Designing and Implementing High-Quality, Low-Cost Lesson Plans in Rural Cambo...
21st Cent Edn Hughes
1. Montessori: Education for the 21st Century
Steven Hughes
Dr Steve Hughes is an Assistant Professor of Paediatrics and Neurol-
ogy at the University of Minnesota Medical School, and Director of
Education and Research for the TOVA Company <http://
www.tovatest.com>. Above all, he is a Montessori parent who gained
deep insights into the approach, especially by being able to link it to
this field of expertise: brain development. On April 18, following the
AMI Annual General Meeting, he gave an entertaining presentation,
that clearly demonstrated common misconceptions about children’s
development. In AMI bulletin 2, we published a short summary of the
talk, and are now delighted to be able to share the full text with the
AMI membership. We’ve included a few of the more than 200 slides
that Dr Hughes used in his talk; a screen cast of the entire lecture can
be viewed at his website, www.goodatdoingthings.com.
Just how “21st century” is the Well, we’ve got some of those things.
current approach to education? We’ve hit the 21st century, and it’s
not quite what we expected. Some
So: It’s 2009, and we are well into the promises were kept: We’ve got digital
21st century. And as you know, in the watches. We’ve got computers. We’ve So, some advances have been made. computers. (see Figure 1: 6-Year-Old
last century, certain promises were also got the Internet (and everything Maybe not everything we expected, Stares Down Bottomless Abyss of For-
made. Things were going to be different. that goes with it), big screen TV’s and and the changes have not all been mal Schooling)
Things were going to be advanced by video games, and cable TV. Of course, good, but, nevertheless, many things The traditional model of education, at
now. For example, when I was a boy these developments have led to certain have changed over the past 100 years. its foundation, was designed to provide
reading science magazines in the 1970s, changes in lifestyle. We don’t go for However, some things, have not basic literacy skills and to prepare peo-
I specifically remember being told that walks so much anymore. As a result, changed at all. ple for many of the then-new jobs of the
we were going to have flying cars by obesity among children is at an all-time industrial age: piece-work, assembly
this point—I understood these were high, and we don’t know our neighbors For most children, education still
looks more or less the way it did line work, or clerking.
coming in the 21st century. the way we once did, either.
around the beginning of the last cen- Many of you know the attributes of
The 21st Century was going to be in- Certainly, the cars we drive are tury. There have been some experi- traditional education. It’s content-
credible. As I recall, we were also prom- greener, and while I’ve mostly been ments and attempts at innovation (I centred. It involves direct instruction
ised that we’d have jet packs, and— talking about technology, many posi- remember in various classrooms sitting from the teacher. The teacher is an au-
boy—I was looking forward to this one! tive social changes have occurred in the at group tables instead of individual thority figure. This model emphasizes
Also, I am pretty sure that we were past 100 years—women in most coun- desks, or sitting with our desks to form mastery of factual information, book-
promised a Mars base. Tucked in my tries got the right to vote, and have a big U—this sort of thing), but no based learning, memorization of rules
bed on a snowy Minnesota winter night, enjoyed increasing parity of opportu- substantial improvement has been on and isolated content areas. The stu-
my mind buzzing from the latest issue of nity with men. Race relations in my the basic model. Technology has fos- dent’s role is to be a passive receiver of
Popular Science, I imagined that I would country are better than they have ever tered false hope; indeed, unlike the knowledge. Assessment is done by
visit it someday. been—who expected that we’d see promise made in Figure 1, education’s comparing a student’s progress against
Barack Obama elected in 2009? many problems really won’t be solved that of his or her peers. Instruction takes
by touch-screen desks—or by laptop place on the whole class level. Desks
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2. are typically arranged in rows and the curriculum was separated into depart- into practice.
teacher employs methods of discipline ments (math, humanities, social stud-
My friend, John Raven, found that
(punishment) to manage classroom ies, etc.). Also, progressive education
only about 5% of traditional education
conduct. The aim is to take “an empty can also be costly.
teachers have the knack, or innate abil-
brain” and fill it with things we think it Many felt that progressivism empha- ity to do this sort of thing (see
should know. sized “amusement” of the students, www.johnraven.co.uk). Only 5%! Ac-
rather than something that they under- tivity-based learning was - is - simply,
THIKNING ON EDUCATION stood to be “education.” Maybe there hard for most people to do.
