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A concerted effort is under way to spread the method into state schools
Philip Bujak has a dream. The chief executive of the Montessori St Nicholas Charity hopes that one day every state primary school in the country will have a Montessori teacher on their staff. But with only five state primaries using Montessori practices in the UK, he knows he has a mountain to climb.
“It is an accident of history that Montessori schools are private in this country,” he says. “Anyone who knows anything about Montessori will tell you it’s not just for the private sector. It’s a method of teaching that should be available to all. We were founded in the slums of Rome: the Montessori method works best with children who want to learn, who are not necessarily in a place to be able to learn.”
Pioneered by the Italian physician Maria Montessori in 1907, the method gives children the freedom to learn at their own pace and to choose topics that hold their attention. It is popular in Scandinavia and in the US, and is usually applied to children under six. There are 631 registered private Montessori primary and nursery schools in the UK – but Bujak is keen to shatter the perception of an exclusive club… Continue reading
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