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Dear Friends:
This June the Montessori Foundation will cosponsor a conference in Troy, New York that might be of interest to you and your staff. While the conference organizers are not a Montessori group, several of us will be there to keynote and offer workshops to both Montessori educators and progressive school people as well. It is both a Montessori conference, and something more and new and different. You've probably heard me talk about how much we have in common with Waldorf, Quaker, Progressive, and Holistic schools. More and more, the Montessori Foundation has begun to reach out to non-Montessori groups who share most, if not all, of our basic values and beliefs. Maybe we can learn something from them. Or perhaps they will learn something from us. We are still pulling the program together. If you or anyone from your staff might be interested in presenting, please let me know as soon as possible. Also, if there are any topics that you wish could be covered, please let me know, as we have some flexibility. This is a fairly informal and inexpensive conference. For those of you familliar with the concept, much of the conference will be run as Open Space, but we are also planning a program of Montessori-specific seminars for both the non-Montessori track and the Montessori teachers, heads of schools, and board members who come. I have included information below from Jerry Mintz, my friend and colleague
whose organization is the primary sponsor of the conference. When you
look at who some of the keynote speakers will be, and the topics that
they will cover, you may find this to be a small conference that is definitely
worth attending. The conference information follows below: AERO CONFERENCE 2005: A Spectrum of Alternatives For the first time in memory there will be a conference featuring a thorough mix of Montessori and other educational alternatives. Tim Seldin, Director of the Montessori Foundation will be a keynote speaker, bringing his work up north to Troy, NY. The Montessori Foundation will be a cosponsor of the Alternative Education Resource Organization's 2005 Conference. It is called "A Spectrum of Alternatives." The conference will be held from June 22-26 at Russell Sage College.
The conference will also have as keynoters John Gatto (Dumbing Us Down, The Underground History of American Education), Alfie Kohn (Punished by Rewards, What Does it Mean to Be Educated), Matt Hern (Deschooling Our Lives, Field Day), and Ann Cook, Principal of the ground-breaking public alternative
in New York City, Urban Academy. In addition there will be a panel of successful graduates of educational alternatives, a panel of current students, a workshop on how to democratize a Montessori School by Sharon Caldwell, Nahoon School, East London, South Africa, a workship on how other alternative schools can use Montessori Materials,
just to name a few. There will be several video documentaries of alternative schools. Furthermore, the prices of housing, food, and conference fees are designed
to be unusually low, particularly for students. Students are encouraged
to attend and participate. The Russell Sage campus is ideal for a self-contained conference with comfortable meeting spaces, a multi-purpose room, and buffet-style meals. For further information go to: http://www.educationrevolution.org/conference.html To register, go to: http://www.educationrevolution.org/registration1.html Space at Russell Sage College is limited! Register soon!
Tim Seldin |
