March/April 2006

This newsletter is the last for the 2005/2006 SAMA year and written on the eve of the Fourth Annual National conference to be held in Centurion, Gauteng on the 28th and 29th April 2006.

To date there have been about 150 delegate registrations which is quite disappointing considering that Gauteng is the largest of the SAMA geographical areas and that the speakers at the conference offer such an informative and entertaining line up. If you haven't registered yet and would like to attend, please phone Tina-Lynn Jones in the SAMA office, 072 609 5979 for a registration form.

Training Report
During the 2005/2006 year much time of each Executive Committee Meeting was spent discussing issues related to Montessori training. Some Training Institutions who are SAMA members agreed to making several concessions such as including SAMA membership for the first year of study in the fees of new students, agreeing to conduct short workshops at SAMA Special Interest Group Meetings at no or little charge to SAMA and some, even agreeing to training SAMA Members at their regular workshops and donating some of the proceeds to SAMA. A heartfelt thank you for these most generous offers!

The SAMA Executive Committee invited Lindsay van den Berg, in her capacity as Chairperson of the Montessori Trainer's Council to address the Exco meeting on 4th March and answer some of the members' questions. Sam Streak (General Secretary) took the following notes pertaining to the issues raised.

Summary of Meeting between Lindsay van den Berg and the SAMA Exco on 4th March 2006:
Lindsay explained that she was at the meeting in her capacity as Chairperson of the Trainers Council. The Trainers Council only represents 3 training organisations – Mercy Montessori Africa; Headstart and The Montessori Academy. She therefore could only speak for those 3 training organisations. Lindsay said that there were many others (non Council members) who may not necessarily agree with the views she expressed on behalf of the Council.

Condition of membership to the Trainer's Council was the compliance with its Constitution and training at level 5 or above. This means that it only precludes those who train below this level. There is however provision made in the Council's Constitution for all training centres to have observer status at meetings.

The background to the Council: It emerged from the need to bring conformity without uniformity to training organisations in Southern Africa. All known training centres were notified of its formation in 2004. The Council has a constitution and a board. They have meetings but are still trying to find their feet. Distances as well as the numerous commitments each member has, has made more regular meetings difficult.

Lindsay explained that she saw two main issues arising from the training sector. The first being the quality of training and the second "How do those who trained a while ago get RPLed?" Jenny added that the shortage of trained teachers was also a serious problem.

Lindsay said that members of the Trainers Council could not be held responsible for the lack of trained staff. She acknowledged that there could be an improvement in visibility from training centres so that more people train. However this costs money and like many people, training was not the sole focus of the Council members. Jenny said that school owners want clarity on how there can be more trained teachers available. Lindsay suggested that if there was a shortage, owners of schools could go to the local training houses and ask them: Can you train for me? Do you have students available that can be "booked"? In the short term, this is the only solution. Identify someone and put them through a training programme. Lindsay also said that schools themselves need to be inviting so that people want to stay in the profession. This is not a Southern African problem. It is an international problem.

Susanne added that part of the problem lies in the lack of professionalism of graduates. She gave some examples of her recent experiences during interviews where there was a complete lack of professionalism instilled in the applicants (all recent graduates). Lindsay acknowledged that, as a Montessori body in general, there was a need for more emphasis on professionalism. We needed to project this though through our own code of ethics; respect; grace and courtesy towards each other. This was applicable from Exco, to training centres, to schools to individual principals and school owners. We needed to all maintain confidentiality, be respectful, talk/discuss – not do things like "steal" staff.

Lindsay mentioned an article called "The Peace Table in the Boardroom". We needed to apply our knowledge all the time.

As a training centre Lindsay said she would appreciate feedback on her graduates – especially if they were lacking in certain areas. If she is not informed of any problems, it is difficult to address the problem, if one exists. Headstart would be looking at developing a questionnaire for schools looking at what was wanted in staff. This would help with Quality Assurance. Su added that another problem in training was that there were no criteria for the length of training and this meant people were under the impression that they could be qualified in less than 6 months.

Sam added that school owners themselves lacked professionalism and it was therefore difficult for students to always role model those in positions of authority. This also needed to be addressed.

In terms of marketing, training centres generally relied on students coming to them, and accepted these students at face value. Assessment has to be done in such a way that everything is done to get a student through the training. According to Lindsay, Training Centres are not allowed to fail students. Lindsay again stressed that giving feedback to training centres on graduates was so important in light of this.

Su said another issue that affected training was the growth of satellite centres – the quality of the trainer affects the training and the issue of qualifications of trainers is being addressed.

Lindsay reiterated that it was not the Council's place to prescribe to others. They can encourage peer review, working together and co-operation. There was also an acknowledgement that delivery between centres is different – the need for uniformity without conformity.

Bukelwa expressed concern at the quality of training. She said there was a lack of exposure to the materials and students needed much more hands on experience. Lindsay said the quality of training was historically poor. It was euro-centric and not updated regularly. The Council can only address those who come for help, and there was a willingness to help from the Council's perspective.

