Spotlight Christine Harrison

Spotlights

We have the extreme privilege of introducing you to Christine Harrison. Christine has been involved in Montessori since 1985, and is currently the president of the Montessori Australia Foundation. She is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Association Montessori Internationale.

We were starstruck by the depth of her thoughtful responses. In particular, we are entranced by this notion that we’re all still trying to catch up to Maria Montessori and her rich and germinal insights. Christine is currently in Thailand attending the Educateurs sans Frontieres, and was nice enough to correspond! We hope you are as touched by her comments as we are inspired by her commitment.

Q: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? Your background, your interests, your dreams?

I was born in London, UK and left school at 17 to enroll in the University of Life. I moved to Australia in my early twenties, married and had a daughter. Parallel to my work in Montessori I trained as a community mediator eventually working as a trainer, mentor and coach. I also worked as a hospice volunteer and worked hard at continually developing my communication and relationship building skills. I believe relationships are at the heart of everything we do in life. My dream is that education will become more like Montessori without even knowing it!

Q: When you close your eyes late at night, and imagine waking up and starting a new adventure – what is that adventure?

I’d like to have the courage to lobby the Australian Government to organize Montessori programs for children living in detention centres and be the person to organize setting these up.

Q: Switching to Montessori, what advice do you have for people experiencing Montessori for the first time?

Have faith in children. They are born with everything they need to live – we just need to provide the right environment for their brains to construct themselves and to reach their potential whatever that may be.

Q: Could you tell us a bit about your path to Montessori?

My husband introduced me to Montessori when I was 3 months pregnant by giving me ‘The Absorbent Mind’. I didn’t understand a word of it! Somehow I found myself as a head of a Montessori school in Canberra where I worked for over 20 years.

“ My path began like so many others as a Montessori parent. ”

I volunteered on the parent run school committee and, acknowledging my skills in administration, I became the first paid employee of the school. My Montessori journey has been amazing and taught me so much about children and myself. Having reached the end of my useful time as a head of school I now focus on assisting the Montessori Australia Foundation with work on strengthening and growing Montessori in Australia. I also assist Montessori Public Schools in Thailand by coaching and mentoring administrators. I am also on the Advisory Council of AMI and involved with Educateurs sans Frontieres. I have two beautiful grandchildren who are in Montessori programs and I still struggle with reading The Absorbent Mind.

Q: Can you tell us more about the Montessori Australia Foundation?

The Montessori Australia Foundation is the peak body for Montessori in Australia with a visionary and diverse set of goals. We work hard to support schools, centres, teachers and parents to achieve optimum Montessori environments in both public and independent schools. Our work involves outreach to support Montessori in remote Indigenous communities, the development of Montessori practice and principles for people living with dementia, a Montessori Quality Assurance Progam and government lobbying and representation to achieve recognition of Montessori at the highest level.

Q: Did you have a “Montessori Moment?”

My most recent Montessori Moment was watching my 18month old granddaughter exploring a new environment and understanding that she is building her brain to make those vital connections. I left her alone for about half an hour and just observed – amazing!

Q: What’s your favorite Montessori quote?

“The child enables us to rediscover all we had lost, to remember what had been forgotten and buried in the depths of time, faded away from our memory. The child is our teacher of good work and fair love.” (The Three Levels of Ascent, 1938-9)

Q: What do you think is the best introduction to Montessori?

The best introduction is to see Montessori in action in a quality Montessori environment and to have someone to assist with an explanation of what’s happening.

Q: What continues to inspire you about Montessori?

I am inspired daily by the deep commitment of my Montessori colleagues to change the way think about education so that we are able to better meet the needs of the child and society as a whole.

Q: How have you seen Montessori change over the years?

That’s a very interesting question. I have seen a change in the area of parents moving away from being so involved with the management of schools, more Montessori programs that are struggling with attaining a quality environment and higher expectations from parents about what they feel should be provided in our schools and centres. There appears to be more emphasis on meeting government standards and less on the needs of the child.