Workshop 2026 Overview

10:00 – 10:15 AM Eastern Time

Welcome!

10:15 - 11:15 AM
Eastern Time

Koen Schaap (Montessori Study Center, The Netherlands) and Tina Booth (Train Montessori, The United States) - Knowing the Facts: What Data-Informed Research Tells Us about Learning to be a Montessori Teacher, A Comparative Study Across Two Continents

Becoming a Montessori teacher is a lifelong journey of personal and professional growth. This journey often begins with formal teacher training, where the foundational competencies for Montessori teachers are introduced. But what are these key competencies? What supports successful study and mastery of them? Do gender, prior Montessori experience, or cultural background influence outcomes in teacher training? In this oral presentation, Tina Booth and Koen Schaap will explore these questions through the lens of data-driven research. In 2023, the University of Hartford and the Montessori Study Center Amsterdam developed an AMI-approved global competency model for Montessori teachers. Building on this model, the teacher trainers of Train Montessori (USA) and the Montessori Study Center (The Netherlands) have aligned their 12–18 curricula and collected comparative data on program design and participant characteristics. This presentation will share insights from this research, highlighting similarities and differences across cultural contexts. The findings will shed light on what it takes for students and professionals to become, and continue becoming, effective Montessori teachers.

11:15 - 11:30 AM Eastern Time

Break

11:30 AM - 1:00 PM Eastern Time

Patrick Oudejans and Jip Bartels (Montessori Sports, The Netherlands) - From Participants to Leaders: Adolescents Shaping Sport Through a Montessori Lens (Session featuring adolescents)

What happens when adolescents are not simply participants in sports, but are invited to help shape the culture around movement, competition, responsibility, and community? In this session, Patrick Oudejans and Jip Bartels from Montessori Sports will be joined by adolescent students from Isthmus Montessori Academy who are currently participating in the Montessori Sports Fundamentals Course. Together, we will explore how Montessori principles can be applied to sports and physical education, while hearing directly from the students about their experiences, reflections, and ideas. The session will highlight the important role adolescents can play in creating sports environments that foster independence, responsibility, collaboration, and meaningful contribution to their community.

1:15 - 2:15 PM Eastern Time

Rogier Oversteegen (Montessori Lyceum Amsterdam, The Netherlands) - The Needs of Gifted and Highly Gifted Students in a Montessori Environment

Since 2021, Montessori Lyceum Amsterdam has focused on improving educational provision for gifted and highly gifted students, based on the principle that every student deserves an education tailored to their individual needs. While gifted education and Montessori education have each been widely studied, little research has explored how Montessori principles can specifically support gifted learners. This study addresses that gap by examining the relationship between Montessori education and giftedness. Recognizing the diversity within the gifted population, the study uses the *Profiles of the Gifted and Talented* by Betts and Neihart to distinguish different learner profiles and their corresponding educational needs. Alongside a theoretical review, the study includes empirical research involving gifted and highly gifted students at Montessori Lyceum Amsterdam. A questionnaire was used to investigate how these students experience their education and what they identify as their educational needs. The findings, combined with the theoretical framework, form the basis for practical recommendations aimed at strengthening educational provision for gifted students. The study offers concrete suggestions that can support schools in creating a more responsive Montessori learning environment for gifted and highly gifted learners.

2:15 - 3:00 PM Eastern Time

Closing Remarks & Open Lounge

Eastern Time (EDT)

Saturday - October 17, 2026

Please use the timezone converter to check your availability.

10:00 - 10:15 AM Eastern Time

Welcome!

10:15 - 11:15 AM Eastern Time

Feliz Perez, Andres Cornejo, Danie Contreras, Cara Oria, Czarina Trinidad, Logan Trinidad, Mary Zapanta (The Laaren School, The Philippines) - Adolescent Perspectives on Field School (Session featuring adolescents)

The Laren School has been running Field School for over 16 years now. It is a bi-annual, 12 day program that allows us to bring the adolescents out of our highly urban environment to experience life on a farm. The students and teachers live and work on our partner farm and apply the different disciplines they’ve studied back in school. We work with members of the farming community to tend to livestock and the fields. We all live together and cook and clean for our community. Field School is our adaptation of Maria Montessori’s ideas on adolescent education. We will be discussing the history and principles of Field School. The students will touch on their experiences in field school including how they’ve changed and grown through their experiences. We have diverse set of students ranging from those that have gone twice to those that have attended 6 Field Schools in total.