were aspects to it that were develop-
However, Maria Montessori showed
There were those who had ideas mental, but it didn’t look like school.
us how to do it, and how to consis-
about how education could be differ- tently do it well. She provided a cul-
ent. Perhaps some of you have studied ture, a method, and an astonishing set
WITH RESPECT FOR THE BRAIN
the work of John Dewey, or Caroline of materials that allowed a Montessori
Pratt, or George Counts. Of course, teacher, in a prepared environment, to
There were other problems. Dewey’s
you all know the work of Maria Mon- guide children through activity-based
theories certainly enjoyed broad popu-
tessori. learning, through experimental interac-
larity during his lifetime and have re-
These people (and others) described and tender age of childhood should be mained topics of interest, but they tions with the environment, that helped
a model of education that is, in some respected with a kind of religious ven- showed a poor history of implementa- them to discover the way the world
circles, described as “progressive edu- eration. It is like the sun which appears tion. Despite the attractiveness of his works. Her system, philosophy, and
cation.” The general goals of progres- at dawn or a flower just beginning to ideas, there were really very few, if way of fostering the growth and devel-
sive education were to meet students’ bloom. Education cannot be effective any, teachers who were fully able to opment of children, is comprehensive
wider growth and developmental unless it helps a child to open up him- implement his ideas. The concepts and unparalleled. There are elements
needs, rather than to fit the students to self to life. were good, but it was hard to put them within that environment that meet the
a specific curriculum. The emphasis What a statement! (Who writes like
was on broadening of intellect, and that anymore!). It is profound, it is
problem solving and critical thinking beautiful, and we all know that she
skills. Teachers tended to be warm and really, really meant it.
understanding, preoccupied with fos-
tering the social and emotional devel- The goals of all progressive educa-
opment of their students. This ap- tors, including Maria Montessori, were
proach tended to be community based; developmental, and the method was
it focused on project-oriented learning oriented around activity-based learn-
and deemphasizes specific fact content ing, engaging with the materials and
that was so much a part of traditional resources of the world.
education. Now, it was hard to make this ap-
You all probably know many of the proach work. Activity based learning
things that Maria Montessori wrote, required teachers to be flexible and
and I think this quote here really cap- creative. Students needed to be guided
tures the essence of those goals: toward self-motivation. Teachers who
were already entrenched in a tradi-
We cannot know the consequences of tional model of education had to alter
suppressing a child’s spontaneity when their teaching style—and that was dif-
he is just beginning to be active. We ficult. They had to find a way to be less
may even be suffocating life itself. That of an authority figure, and more of a
humanity which was revealed in all its facilitator. Many found it difficult to
intellectual splendor during the sweet integrate these principles because the
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3. developing brain at every stage of its didn’t demand a significant degree of “empty brain” model.
formation. As a paediatric neuropsy- high-level reasoning and problem
chologist, I can barely contain my en- solving skills. THE FALLACY OF ACADEMIC
thusiasm for this work - I continue to be ACHIEVEMENT
That may be why for much of the
floored by her genius. She anticipated past 100 years, Montessori Education
so much that neuroscience now under- has generally been seen as a something There is another problem, and that is
stands. that’s maybe only for certain people. this: While there is no such thing as a
We now know much about how the Perhaps the privileged (those who may “generalized” child, there is such a
brain matures through childhood into need to be high-level problem solvers), thing as “general ability.” That is, hu-
young adulthood. It is now well under- or perhaps it’s for the underprivileged man intelligence - and variations
stood that human brains require the (to help “level the playing field”), or therein - is real. Speaking as a man
opportunity to engage in and interact maybe for hippies (who are into who has spent most of his adult life
with materials, to solve hands-on prob- “peace and all that”), or maybe for odd measuring intelligence and other cog-
lems, and to apply developing abilities people who have funny ideas about nitive attributes in children and adoles- scribed as one of the most popular
to new problems. You are all Montes- what might be possible for the world. cents, I’m here to tell you that “general business speakers in the world. He is
sorians, and I know you understand ability” is real. Some children are high the author of a number of books in-
In fact, for most of the last century, in general ability, some few are ex- cluding The Arts in Schools: Princi-
what I am talking about here. there has been a kind of battle between traordinarily high. Some are low, and ples, Practices and Provisions, and
traditional and progressive educa- some few are extraordinarily low. By Out of Our Minds: Learning To Be
COSMIC TASK AND GENERAL ABILITY tion—one model asserting, ‘we are definition, most are about average. Creative. And this, is what Sir Ken
here to fill an empty brain,’ and the Robinson has to say about single factor
You also know how important it is other saying ‘we are here to foster the Now, I’ve got a short quiz for you:
How much does general ability predict models:
that a child finds the unique gifts that growth and development of a mind,
they will bring to the world. Montessori and really, a whole person.’ lifetime success? Does it predict 5- If you were to visit education as an
described this as the discovery of one’s 10% of success? Does it predict 20- alien and say what’s it for… I think
In recent years, in my country, and 30%? Or how about 50-60%? you’d have to conclude, if you look at
“cosmic task”: a child’s discovery, in
many other countries in the West, we the output—who really succeeds by
the context of the past, present and fu- How many of you say 60% or more?
