Introducing Lumiar Secondary

And What is Lumiar Education?

For anyone who has been following me here on Marigold Montessori, you’ll know two things about me: I love teaching, and I deeply miss being in the classroom with teens. Since leaving the US and the large state-funded Montessori secondary program I helped establish, I’ve been searching for a new school to call home. Over the years, I’ve helped set up Montessori programs in the UK—Cardiff Montessori and Oak Tree Montessori—but both are too far away for a regular commute.

Now, I’m thrilled to announce that I’ve found a new opportunity right on my doorstep: partnering with Lumiar UK to create a transformative secondary program in Somerset/Wiltshire. This will be the first Lumiar Secondary program outside of Brazil! I believe in this school and its mission, and I’m excited to join its incredible team. We launch in September 2025.

I plan to regularly document our journey through this substack in the hope that I can help add to the movement for educational change in the UK. This last month, I’ve been launching the website, developing the program and curriculum, and beginning our marketing and enrollment drive. In February, we’ll be hosting four local information sessions in Bath, Frome, Bradford-on-Avon, and Trowbridge to advertise our programme. I am also looking for support with funding if anyone is willing to chip in a few quid!

What is Lumiar?

Lumiar Education is a progressive, student-centred educational model that aims to revolutionize traditional schooling by focusing on real-world learning, collaborative projects, and developing the whole child. Recognized by UNESCO, Stanford University, and Microsoft as one of the 12 most innovative education systems in the world, Lumiar was founded in Brazil over 20 years ago by a group of pioneering educators, including Ricardo Semler and Eduardo Chaves, inspired by Paulo Freire and UNESCO’s 1998 Delors Report, which outlined the Four Pillars of Education for the 21st century:

Learning to know - Mastering learning tools rather than aquisition of structured knowledge.

Learning to do - Equipping students for the types of work needed now and in the future, including innovation and adaptation of learning to future work environments.

Learning to live together - Peacefully resolving conflict, discovering other people and their cultures, fostering community capability, individual competence and capacity, economic resilience, and social inclusion.

Learning to be - Education contributing to personal development: mind and body, intelligence, sensitivity, aesthetic appreciation, and spirituality.

Lumiar’s methodology evolved collaboratively with educators, parents, and students at schools in São Paulo and Santo Antônio do Pinhal, including state-funded and private programs. This innovative model has since expanded globally, including in the UK with a Lumiar School in Stowford!

Here is a video of founder Ricardo Semler explaining the model:

I love this powerful question he asks:

How do you share, translate, and create an environment for wisdom? How do kids slowly learn how to be wise?

What makes Lumiar different?

Lumiar shares similarities with Montessori—multi-age classes, hands-on learning, and a holistic, child-centred approach—but there are key differences:

• Future-oriented and tech-forward: Lumiar uses the Mosaic digital platform to personalize learning while meeting national standards.

• Democratic governance: Students actively participate in decision-making about their education.

• Project-based learning: Real-world projects replace traditional, linear curricula.

• No specialized materials: Unlike Montessori, Lumiar’s approach is adaptable to different contexts and requires no specific equipment.

Key Components

I’ve broken down some of the programme components here, and each one is linked to a video explainer from Lumiar Education.

1. The Mosaic Curriculum & Competency-Based Framework:
   The Lumiar Curriculum is not linear or standardized, it is customized to each learner - hence “mosaic”. But then the Lumiar tutor is able to track and assess a child’s specific competencies through the online Mosaic platform, ensuring a balance between flexibility and accountability. So children can follow their own learning pathways, while still meeting national standards. This is therefore a scalable model for individualized learning.

2. Dual Facilitator Model:
   Lumiar’s dual facilitator model separates the roles of Tutors (holistic guidance) and Masters (subject specialists) to provide a holistic and dynamic learning experience. Tutors serve as mentors, focusing on students’ emotional well-being, personal growth, and overall learning journey, helping them co-create personalized paths and reflect on their progress. Masters, on the other hand, are subject-area specialists who bring expertise and real-world relevance to specific projects or skills, often working on a short-term basis to connect students with diverse fields like science, arts, or technology.

3. The Circle:
   At the heart of Lumiar’s pedagogy is the Circle, a daily or weekly gathering where students, facilitators, and masters come together to discuss, reflect, and co-create their learning journey. The Circle serves as a democratic space for decision-making, project planning, and community building. It’s where students’ voices are actively heard, fostering a sense of agency and ownership over their education. This practice not only mirrors the participatory ideals of democratic education but also creates a supportive environment for emotional growth, conflict resolution, and shared goal-setting.

How Lumiar is Transforming Education

There are several strengths of the Lumiar methodology that progressive educators can learn from:

• Scalability: Unlike Montessori or Waldorf, which require specialized training and materials, Lumiar’s flexible model can be implemented across diverse contexts at a lower cost. In the UK, where Montessori training and resources are often inaccessible, Lumiar’s approach could significantly widen access to progressive education.

• Effective use of technology: Unlike Democratic Education or Unschooling, which struggle with scaling because of a lack of alignment with national standards or tools for managing individualized instruction, the Lumiar Mosaic platform integrates personalized learning with competency-based assessments, ensuring alignment with national standards while maintaining flexibility.

• Innovative staffing: The dual facilitator model solves one of the biggest issues in staffing our schools. By having a pastoral specialist (Tutor) who collaborates with local experts (Masters) as needed, depending on the project, there is a lot more flexibility afforded. You no longer have to find subject-specialist unicorns who can do it all. As Daniel Castalho says below, now the teacher is nothing more than a “knowledge alchemist”, bringing learners, projects, and masters together.

What’s Next?

In upcoming posts, I’ll share more about our vision for Lumiar Secondary and why it’s so deeply necessary in the UK. For now, let me say this: Lumiar has the potential to become a beacon for transformative education in this country. Together, we can create something truly revolutionary—not just for the students who walk through our doors but for the future of education in the UK.

Consider supporting our mission here. Also, please don’t hesitate to reach out if you are interested, and please ask questions in the comments!