The relevance of Montessori in today’s transforming world. Montessori Europe Conference The Hague November 2017

A great social mission that will ensure the child justice, harmony and love remains to be accomplished. And this great task must be the work of education, for this is the only way to build a new world and to bring peace. Maria Montessori: Opening address to the 6th International Montessori Congress 1937 Copenhagen There are three characteristics of the report, among many, that in my view are of interest, are the emphasis, time and time again on thing being sustainable,; on the emphasis on people and the centrality given to eradicating poverty. Many of you will appreciate the significant difference, at least in medical terms between eliminating something and eradicating it. Adopting a goal of eradication, of poverty, as both sets of goals did, calls for its permanent removal from society, no easy task

Trends Shaping Education: Centre for Educational Research at OECD 2016. Learning to realize Educations Promise: World Bank World Development report 2017 State of the World’s Children: UNICEF 2016. Education at a Glance: UNESCO/Global Education Monitoring Group 2017. Building the future: Children and the Sustainable Development Goals. UNICEF 2017. There are three characteristics of the report, among many, that in my view are of interest, are the emphasis, time and time again on thing being sustainable,; on the emphasis on people and the centrality given to eradicating poverty. Many of you will appreciate the significant difference, at least in medical terms between eliminating something and eradicating it. Adopting a goal of eradication, of poverty, as both sets of goals did, calls for its permanent removal from society, no easy task

Globalization.

Gap between richer and poorer regions World Bank WDI 2015 we are living in a world in which the disparities between rich and poor are great and growing. Despite the aspirations of the Millenium Development Goals we did not get to a fairer world by 2015. While the per capita income of the poorest people in the poorest nations has grown though slowly since 1960, that of those who live in the richest nations has grown by about 800% in the same time. The OECD note that the gap between the richest and poorest in rich countries is the highest it has been in 30 years.   Today we live in a world where 62 people own and control as much wealth as the 3.5 billion poorest. That is difficult to imagine, but it is real.

Disparities

UNICEF 2016 SOWC

Urbanisation Technology Social Change

“societies everywhere are undergoing deep transformation, and this calls for new forms of education to foster the competencies that societies and economies need, today and tomorrow” Rethinking Education UNESCO

Education today.

SDG Goal 4 : “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote life-long learning opportunities for all” There are three characteristics of the report, among many, that in my view are of interest, are the emphasis, time and time again on thing being sustainable,; on the emphasis on people and the centrality given to eradicating poverty. Many of you will appreciate the significant difference, at least in medical terms between eliminating something and eradicating it. Adopting a goal of eradication, of poverty, as both sets of goals did, calls for its permanent removal from society, no easy task

“…….education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship……..” Transforming our world: 2030Agenda for Sustainable Development Target 4.7 There are three characteristics of the report, among many, that in my view are of interest, are the emphasis, time and time again on thing being sustainable,; on the emphasis on people and the centrality given to eradicating poverty. Many of you will appreciate the significant difference, at least in medical terms between eliminating something and eradicating it. Adopting a goal of eradication, of poverty, as both sets of goals did, calls for its permanent removal from society, no easy task

Learning to realise Educations Promise World Development Report 2017

How to realise Education’s Promise: The Challenges: Schools are failing learners; Systems are failing schools; Learning outcomes are poor: low levels, high inequality, slow progress; Source: WDR 2018 Learning to realize education’s promise There are three characteristics of the report, among many, that in my view are of interest, are the emphasis, time and time again on thing being sustainable,; on the emphasis on people and the centrality given to eradicating poverty. Many of you will appreciate the significant difference, at least in medical terms between eliminating something and eradicating it. Adopting a goal of eradication, of poverty, as both sets of goals did, calls for its permanent removal from society, no easy task

How to realise Education’s Promise: The Actions Assess learning- to make it a serious goal; Act on evidence- to make schools work for all learners; Align actors to make the whole system work for learning; Source: WDR 2018 Learning to realize education’s promise There are three characteristics of the report, among many, that in my view are of interest, are the emphasis, time and time again on thing being sustainable,; on the emphasis on people and the centrality given to eradicating poverty. Many of you will appreciate the significant difference, at least in medical terms between eliminating something and eradicating it. Adopting a goal of eradication, of poverty, as both sets of goals did, calls for its permanent removal from society, no easy task

World Bank; UNESCO; UNICEF; OECD. Alignment: Goal 4 has 10 targets. Having all girls and boys complete free equitable and quality education is the primary one. Access for all to early childhood development and care, and to pre-primary education is the second. Eliminating gender disparities and dispariies that affect others, the poor, those with disabilities and indigenous peoples , and ensuring access to vocational and tertiary education are among the others. Again a reinforced emphasis on life long learning broadened the scope of the MDG, which spoke of adult literacy,

Our Montessori Response ?

Our response: 7 suggestions Continue our core work. More trained teachers. Reach the disadvantaged. Become strong advocates. Public investment in early years. Promote a child centered approach. Measure our work .

World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim “This learning crisis is a moral and economic crisis” “More than that, it is a great injustice; the children whom societies fail the most are the ones who are most in need of a good education to succeed in life”.

Thank you