have been testing the theory that the this, who does everything they should,
ture, of their unique contribution to the Well, the answer is somewhere be-
only thing that matters in education is who gets all the brownie points, who
constant reinvention of living on planet tween 5 and 10%. Not that much. Gen-
performance on standardized tests. are the winners—I think you’d have to
Earth. Montessori really had this eral ability predicts occupational at-
This is the epitome of the “empty conclude the whole purpose of public
worked out, and she had it worked out tainment, but not success within one’s
brain” model. It assumes that every education throughout the world is to
100 years ago! So why didn’t her me- occupation, and not satisfaction with
child will proceed through the same produce university professors. Isn’t it?
thod become the way we do “school” one’s life, or one’s general wellbeing.
amount of material at more or less the They’re the people who come out the
for all children, everywhere?
same pace, learning the same material, There is something that this single top. And I used to be one. So there!
I think the reason is that, 100 years and that those who are unable (or un- factor of general ability does predict,
ago, her work was not yet really willing) to proceed along with the rest and it predicts it extremely well. The Of course, his point is that not every
needed. Perhaps 100 years ago, know- of the pack probably have some kind factor of general ability (which we child is destined to be a scholar, but
ing one’s “cosmic task” wasn’t neces- of disorder. Yet, we all know that all sometimes term “IQ”), more than any- every child is destined to be something.
sary - and might even have been an children do not all proceed through thing else, predicts academic perform- This point has been made before. In
obstacle - to performing factory work, academic material at the same pace, ance. 1925, Charles Spearman, one of the
clerking, and doing many of the other that brains have wildly different devel- And I will let Sir Ken Robinson tell fathers of modern psychology, wrote
occupations that emerged during the opmental trajectories across domains, you what is wrong with that. Some of ‘Every normal man, woman, and child
industrial revolution. Maybe society and that, while we can make some you saw Sir Ken speak at the AMI/ is … a genius at something … It re-
didn’t really need that many high-level generalizations about growth and de- USA Refresher Course in 2009. He is a mains to discover at what… This must
problem solvers, independent thinkers velopment, there is no such thing as a popular author and speaker on innova- be a most difficult matter. It certainly
and moral reasoners. The nature of soci- truly “generalized” child - a matter tion and creativity. He has been de- cannot be detected by any of the test-
ety and, especially, the nature of work that is almost wholly neglected in this
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4. ing procedures at present in current selves. In fact, no one develops any of keeping pace with her peers. Before read, ‘Schools struggle to hit state
usage’ (quoted in Raven, 2008, p. 26). these important life skills unless they you know it, it’s summer time, and marks: more than a third of Minnesota
are working on a mission that is per- what’s wrong with Mary? What’s schools are labeled “poor performers.”’
