The Montessori Group launches €90,000 European Research Fund. The fund aims to develop collaborative research into the Montessori approach in the 21st century. Aiming to shape a modern, emerging understanding of the importance of the method. The new research fund will help shape understanding of how the Montessori method can be applied today across settings in the UK and Europe, and be used to ensure every child receives quality education.
Funded by Montessori St Nicholas Charity, the charitable arm of the Montessori Group, the European Research Fund will gain the experiences and voices of practitioners, researchers, educational leaders, students, and children. This will be used to guide and influence education for all ages and stages of practice.
The launch follows the collaboration between the Montessori Group and the Carnegie School of Education at Leeds Beckett University to create the International Montessori Institute.
The institute provides the UK’s first dedicated undergraduate and postgraduate courses leading to PhD and Professorship in Montessori education. The institute is aiming to place the UK and Europe on the same level as USA in terms of Montessori research, as this is where the majority originates from.
The fund is open to research and practitioners who are keen to provide their first-hand insight into the Montessori approach in practice. The applications panel is keen to support projects that aim to directly improve lives and opportunities for those in areas of socio-economic deprivation, or address challenges faced by developing countries, in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Leonor Stjepic, CEO of the Montessori Group, says:
‘We are thrilled to be launching the European Research Fund, supporting innovative projects that will inform the application of Montessori practice in 2021 and beyond, and bring the approach to many more children across the globe. The origins of the Montessori method were rooted in the global levelling up agenda of the early 20th century, and as we look to build back better after the pandemic, the approach has never been more relevant. Montessori activities can be adopted in every home by every family, and this will help develop a better understanding of what it can do for all.’
Source Early Years Educator