MONTESSORI PROJECT – BHUTAN, 2010 In the spring of 2010 Susan Stephenson and her daughter Narda Sherman worked to help begin the first AMI Montessori class in Bhutan. |
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This is the classroom "before." Children stayed seated on plastic chairs at large tables and learned from posters on the wall, from workbooks, and from listening to the teacher. This is still the method of education in many places throughout the world.
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This is the classroom "after." Children are invited to choose a work, given a lesson, and can work for as long as they choose without interruption. The Pink Tower was donated by Childpeace Montessori School in Portland, Oregon.
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| The book corner is a very important part of the classroom and children are free to use it at any time. In the beginning of the class only board books were presented because the children had a long way to go to learn how to handle books and materials carefully. | The language area: the only five complete metal insets available can be seen in the foreground, and the sandpapers letters, donated by the Cobb School in Connecticut, are kept always available for work on the beautiful Tibetan carpet. | |
We were in Bhutan for 2 weeks. Although our hosts, Dendy and Chencho and their children Omo and Kinley, and other relatives, took us to see the beauty and precious culture and religion of Bhutan at every opportunity, we spent most of the time preparing for the first "real" Montessori class in that country. "Real" means basically that the teacher in the classroom teaching the children is the one with the diploma, there are Montessori materials, the the other principles of Montessori theory and practice are followed. |
The room is a tiny 10 feet by 19 feet, and some of that is of course taken up by shelves. The entrance area is 6 feet by 6 feet. 15 children from just 3 to almost 4 years of age, are in this beginning class. The children first gathered in the entrance with Dendy or her assistant to sing, and one at a time were invited into the classroom, to choose either a floor mat or table mat and shown how to unfold or unroll it, then invited to choose from the shelf of link-with-the-home toys. Soon they were ready for practical life and language work, and there is much to come. |
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| Language cards - if you click here you can see a video or a child using language cared for the first time, a wonderful new introduction to Bhutan education, which allows a child to choose the work at any time, repeat, concentrate, really learn. The card were donated by Julia Volkman of Maitri Learning - CARDS VIDEO | To make the Montessori dressing frames we had a woodworker make the frame, then Narda and bought and cut out beautiful Bhutanese fabrics. We could not find ribbon even in the capital of the country so made that part of the "tying" frame from adult shoe laces. Future dressing frames will reflect the kinds of fastening skills needed by children in Bhutan. | |
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| The floor mats, which define a child's working space in a Montessori classroom were woven by Tibetans. This child is working on a sewing toy in the practical life corner of the classroom. The line, for learning to walk carefully, is made of green tape. The child's broom hanging on the wall we had made just like an adult broom, only child size. | The plant is for learning to care for plants and to dust the leaves. The tray holds a traditional Buddhist ceremonial bell a child will carry while walking on the line, trying to walk so carefully that it will not sound. The Japanese juggling balls are carried on the head in the same exercise. Thus they learn to walk, instead of run, by "Teaching NOT Correcting." | |
We drew plans for tables, stools and cupboards, made aprons out of old school uniforms, scrubbed, sanded and repainted the few old Montessori materials we could find, and gave the woodworker plans for creating others, such as the wooden parts of the dressing frames, and red rods. The family, friends, even neighbors all chipped in. We even drove to Haa, on the road to Tibet to bring back Tibetan carpets for floor mats. There are no large buttons or ribbon for dressing frames in the whole country. We are making a list for next time. |
During the first three days I observed quietly in a corner (while Narda worked on vocabulary cards in the house) and took these pictures, and then met with Dendy after school to discuss my suggestions and her questions from notes taken during the day. I am so grateful to my own 3-6 training in 1970-71 at MMI in London for preparing me to adapt Montessori to a unique culture, and to know what to do each moment of the first fragile hours and days of the beginning of a new class. |
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THE MONTESSORI TEACHER: the best materials and environment would be of no value without a fully-trained teacher in the classroom. Dendy (it is quite common to have only one name in Bhutan) went to Thailand for 4 training sessions over a 2.5 year period and completed an extremely challenging course to earn the highly respected AMI (Association Montessori Internationale) Primary Montessori Diploma. She is the teacher working in the classroom every day and the key to the success of the Montessori work in the Yoezerling School in Paro, Bhutan. |
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While we were there, the 30th birthday of the Kind of Bhutan was celebrated throughout the country. Many groups of children practicing dances in preparation. The king came to the town of Paro to celebrate at the palace of the Queen Mother and so the children at our school were able to dance for him. The king came down from his throne and stood in front of the children smiling at them encouragingly. And so, to be expected, this was their best performance of all, one they will never forget. Here is the link to the article on the Bhutan news page: King's Birthday |
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Narda and Susan both earned their AMI 0-3 Montessori diplomas at The Montessori Institute in Denver, and their 3-6 diplomas in London. Susan earned her AMI 6-12 diploma in Washington, DC, and Narda earned hers at MIM in Milwaukee. Here is a link to Narda's other work: Guatemala. |
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For the main Montessori page, international children's projects, articles, children's materials for home and school, go to www.michaelolaf.net For more information see these links: |