What Spearman observed, and what wrong with Keiko? What’s wrong with
Montessori knew, was that there may, sonally meaningful to them. Indeed, to How often do we see headlines like
demonstrate leadership, one must know Jennifer? Perhaps it’s a learning disor- this? Think about it for a moment. It’s
in fact, be a place for every child—a der!
reason for every life—and a way for what one wants to lead others towards. interesting, isn’t it, that the only thing
each one of us to make a contribution The single factor model that domi- We know a bit about what may lay in that is shocking about these headlines
to the family of humankind. Montes- nates traditional education has little if store for them. B.E. Anderson, an edu- is that they no longer shock us! This is
sori’s model of education helps every anything to do with this. In fact, you cational researcher in Sweden, has what we’ve come to expect when we
child discover what his or her unique could argue that traditional education done research on how children experi- see a news story about education.
contribution might be. simply rewards those who are good at ence traditional education. His work Here’s another headline: ‘Students
getting grades—they’re doing what shows that about 1/3 of students are dropping out of high school at epi-
All meaningful work is driven by quite successful in traditional educa-
personal values. To develop a sense of they are told, they seek external re- demic levels.’ Now we are a sophisti-
wards, and they are bright enough. tion environments. Another third are cated group here, and we know full
purpose, to know one’s cosmic task, is more or less “killing time,” waiting to
essential for the maturation of a child Sometimes, what gets rewarded is sim- well what the next stop for many for
ply interest in advancement. One’s get out of school and get into some- them is going to be. It’s going to be
into adolescence, and for the adoles- thing more interesting, and about 1/3
cent to become an adult. This is where own advancement. jail. And we also know what comes
are destroyed by their experiences in after that for some of these children.
the work to identify one’s cosmic task There is another problem with the
traditional education. It’s the morgue. Can we afford to
is so essential. This awareness provides single factor model and that is simply
the foundation from which children this: It’s not working. Similar findings have been obtained waste this much humanity? Can we
will develop the skills that, far more in the UK. In the Independent in Octo- afford to squander a third or more of
than general ability, contribute to their ber of 2007 we saw the headline ‘Our our young people?
own life success, to the success of their young children are anxious and badly Who among us thinks that if we keep
projects, and to their world. behaved, stressed, depressed and ob- it up, push traditional education harder
sessed with the cult of celebrity.’ Many and harder, if we put more pressure on
Only with a sense of their cosmic are familiar with the “Alexander Re-
task, can a child begin to develop the teachers and schools to improve aca-
port,” from which that headline was demic test scores, to do better, to teach
skills of leadership and followership. drawn. This survey of satisfaction with
Only with a purpose in mind will he or more, who, at this point, thinks that
the education system reported that: the we’ll get 50% improvement? Nobody
she spontaneously identify problems or negativity, and this tendency to con-
resources that may affect goal detain- thinks this. Probably nobody really
sensus on the big issues transcends thinks we have 20% more to gain. I
ment, learn to mobilize emotions in the both constituency and location. No less
service of goal attainment, be willing really wonder if anyone, anywhere
THE TRAPS OF TRADITION striking is the pessimistic and critical really thinks we could realistically get
to try different strategies that might tenor of much that we’ve heard.’ All
help them accomplish their goal. Only 10% more by squeezing traditional
Each child actually learns at his or over the UK, people are frustrated and education harder.
with a sense of purpose is a child will- angry about what was happening in
ing to tolerate the fear, anxiety, ambi- her own unique pace. Think of a typi-
schools. Myself, I think education is right up
guity and frustration that occur when cal 9-month school year in a traditional
against the wall: it has no more to give
working on a meaningful project. classroom. Mary may be moving along Some of you know that I’m from and we may, in fact, be moving into
quite nicely. Marcus shoots ahead of Minnesota. Not long ago, our local
These are the sorts of skills that ulti- diminishing returns at this point.
his peers, but then gets bored by the newspapers ran similar stories:
mately, actually determine what hap- slow pace and becomes distracted. ‘Hundreds more public schools fall
pens to people in their lives, and what Juan is making steady progress. Sam short: The list of public schools failing
BACK TO THE FUTURE
sort of contribution they will make to started well behind the starting line, to meet the “no child left behind” stan-
the world. None of these abilities are but is catching up and is accelerating. dards rose from 483 to 729.’ In our In 1909, the purpose of education
easily formed, and no one develops Keiko is making much slower pro- other newspaper that same day we was to prepare people for hourly wage
these abilities as simple ends in them- gress. Danika has done well and is
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5. jobs as part of the Industrial Revolu- by searching Google. Indeed, I googled September 2002, by Dr Donald Mark- At the other extreme is education
tion. In 1958, education was about the phrase “education for the 21st cen- well, warden of Trinity College in which is mostly reflective and self-
securing lifetime employment. My tury” not long ago and found over Melbourne, Australia. It was entitled, reinforcing.