11:15 - 11:30 AM Eastern Time

Break

11:30 - 1:00 PM Eastern Time

Paige M. Bray, Ed.D; Rachel Elkey, M.Ed; Teng-Chien Yu, M.Ed. with Michelle Troscla & Hartford NIMBLE Youth Leaders DJ, Justin, Azalynn, Quincy, Anthony & Jonathan - Applying Montessori Concepts in Youth Leadership: NIMBLE - Nee Intergenerational Montessori for Belonging and Learning-centered Education (Session featuring adolescents)

Our NIMBLE:Youth work reimagines community-driven learning opportunities to develop as an individual by providing Montessori context and in turn supports the community to forge their own place-based meaningful Montessori that strengthens intergenerational belonging. Centering knowledge equity, humanity, human needs and human development, NIMBLE resonates with everyday community priorities that meet human needs through interacting in intentionally humane ways among and between generations.Those who come to this session will: a) learn about our NIMBLE:Youth initiatives, b) work in small groups to consider NIMBLE elements and how they might support their own community, c) receive practical and data-informed outcomes of how Montessori Principles can support adolescents in their development of empathy and leadership, and d) explore the intergenerational community opportunities of Montessori.

Our presentation is for youth and adults who care about them, their development and wellness.

1:00 - 1:15 PM Eastern Time

Break

1:15 -2:15 PM Eastern Time

Alexander Grider, Milena Burlo, Annelise Tolksdorf, Rhiannon Haire, Ben Shah, and Andrew Christopherson (The Grove School, The United States) - Empowered Student Leaders (Adolescent Panel Presentation)

Students from The Grove School share how their school experiences help them transform passions into real-world impact. This interactive panel discussion highlights student-led initiatives across five core areas of school culture:

1. Arts & Mentorship: Teaching introductory dramatic arts and cultivating new leaders in the theater.

2. Agricultural Stewardship: Engaging families and peers in farm operations through fundraisers and hands-on learning.

3. Community Building: Designing a 3-day, multi-grade orientation that connects 7th–12th graders before classes begin.

4. Student Governance: Translating student ideas into campus traditions through Middle and High School Associated Student Body (ASB) leadership.

5. Environmental Action: Organizing an annual Environmental Symposium featuring local vendors, live music, and keynote speakers.

Students will share their projects, how the prepared environment helped them be successful, and participate in an open Q&A. Attendees will walk away with strategies to implement student-driven programming and ways to empower their own students as active decision-makers in their school communities.

2:15 -3:00 PM Eastern Time

Closing Remarks & Open Lounge

Eastern Time (EDT)

Sunday - October 18, 2026

Please use the timezone converter to check your availability.

10:00 - 10:15 AM Eastern Time

Welcome!

10:15 - 11:15 AM Eastern Time

Roe Lauvås Jr. and Adolescents from Montessori Norway/Montessori International Student Council - Millions of Experiences (Session featuring adolescents)

Montessori exists all over the world. Millions of children and youth exploring, building and creating across countries and cultures. Just imagine how many ideas, challenges and solutions are unfolding in Montessori environments right now. Wouldn’t it be incredible to be inspired by a piece of art created by a Montessori student at another Montessori school, or to learn something new from an article written by a Montessori student from the other side of the world? How amazing would it be to discover how to fold an origami crane from a Montessori community in Japan, or be taught the traditional Garba dance by Montessori students in Gujarat? With all the stories, articles, art, poetry, experiments, projects, school gardens, student enterprises, questions and answers, imagine being able to tap into all that inspiring work. And in a world facing challenges, imagine being the spark for a new idea across schools, borders and cultures. Join us as we share our journey and aim to recognize the collective wealth of experience found across Montessori environments. From the establishment of an international Montessori Student Council network to our efforts to create an international platform for shared inspiration across the Montessori community.

11:15 - 11:30 AM Eastern Time

Break

11:30 AM - 1:00 PM Eastern Time

Affinity groups

A chance to step into smaller spaces for conversation, connection, and community with others who share a common identity, experience, or interest.

1:00 - 2:00 PM Eastern Time

Bodeene Amyot (James Madison University Libraries, The United States) - From Inquiry to Evidence: A Research and Annotation Lab for Practitioners and Adolescents

This session offers a practical, inquiry-driven pathway from questions that emerge in adolescent Montessori practice to relevant research. Participants will learn to translate questions into searchable concepts, connect Montessori terminology with broader educational and broad subject term vocabularies, and develop searches in open research databases such as ERIC and DOAJ.

Using an evidence log, participants will consider how to evaluate, document, and connect research findings to local practice. The session also introduces Hypothesis, a collaborative web-annotation tool, as a means of engaging critically with adolescent-relevant entries in the Montessori Glossary. Together, we will practice research literacy, intellectual humility, and transparent community knowledge co-construction.

Participants will leave with a reusable research pathfinder and an adaptable annotation workflow for practitioner inquiry, adolescent research, and contributions to the open-access Montessori Glossary Community Project. No previous experience with academic research or web annotation is required, though participants are encouraged to create a free Hypothesis account beforehand. The session values adolescent practitioners as vital contextual and experiential knowledge bearers whose insights can strengthen a shared Montessori evidence base.

2:00 - 2:15 PM Eastern Time

Closing Remarks

2:15 - 3:00 PM Eastern Time

Open Lounge