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Montessori Teacher Education Exercise

First doctoral program starts in May at UW-River Falls


March 15, 2022 -- The University of Wisconsin-River Falls will make history this summer as the university’s first Doctor of Education degree begins.

The Ed.D. program in Montessori Studies is one of the first such programs in Montessori studies in the United States.

The hybrid program gets underway Monday, May 23, with 14 students from across the nation. The students will start their two-week residency at UW-River Falls on Monday, June 20. There will be an on-campus opening on Saturday, June 18.

The University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents approved the program in February 2021. 

“We have a very diverse group,” said Kateri Carver, interim director of the Ed.D. Montessori program and director of the graduate Montessori Teacher Education Department. The three-year program includes 54 credits. 

“The UWRF program is novel and exciting because it has several specific tracks within the Montessori Studies Program such as intergenerational care and social justice,” Carver added.

“At the core of Montessori education methodology is the importance of dignity and respect of the individual,” Carver said. “It is about the potential of the student to become the best person they can be and contribute to the world. Integral to the philosophy is that we’re not alone. We are in a community and a network that should be part of a purpose.”

Although the Montessori pedagogy and philosophy have been around for over 100 years, there have been very few doctoral programs in the world that have focused on the Montessori method of education.

Maria Montessori

Maria Montessori was an Italian physician, educator and innovator. She opened the first Montessori school in Rome in 1907. She graduated from medical school in 1896, one of the first female physicians in Italy.  She opened a full-day childcare center in a poor inner-city district of Rome, the first of its kind. Using scientific observation and experience, Montessori designed learning materials and a classroom environment that fostered the children’s natural desire to learn and provided them the freedom to choose their educational materials.

With March being Women’s History Month, it is of note Montessori campaigned vigorously on behalf of women’s rights. She wrote and spoke frequently on the need for more opportunities for women and was recognized in Italy and beyond as a leading feminist voice.

UWRF 1907 alum Helen Parkhurst, a Durand native and named a UWRF Distinguished Alum in 1960, studied with Montessori in Rome and for a time served as director of all Montessori schools in the U.S.

 She wrote several books on education and developed the Dalton Plan, a method of education where students work at their own pace and receive individual help from the teacher when necessary. 

“Her intelligent activity is truly rare and precious,” Montessori once said of Parkhurst’s career.

Learning from each other, networking

Carver said she is thrilled to have the doctoral program start. 

“It is exciting to think about embracing a co-teaching model at the UWRF campus at a graduate level,” Carver said, noting both professors with Montessori education credentials along with other professors will be teaching classes. The goal is to collaborate and apply knowledge.

UWRF started the Master Montessori Program in 2012. There are fewer than 10 university-based such programs in the nation. The program is accredited through the Montessori Accreditation Council of Teacher Education (MACTE).

“We are one of only two public universities in the U.S. that offer Montessori Teacher Education programs,” Carver said.

During the summer residency portion of the program, Ed.D. students are encouraged to stay on campus. Students will engage in networking events and cohort community-building activities.

“It is all about learning from each other and networking and supporting one another,” Carver said.

For more information about the new degree, email kateri.carver@uwrf.edu.

 

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