father worked for the Minneapolis pub- 147,000 hits. Now, I’d like to tell you “Undergraduate Education for the 21st Schneider notes that the successful
lic school system for 35 years. He that, in preparation for this talk, I read Century,” Professor Markwell called military artist in the role of field com-
graduated from college, got a teaching them all. But of course, I didn’t. How- for education that helps students be- mander is also an expert learner who
job and stayed there for the rest of his ever, what I did read was remarkable. come active citizens in society, who has discovered how to improvise, an-
working life. My mother worked for Why? have ‘thought carefully about [their] ticipate, create, and exploit opportuni-
the Minneapolis public school system Because in reviewing what people values and beliefs’ and have ‘wide and ties as they unfold during the course of
for 30 years. This was typical for peo- everywhere in the world are writing humane international and intercultural operation.
ple of their generation. about education for the 21st century, I awareness and understanding.’ Mark-
well stated that this kind of education Now of course, Schneider was writ-
I’m now in my third career. Job secu- discovered that progressive education ing about warfare, but are there not a
rity? Lifetime employment? Those is back- possibly for the first time. should come ‘before or at very least
accompany purely vocation or career multitude of settings where one needs
days are over. To an extent never be- to improvise, anticipate, create and
fore seen in human history, in this cen- specific education.’ Again, these goals
will be familiar to Montessorians. adapt to changing conditions? Can one
tury, in 2009, our children need to be imagine a better environment to de-
prepared to be more-or-less independ- Indeed, it is difficult to imagine any velop such skills (hopefully to be ap-
ent agents for the rest of their working educational approach that would be plied to peaceful ends!) than the pre-
lives. Maybe that doesn’t mean that more helpful in helping young people pared environment of a Montessori
they will all be home-based knowledge becoming ‘active citizens in the world classroom?
workers, sipping coffee and typing at who have thought carefully about their
their PCs, but it almost certainly means values and beliefs’, and have ‘wide and
that they will get ahead basically humane international and intercultural
through their wits and their ability to For example, on the United Nations awareness!’
make things happen, to get things Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) web site, I I even came across a paper describ-
done, to solve problems that do not yet ing what undergraduate medical educa-
found a model of education based on
even exist. tion should look like in the 21st cen-
four pillars: Learning to Know, Learn-
For children of the 21st century to be ing to Do, Learning to Live Together, tury. The paper called for an emphasis
successful, they will have to bring Learning to Be. These goals sound on leadership and teamwork, even as it
something unique to the table. Perhaps quite familiar to a Montessori crowd, acknowledged that there is no history
it will be a knack for unusual creativ- don’t they! of fostering leadership and teamwork
ity, or the ability to sift through chaos in medical education. Leadership and
to find hidden meaning, or the ability I also found the 2006 commencement teamwork: Again Montessori shows its
to put together a team and keep it run- address for the Massachusetts Institute relevance.
ning. They will certainly need to have of Technology by Dr Woodie Flowers.
According to Flowers, ‘The world has Here is a final example from an un-
enough specialist knowledge to under- expected source, the military journal, THE CONCEPTUAL AGE
stand their field, but they will only be changed…. Learning differential equa-
tions is training. Learning to think us- Army. I found an article called,
successful because of their general “Transforming Advanced Military Some of you may have seen Daniel
ing the insights from differential equa-
wide-scope problem abilities. Education for the 21st Century.” In this Pink speak at the 2008 AMI/USA re-
tions is education.’ He called for a fo-
How should education prepare chil- cus on ‘creativity and synthesis, rather article, the author, James Schneider, fresher course in Atlanta. His best-
dren for this century? What is than analysis.’ He called for education wrote that seller book A Whole New Mind, spe-
“education for the 21st century?” that emphasizes ‘leadership and team cifically addresses some of the things
Learning takes place along a spec-
participation.’ These goals, too, will that I have been talking about.
