Capstone Project Script
Slide 1: Some Identifying Information
An adult is just a child with more experience.
A quick Google search yields no reference to this remark and I definitely said it in a grocery line when the cashier asked what I did for my job and when I told her I was a Montessori Elementary teacher replied that she didn’t think she could work with kids all day. The guy in front of me looked confused and half-smiled quizzically at my reply. So maybe I heard this from someone else and now repeat it and credit it to myself. But it’s true.
I’m Chelsea Roberts, a child with some more experience, presenting an illustration of my experience up to this point and an indication of where it may go next.
Slide 2: Remember…
Years before I picked up E.M. Standing’s biography of Maria Montessori, I attended a retreat where a guy named Leroy White played drums, sang some spiritual songs, and dropped a mantra on me that has persisted as true ever since. He said all of life is a cycle. The same thing happens over and over again. We can trace it back to infancy, see it through our recent past, and consider that it will inevitably repeat. The cycle is: Know. Forget. Remember.
I consider now through the Montessori lens that yes, all humans do know. The knowing is the driving force, or hormé, that pushes the youngest child to put all efforts toward self-construction – every utterance, muscle movement, repetition, sensorial experience, conversation, and creation is the knowing.
And then we carry on, knowing new things. Knowing things on a more abstract level. Forgetting, or not needing to carry the knowledge in our working consciousness, what we knew before.
And then some event happens in our immediate lives or on the world stage, or someone says something in conversation or lecture, or we read some amazing new text that shines a bright light on the thing we knew and then forgot. And we say OH! And we say I knew that! And in the moment of recognition of knowing and then forgetting, we remember at some deeper level of inquiry or understanding.
For me, this cycle looks like a spiral. For Maria Montessori, lots of things looked like spirals and she asked us to notice how they were all related and how inspired and grateful we could be in the face of our recognition. My Montessori Elementary training gave me a name for this and added depth and breadth to a way of living I’ve felt connected to, as well as provided a framework for sharing that way of living; that is Cosmic Education.
Slide 3: Parts of the definition of Cosmic Education are…
The plan of education that appeals to second plane characteristics and the mental abilities of Elementary children
The interrelationship between all subject areas
The development of basic gratitude for the wonders of creation and for the gifts of humanity
Acknowledgment of the basic law, order, and harmony of the Universe and our world.
Cosmic Education asks a teacher to also consider her own human relationship to the environment, the rest of humanity, and the future as she presents in likeness to her children.
My Montessori journey so far can be considered in the same way. It also allows me to wear jeans to work and doesn’t care about my tattoos.
Slide 4: My Relationship with Humanity
I’d like to begin with an acknowledgement of my place in humanity. I’ll offer one perspective, then refer to humans I particularly enjoy, and finally comment on my role as student and teacher.
Subtopic 1: Marigold Effect
In terms of placing myself in a community and considering my Montessori journey and how it is affected, I have been most moved by the idea of the Marigold effect. It borrows the image of the marigold as a companion plant. Gardeners plant marigolds to repel bugs, ward off plant disease, protect from harmful weeds, to encourage growth and health in the marigold’s companions. And they’re beautiful!
I have taken this idea to heart in how I recognize companion teachers, administrators, mentors, and parents. To grow a strong, productive, and healthy garden I look to find and to be the marigold. I appreciate this metaphor too because it’s a wonderful illustration of the power of the relationship that exists as a 3rd part between 2 people. This is one way I have considered my relationship to humanity.
[Source: https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/marigolds/]
Subtopic 2: Moments & People
In the Story of Human Beings, Maria Montessori wrote that the gifts that make us different from other mammals are the hearts we have to love those near and far, known and unknown, the hands we have to create with, and the minds we have to imagine and think with.
Some of the moments and people who bestowed me with their human gifts and have helped me know & remember are:
A 350 hour yoga teacher training with Michele Baker, John Demahy, Kelly Haas, Jordan Bloom, Alicia Willemet, and the group of vulnerable & strong women in training was the first real experience of emptying myself so I could be filled with something else. I tried on spiritual perspectives, meaning-of-life guesses, relationship to the corporate world second-guesses, and embodied experiences.
