MONTESSORI TRAINING CENTER

The mission of the Montessori Teacher Training Center is to empower teachers to teach with excellence and to guide, honour, and invest in the next generation of Malawian leaders the children.

The Montessori Early Childhood (2 ½-6 yr old) Education Diploma Program has been designed in partnership with the Montessori Training Center in Shingle Springs, California U.S.A. We thank MTC Shingle Springs for their ongoing support of our work in training teachers. Beginning in 2007 until today, MTC Shingle Springs, now under the directorship of Libby Armanino, continues to provide guidance and support for our work in Montessori Teacher Training.

After Maribeth Sexton completed a mission trip to Blantyre, Malawi in May of 2007, a team of Montessori teachers were inspired (Kim Yeager and Laura Witwer) and began preparing to plant a Montessori school in Malawi. Additional Montessori teachers assisted the project for an entire year. From September 2007 to June 2008, the strategic planning and material development began. In June of 2008, a team of 13 teachers and three young people flew to Blantyre, Malawi to set up a school and engage in teacher training at a potential orphanage site in Ndirande, Malawi.

The Montessori Teacher Training Centre has been training 300-350 teachers yearly in short courses and the Montessori Diploma in Early Childhood Education since 2008. As a training centre, we have a reputation for excellence in teacher training. We have an expanding client base. Our Montessori Diploma in Early Childhood Education and other courses are extremely popular. Our Diploma in Montessori Early Childhood Education provides thorough instruction in philosophy and methodology and application and evaluation of skills in the field. Our adult learners have over 309 hours in direct instruction through lectures. We have five practicum sites where our adult learners need to teach 2 ½ to 7 year old children for an entire school year under the supervision of our MTC instructors. They spend at least 875 hours in practicum.

Training expanded to include additional programs for the wider community, these are;