Is there another way to teach our children?

In conversation with Montessori Under 3 teacher and parent of two Montessori East graduates, Tea Bezos

What if there is another way for children to learn and go through schooling? This is the question Tea Bezos, Under 3 teacher at Montessori East, asked herself when she had her son, Sam. 

Before she had children, Tea was a teacher for over a decade in a variety of education systems; public, Anglican and Catholic, at both secondary and primary levels. She knew when she met her son she wanted to educate him differently. This is her story of how she let her son be her guide.

I was already teaching for 10 years before I had children. I thought I knew what education was all about. But, when we had Sam, I knew this kid. I recognised him as one of the children in my classroom and I could already see the struggle he was going to have ahead of him if I were to send him to a traditional school. So I started to look for something different.

We moved to Bondi when we had both Sam and Zara, so I called Montessori East and did a tour. It was clear from the tour that this was the place for our family.

Initially the school was full, so when we received the rejection letter for a place for Sam I cried. I decided the only way to get him in was to show my face and show my interest. I would come to the office every week with the children to see if there was a place. On one of these occasions, I overheard Raji talking to Bill Conway (Principal 2007 to 2020) about starting an Under 3 program. Sitting in reception, I stood up and said ‘I’ll sign up’. From this point onwards, my journey began and I started going to the Under 3 program weekly. I went through a process of unlearning and relearning my teaching, and I learnt it all from Raji, our school elder. It just felt right in my gut. I had to follow it.

Starting the Under 3 Program

The program literally built itself from the discussions we had as parents sitting around a circle having chats without materials. With time, Raji invited me to work with her, so I came early to set up with her and we would talk. Then one day out of the blue she asked me if I wanted a job. I said ‘no’, and explained the children were still too little. The next day, there was a contract in my letterbox. I just laughed. Raji was not going to take ‘no’ for an answer. I conceded and started doing two days a week for a couple of hours a day. It was manageable and Raji made it so. She knew, as a postpartum doula and Montessori educator. She was (and still is) so incredibly knowledgeable, she held my hand to get me started and build my confidence.

Raji my mentor 

Raji was my mentor. Classes were in the morning, and after class we would have lunch together. It was never an ordinary lunch, it was a debrief of the session and a discussion about what we could do to improve or make adjustments. 

Raji was having a grandchild at the time and I had my two under the age of 3, so we shared our first-hand experiences and used these experiences to help form the program. I learnt from Raji that Montessori was not about making perfect children but about learning how to live together.

Research-based education

If you look at the philosophy - Montessori is research-based. She watched the children, observed them and created programs to teach them. Every other education model is theory based, which an adult has constructed and then tells the child how they should and shouldn’t learn and behave. Our current education system in the traditional sense comes from the top down. The manifestation of the Under 3 program was around what the children showed us they needed.

I can’t go back to teaching the way I used to. When I first started my Montessori 0-3 Diploma training I wanted to tackle people down the street and wake them up to what was really going on.

The ball at the edge of the pond

The top three things I love about Montessori education are:

• It is based on respect
• Joy
• Observation

I don’t know any other educational model that bases their education on these aspects.

The analogy I use, instead of telling the child what to do, I say it’s like putting a ball at the edge of the pond and asking the child to find a way to get it to the middle of the pond. The existing education system tells them to just throw it in the middle. Can you see the difference? Where is the thinking, problem solving and sense achievement that adds to their belief in themselves and builds towards their self-esteem when the deed is accomplished in the traditional model?

Bringing Montessori to the masses

What I now realise is that the method is not well known enough and ideally this is the education that should be for everyone. I feel the propensity now after a decade of teaching Montessori that it’s my time to put up my hand and look at ways to get research done and get the Montessori philosophy understood in the mainstream.

My dream would be to obtain government funding to start a research project. It’s not good enough anymore, we don’t exist if we don’t have government backing. I have to do something, for all of us and the next generation of children; my grandchildren and beyond.

Curious to see what Tea means about letting the child guide you?

Filmmaker Alexandre Mourot set his camera up in the oldest Montessori school in France (with children from 3 to 6) and observed. In his film Let the child be the guide (2017) the children guide him throughout the whole school year, helping him to understand the magic of their autonomy and self-esteem – the seeds of a new society of peace and freedom, which Maria Montessori dedicated her life work to.