AMI Podcasts

The AMI Talk of 19 May 2022 zoomed in on how children acquire life skills in Indigenous communities in the Americas, and particularly Mexico. Dr Barbara Rogoff shared some of her pioneering research work and Carolina Cerezuela spoke of a Montessori outreach initiative in Oaxaca.  

Listen to the latest episode of our EsF Stories series to find out more about Bambini in Emergenza, a non-profit foundation that operates in Romania to aid abandoned children from HIV/AIDS positive mothers. Our guests in this episode are Annamaria Minardi, project manager at Bambini in Emergenza, and Mariana Uliță, a 3-6 AMI trainer and the president of the Montessori Institute of Bucharest. Together, they tell the story of Bambini in Emergenza, Montessori in Romania and the close collaboration between Bambini in Emergenza and the Montessori Institute of Bucharest. Listen here to learn more about Annamaria and Mariana's wonderful collaboration.

The newest EsF Stories Podcast is on! Listen to the captivating story of mother and daughter Luming and Lora Woellhaf to learn about their work in the Philippines and their foundation Mithing Pangarap. Their initiative is two-fold, and combines a thriving private Montessori school in Metro Manila with an outreach Montessori program that nurtures the educational and holistic development of children from the underserved community at Smokey mountain, a former dumpsite in Tondo, Manila.

Educateurs Sans Frontières recently spoke with mother and daughter Luming and Lora Woellhaf, to learn more about their work in the Philippines and their foundation Mithing Pangarap. Their initiative is two-fold, and combines a thriving private Montessori school in Metro Manila with an outreach Montessori program that nurtures the educational and holistic development of children from the underserved community at Smokey mountain, a former dumpsite in Tondo, Manila.

Stories are everywhere — when we talk of history, science, mathematics, and inventions, we do not only speak of facts, we also speak of wonder and speaking to the power of the mind. We used to be great storytellers: it was a way to pass on the history of our families, the animals, villages and our land.

In today’s world, we have often outsourced our memories to written text. And here is a fascinating dilemma: we must not forget how to tell stories, and yet the written word has also given us the possibility to preserve and share our stories with people from the other side of the planet.

On 31 August 2021, AMI trainer Carla Foster shared with us The Art of Storytelling - how important it is for the elementary child, and how to perfect this art in our teachers.  She was joined by Gabrielle Ahuli'i Ferreira Holt who spoke about the importance of exposure to stories and legends of cultural significance in early childhood, helping children engage deeply with their culture and also creating more meaningful connections across cultures.

Listen to the first EsF Story by Hillary Korir, who will talk about his work supporting Montessori education in Kenya. Hillary is the former Executive director of Montessori for Kenya, and has been involved in Corner of Hope from the starting point in 2010. He has now taken up a new responsibility at the Kenyan government, but will stay closely involved with Montessori for Kenya, to contribute to the growth of Montessori education, especially for those with limited resources,and to share all the experience and wisdom he has gathered over time.

On 8 March 2021, we held our second AMI Talk during which Silvia C. Dubovoy and Ama van Dantzig shared insights on equality and equity gained from their professional lives. Silvia shared an overview of the social movements and historical context that shape Montessori's particular brand of idealism. Silvia explored her ideas about the education of young girls and the link between the wellbeing of mother and child in the context of what we now know as Montessori theory and practice. In her daily life, Ama works with game-changers, pioneers and visionaries to create a brave new world. She strives to develop and support the ideas and interventions that unleash much needed societal shifts. Ama shared her passion for helping people find ingenious solutions for the challenges of our time. She also focused on the relevance of uniting people and communities in order to help leaders to take the steps to confront such challenges.

On 6 January 2021 we held a unique online session which focused on the social mission of Montessori. This was the first of a series hosted by AMI's Educateurs sans Frontières (EsF), where we reflected on the legacy of Maria Montessori and explored the application of Montessori principles in today's world. We discussed the roots of Maria Montessori as an advocate for children and looked at how Montessori principles and practice can offer a pathway to addressing some of the current global challenges.

About the speaker: Erica Moretti is assistant professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology-SUNY. She received a Ph.D. in Italian Studies from Brown University and a diploma in American Studies from Smith College. Her research interests include modern Italian intellectual and social history, biopolitics, gender studies, modern and contemporary Italian literature, and Italian colonialism. Her book the Best Weapon for Peace: Maria Montessori, Education, and Children's Rights is forthcoming with the University of Wisconsin Press.

In part three of the Corner of Hope Podcast series, the speakers reflect back on the learnings they gained along the way. They will discuss the offshoots that have been inspired by Corner of Hope and share their dreams and plans for the future of Corner of Hope and Montessori education in Kenya.

This episode's speakers:

Jessica Valentine is a researcher at the Department of Child Law at Leiden University. She has extensive experience as a Children’s Rights Lawyer in Australia and she graduated with honours from a master’s in Advanced Studies of International Children’s Rights and the Law. In this presentation, she gives a brief introduction to children’s rights. She talks about the history of children’s rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter. She explains how children’s rights work in practice and elaborates on the complexity of children’s rights. This presentation was given to the teachers of the Corner of Hope Montessori school on 3 December 2020.