Meet our lovely teachers at Otkrivatel School where we have Pre-school (2,5 – 6 years), Elementary (6 – 12 years) and Adolescents (12 – 18 years) classes. Here, students and teachers are partners in the process of self-construction and development.
Sam Leivers is AMI Montessori guide in the secondary school program. He combines a balanced and principled approach, a sense of humour and an inquisitive spirit, partnering with each student and creating opportunities for a maximum effort.
How do you plan your lessons to inspire children?
I plan lessons that leave the children wondering what’s next. Where can they go from my lesson to further explore? The child should be given the keys to further exploration they need to leave the presentation thinking that they can go further than the guide.
What signs do you get from the children that you’ve accomplished what you’ve set out to do?
When I see children discussing the lesson hours later or reading a book on the subject after the presentation. It gives me a warm feeling that I’ve laid the foundation. That i’ve ignited something inside the child that makes them want to learn more. Furthermore, there is an interest in the body language. They sit up straight and hang on your every word. This shouldn’t be a sign that you’re a great teacher but that you’ve let the subject do the talking and the child’s will has answered.
Most people think of puberty as a troubled age. How do you manage to help adolescents to rediscover themselves and their own Self?
The adolescent is allowed to reflect and be in charge of their own time. At this point in the child’s development they need time alone but they are also in need of guidance. Friendly support with a good dose of humour allows the child to feel wanted and they attain a sense of belonging in a physical environment when their inner hormones are going haywire.
What is the difference between learning in junior high in a Montessori school versus a traditional school?
The traditional school restricts the imagination and portions the child’s time into segments that often the child doesn’t have the emotion for at the particular time. Giving the child the freedom to choose their own work but the responsibility to finish gives them a sense of being important, worthwhile and lets them use their own inner-discipline to drive them to meaningful and inspirational work.
From the new school year, Otrkivatel becomes part of the global community of IB schools. What is an IB education?
To a Montessori child an IB education is not a new direction. The emphasis is still to nurture the child’s drive to find their cosmic task. The child is reminded of their position in the world and is allowed to think globally. Collaboration and self-driven success are some of the key tenets. That the child is already a Montessori child gives them an ideal foundation to become the global, internationally minded leader that the IB community yearns for.