Parent Teacher Conferences

As we prepare for our first round of “parent / teacher” conferences this year, we thought we would take a few minutes to help articulate how Montessori handles these meetings. In many respects, we treat these conferences the same as traditional schools. They’re an opportunity to meet with families and discuss the development of their children. However, in a few key respects, they’re entirely different from the traditional approach to “parent / teacher” conferences.

First, the Montessori materials allow us an opportunity to evaluate a child each and every day. The activities offer positive feedback, and we’re able to assess, on an individual basis, the progress of each child. For example, if the child is able to complete a certain activity, on their own, without needing any assistance, from peers of guides, we know that they are ready to progress to the next work.

As you know, we don’t have homework, or tests, especially semesterly tests, but that doesn’t mean children aren’t evaluated, and their progress isn’t measured. We measure their developments, however, not based on the failures and successes of their peers, but on their own accord, in relation to their own unique development. Actually, our method of evaluation is the exact opposite of traditional schools: Montessori students test themselves rigorously, each and every day, without knowing they are testing themselves. We are highly aware of a child’s individual abilities, their challenges and their eases.

Typically, conferences in traditional education are often set up to identify “what we are doing”, and “what is going wrong” with your child. An emphasis is placed on, “No.” Teachers are trained to look for problems, and highlight mistakes, especially in comparison to how your child is progressing in relation to how their peers are doing in school: i.e.: what they are learning, how quickly they are learning it, what they failed to comprehend on a test, what mistakes their having with this or that concept or activity, always in relation to someone else.

In Montessori, instead, we concentrate on how your child is doing specificially and body-wide. Not in relation to anyone else but themselves. Our emphasis is placed on, “Yes.” Montessori conferences are comprehensive in scope, looking at the whole child’s development, not merely at the academic side of things. We’re concerned to address social interactions, home interactions, interactions in the community, and we go on to explain what your child is working on, and what they are challenged by, and where we see their progress developing.

Speaking of parent teacher conferences, we probably need a new term to describe the process, especially following our recent post on why we call “teachers” guides.