I took an online course, Kindness in the Classroom, with Randy Testa where I read John Dewey and Vivian Paley for the first time. These humans and writers gave me the first glimpse at the connection between social-emotional learning and hope for the future of the world in children.
Tracey & Jenn allowed me to observe in their Primary & Elementary charter Montessori classrooms. This was the first time I saw children work in a Montessori environment. And nobody forgets their firs time.
I spent 3 deliciously rich, challenging, enthralling, and affirming summers with J. McKeever, with guest lectures from Phyllis Pottish-Lewis, Lilian Bryan, and Kyla Morenz.
I had the good fortune to meet Pat Ludick first at my school. She gave me the image of the window and the mirror – that we may look at the world as if through a window to gather information, make observations, and study a new way of seeing, but that we must also always look in the mirror to reflect upon what we have seen, what we are brinring to our observations, and what we may need or want to change.
I met my marigolds: Tom Brown, Justin Tosco, Liz Macaulay, Jean Wharton, and AMI Elementary training cohort 2014-2017. I continue to be held accountable by their rigor.
I observed and practice taught in the classrooms of Cheryl Raymond and Anna Discenzo. I could write a book about what I learned watching these women do just 2 weeks of their work. I frequently borrow their methods, approach, and actual words in my own practice.
Research in Education with Jessica Haddaway built agency and gave context in a field that feels so relevant and at the same time so isolated and foreign to a teacher.
Special Education with Anne Epstein introduced me to the scientific community involved with Montessori in Stephen Hughes’ work and Jackie Cossentino & Allison Jones’ design, implementation, and reporting of Child Study.
Paul Epstein’s presentation on observation reminded me that the most important job of the Montessori teacher is to guide the spiritual development of the child.
And still, this doesn’t even include the absolutely countless experiences I’ve had with children, animals, plants, art, and music that bring equal illumination. Here’s me playing the ukulele with Comet the bird in training.
Subtopic 3: Points of Reference
This is a quote from the first of Madeleine L’Engle’s series of journals. It reminds me not only of the people in my world who I use as points of reference, all mentioned just now, but also about my role as a point of reference for the children in my community.
Being a Montessori teacher is probably the closest I will come to affecting ‘humanity’ on a large scale. I came into my role with a similar sentiment as L’Engle, in that I wanted to be and grow myself parallel to my work with children who were also being and growing.
My students laugh incredulously when I tell them that I am a student too – not only because I have been in an academic program at the same time I am their teacher, but also because it is my job and honor and inevitability that I study & learn from them.
Slide 5: Relationship with the Environment
Questions initiate and sustain the movement of the spiral – the new questions are just a deeper reflection and inquiry of the previously considered question.
There is a theme that seems to emerge with my questions now. I knew grey areas existed because as a new teacher I asked how does this all work and was told the answers were to be found experientially. With 2+ years experience to work the black & white of my albums in a classroom, I’m able to see more grey and begin to ask the more specific questions.
Subtopic 1: Q1
Q1. How do I know what ‘staying true’ to the science and art of Montessori’s work looks like? Short term and long term.
Rationale & Resources: This question is ever-present in the mind of the Montessori teacher who is pummelled by educational articles, news media, social media, experienced teachers, new teachers, administrators, parents, and people trying to sell things. In terms of reflection to make decisions, change action, see an action plan through, I would like to have identified points of reference from which to move from. The resources available to me are the body of work of Maria and Mario Montessori and existing and new writing/presentations from experienced AMI practitioners, AMI trainers, and social scientists.
Subtopic 2: Q2
Q2. What happens in between a teacher observing a child who is having learning or behaviour problems, trying to address them with randomly selected interventions, and lastly communicating with the parents for help?
R&R: There is research and evidence of behavioural management initiatives in public education, but it is not specific to the Montessori Elementary environment and substantially not generalizable. Learning-assistance programs are vast and I am untrained to make distinctions. Aside from parents, teachers spend the most time with children and have incredible access to the children. A teacher needs to know what to do with that access and how to most effectively combine access with supported strategies to serve the children. The resources I would access are Jones & Cossentino’s Child Study, teacher action research, and Paul Epstein’s book, “An Observer’s Notebook: Learning From Children with the Observation C.O.R.E.”.
