David Sobel Presented at Montessori Conference

More than 400 teachers and administrators from Montessori schools throughout Massachusetts and New England braved the surprise snowstorm to meet at Dean College in Franklin for the annual conference of the Montessori Schools of Massachusetts.

AUNE Education faculty member and noted author, David Sobel, gave the keynote address, using images and video to describe projects all over the world where teachers have prioritized experiences in nature for children. He argued that we must distinguish between risk and hazard so that children get the freedom and trust to take reasonable risks and learn from them. He encouraged attendees to help children become intimately familiar with the land and the neighborhood where they live and go to school.

The conference also featured a broad range of professional development workshops for teachers and administrators. These included “Cultivating Ecological Literacy in the Montessori Classroom,” “In Depth Electricity,” and “Embracing Anti-Bias Work.”

There are over 120 Montessori Schools in Massachusetts alone.  For more information go to http://www.msmresources.org