What are Education and Peace and M.R.I.T.
Education and Peace
Education and Peace: from the title of a series of conferences given by Maria Montessori to a project comprising different actions whose purpose is the transformation of the relationship between the adult and the child/adolescent. The acknowledgement of needs young human beings have if they are to follow their natural development , helping them to build self awareness and to become active in the world. This is the way nature has defined that will allow the child to progress into healthy adulthood. Basing on our rediscovered ability of observation, we can finally work to change ourselves as adults.
We refer to the global Montessori movement (AMI, AMS, etc.), and in general Nonviolent movements.
Montessori Related International Training (M.R.I.T.)
Montessori Related International Training (MRIT) is a project which aims to spread examples of international culture and knowledge which focus on an idea of education based on trust and a positive attitude towards children and adolescents.
Our purposes:
- 1 – To help to build a bridge between Italy and the global debate on the relationship between adulthood and child/adolescent development; we intend to do that in particular through the translation of pertinent publications both scientific and non;
- 2 – to help to enlarge the idea of Montessori not only as a school method, but as an approach to the wider society, to humanity, to the purpose of education itself. When education is view as a relationship, it allows for the growth of both the child and the adult. In this view “Montessori” is fully compatible with other approaches. Our references are not only AMI and the whole international Montessori movement, but also Positive Discipline [Jane Nelsen], Mindfulness [e.g. Thich Nath Hanh], Non Violent Communication [Marshall Rosenberg], etc.
- 3 – Our target are not only teachers, but all those involved in education, either as a professional or as a parent.
MRIT is an idea by Lucio Varriale, who directs and coordinates the project: it promotes its aim via a network of different associations and groups.
The author
Hi, My name is Lucio Varriale. I work as a Montessori teacher in the Elementary grade, in Italy. I started my Montessori journey in 2013, studying for the Montessori Elementary Diploma with Opera Nazionale Montessori (the Italian authority for Montessori). After that, I felt the urge to know more about Montessori international movement, and I studied with AMI for
- AMI Assistant 0-3 course (trainer: Heidi Philippart)
- AMI Diploma 3-6 course (trainer: Elina Rautasalo)
My task is now to help Italian people to rebuild a bridge with International Montessori movements, and the culture of education related to that. My work is not only a language translation for italian speaking people. The background, the standards and the environment situation of Italian people working in Montessori schools are usually so far from what is meant to be a Montessori school outside Italy that sometimes is even hard to understand what they are talking about. That’s why I’m working on a translation of culture, trying to help any person to be enriched by the comparison between what they think to know, and what they can listen to from other’s experiences.