Changing my career plan.

[TheSchoolofAthens]

Hello everyone,

I was laying in bed about ten seconds ago when I decided to hop on and share my realization. I've been denying something that I'm passionate about to my core. I've suppressed it for reasons I'll get into in a moment. 

I want to be a Montessori school teacher. I love working with kids. I believe I am very good at it, and I think it would be such an amazing way to spend a large part of my life. As a teenager, though I am only 20 now, I worked in a religious pre school. I couldn't stand the religious aspect, nor the authoritarianism of some of the teachers - I combined that experience with my experience as a depressed student of public school and I discovered a path that seemed so right for me: Montessori. 

I began to read her works a little while after I was converted into libertarianism. It made such good sense! Yes, liberate the child! Of course! But around this same time, I got involved in a very toxic romantic relationship. I've written about it before, but I won't go into much detail here. One of the heartbreaking parts of said relationship in retrospect is that I gave up this dream because my girlfriend at the time said I wouldn't be making much money to live off of. Now this is true. Montessori teachers don't make a whole lot of money. Averages can be between $24,000 and $30,000 a year.

But that is enough to live off of humbly. I do not need much to be happy - give me food, shelter, truth, and hopefully companionship, and I will be as happy as possible. When I worked in the pre school, I got paid minimum wage but I got paid in other ways. The value that I created in those kids lives...the connections and bonds were so amazing! To help a child grow and to witness it. Amazing!

I miss it. So what did I give it up for? Well I changed my major and focus on design and development. And have since dropped out of college to pursue those subjects in my free time. I believe I could be good at both, I have the potential to be, but I do not feel the same passion for it as I do teaching and working with children. I feel so foolish for choosing a job which may pay more money over one which changes my own live substantially for the better, and possibly the children's lives as well. It's been about a month since I've broken up with my ex and this whole time I've been thinking about learning languages x, y and z. Doing this type of design and that type of design. It is an overload of stuff that I just don't even have much interest in. I still want to pursue certain techy projects in my free time, I have an idea for an app I'm trying to build right now that I like a lot. But it is not the destiny which I want to claim for myself as a career.

I believe I am going to go back to school to get just an associates in child development, then get Montessori certified. This just feels so liberating to me. I believe I was self erasing for the sake of the relationship. Ah I feel so good!

[TheSchoolofAthens]

Hi there. Thanks so much for sharing. I'm glad to hear you are out of that toxic relationship and feeling more sure of your direction in life. But I have some concerns in reading your post. To preface my comment, I want to mention that I'm a mom to 2 girls and have studied montessori, waldorf, and other alternative teaching methods. I have nannied and taught in a preschool. I will likely homeschool my kids as soon as I'm able. 

 

Forgive me if this seems dismissive of your career ambitions, but...why not be a father? Why not teach and work with your own children? What are your thoughts and plans on having a family? Now is the perfect time to consider them.

 

There is a podcast of Stef's recently that analyzed a guy's dream. He was working with disadvantaged kids, and Stef had a lot of insight on how working with children is for philosophers. Have you heard it? I wonder if it might add some perspective for you to consider.

 

It is call #2: http://www.fdrpodcasts.com/#/3009/antihuman-propaganda-call-in-show-june-24th-2015

 

I have some conclusions to offer you, and I'm afraid I'm not feeling very open to exploring your own feelings, which would most likely be far more constructive for you. So I'll leave that to others and check back on the thread. I wish you the best in your journey.

 

It is something I will think about for sure. I will give it a listen after work and share my thoughts after that.

[mahayana]

The Montessori method of education was certainly revolutionary for its time & I was intrigued when I read about it a few years back. When my daughter was 3, I was searching for a daycare/school to send her to part-time while I was finishing up my associates degree. There was a Montessori nearby and I called to arrange a time to check it out. They scheduled me for what they called an observation and I went in soon after to get a better idea of what the school was all about.

 

As you know, they group the children together differently than traditional schools. For me, that meant my daughter would be grouped together with children ranging from ages 3 - 6. I walked into the classroom and was shown a chair in the center of the room. I was instructed to sit and observe for 10 minutes and told not to interact with the children. After sitting a few moments, I started to get the feeling I was in the twilight zone. I have never been in a room with so many young children and have it be so quiet! There was no talking and the children were at different stations working on various tasks. They were mainly math/alphabet related and one station had a girl painting. One child that looked 3 was walking around with a spay bottle and rag wiping tables. There was a boy on the floor not far from me with a string of beads. I think he was supposed to be adding beads in groups of ten but it was obvious he was extremely bored and that he was not doing it by choice. Another very young girl kept wandering over to a stack of books and an older girl would retrieve her. I heard her whisper to the little girl that she wasn't supposed to be over there. I began to wonder how my rambunctious daughter would fit in here. (I had never observed my daughter being silent for more than 10min except when she was sleeping.) Apart from the distracted boy and wandering girl, the children seemed completely focused on their task. I remember leaving there feeling impressed and totally weirded out. The children seemed like obedient little robots and I was bothered that there were no smiles or laughter. I'm sure they don't behave like that all day long but it still felt very unnatural.

