Hello- it's wonderful to join a group of fellow innovators! My entire adult life, I've taught and advocated for students who learn and often behave outside of the "norms" that were once considered "typical. So much of this work is about the adult mindset- families and educators. It's about guiding a very basic change in beliefs that impact our behaviors with children. It's absolutely about guiding and teaching educators as they grow to understand the many ways they can serve and support, as Dr. Montessori tells, most all children and adolescents in our classrooms. Being together in community is a gift as we all work to "break the paradigm" of too many schools and settings.

@Jennifer Payne This so resonates with me. I visit "montessori" schools where teachers are controlling children, forces lessons the children aren't interested in. There is nothing developmentally about these classrooms and it is truly heartbreaking- to see montessori being so misinterpreted and to see the spark already gone from even very young children.

And adding to Andrew's question- how do you understand neurodiversity and how does it fit with your beliefs about Montessori and your role as a Montessori educator?

What would you like to learn in this webinar? Share questions, concerns, curiosities.

Looking forward to seeing many of you later today. My thoughts turn to "now" action and continued, and future action.

Thank you for the provocative and thoughtful questions raised in Paradigm Breaking 101! My awakening moment? A bit of context, I never liked school until I got to college and realized I could learn what I wanted to learn and take responsibility for it. The exact moment though- my senior year I had the opportunity to contribute to an educational experiment-a failing school taken over by a creative innovator who believed in children. I taught a 6th grade class of kids traumatized in every possible way. The moment? one of my students yelled "Connie is in the window and says she's going to jump." After telling the others to help each other with the math work, out in hall and at the window with a 12 year old in such despair she saw no way out but to jump from the 4th floor onto the pavement below. An hour and a half later, our conversation ended with Connie dropping into my arms in sobs. I decided that day that supporting children like Connie would be my life's work- I applied to grad school in sped the next day. My current context? After leading and teaching programs for "special needs" kids, I discovered Montessori and knew the next path was going to be starting an inclusive Montessori school to serve all kinds of kids with all kinds of needs. Years, and a 2nd school later, I have for the past several years offered customized professional development to schools, coaching for school leaders and educators, and taught online courses for the Montessori community with the goal of teaching and guiding our community to accept "diversity" and gain the knowledge and strategies to feel successful. The "unspoken norm" that is definitely a source of frustration is the belief that there is "the perfect Montessori child." This is the child who compliance meets the teacher's need to feel like "the perfect Montessori teacher." I choose to belief that Dr. Montessori would be deeply disturbed to observe what has been done in classrooms and to children around the world in her name. One only has to read The Absorbent Mind to understand how far we've strayed.

Definitely an important listen! When we move past the shoulds and oughts, Dr. Montessori's wisdom rooted in observation can support all kinds of learners.