Leading a Montessori school to success and stability is becoming more challenging. Between serving more students with a variety of needs, responding to dismayed or divisive parents, supporting stressed or squabbling staff, and those ever-present enrollment challenges, understanding how to create a “learning environment” in which adults, as well as children, are growing, changing, improving, and collaborating is more critical than ever. 

Harvard Business Review has been an invaluable resource for organizational leaders for decades. Now, you can directly apply the research in HBR articles to your Montessori community, program, people, and leadership. 

Jonathan has carefully selected 24 topics of inquiry, each of which directly addresses a specific school leadership objective or challenge. Participants will have the opportunity to view a 20 - 30 minute leadership-related video each week, followed by an invitation (but not a requirement) to join a small group of Montessori school leaders (8 – 12 people) to share ideas, provide support, and create action plans on the current topic of inquiry. Topic videos will be posted at the beginning of each work week. The 90-minute small group online discussions will occur on weekends and will be scheduled according to the needs, personal schedules, and time zones of the members of each small group cohort.

IMPORTANT NOTE: While some topics in the Leading Edge Leadership Series relate only to school management, many topics address communications, conflict resolution, coaching, mentoring, and training that a Montessori teacher will find invaluable in their work with their teaching partners, fellow staff, parents, and students. 

Module 1 

HELPING YOUR PEOPLE BE AT THEIR BEST EVERYDAY

WITH STUDENTS, WITH ONE ANOTHER, WITH PARENTS, AND WITH YOU

•  “All They Need is Love.” Helping People Work Harder and Better – Research

suggests that when staff feel appreciated for who they are and for what they have

contributed to the organization they are motivated to work harder and smarter. Learn

the kind of leadership language that builds confidence, trust, loyalty, and willingness to

improve.

• “Feedback That Motivates People to Change” – Current Research - There

are words that tend to motivate people to change their thinking and behavior and

improve work performance. And there are forms of feedback that tend to make people

defensive and resistant. Learn how to build feedback on observed strengths,

accomplishments, and common goals, to help your staff grow.

• “Why People Don’t Ask for Help” – How You Can Change That - Professor of

leadership development, Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries states “If you want to be fulfilled

and successful at work, it’s important to acknowledge when you’re working beyond

your individual capacity and be open to seeking assistance.” Examine the key inhibitors

to asking for help and learn how to “rewrite the inner script,” enabling those you

lead to overcome self-limiting mindsets and reach out for support.

•  “Mining the Talent Buried in Your School Community?” - As much as we talk

about the importance of independence, empowerment, and collaborative learning in

Montessori education, few schools cultivate and optimize the experience, talents, and

knowledge of their most capable students, staff, parents, and leaders. School

communities that do, typically exhibit better morale, work performance, collaboration,

retention, and succession management.

• “Reframing the Role of the Assistant Teacher”

To Be More Engaged, More Effective, & More Committed to Your Program -

In many Montessori programs, the Assistant Teacher is viewed and treated like a

blue-collar worker, assigned fixed roles of “custodian of the prepared environment” and

“behavior management S.W.A.T. team.” Might there be a relationship between the

challenges we often face with Assistant Teachers: turnover and retention,

miscommunications and conflicts among teaching team members, lack of Montessori-

attunement – and how we view them, treat them, and limit their empowerment and

classroom contributions?

• “Getting Parents Motivated to Understand the Montessori Way” -

To Be More Engaged, Cooperative, & Committed to Your Program - What we

don’t know about the parents in our classrooms and schools can adversely impact their

children’s learning and development, your faculty’s instructional effectiveness, the

degree of parent volunteer support, and even their decision to stay for the full scope of

our program. Discover what makes parents tick, ticked off and tickled pink about your

Montessori program and school community, as well as how you can guide teachers to

be more positive and responsive with parents.