Interview with Karen Pearce

Етикети: Interview, Montessori 3-6, Montessori 0-3, Montessori education

Karen Pearce is a Director of Pedagogy at The Montessori Place in Brighton, UK, where she mentors the Children’s House guides. She has 34 years of Children’s House experience and she lectures and runs workshops across Europe. She also supports Montessori graduates in a post-diploma course on the science of observing children organised by Maria Montessori Institute London. Karen also offers an online Montessori mentorship programme to support guides in putting theory into practice. Alongside all of this, last year Karen put her slippers back on and returned to lead a Children’s House for a year and a half maternity cover!

What do you think sets the Montessori method apart from other educational approaches?

Many people ask this question. It could be a very large answer but how do we bring it back to a short elevator style answer.

Montessori is an approach to life.. in a way let’s try to move away from this term education. But to place an emphasis on what do we offer that supports both the development of the individual and that of society as a whole.. Montessori is unique in its approach in seeing the unique qualities and gifts that the person brings into this world.

We seek to trust in the child to show us the way rather than asking the child to fit our remit or educational standards. Our role as Montesorian’s is to create environments in which the child is free to self construct. This requires a huge amount of trust in the pedagogy and the child.

Most importantly though the child is provided with the opportunity to choose, to follow their interest and the time to see an interest through to a conclusion. What do we observe as an outcome to this? We see human beings who trust in themselves and their environment. We observe human beings who can set themselves a challenge and see it through to the end. We observe a human being who can as a result think, strategise, question, wonder and take concepts further. We observe a human being who as a consequence has a strong character. A person who can engage and know that their actions and their contributions have a ripple effect for the good of the whole and that of society moving forward. Montessori in her book the Absorbent Mind calls it the ‘x factor’. It’s this x factor, an education system based upon that of character development, rather than curriculum, that is very much needed for the next generation.

How would you explain the principles of observation to someone unfamiliar with Montessori?

Montessori pedagogy and practice stems from observation. But what does this truly mean?

Montessori guides are trained to see the child and the community in which  they work from a non judgmental and detached manner. Their work and service to the children in their community is to discover who each child is, what their interest might be and when best to find that child.

Their work is one of being a detective, looking for clues and cues, as to discover where the child’s interests lie, and how then to offer tailored lessons, presentations, as to meet these internal drives of the individual. 

The observations are gathered as data, then analysed as to discover connections, repetitions and engagement as to offer bespoke developmental programmes of education.

It’s a delicate art of gathering data, creating programmes and acting in response to what the child reveals.

Finding the “key” to each and every child through the art of observation – is it a mission impossible, or not?

Join the workshop to find out how… how do we gather the necessary data in a simple and efficient way. So that this data can be used to follow the child. It’s definitely possible once you have the techniques and are systematic in practicing these as to move from what might seem a mission impossible to one that is revealing and becomes intrinsic to your work.

You can register for the workshop ‘Seeing is Believing’ – The Art of Observation here

Dates: 30 November & 1 December 2024

WORKING LANGUAGE: online course in English with Bulgarian translations

REGISTRATION FEE: 210 BGN

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