Bukelwa asked then how things could be improved with schools. How do we help upgrade those with poor training? She also asked:
1.  As a Council, were there any steps being taken to impact on quality. Lindsay replied that the Council was in the process of developing Minimum Standards for Trainings and in the future a course for trainers would need to be completed. The course would be accredited through SACE and registration with SACE would be for that of a TRAINER.
2.  For Principals and Owners: what are YOU doing to improve quality and standards? Lindsay replied that there was a need to develop a course for managers and principals and that in due course this would be done.
3.  The Observer Status on the Council – Bukelwa felt that liaising with working organisations more will help improve many aspects of training. She asked what could be done to ensure all trainers hear about the complaints about their graduates? Lindsay reiterated that the Council would feedback any information relating to one another to each other and that we have a responsibility to our peers to do this. The Observer Status on the Council included those at level four; did not include voting rights.

Lindsay thanked the Exco for inviting her to address these issues and explained that many of them would be dealt with on an on-going basis.

Jenny asked for the issue of RPL to be addressed. Lindsay explained that members should go back to their original colleges with the original materials, assignments etc so that these can be aligned with what is being trained now. Once this has been done, they will be told what is needed in order to be upgraded. The Colleges then each upgrade their own students. Lindsay said she would email a similar statement to Jenny for inclusion in the SAMA newsletter. There was acknowledgement of the problem for people who trained with organisations such as Inanda who did not issue diplomas and/or no longer exist.

On the issue of SACE. Lindsay said that she does not have a particular relationship with SACE as she was not in South Africa regularly enough – the same reason she does not get more involved with SAMA. The SAMA Exco needed to communicate and liaise directly with SACE.

Lindsay asked that it also be looked at, when re-examining the Constitution, that training centres be given voting rights, as well as schools. The categories of membership needed to be looked at and proportionally given more votes. This was a suggestion.

Qualified Membership
In May/June last year, as part of the quality upliftment and maintenance drive, the National Executive (with mandate from SAMA members) agreed to the implementation of three qualifications for Institutional (school) membership. These three qualifications were taken from the Accreditation document and aimed to establish the professional credibility of the school.

The qualifications have shown to be problematic in that although a high level training qualification is a highly desirable state if quality and professionalism are to prevail, there appears to be several schools that are yet to achieve this status. The Executive Committee have debated this matter at length and although there is not complete consensus of what the qualifications should be a fair set of rules for School (previously Institutional) membership have been arrived at. These are:

1.  The School must have and use a fair representation of Montessori didactic equipment in all subject areas of the learning environments in accordance with the SAMA guidelines for equipment available from SAMA on request.
2.  The School must have mixed age groups of 3 year age bands, in accordance with Montessori age bands, in each learning environment.
3.  A minimum of 50% of the School's teaching personnel must hold a qualification on NQF level 5 or be in training for an NQF level 5 qualification, with a recognized Montessori Training Centre that is registered with the EDTP SETA.
     Proof of qualification status, or Student status must accompany new or renewal membership applications. 'Teaching personnel' is any directress or assistant who presents Montessori activities and exercises to the charges in their care.
     It is recommended (although not essential) that the balance of the 50%, where possible, also be in training in a recognized Montessori training programme.

It is to be noted that one of the main requirements of SAMA and many Institutional members is that ALL Montessori schools maintain a high level of quality that can only be achieved if their teaching staff are trained and qualified. If you are experiencing problems in this area, please contact Heidi van Staden on 083 268 0968.
"We are the sowers – our children are those who reap. We labour so that future generations will be better and nobler than we are" – (Maria Montessori)


Best Wishes
"I wish the new National Executive Committee and the President, Christine Clark all the very best for the coming SAMA year. I also wish to thank the 2005/2006 committee for their support during this most fruitful past year. To the outgoing Exco members, all the very best wishes in all your intended endeavours – it was a privilege working with all of you!
Jenny Miller – SAMA President. 082 602 4427 email: jlm@iafrica.com

Montessori, Movement and Learning Readiness
(An essay by Exco member Susanne van Niekerk)

Recent research conducted in Pretoria (2003) has found that up to 51% of children at school have some sort of learning difficulty. Labels abound – ADD/ADHD, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Low Muscle Tone to name but a few. The question on everyone's lips – WHY?

Much research points to the fact that most learning difficulties stem from an under-developed or inefficient neurological system - in other words, that the brain has not formed adequate neural pathways required in order for efficient learning to take place.

Learning readiness in the young child depends mainly on three broad factors: Attention, Balance and Coordination. In order to be able to learn, the child must be able to pay attention to what is being taught. Paying attention requires the focusing of conscious awareness upon a specific task while rejecting all other irrelevant sensory stimuli such as background noise, movement etc. Coordination requires that the child has successfully passed through all the normal developmental stages of primitive and postural reflexes in order to build a solid foundation for automatic motor control.

But by far the most important factor affecting the child's ability to function and learn efficiently is his sense of BALANCE.