Subtopic 3: Q3
Q3. On the topic of 'inclusive’ classrooms allowing for children who have special needs – when are we Montessorians serving and when aren’t we doing enough? What does Cosmic Education look like for children with exceptionalities?
R&R: This question is inspired by my study in the Special Education course. If I am to happily reject disability as a social construct, and the core of what I’m working toward is in the service of all children, I need to have a clear vision on how to best do those. This is not a conversation I will have alone. Resources include medical professionals, special education teachers, teacher action research, a review of existing literature, and continuation of examination of Q2 and its findings related to supported strategies for intervention.
Subtopic 4: Q4
Q4. How do I know what I am seeing?
R&R: Paul Epstein’s lecture on observation raised this question and I would be foolish not to borrow it and proceed. His approach injects what we call observation with trust for the observer, consideration of the multi-facets of what we’re seeing, and an approach that is a method for asking further questions. The main resource is Epstein’s book, mentioned earlier.
Slide 6: Relationship with the Future
So I’m more of a ‘live in the present moment’ type person. My relationship with the future is directly related to my relationship with the present and that is born of the question, “What can I be doing now?” For life to take its course, it’s more interesting to walk the paths that feel the most authentic, come about easefully, promise a closer experience with my rough edges and deliver me wherever they will than to draw a map and try to determine the best route to a specific destination. It’s worked beautifully so far.
With some goals in mind, I’ll explore steps that can be taken now toward places that may deliver me to the next best questions.
Slide 7: Now - MBSR Course
The immediate goal is to complete the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction course, being offered by the Atlanta Mindfulness Institute.
This goal happens relates to All Questions, Ever – but perhaps most topically to Q2 about choosing interventions and Q4 about how I know what I’m seeing. Mindfulness practice is about developing a solid foundation of equanimity from which to see and respond. It happens to be non-secular in this course, but it is also about my spiritual development. I hope that as I develop mine, I will be better equipped to aid in the development of others’.
This goal is also related to the research question developed this summer. That is, I wondered what would happen if I gave more frequent and specific lessons on meditation and mindfulness practices, introduced a community-meeting framework that gave the children more autonomy, and had my own daily mindfulness practice?
The 8-week MBSR course begins August 21, 2017. It will include 8 sessions, a day-long retreat, daily guided mediations, weekly readings and written exercises. I plan to take the Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory (FMI) questionnaire prior to and after the course to collect data about my perceptions of several aspects of my own mindfulness.
The next steps would be to follow the remaining steps in the action plan I wrote that address the effect of my MBSR practice on children in a classroom.
I think the point is that there is not a specific result – so the results will simply be what they are after meeting the achievable tasks. I will take the Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory (FMI) survey I modified for my Teacher Research action plan prior to the start and at the completion of the course to collect data about my perceptions of several aspects of my own mindfulness.
Slide 8: 1 YR Goal – Organizing Essential Resources / Concept Map
It turns out that I’m really good at the ‘forgetting’ part of the cycle. It is really important to me to have organizational frameworks in place for re-accessing essential information that I might need to remember on demand.
This goal is designed to include work throughout the coming calendar year. The scope of work includes:
Designing logistics for storing and organizing links to online journals, articles, forum posts,
Organizing & storing printed articles, resources related to curriculum extension, parent education, potentially any other topical information
Designing a schedule for reading and re-reading source lectures and books, reviewing new literature
Creating an album lesson ‘relationships & trajectories’ map in an online format for other teachers to add relationships, notes, copy their own and integrate their own understanding
This goal is related to all of the questions asked in this presentation. It is with more frequent exposure to the resources that I will sharpen my senses and compass, become more educated about responsiveness, comprehend the possibility of Cosmic Education for all children, and hone observation skills.
