Accessible Montessori

Zhong Keng Elementary School: Emerging Metamorphosis (2-2)

The transformed mixed-age classroom for ages 6-9 is a relaxed environment, where children can freely focus on becoming the primary agents of their own learning.

Placing teachers in their most effective role


Though parents were supportive, Ms. Chang knew a bigger challenge lies ahead: teachers would need to receive Montessori teacher training or at least understand Montessori concepts. How to go about building a consensus amongst the teaching staff?

"First of all, read the books!" Having benefited from Montessori literature herself, the principal encouraged Zhong Keng teachers to read The Secret of Childhood. The faculty formed a reading club that helped provide a step-by-step guide into the world of Montessori.

However, reading in and of itself was not enough. During the 2021 winter break, Ms. Chang invited the teaching staff to Taipei Montessori International School (TMIS), where they observed a Montessori classroom for the first time.

The teachers were astonished: "Who knew the classroom space could be used like this!” one exclaimed. "So, this is how mixed-age education works!" said another.

Countless small shocks rippled through the faculty, generating a beautiful vision of an educational landscape that proved to be a powerful inspiration for Zhong Keng’s transformation into a Montessori school.

Ideally, all the teachers would undergo Montessori teacher training. In reality, however, some teachers want to wait and watch at the sideline; some want to learn by doing, while others devoted themselves wholeheartedly to the method. Giving teachers free rein to express their values proved to be a test of the principal’s wisdom.

Classroom reorganization was the school’s first priority. Zhong Keng followed their reviewed and approved experimental education plan. For the first two years, the school maintained mixed-age classes for the lower, middle, and upper grades, while preparing two Montessori classrooms for the 2022-2023 year (one classroom for ages 6-9 and another for ages 10-12).

Teachers were the next step. Professional teachers who had received Montessori teacher training serve as primary instructors; teachers learning on the job act as assistant teachers; and those who have received only basic training make up the administrative team, who support and assist classroom instruction.

Each of these three groups has its own strengths. Ms. Chang intends for assistant teachers to continue to learn and grow and one day become primary instructors. "In its Jena Plan, Zhong Keng had two different worlds in one classroom. This is no longer the case!" says Ms. Chang with a smile.

Today, teachers teaching in the same classroom have also changed how they interact thanks to the Montessori educational concept. They’re more willing to reflect on their actions and have become more conscientious toward each other.

Ms. Chang couldn’t be more pleased: "The atmosphere on campus has become even more harmonious!”


If the environment isn’t ready, keep making adjustments

The campus is near an equestrian school, making the "equine studies" class a unique feature of Zhong Keng's practical life education.

Montessori education emphasizes a "prepared environment.” That’s a tall order for Zhong Keng Elementary School, which is located in a remote area, has limited resources, and has experienced the devastation of the 921 Earthquake in 1999.

For example, when the school was rebuilt after the disaster, planners based the size of classrooms on small-sized rural schools. The resulting classrooms were comparatively small for Montessori teaching and could not be easily expanded. Other than redesignating the auditorium as an open classroom space, learning space expanded outdoors.

In the end, the original facility, which would be too crowded to house mixed-age students, was fully utilized - every  available corner inside and outside the confines of the classroom are all part of the learning environment.

What’s more, there’s an equestrian school nearby. One of the “work” for these “cosmic children” is to learn about horse-related knowledge, such as horse health and diet, how to curry a horse’s coat, how to clean stables, precautions for riding and leading a horse, horse mathematics, and even the relationship between horses and human history and culture.

Teaching from the perspective of cosmic education expands children's learning and broadens their horizons. The "equine studies” class has unexpectedly become a unique feature of Zhong Keng’s life education.

For Accessible Montessori education to succeed, relying solely on the strength of the school itself is not enough. With the support of a dedicated group of parents and a teaching team unafraid of challenges and committed to continuous learning, Montessori can be implemented step by step, which in the case of Zhong Keng, has allowed Montessori education philosophy to take root.

"No environment can ever be fully prepared. There are always constant adjustments and adaptations.” Zhong Keng’s transformation has just begun, says Ms. Chang.

She hopes that after the process has been completed, Zhong Keng Elementary School will truly become "a school that "connects all things with love," where teachers and students will inwardly explore how to become warm and loving human beings!

Written by Yu-Hsiu Su
Images provided by Zhong Keng Elementary School
Translators: Robert Fox, Jen Hsu/Graduate Institute of Translation and Interpretation, NTNU

Zhong Keng Elementary School: Emerging Metamorphosis (2-1)

interview with Ching-Wen Chang, Principal of Zhong Keng Elementary School, Taichung

I walked into Zhong Keng Elementary School in Taichung City’s Heping District on a warm winter afternoon. There were no sounds of students reciting lessons on the quiet campus—all that could be heard was the wind blowing on treetops.

In such stillness, it wouldn’t be unusual for one to think the students are sleeping. Peering through a clean and clear window pane on the first floor, I saw children in the middle and lower grades concentrating on completing the tasks at hand.

They were orderly and relaxed, an utterly captivating sight of one of the nation’s first public Montessori experimental elementary schools.


The decision from Jena Plan to Montessori

Inspired by the beauty of the Montessori concept, principal Ching-Wen Chang says she hopes that teachers will no longer have to walk the road of educational transformation alone thanks to the professional development and support provided by TMEC’s Accessible Montessori Program.

Before switching to Montessori in 2020, Zhong Keng was already an experimental elementary school, which followed the Jena Plan educational system and adopted mixed-age teaching.

However, it was relatively difficult to grasp Jena Plan’s core spirit. Most instructors had to rely on personal experience alone to resolve challenges of teaching students at varying levels.

