October 2020: Bray, Schaap, Dijk and Russell present at MAPS

Drs. Bray and Russell co-presented with Dutch Montessori educators Koen Schaap and Rogier Dijk on their Montessori Adolescent Competencies work as part of a three day virtual MAPS Conference this past weekend.  In the second year of the Amsterdam Montessori Teacher Preparation Program, the team is co-constructing a system of accountability.  The presentation was stream lives as an open general session:

Communicating Within and Without Borders: Designing a High Quality Adolescent Montessori Teacher Preparation Program through Improved Assessment

Session Abstract: Adolescent practitioners will gain key insights from our effort to build a Montessori practitioner and researcher focused partnership across geographic boundaries, languages, and an ocean over the past year.  We have collaborated to create a system of accountability of in-progress as well as upcoming adolescent training. We are creating and co-creating assessments that fit the two-year time frame of the post-bachelor Adolescent Training program.  We will share processes of meaning-making and establishing reliable assessments. Our context is at the intersection of educational researchers, Association Montessori Internationale, and practitioners in Amsterdam with an extensive Montessori school network.  The state funded Dutch secondary Montessori Third Plane schools, most of which are urban schools and all of which run an obligatory national exam program, provide opportunity to intertwine the Montessori way of working  while building a community in and around the school.  Ample time will be dedicated to discussion on training, adolescent learning environments, and the third plane development of character, discipline and understanding the current world.   At a glance, these are the collaborative and intersecting efforts discussed. For more information, please contact Dr. Bray, bray@hartford.edu

Paige M. Bray, Ed.D., Associate Professor, Advocate for Children and Families, and Director, Center for Montessori Studies at University of Hartford, Connecticut, USA

Koen Schaap, MEd, Social Science teacher and curriculum developer/trainer Montessori Mastery Course for  Secondary School Teachers, Montessori Scholengemeenschap Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Rogier Dijk, MEd, English Teacher and curriculum developer/trainer Montessori Mastery Course for Secondary School Teachers, Montessori Scholengemeenschap Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Joshua A. Russell, Ph.D. Professor. Director of Research, Center for Montessori Studies at the University of Hartford, CT USA