I will dedicate 5 hours a week to the first three sub-steps outlined. Once an organizational system is created, filing as I gather new resources won’t take as much time up front. I will use the 5 hours then to review the literature I’m gathering so it becomes useful for having been organized. The books I plan to read first are “Children Who are Not Yet Peaceful,” “Lost at School,” “An Observer’s Notebook,” and “Emotional Intelligence” as these are all titles gathered from my most recent summer’s work.
The step I need to take to tackle the 4th part of my goal is to gather all of my albums together and begin to enter the tables of contents into an online concept map. I’ll need larger chunks of uninterrupted time to pursue this project and will use breaks from work to proceed. The purpose here is to graphically represent the complicated, interwoven web of relationships and dependencies in the Elementary albums, to come to a deeper understanding and to make better instruction decisions.
I will revisit this goal in August 2018 to renegotiate and set a new but related goal.
Slide 9: 3 YR Goal - EAA/Summer Resets
I’ve gone into 4 summers exhausted, overwhelmed, empty, but hopeful. I’ve left 3 summers of Montessori training and the 4th of continued work at Loyola having shifted. The engagement in theory and practical aspects of my cosmic work are refreshing and give me life energy. The conversations I get to listen in on and participate in are often revolutionary and speed up the discovery or integrate an old question. It is undoubtedly this summer work that changes me as a person so that I can mindfully and creatively reengage during the school year.
My third goal is to attend AMI Elementary Alumni Association (EAA) annual summer conferences for the next 3 summers.
This goal attends to all of my questions by connecting me with colleagues to share expertise about the practical and theoretical aspects of teaching, discuss classroom successes and challenges, review essential topics, and find new resources.
Additionally, these conferences would meet any requirements for continuing education I may have associated with a school.
I will enroll for the EAA 2018 conference when it is announced. I am connected to the community through their active posting forum and receive their email notifications daily.
Slide 10: Still the Same Goo
What we offer through Cosmic Education is perspective. Our task is more profound than teaching the children to read, write, memorize facts, and pass tests - we must find how to prepare each child for his own unique task…to become a cosmic agent.
In To Educate the Human Potential, Dr. Montessori writes, “Not in the service of any political or social creed should the teacher work, but in the service of the complete human being able to exercise in freedom a self-disciplined will and judgment, unperverted by prejudice and undistorted by fear.”
It is in the service of the complete human being that I have worked to arrive here. To be the offerer of perspective, the point of reference, the preparer of cosmic agency, I must pursue the deeper understanding myself. If life is a spiral, my work will never be done and my service may continue inevitably.
"Caterpillars’ bodies 'melt' almost completely before morphing into butterflies in the chrysalis. In order for the change from a caterpillar to a butterfly to take place within the pupa, the caterpillar begins releasing enzymes that literally digest nearly all of its own body. What’s left inside the chrysalis is mostly just a very nutrient rich soup from which the butterfly will begin to form."
For me, it’s not really about the butterfly. It’s about building the chrysalis and transforming from the very stuff I’m made of. It’s about emerging, perhaps having forgotten parts of the previous existence, but remembering that I’m all still the same goo. It’s about doing that over and over again, to fulfill my cosmic task and aid in the process that others may fulfill theirs too.
When I recently reread the letters of recommendation written on my behalf for acceptance into the Elementary training course, it was remarkable who spoke about my mindfulness as an aspect of what they thought made me a strong candidate. Here I thought I had stumbled upon the next great discovery in the art of guiding a Montessori classroom.
But I knew. And then forgot. And now remember.
Slide 11: Gratitude
To Dr. Montessori for your bravery, tenacity, clarity, vision soul & spirit -
To J. McKeever for her wisdom, lectures, precise lessons, poise, and hope -
To the countless Montessori teachers around the world who write & share their work -
To the children -
To my marigold brothers, Tom & Justin, who keep me sane, laughing, humble, confused, inspired, and totally loved & supported in our Big Work -
To those humans who share their gift for love with ME! To Mom, Dad & Keeks -
To the staff and faculty at Loyola University Maryland, including Anne Epstein, Jessica Haddaway, and James Snow -
To all beings. To the sun, wind, water, and rock. Thank you for performing your cosmic tasks.
-End Presentation-
