Our Facilitators
The Quality
The teacher is an “enlightened generalist,” with knowledge deep enough to know the fascinating details of each of the disciplines and broad enough to connect those details into a “big picture” across the disciplines. She is also fully trained in the principles of child development. She is not expected to specialise in subject matter; she is expected to specialise in the whole child. A teacher who has a child for all subjects for three years gains an intimate knowledge of the child, which is seldom possible in a one-year classroom relationship. The teacher is keenly tuned in to the unique personality of each child. This sensitivity permits the teacher to “direct” each child into areas of natural interest.
Teachers may introduce a new concept to the whole class or a small group, but thereafter, instruction is totally individualized, based on the interests, needs and developmental level of each child. Teachers scientifically observe students working at individual tasks to assess their progress, learning styles and interests. As students master each task, the teachers gently guide them to a new challenge, allowing them to move ahead at their own pace.
The People
The school management can be divided into two categories:
- Academic, led by the Principal
- Administration, led by the Managing Director
The Principal ensures the high quality of the education received by our students. She is in charge of the curriculum used. She also guides and assesses the facilitators' capabilities to help the students in reaching their full potential.
Our facilitators are picked carefully. They are accomplished in their chosen field, but most important of all, they must like children and enjoy being with them. External facilitators are also hired for specialised subjects such as Islamic Education, Yoga, Swimming, Tae Kwan Do and Mandarin.
The Managing Director oversees the general administration of the school. She is also in charge of the Finance and IT and ensures that the operation is run smoothly.
The Environment
The adults in the school prepare the environment with the physical and emotional needs of the student in mind. The prepared adult is just as important as the prepared environment, but no more so. The teacher is, in fact, the link between the prepared environment and the child. This is because her primary function is not as much to lecture and correct, as it is to direct a natural energy of curiosity in the child. This different approach to teaching also requires a new kind of training.
With proper training, the teacher acquires similar characteristics necessary for a scientist pursuing research. They will learn:
- Humility and patience
- A deeper sense of the dignity of the child as a human being
- An awareness of the child as teacher
- A new appreciation of the significance of the child's spontaneous activities
- A wider and more thorough understanding of the needs and talents of each particular child
- A quicker reverence for the child as the creator of the adult-to-be
The art of working with students in the Montessori model is knowing when and how to intervene and when not to.