"We didn’t completely understand the Jena concept. We were mixing ages just for the sake of mixing ages,” said Zhong Keng principal Ching-Wen Chang, who took office in 2019.

Seeing the teachers’ and students’ predicament, Ms. Chang wondered whether change was possible. Her internal voices must have been heard, for an opportunity soon appeared.

Proactive and conscientious, Ms. Chang was studying Adler's positive psychology when the school was about to apply for a continuation plan that required them to delineate their education philosophy.

Seeking advice, she consequently spoke with Professor Tung-Lian Cheng of National Chengchi University.

After reading Montessori Today, a book the professor had recommended, she was moved by the Montessori approach to education. "This beautiful concept is worth trying," she said.

Never one to sit idle, the principal immediately packed her bags and travelled with a colleague to Taipei, paying their own way, to attend “Montessori Education in Public Schools,” an experiential camp hosted jointly by the Y2 Foundation for Future Education and the National Chengchi University—Taiwan Montessori Education Center (TMEC) in August 2020.

They also attended “Accessible Montessori Education Program,” a seminar that explained its application process. Ms. Chang continued to hold discussions with teachers, parents, and scholars, working hard on weekends and holidays to draw up a plan. The school passed the preliminary review in September of the same year.


Empowering parents to be strategic partners in change

The school’s parent association and volunteer group played a key role in bridging Zhong Keng’s smooth transition to Montessori education.

The law of attraction worked its magic at Zhong Keng. The "Accessible Montessori Education Program" cultivated a new direction for the school. No more would the teachers vacillate between traditional and experimental methods.

More importantly, TMEC provided the teachers with professional training and support so they would no longer feel isolated or hesitant in the practice of their profession.

Change takes a commitment to teamwork and planning. Despite Ms. Chang’s enthusiasm, transitioning to Montessori education was no simple matter. It meant re-empowering teachers and spending more time training them.

Moreover, teachers also needed to change their attitudes and values. They also need to effectively communicate with parents; none of these changes came easy.

How was all this to be done? After much thought, Ms. Chang approached it from two angles. First, she sought out parents supportive of the concept, with whom she shared Montessori’s educational philosophy.

She also explained the changes it might bring to the children and what adjustments teachers would have to make. After obtaining the parents' association’s approval, a LINE group was formed, and the association president and other members assisted the school in communicating with all parents in answering their questions.

The parent group's efforts smoothed the transition from Jena Plan to Montessori. "We helped the school provide answers to some preliminary questions, which allowed teachers to focus themselves on improving their teaching methods,” said Guan-Yin Liu, the vice president of the parents’ association.

How would the school assure parents? Ms. Chang believes that: “Children’s changing behaviors is the best way to convince parents.” When children no longer say profanity, run out of class for no reason, and proactively asks questions and tries to find answers when they go home from school…all these seemingly minor changes gradually convince parents to feel at ease to leave their children’s education to the teachers.

Not only did new students enroll in the school, there are parents, who drive 40km daily to send their child to Zhong Keng. Currently, the lower elementary class is at full capacity of 30 students, which is an all time high for the school.

Moreover, Zhong Keng’s Facebook posts give parents peeks into their children’s school lives. Ms. Chang believes in the concept that "the best ideas need to be disseminated."

Using Facebook to document and share the results of Montessori education is an open and transparent way to relieve any concerns parents might have.


Parents' True Confessions


The importance of Zhong Keng parents for the school’s successful transition to a Montessori educational program cannot be overstated. Countless parental concerns needed to be discussed: "Why do you want to transform the school? What will happen after the transition to Montessori? How will it impact will the children?"

Zhong Keng Experimental Primary School’s parents' association and the volunteer group were crucial for bridging the gap between the parents’ concerns and the school’s objectives, reducing considerably the time administrators would have had to spend answering parents' questions individually.

Parents’ association head Sheng-Hung Liao is a Zhong Keng local opposed to the idea of rote learning. He bases this attitude on trust and letting go. He notes how traditional learning relied on repetition and drilling, whereas Montessori education uses cross-subject projects for learning.

More importantly, Montessori schools empower children to find solutions on their own. “When we don’t have an answer to our children’s questions, they will go to their teachers for help or learn to solve them on their own. Parents need to be patient and let it play out,” Liao says and then suggests with a smile that we also need to remind grandparents from time to time to be hands off on academic learning but keep their eyes on their grandchildren’s behavior.

Zhong Keng Parents’ association’s vice president Guan-Yin Liu, whose children were recipients of Waldorf kindergarten education, notes: "In experimental education, parents must be willing to give up drilling and repetition and let their children educate them."

Because the Montessori teacher's materials and methodologies are entirely different from how the parents learned in school, mothers and fathers become very anxious when faced with this new approach. Guan-Yin Liu believes in the need for them “to have trust in both the school and the teacher."

Even though the initial transition from Jena Plan to Montessori was a bit chaotic, Principal Chang, nevertheless, still set aside considerable time and is dedicated to communicate the process to the parents: “They just want to see the changes Montessori education can bring their children and hope that experimental education is not an experiment on their children.”

Parents’ association’s vice-president Tsui-Ying Hung stresses that parents need to have faith in the school's professionalism, even if parents sometimes do not understand how the curriculum is organized.

For instance, a first-grade material was covered one week, but switched to a second-grade material the following week. It is only after seeing how their children became more immersed in the material did parents realize the teacher’s intent. The parent group ultimately decided it be best to "go with the flow" and refrain from interfering with the methods or progress of teaching.

>> Zhong Keng Elementary School: Emerging Metamorphosis (2-2)

Written by Yu-Hsiu Su
Images provided by Zhong Keng Elementary School
Translators: Robert Fox, Jen Hsu/Graduate Institute of Translation and Interpretation, NTNU