 

Have you visited a Montessori school? I'm not sure how close the actual schools are to Maria Montessori's vision. I ended up choosing a different school not only because it didn't seem compatible with my daughter, but also because the annual tuition of $10,000 was a bit more than I could afford. At this particular school, it is mostly the children of the upper and upper/middle class that attend. I would highly recommend visiting one just to make sure the school is actually what you envisioned before committing to any long term decisions. Maria's teaching style seems aligned with that of a lot of FDR parents in that they agree in letting the children choose the direction of their studies based on their individual interests. You wouldn't have to work at a Montessori school to teach children based on that philosophy. Have you considered starting your own school? Their waiting list was very long (I think it was about a year before I would get in) so alternative schooling is definitely in demand.

 

Congrats on getting out of a toxic relationship! I hope you're taking some time to heal from that. I think getting an associates degree could be beneficial even if your goals change in the future. You might even discover something else you're passionate about. I fell in love with Biology while I was getting my associates degree. If I were a lot younger I would've definitely switched majors! You're so young, don't feel rushed to make a final career decision. You seem bright & empathetic, I'm sure you'll succeed at whatever you decide to do.

[The Sage of Main Street]

Hello everyone,

 

I was laying in bed about ten seconds ago when I decided to hop on and share my realization. I've been denying something that I'm passionate about to my core. I've suppressed it for reasons I'll get into in a moment. 

 

I want to be a Montessori school teacher. I love working with kids. I believe I am very good at it, and I think it would be such an amazing way to spend a large part of my life. As a teenager, though I am only 20 now, I worked in a religious pre school. I couldn't stand the religious aspect, nor the authoritarianism of some of the teachers - I combined that experience with my experience as a depressed student of public school and I discovered a path that seemed so right for me: Montessori. 

 

I began to read her works a little while after I was converted into libertarianism. It made such good sense! Yes, liberate the child! Of course! But around this same time, I got involved in a very toxic romantic relationship. I've written about it before, but I won't go into much detail here. One of the heartbreaking parts of said relationship in retrospect is that I gave up this dream because my girlfriend at the time said I wouldn't be making much money to live off of. Now this is true. Montessori teachers don't make a whole lot of money. Averages can be between $24,000 and $30,000 a year.

 

But that is enough to live off of humbly. I do not need much to be happy - give me food, shelter, truth, and hopefully companionship, and I will be as happy as possible. When I worked in the pre school, I got paid minimum wage but I got paid in other ways. The value that I created in those kids lives...the connections and bonds were so amazing! To help a child grow and to witness it. Amazing!

 

I miss it. So what did I give it up for? Well I changed my major and focus on design and development. And have since dropped out of college to pursue those subjects in my free time. I believe I could be good at both, I have the potential to be, but I do not feel the same passion for it as I do teaching and working with children. I feel so foolish for choosing a job which may pay more money over one which changes my own live substantially for the better, and possibly the children's lives as well. It's been about a month since I've broken up with my ex and this whole time I've been thinking about learning languages x, y and z. Doing this type of design and that type of design. It is an overload of stuff that I just don't even have much interest in. I still want to pursue certain techy projects in my free time, I have an idea for an app I'm trying to build right now that I like a lot. But it is not the destiny which I want to claim for myself as a career.

 

I believe I am going to go back to school to get just an associates in child development, then get Montessori certified. This just feels so liberating to me. I believe I was self erasing for the sake of the relationship. Ah I feel so good!

John Galt Was Such a Patsy Because He Was Never a Player

 

 

Who are some of the famous or infamous graduates of Montessori schools?  The problem with schools is that they should use the encouragement, development, immediate rewards, and peer-group prestige of athletes as a role model.  Our nation is like some island whose economy is dependent on how much money its pro athletes send home from the American sports market.

[TheSchoolofAthens]

Yes, there are some horrible "Montessori" schools out there. The Montessori name is not protected by any type of law or copyright. So therefore anyone can start a school and claim it is Montessori. What one really needs to look for in a Montessori school is to see by whom the teachers are certified.

AMI and AMS certification is important. Here's a link that goes into more depth, but to give you the gist, AMI was started by Maria Montessori herself to preserve the methods and philosophy, they set the best standards along with AMS.

I'd like to do a lot in the future with kids. I'd love to be a father, but I need to be able to provide resources for that, which is one reason why I'd like to at least co-found a Montessori school in the future.

[mahayana]

The teachers of the Montessori I visited were all AMI certified. It's one of the most highly regarded schools in the region. It looked like it was running extremely effectively. If you open up a Montessori parent's expect you to strictly adhere to its principles and methods. As groundbreaking as it was for its time, it seems like it would be very limiting to label your school as one preventing you from discovering further breakthroughs in education.

[TheSchoolofAthens]

The teachers of the Montessori I visited were all AMI certified. It's one of the most highly regarded schools in the region. It looked like it was running extremely effectively. If you open up a Montessori parent's expect you to strictly adhere to its principles and methods. As groundbreaking as it was for its time, it seems like it would be very limiting to label your school as one preventing you from discovering further breakthroughs in education.

Yes, I think a Montessori inspired school would be better. One that focuses on the rationality of the Montessori method but necessarily preserving all of the tradition.