MCI celebrates student and accreditation success

2010 Montessori Centre International Graduation and Montessori Evaluation and Accreditation Board Awards.

This year’s celebrations took place at the Institute of Education, University of London on Friday 3 December.  The ceremony was attended, despite the unusually cold and snowy weather, by almost 100 MCI graduates and 18 Montessori schools that achieved MEAB graduations during the year and their guests, totalling almost 300 participants.

It was a happy occasion during which Sugata Mitra, Professor of Education Technology at Newcastle University, presented the findings of his ten year research, which explores children’s ability to interact with computers without any formal instructions.  The premise of the research is built around the idea that children, being curious and inquisitive will discover through trial and error and co-operation the workings of the internet and will be able to learn by themselves, provided they are given an appropriate task and encouragement from adults. 

Having started in New Delhi in early 2000 and replicated in rural India, it has been continued in  Gateshead North East England,  in Italy and many other places around the globe.  The children’s enthusiasm and collaboration is a striking feature of this research, which endorses Montessori’s belief that children can learn by themselves.  They just need to be provided with a conducive  environment , no interference from adults, and time to explore the computer and how it works.  To find out more see www.TED.com

During the graduation the Ruth Bloomfield prizes were awarded to Sonali Mehta, Lucy Wolf and  Sarah Gibson acknowledging the students’  academic achievements during their studies at MCI.  The graduation  celebration also included the first group of Montessori Foundation Degree graduates.  The Montessori diploma students came from all over the UK, and countries as far afield as Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Syria.

The MEAB awards celebrated schools working towards best Montessori practice and included two Montessori schools from Accra, Ghana and Stebbing Primary school, the Essex local authority school for children from four to eleven years of age, where Montessori practice is embedded across the school.

The happy atmosphere continued well into the evening as graduates and school celebrated their successes with their friends and families.
 
For further information and to view photos of the event, go to blog.montessori.org.uk/