What Does It Mean to Be a Montessorian?

Featured in Direction Magazine

Here is a recent article I wrote for Direction Magazine featured alongside some other great writers like

Gillian Corke

,

Maati Wafford

, and Elena Stevenson.

Click here for the Summer Issue of Direction Magazine, a publication of the Montessori Society AMI (UK).

What Does It Mean to Be a Montessorian?

For many of us, Montessori training is more than professional development—it’s a conversion experience. We don't just learn a method; we step into a mission.

When I enrolled in AMI training in 2013, a mentor warned me it “wasn’t for the faint of heart.” He said it would “demolish who I was and rebuild me, piece by piece.” 😬

He wasn’t wrong: it was transformative. One of the core aims of Montessori training is the “spiritual preparation of the guide”—the idea that, to work in this way, your whole perspective has to shift. You must change your relationship with education, with children, and with yourself. It’s not just pedagogy, it’s a worldview.

That training became a cornerstone of who I am. I identify as a Montessorian—it’s woven through my values and professional life. And I feel deeply connected to Montessorians around the world who are part of this shared movement.

But this year I’m leaving the Montessori classroom and becoming a teacher within a different framework: Lumiar. So does this now make me a Lumiarian?

In this article, I want to reflect on what it really means to be a Montessorian—and how stepping outside the Montessori bubble has challenged and enriched my understanding of educational change.

Shifting Contexts

Before returning to the UK in 2023, I spent 10 years in North Carolina, first as an elementary guide in a private school, and then as an adolescent guide in a Montessori state school.

There are many more Montessori schools in the US than in the UK. Where I lived, in the Raleigh-Durham area, there are at least 10—several publicly funded, many with both primary and secondary programs. My last school had an enrollment of 620, which is three times the size of the largest Montessori school in the UK.

The Montessori network in the US is also better provisioned: training is more affordable, conferences more frequent, and professional networks stronger. More families can afford private education, Montessori state education is growing, and there are fewer systemic barriers to implementation.

But there are drawbacks. Yes, this system benefits Montessori and other progressive approaches—but does it benefit children? The school choice movement, charter schools, school vouchers, and a sprawling private sector undermine public education. They divert funding, reinforce privilege, and have contributed to a racially segregated school system. I write more about this here.

Montessori as a Colonizing Force

In UK Montessori, progressive schooling, and home ed circles, I’ve heard people advocate for funding to “follow the child,” as in the Texas School Voucher Program—but I’d caution against looking at the US with rose-tinted spectacles.

Returning to the UK has been a difficult transition. Where I live, just outside Bath, there are very few Montessori programs. The opportunity to work in a primary or secondary Montessori setting doesn’t exist. This has pushed me out of the classroom and into work as a coach, writer, and consultant—something that has, in many ways, been good for my growth.

Montessori Without the Materials

It’s also forced me to re-examine what it really means to be a Montessorian.

In the US, I was in a Montessori bubble. I worked in schools where we could afford to debate the “authenticity” of our implementation because we had trained teachers and fully resourced environments. We scoffed at “Montessomething” schools that didn’t meet our standards of fidelity.

But in the UK, Montessori schools don’t have that luxury. I support a micro-school that operates three days a week out of a community centre, with limited materials, an untrained teacher, and a 5-12 age range. It’s not a “high-fidelity” Montessori environment, but I’m glad it exists. The founders are deeply committed to creating something better for children, and Montessori philosophy has inspired them to do just that.

Some argue that poor implementation damages the credibility of the Montessori approach, and I don’t dismiss that. But I also believe we risk missing the bigger picture if we ignore the value of diverse, grassroots efforts to bring child-centred learning to life. I worry that we focus too much on protecting the brand “Montessori” and forget the larger mission. Rather than getting frustrated by “inauthentic” Montessori provision, what if better-resourced Montessori schools reached out to partner with and support others in our community?

It’s worth asking: what really unites us as Montessorians? What is our common cause? And what is our responsibility to that larger mission?

It reminds me of the story that, in her final public speech, Dr. Montessori said that we must stop looking at her finger and start looking at what she was pointing toward all along: the child. If we fixate on materials, training, and fidelity, we lose sight of the mission—the liberation of the child as the hope and promise for humanity.

Progressive Education

This, I believe, is a mission we share with many other child-centred pedagogies: Reggio Emilia, Steiner, Democratic Education, Unschooling, etc. Each method is different, but together we form a movement to change education.

Montessori in the UK would do well to align more closely with other progressive pedagogies. I especially recommend the work of Jo Symes and the Progressive Education network, which is doing important work to build those bridges.

In September, I’ll be launching a secondary program for the Lumiar School in Wiltshire. The Lumiar method is a progressive, student-centred model, founded 20 years ago in Brazil, that focuses on real-world learning, collaborative projects, and developing the whole child. Learn more here.

Introducing Lumiar Secondary

Lumiar shares similarities with Montessori—multi-age classes, hands-on learning, a holistic, child-centred approach—but there are key differences: it is project-based, more tech-forward, and there are no specialized materials.

There are aspects of my Montessori training I know will enrich my work at Lumiar, but I’m also prepared to learn from this new framework. Collaboration has become a guiding principle. I’m working alongside other educators from the Progressive Education network who are also seeking alternatives to the dominant paradigm, and it’s energising. For example, we’ll be using the Da Vinci curriculum from Biophilic Education, which shares many values with Montessori’s plan for Cosmic Education—connection, relevance, wonder, and interdependence.

Recently, I met with Zaure Vuk, the Montessori Mama, and she said something that’s stayed with me: “Dr. Montessori ended her life still in the process of learning; yet too often, as Montessorians, we show up as experts.” At this point in my career, I’m grateful to be in a position to learn again.

“Dr. Montessori ended her life still in the process of learning; yet too often, as Montessorians, we show up as experts.”

Zaure Vuk, Montessori Mama

So, what does it mean to be a Montessorian?

Perhaps it’s not about the materials, the albums, or the environments. Perhaps it’s about holding a certain vision of the child—and of humanity—and committing to build a world where that vision can flourish.

If that’s the case, then I’m still a Montessorian. But I’m also a learner, a collaborator, and a believer in a wider movement. And maybe that’s exactly what Montessori called us to be.