On February 15, 2008, Dr. Marlene Barron, chair of the nascent AMS “Montessori
in Asia” task
force, and Marilyn Stewart, AMS president, traveled to Beijing and Shanghai to
officially commence an active AMS relationship with schools and organizations
in China, promoting growth and high-caliber Montessori education in that country.
They will be there for about two weeks, meeting with key educators and government
officials to plan future collaborative conferences and lecture series within
China. They will also give presentations, open to the public, in both cities. A blog
of their journey, including details about their meetings with key people, as
well as photos and stories from their travels abroad, can be accessed via this
link:
http://amschina2008.blogspot.com/.
The task force was authorized by the AMS Board of Directors at their October meeting in Irvine, CA. This spring, Marlene and Marilyn will be reporting back to the Board and making recommendations on ways to support the development of high-quality “indigenous” Montessori teacher education programs and schools in China and Southeast Asia, and to establish an AMS presence throughout Asia.
Marlene, head of school emerita at West Side Montessori School in New York City, is currently the director of
New York University Montessori Teacher Education
and a commissioner for the
Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education
(MACTE).
Marilyn is head of school at
The Red Oaks School
in Morristown, NJ, and also serves on the board of the
New Jersey Association of Independent Schools (NJAIS).