.

Understanding how this dynamic plays out with ourselves and others allows us to choose our responses in stressful situations and determine our personal experience and growth. Through the resolution of our personal dynamic we can bring about change in the social dynamic, ultimately moving from inner peace to global peace.

Through brainstorming, private reflection and role play of different patterns of communication you will learn how to–
· identify your instinctual pattern of interaction
· gain an insight into the interactions and dynamic of your significant relationships
· choose your responses and experiences

Gender Matters.

Gender does matter!

Through discussion and interactive activities, this session explores a number of questions: Is
there really “boy” behaviour? “Girl” behaviour? Are there significant differences due to gender between how girls and boys learn and develop? How prepared are our prepared environments for these differences? Is there gender bias in the classroom? What accommodations should teachers take into account to better educate, and facilitate better relationships between girls and boys?

Developing Global Citizens; Introducing a Second Language Part 2.

Talking to the Whole Wide World in Your Classroom.

Esperanto breaks down language barriers between people in over one hundred countries, providing an exceptional sense of personal participation in the global community. Esperanto also erodes the barriers keeping most of our own children from experiencing real success in the learning of subsequent languages.

Music - A Universal Language Part 1.

2.15pm – 3.45pm              Breakout 3.1 - Karen Bennetts

The Bradley Method of Building Excellence within Staffing - a way forward for Montessori schools.

This workshop shares the principles of the Bradley method which offers a more subtle, more long-term, more effective approach for those who want to develop their staff with a low-cost, time efficient approach which supports long term excellence. Scenario analysis and discussion will be used to investigate how basic principles can be applied to gain the best results within our individual Montessori schools.

What every Teacher Should Know about Copyright!

If you are using movies in your Media Class, TV in your English Programme, CD’s of recorded music in your Music Sessions or using a musical score to create a school performance you are almost certainly using material that is Copyright protected. Copyright exists in books, photographs and certain Internet material, as well as pre-recorded visual and audio programmes, music scores, lyrics and other intellectual property.

What does this mean for you and how can you legally use such material?

Communicating Across the Generations - communicating with 'silent generation', baby boomers, generation x and y teachers.

Silent generation teachers want to be told what to do. Baby boomer teachers are idealists with a strong work ethic that revolves around taking responsibility and achieving financial security. Generation x teachers thrive on change, need to feel a sense of achievement and are seeking opportunities for career progression in a flexible work environment.

Generation y teachers are confident and optimistic, need to be involved in decisions and seek job variety and
creativity.

What does this mean for us as colleagues in a staff and what does it mean for schools as we seek participation in developing school plans, committees and after hours activities?

This session will explore differences between generations and provoke thinking about ways in which teachers can work more effectively together.

Music - A Universal Language Part 2.

An examination of and reflection on the Suzuki ECE demonstration to help teachers to identify the specific
management strategies used during the class.

To learn how to use the Montessori Bells and Tone Bars to their full potential, even if you can't read music.

To find out how to create a rich and stimulating music environment within the greater prepared environment that the children can self-manage.

To brainstorm ideas for how Montessori teachers can integrate music into the wider curriculum.
 

10.30am – 11.45am          Breakout 4.1 - Karen Bennetts

Discovering Gold in the 6-12 Room.

A key factor in fostering a breathtaking 6-12 community is the teacher’s communication. Well-considered language raises the level of inspiration and guidance we offer children, allowing them to blossom to their fullest capacities. This workshop examines the teacher’s communication toolkit and looks at what to keep, and what to throw away.

Dance of Communication: NVC Four Choices to Hear Messages

When we listen, we often habitually hear judgments whether judgments are being verbally expressed or not.  Once we know how, we have the choice to hear every message as an expression of a person’s feelings and needs, even if judgments are being expressed.

Any message can be listened to in the following four ways:
1. Judging others in terms of being right/wrong/good/bad
2. Judging ourselves in terms of being right/wrong/good/bad
3. Sensing our own feelings and needs
4. Sensing for others feelings and needs

Listening in terms of judgments is likely to lead to conflict and misunderstanding, and to needs not being met. Listening in terms of feelings and need is likely to lead to understanding and harmony, and to needs getting met. Once we are aware of this, and know how to listen in each of these four ways, we have a choice about how we receive what is being said.  This workshop will use a kinesthetic and visual experiential ‘dance floor’ activity to demonstrate the ‘Four Choices’ process.

IMC Seal of Recognition and School Accreditation Programmes.

The IMC offers a School Accreditation and a Seal of Recognition Programme. Both offer schools an opportunity to conduct a self study programme that will help them to define who they are and how they deliver their services.

Participation in these programmes provide assurance for prospective parents and the general public that the
educational programmes offered are effective and consistent with the essential characteristics of Montessori best practice. This workshop will highlight how these programmes can fit your school’s or centre’s needs.

Walk Your Talk.

Helping students move from good intentions to positive everyday actions in order to create a better world.

Through special community projects students are challenged to help others by volunteering their time and building caring relationships with people less fortunate than themselves.

In the process they develop self-confidence, caring and life purpose and become more pro-active in addressing social issues and injustices.

Montessori proclaims that the world was not created for us to enjoy - we have a far more important role to play on Earth – we were created in order to ‘evolve the cosmos.’ But just how do we go about doing this? Riverlands School shares some ideas from its community projects that have had a profound influence on the lives of their students. Grass Talk (a collaborative fibre textile project), Stitched Together (creating rag dolls and friendships with disadvantaged students) and Wednesdays at the Autumn Centre (caring for our elders).

1.15pm – 2.30pm              Breakout 5.1 - Trevor Eisler 

Harnessing Enthusiasm to Spread the Word.

What if children one day won the right to choose which school they wanted to attend? Children around the world love Montessori classrooms. All of our marketing challenges would be solved! However, until that day, we must concentrate more of our efforts on parents, in order to increase the opportunity for Montessori for all. We must think of our schools' parents as students also. We must make the Montessori philosophy relevant to our schools' parents and to those parents who have not yet heard of it. We need enthusiastic parents who are not only interested in keeping their children at our schools, but who can explain Montessori to friends and neighbours.

Calling from the Roof Top: Student Voice in Education for Sustainability.

This presentation reports outcomes for students from Children’s House to Upper Primary after engagement in an Education for Sustainability (EfS) programme that arose from student interests. The research was conducted at an independent Montessori school located in the Perth metropolitan area of Western Australia. Three EfS projects are examined: a solar power project, turtle nestwatch and reed planting. Findings indicated participation in EfS projects was an effective, meaningful approach to achieving potent, enjoyable, hands-on action in real-life local contexts, on issues of concern to children.

Developing a Communication Plan for Your School.

Schools and centres alike have many policies and procedures that guide their daily work. A clear Communication Plan is an essential tool and vital to the success of any organization. A communication plan should be included in every schools business plan and be subject to the same annual review to measure its effectiveness and ensure its relevance.

A well-considered and implemented communication plan not only helps build trust and ownership, but puts in place the protocols for building partnerships between staff, families and children. This will be an interactive workshop where together we will identify the communication goals, stakeholders and strategies, activities and timeframes needed to build a living document for your school.