Finding Alignment, Not Balance with Katie Keller Wood

I think that's fantastic.

And, and, you know, for, for our listeners that aren't so familiar with Montessori, because this is an educational podcast, so I, I wonder, when you hear Montessori, I think, I think most people that don't know m- about, about, about Montessori, they think, oh, young children.

Right.

So what do you think that they don't understand about Montessori's role in adolescence?

Yeah.

So I mean, I think the, the wonderful thing that I try to tell people when they don't know what Montessori is, I said, "Montessori to me is two things." So one, it's a pedagogy, right? It's a way of educating children.

Um, and that's kind of as far as most people go with it, and they think of early childhood, which is the bulk of Montessori schools.

Um, but it's also a philosophy, and that's the piece that, you know, is so relevant to the work that I've done and, and, and how I've, you know, how it has transformed my life as a person and as an adult.

I wasn't a Montessori student myself.

I didn't go to a Montessori school.

I had no exposure to Montessori prior to going to my training.

Um, and I've seen it, you know, be life-changing, so that philosophy piece.

Um, but she wrote about the human, the human lifespan, right? She wrote about human development.

And so, you know, she didn't fully develop and test all of her ideas about adolescence, so it's not, um, you know, you don't see nearly as many middle and high school Montessori programs, but we're out there, and it's a holistic approach.

It's for the whole human.

It's for the whole lifespan.

And what do you think with that, what do you think Montessori gets right about this age range and that maybe some other models might miss?

Yeah.

So I think one of the beautiful things about Montessori, the word that she used is valorization, and that that is the point of what we're trying to offer to our adolescents.

And so valorization is Montessori's word of feeling strong, feeling worthy, feeling capable, feeling ready to take on your unique role in adult society.

Um, and so everything that we're doing is to prepare students, you know, and to help them to feel that valorization, so preparation for life, preparation for, you know, who they're meant to be.

And I, I think about at the young levels of Montessori, we're often really helping them develop that independence, right? At the secondary level, we still have that focus on independence, you know, that you need to be able to contribute, um, but there's also a focus on interdependence, and where is your unique role in this adult society? Because that's how society works, right? I need, I need you.

You need me.

I can't do everything, right? I don't know how to, um, fix my electricity in my house, right? So society works when everybody contributes.

Um, and so adolescents, you know, the, the, with that valorization, they leave, um, and they enter into that adult society feeling ready to contribute, feeling like they have something worthy to offer.