American Montessori Society Helping China Develop Quality Montessori Education
New York, NY, December 8, 2015—The American Montessori Society is taking its expertise to China, where it is helping the Chinese Society of Education develop standards for Montessori Early Childhood education in that country. The CSE is a leading academic educational organization, with significant ability to influence China’s education policies and teaching reforms.
The goal is to develop standards that will assure the quality of Montessori Early Childhood programs that fall under the aegis of the Chinese government. Because Montessori programs in that country are unregulated, currently the inclusion of Montessori in a school’s name in no way guarantees the authenticity of the practice.
The AMS work comes at a particularly serendipitous time, given the anticipated ratification of the existing 1-child law in China to a 2-child policy. The change holds significant implications for population growth in that country and concomitant demands for education options.
In November, AMS executive director, Richard A. Ungerer, along with AMS Board president Dr. Joyce Pickering, traveled to Qingdao, China, where they delivered speeches about quality Montessori education at a seminar organized by the CSE.
Also a part of the trip were Sara Wilson, AMS director of school accreditation & school improvement, who presented on AMS school accreditation standards; Marie Dugan, former AMS executive director; and Marcy Krever, AMS senior director of marketing & communications.
Representing the Chinese Society of Education were Yang Nianlu, general secretary; and Zhu Jiaxiong, a lifetime professor and doctoral supervisor at East China Normal University, among other high-level officials.
The coming months will see the publication, by the CSE, of the standards for Chinese Montessori Early Childhood programs, which will be based on standards used by the American Montessori Society in its rigorous school accreditation process and adapted to align with Chinese culture. In addition, AMS will help the CSE develop criteria that will be used to determine the eligibility of schools in China that wish to become pilot users of the new standards, as well as criteria that will be used to examine and document the quality of the schools after the standards have been incorporated.
About Montessori Education
Montessori is a holistic, child-centered form of education, developed in Italy more than 100 years ago by educational pioneer Dr. Maria Montessori, and based on scientific observations of children from birth to adulthood.
