Jeff Bezos was a Montessori kid

Several weeks ago, I shared about the impending childcare crisis in the US. Did you know that universities and colleges all over the US are either shutting down their early childhood education programs or combining them with another degree? Why? Because it doesn't make sense for higher education institutions to dedicate whole degree programs to send graduates into low-paying jobs. Each week, as a teacher educator, I champion teachers-in-training during class. I talk about how valuable their work is, and I encourage them to keep up with best practices, even when it feels more complicated. Some weeks, I feel torn. How can I continue encouraging folks in this work when it sometimes feels too hard to be worth it? Educators should be treated as professionals. "Do it for the kids" is a harmful phrase, not a cute platitude slapped on a coffee mug. We wouldn't expect doctors to "do it for the patients." Teaching isn't a superpower or character trait; it's a profession. Educators are professionals and should be treated and compensated like professionals. Do educators, specifically Montessori and early childhood educators, feel like they are met with more respect when the focus is on academics instead of development?

Maria Montessori advocated for the well-being of the child. She designed Montessori education not to prepare children academically but to create an educational environment where children, regardless of age, have an environment designed with their stage of development in mind. Child development is at the heart of Montessori education. However, somewhere in the last century, academics have become a major selling point of Montessori education in the US.

"Our care of the child should be governed, not by the desire 'to make them learn things,' but by the endeavor always to keep burning within them that light which is called the intelligence." Maria Montessori, Spontaneous Activity in Education.

Dr. Montessori knew that children thrive when they are cared for by educators with a deep understanding of and respect for their developmental stage. She emphasized infancy and early childhood because she knew we could build a whole new society if we focused on supporting the youngest children to meet their fullest developmental potential. Today, the value of early childhood education is placed not on the importance of childhood but on the next phase that childhood is preparing a child for. Dr. Montessori knew the importance of early childhood and meeting children where they are with respect. However, Montessori education has become watered down, especially in the US. Most Montessori schools in the US emphasize academic development and brag about how Montessori education prepares children for a competitive, ever-changing workforce instead of emphasizing supporting human development. Academics is the icing on the cake; in the US, we want icing on top of an inedible cake. Many schools boast proudly of Montessori graduates like Jeff Bezos as if to say look! Montessori education can crank out future billionaires.

We've gotten it wrong, and I think Maria would roll over in her grave if she knew that a man like Jeff Bezos, a billionaire with questionable business ethics, is being held up as the ideal benefactor of Montessori education. The goal of Montessori education is liberation and human flourishing. Ask one of Amazon's lowest-paid workers about their liberation or working conditions, and you may find that Mr. Bezos may not have internalized much of his Montessori peace education.

Don't tell me that Montessori cranks out billionaires. Tell me that it cranks out curious people with a deep understanding of human connectedness. Tell me that Montessori schools crank out students who think beyond their own needs and want to solve problems for the greater community. Tell me that Montessori kids will grow up as adults who think twice before exploiting others.

So, where do we go from here? I'm unsure, but we can't stop talking about it. We have to advocate for work with the youngest children and for the educators who support the youngest students. We have to look at public policies that impact the funding of quality early childhood programs (instead of relying on early education to be funded by folks like Bezos). We must stop preparing children for what's to come and focus on where they currently are. We also must grow in understanding women's unpaid labor in the US. Did you know that Maria Montessori was a staunch feminist, and one of her goals for the earliest Montessori schools was to create quality childcare so women could actively participate in the workforce? We must keep those values in mind as we move forward in the work of Montessori education, or else we risk cheapening this beautiful pedagogy down to "your child could be the next Jeff Bezos if you send them to a Montessori school!"

As always, thanks for reading. I hope this can turn into a bigger conversation! How do you feel seeing folks like Jeff Bezos touted as Montessori graduates? What traits do you think would belong to the ideal Montessori graduate?