Through a pre-programmed innate developmental movement sequence, every child in the world gains mastery over his own body through repeated movement resulting in his being able to maintain his balance over an increasingly smaller area of support – the newborn infant requires a supporting surface for the entire body, whilst the toddler, through innate knowledge and constant repetition has built enough balance to allow him to progress through the stages of crawling, sitting and eventually walking which requires a much more advanced state of balance in order to be supported only by 2 feet!

Efficient balance is crucial as the child continues to develop in order that he may develop the concepts of proprioception (the knowledge of his body in space), muscle tone (the degree of readiness to respond in relaxing muscle), laterality (knowing that there is a midline and being able to cross this midline spontaneously), and directionality (choosing a dominant side and being able to identify the concepts of right, left, above, below, in front of and behind). All base concepts required for the later efficient inter-hemispheric brain operations required for higher level concepts of reading, spelling, writing and maths.

Preschoolers today in general are not developing adequate balance skills on which to build an efficient 'learning-ready' system. Why?

Neural pathways are created in the body through repeated movement. As the body moves, electrical impulses are generated that start the construction of a neural pathway. Constant repetition of the same movement 'cements' this pathway and once this has been achieved, the movement no longer has to be thought about, but is taken into the 'subconscious'. Now the body is free to think about the next, more advanced step of movement (and balance) control.

In our increasingly more technologically advanced and frantic lives, we have allocated very little time or inclination for our children to be able to move as freely as they were created to do. Babies are no longer left to lie and roll on the floor, to strengthen head, neck, eye and arm muscles. Instead they are carried around in car seats and rockers that inhibit head movement. Or placed into moulded 'doughnuts' or walking rings that inhibit the movements required in order to learn to sit and walk unaided.

In short, the children that come into our pre-schools are already at a disadvantage in terms of their neurological development.

Maria Montessori was an ardent believer in the link between movement and neurological development, and it is through her work and research that we as Montessorians are able to give today's preschool child an added advantage in terms of his building of concrete neural pathways.

In her book, The Absorbent Mind, Dr. Montessori writes:
"One of the great mistakes... is to think of movement by itself, as something apart from higher functions... Mental development must be connected with movement and be dependent on it."

As Montessorians, we are taught to look for the child's Sensitive Periods – those times when the child 'shows an intense interest for repeating certain behaviours at length..., until – because of this repetition – a fresh function suddenly appears with explosive force' (The Absorbent Mind). Repeated movements done with the exercises of Practical Life and Sensorial activities in particular are most beneficial to the development of the child's neural pathways. Allowing the child to work uninterruptedly within the Cycle of Activity ensures that the child can develop concentration and learn to focus his conscious awareness on that one specific task to the exclusion of all other sensory stimulus (Attention!).

Montessori's progression of materials from concrete to abstract in gentle steps further falls in line with the body's natural cycle. As an infant, the child first needs to become familiar with himself before he can abstract any thought onto external objects. Just as the child needs to understand his own internal body map (i.e. where his nose is in relation to his eyes) before he can understand his body position in relation to another object or even later the position of two objects in relation to each other, so does the Montessori equipment allow him to learn to understand the concrete expression (though his senses) before taking him on a gentle, easy to understand journey into the abstract world.

Following the body's natural proximo-distal development sequence (from the centre outwards), Montessori works with the same principles of working and mastering gross motor (muscle) skills first before adding the more complex fine motor skills. For this purpose the exercises of Practical Life and Sensorial are structured in such a manner that the child will first learn to master the easier 'gross motor' activities of squeezing water between two bowls with a sponge, before he moves on to the more intricate 'fine motor' activities of picking corn kernels from one container to another with a pair of tweezers.

Other examples of the development of large muscles (and in so doing the development of neural pathways!) are the exercises with the Pink Tower, the Broad Stair, the Red Rods and the Large Number Rods. Each of these activities requires ten different trips between rug and shelf interspersed with smaller muscle movement in the actual working of the activity.

Two of the most phenomenal activities devised by Dr. Montessori to aid the child in his motor and neural development are the Silence Game and Walking on the Line. Walking on the Line and its variations helps to develop the child's sense of balance (so vital for later higher level functioning), his control of movement and an awareness of his body in space. The Silence Game represents the most advanced level of movement and balance – the ability to stay totally still.

As Montessori educators today, we are all aware of the vast advantages that Montessori children have over those in traditional schools. What many of us fail to realise though, is just HOW widespread and fundamental Dr. Montessori's understanding of the human body and brain's development was.

In terms of 'learning readiness' – a child who goes through the Montessori system in the manner that Dr. Montessori intended the materials and the philosophy to be used, should by all intents and purposes certainly be well equipped with the 'Attention, Balance and Coordination' required in order to be fully learning ready when moving on to 'big school'.

"Nature has given to this new person (the child) its laws, and all that takes place is not in our hands. Not that we cannot help, we can and do, but we had an idea that it was we adults who built him, and that we must do everything for this little child instead of seeing how much he can give us ... in the child is much knowledge, much wisdom." (Reconstruction in Education)

So - when in doubt, let us trust in Dr. Montessori's training and research and remember above all to - FOLLOW THE CHILD - he knows what is required in order to build the most efficient neural pathways in his brain!

Susanne van Niekerk - March 2006