Supported by the Erasmus+ program of the European Union
During the weekend of July 15 – 17, the third transnational meeting of the Montessori Adolescent Programme Inspiration (MAPI) project took place at Montessoriskolan Lära för Livet in Sätila, Sweden.
The school is the only one in Europe that operates a Montessori programme for adolescents. Some of the school’s alumni were also present which provided an opportunity to see their integration into further education as well as their community involvement. This meeting was a key meeting for the project partners because it enabled them to see a real life example of a school and farm environment prepared for adolescent activities. The students hosted the participants, showed them around the school and the farm and discussed with their school and out of school projects and activities.
The AMI/NAMTA Orientation to Adolescent Studies was also running at the school at the same time. The programme helps Montessori teachers, school administrators and youth workers from all over Europe to prepare for working with adolescents. 14 project participants were also attending this course and meeting them in the adolescent environment to discuss the progress of the course, their experience and feeling, the skills and knowledge gained and future expectations for adolescent work proved to very interesting for all involved. 3 participants from the Czech Republic will also share their experience with the Czech Montessori community as well as other interested public audiences through a series of workshops, seminars and online blogs in their country.
Last but not least, the project participants had the opportunity to meet experts on Montessori adolescent work from all over the world including David Kahn, Jenny Höglund, Patricia Pantano and John McNamara. They are not often to be found in one place and the participants were very grateful to them that they were willing to join the discussions and help to create the project outputs.