Dear friends,
|
Rereading my
New Year’s message of last year, I must confess that I clearly am a poor
prophet: the light that I so hopefully saw at the end of the tunnel
still has to gain in strength.
All the same, I can confidently repeat that 2021 again has given us many
acts of kindness and self-sacrifice by people across the world; caring
for each other remained a valued currency.
|
|
|
Many in our
community rose to the challenges of the pandemic, adapted practices to
provide training and education opportunities for adults and children
alike, both in-person and remotely, and helped to address the impact on
our children, of a childhood turned on its head with school
interruptions and social distancing. Our response has to be modelled on
the words of Maria Montessori when she said, ‘The question of education
is fundamental, because it is an exigency common to all human beings on
earth’.* Every child must have the opportunity of a quality education;
an education that enables the development of the whole human being;
which is not merely focussed on academic achievement. We are committed
to providing an education that is directed to enabling children to grow
to their full potential and become active global citizens, going beyond
one designed to develop competent functional skills.
The past year we have also seen the consequences of our behaviours on
this planet, of climate change, of vast economic disparities acerbated
by Covid, of political unrest and vulnerable situations. The nature of
the challenges facing parents, schools, educationalists in today’s
world, I believe, reinforce the importance of the Montessori pedagogy.
Our response to these challenges must be to further strengthen the study
and dissemination of her pedagogy, to expand its reach and make the
Montessori teaching profession even more attractive; we need to
demonstrate the urgency of adopting an educational approach that will
make a positive difference to the lives of children.
Maria Montessori’s call for a just, equitable and peaceful world must be
echoed by every Montessorian, a call we cannot be shy to articulate as
we work our way towards that time, as Renilde Montessori put it, ‘when wars will cease and humanity will no longer inflict horrible hurts upon itself and its habitat’.
Our message is one of hope for the future. It is supported by practical
actions that will lay firm foundations to continue our mission of
connecting Montessori to the world. These include the Montessori
Architecture website providing a key to supporting children’s learning
environments, the innovative and transformational outreach initiatives
taking place around the world, and a new Course Administration System
which will enhance the way we support and engage with Training Centres
as well as those who have completed training.
My time as President of AMI will come to an end in 2022; my years on the
AMI Board have shown me what the community’s dedication and commitment
can achieve, and I can with great sincerity say how proud I am to be
part of this global family.
Wishing you, your families and close ones a healthy, happy and hope-filled 2022.
Philip D. O’Brien
President
Association Montessori Internationale
* From Citizen of the World, p. 61
Bài đăngcó phép của Chủ tịch AMI, Philip D O'Brien