Yeah but...

How many times this year did I or one of my peers say, yeah, but we are a public school. How many times did I use that as an excuse to not observe, to not make nomenclature, to not individualize a lesson, or keep track of what a student knows or hasn't quite learned yet.

Why is this used as an excuse, a crutch, to not have to follow through on who we are supposed to be. I was thinking today, because I do think from time to time, that I don't want to use that as a crutch anymore. We are a Montessori school. We are not a public school who happens to like some things about the Montessori philosophy. We are a Montessori school, that is public. There are also Montessori schools that are private, or charter. They are all Montessori, and that is how we need to see it if we are to trust the philosophy. It may seem like a silly little game of language semantics. But words are very powerful. Everytime I say that I serve at a public school, that means that somewhere in the back of my mind, I am acknowledging that I answer to the public school perspective first, then the Montessori comes later. When I begin to say that I serve at a Montessori School, it changes that perspective.

We may argue that those other Montessori schools just don't have the same problems we do. That is a correct argument. But it isn't one that we should continue to use as an excuse. Private Montessori schools have to worry about parents breathing down their necks all the time, trying to control what they do. They also have the issue of fundraising and making sure finances are available to pay the staff and supply the rooms. Many of our peers in Montessori private schools don't have very good insurance plans, if any at all. Montessori charter schools have the pressure to succeed immediately and are always under scrutiny, operating under the threat of losing their charter.

We are Montessori - with a public set of problems. Let's help each other to not use that as an excuse that keeps us from fully embracing the Montessori Philosophy.