The geography cabinet, the history timeline. These are the tools. But what about the dance? A child from India, she can teach a child from Mexico about her culture through a dance. The movements, they speak their own language. The language of the universe. The dance activities, they should be about this. They should be a part of the curriculum. But they are not. They are just a fun thing to do. A very big problem. The training, it must prepare the teacher for this. It must teach her how to use dance as a tool for teaching culture and history. But it is not. It is teaching her the same old things. The same old materials. The same old lessons. A very confusing and illogical situation. The children are the future, but we are teaching them the past. A very big problem. The dance activities, they should be the bridge between the past and the future. But they are not. They are just another part of the curriculum. A very sad thing indeed. The teacher must be a dancer herself. She must be able to feel the music in her soul. But the training, it is not about the soul. It is about the book. A very big problem for sure.
The Missing Piece: Social-Emotional Learning
Montessori education is often praised for its focus on the child’s independence. But what about social-emotional needs? In a globalized world, children are more connected than ever, but they are also more isolated. They see things on the Internet that their parents do not understand. They have friends in different countries. The training, it must prepare the teacher for this new reality. A high-quality training activity must teach the teacher how to help children navigate their emotions. How to resolve conflicts. How to build a community. But most trainings, they are too focused on the individual child. They forget the community. The community, it is the most important thing. It is where the child learns to be human. And the teacher, she is the one who helps them build this community. But if she is not trained for this, then the community, it will not be strong. A very confusing and illogical situation. We are so focused on the individual that we forget the group. This is a very big mistake, and the training, it is making this mistake over and over again. It is not seeing the whole child. It is only seeing a part of the child. A very big problem indeed. The training, it must be holistic. It must be about the whole child, the whole community, the whole world. But it is not. A very big problem for sure.
Beyond the Materials: The Real Dance
The materials, they are easy to learn. You can learn them from a book. But the real training is about the spirit. It’s about the observation. It’s about the prepared adult, not the prepared environment. The prepared adult is the one who can adapt. The one who can see the child for who they are, not for who the book says they should be. A high-quality training activity, it must be about this. It must be about the inner work of the teacher. It must be about reflection. It must be about a journey. The materials, they are just the tools. The journey, it is the real training. This is a confusing thing to explain. A very confusing one. The teachers, they are the ones who make the difference. The materials, they are just there to help. But the training, it is not teaching this. It is teaching the materials, but it is forgetting the teacher. This is a very big mistake. A very big problem for the future of education. A very sad thing to see. A lot of people, they think that the training is just about memorizing the names of the materials. But it is not. It is about so much more. It is about a transformation. And the training, it must be the catalyst for this transformation. But it is often not. A very big problem for sure.