Well, as with every other question trum. At one end is the kind of learning
that confronts us in this century, at sound familiar to Montessorians. that occurs through training… this Here is what he says about the world
least some of the answers can be found I also came across a speech from learning is reflexive and rote in nature. we are heading for:
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6. We are moving from an economy and create or adapt, no faking leadership century, more relevant than it ever has ‘Does Montessori work?’ Ask the
society built on the logical, linear, and teamwork, citizenship, or the abil- been. Quite simply, Montessori educa- children who attend East Dallas Com-
computer-like capabilities of the infor- ity to live well with others. These at- tion is the very essence of ‘education munity School, a Montessori school in
mation age, to an economy and society tributes are at the core of a person’s for the 21st century.’ Dallas, Texas. They live in a commu-
built on the innovative, and empa- being—they are skills that say more nity where only about 50% of children
thetic, big-picture capabilities of about who one is than what one knows. In the past, Montessorians have been graduate from high school. Yet, of
what’s rising in its place. The concep- How can we help children become preoccupied by the question, ‘does those who attend East Dallas Commu-
tual age. young people and adults who possess Montessori education work?’ For nity School, year after year, 97% or
So what skills are necessary for suc- these abilities? many, the question has really been, ‘do more graduate from high school. And
cess in the conceptual age? Well, for children from Montessori schools do as of those, at least 80% go on to attend at
The relevance of Dr Montessori’s well on standardized tests as children
Pink, it’s the following: least some college. Yes, their achieve-
work could not be more clear. These from traditional classrooms?’ Even ment is an academic one, but their life
Storytelling: The ability to persuade are the things that progressive educa- though Montessori does not in any way outcomes are far broader than a simple
or communicate one’s message or tion was all about, and no one put “teach to the test” it has been shown grade point average.
point to others. those goals into effect better than she. that Montessori children perform very
I’ve spoken about the culture, method, ‘Does Montessori work?’ We know
Design: The ability to create beauty, well indeed on academic tests. This
and materials, the prepared environ- from Dr Angeline Lillard’s work that
or whimsy, to engage the aesthetic question has been answered by the
ment, where children, every day, dis- beyond simple academic skills (where
sense of others in one's message. work of Angeline Lillard, and by oth-
cover new things, stretch their minds, Montessori children performed beyond
Synthesis: The capacity for big pic- ers.
and teach themselves about the way the their regular-education peers) they
ture thinking. world works. You’ve all seen how It is, however, the wrong question to show social and creative outcomes that
Empathy: The ability to connect to children learn to assist a younger child, ask. exceed those of their peers in tradi-
and forge genuine relationships, with or play with an older child, or solve When we answer the question ‘Does tional education. The real news is not
people regardless of their background. problems on their own or in collabora- Montessori education work?’ we must about their grades, however, it’s about
tion with a friend. And when they turn to the broader outcomes that are their ability to function in a commu-
Pink also discusses the importance of
move on into elementary school and actually relevant to the lives of chil- nity. Montessori educated children are
being able to create Play, to promote
further into the world, you’ve seen dren and their communities, and to the better prepared for life in a functioning
wellbeing and positive shared experi-
them engage in activities with meaning solution of problems that threaten our democracy.
ences.
and purpose; they’re discovering how world and survival. ‘Does Montessori education work?’
Perhaps most importantly, Pink de- to measure, how to estimate, how to
scribes the ability to create Meaning: work as part of a community. They are
To know one’s purpose, to live a solving problems and learning to an-
meaningful life, to find fulfillment, and ticipate, compromise, hold a group
to help others to do the same. together (even in the face of conflict);
When I first read Pink’s book, two developing the skills necessary to col-
things struck me: First, came the rec- laborate and cooperate. They’re learn-
ognition that without realizing it, he ing self-expression, cooperation, and
was describing Montessori- educated trust. Learning how to forge a sense of
children. Second, came the awareness community. All of these things and
that you can’t fake these things. You more: Indeed, all the skills necessary
might get in the door because you can for a successful life in the 21st century.
talk the talk, but these skills are very
much about who you are. There is no MONTESSORI’S ANSWER
faking the capacity for storytelling,
design, synthesis, empathy, play or In investigating the question, ‘what is
meaning. Just like there is no faking education for the 21st century?’ we
the ability to improvise, anticipate, find that, Montessori is, in the 21st
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