Online Workshop + Panel discussion
How to Start (and Extend) an Adolescent Program
for educators, parents & those interested in the 12-18 age group
Learn how to establish an Erdkinder programme in concrete terms, whether at your current location or by finding a suitable new place. Explore actionable steps to meet adolescents’ developmental needs.
Discover how to support adolescents in taking on responsibilities and engaging in real-life work—from production to services—while linking practical work with theoretical studies.
Gain an understanding of how to align the Erdkinder approach with state curriculum requirements, foster independence, and effectively involve parents in supporting adolescents’ journeys toward adulthood and social integration.
Build the Future with Your Adolescents
Based on Maria Montessori’s conclusion: ‘Adolescents need a school that isn’t a school!’ she designed a ‘Centre for Study and Work on the Land’ as an adequate answer to developmental needs of adolescents. Her educational concept for adolescents aged 12-18 years has the following key components that we will explore:
- Residential House for community living and learning
- Farm for work with soil, plants and animals
- Shop for sales and communication
- Guesthouse for services
- Museum of machinery for repairing and using old equipment and machines
Register now!
Dr. Montessori's recommendations for the Adolescent Program were based on addressing the developmental needs of adolescents. These needs, together with the 'Plan of Study and Work' and the guidance to link practical work with theoretical studies, are essential for successfully applying the concept. These principles should always remain central to all planning and decision-making.
In addition, when planning a setting, it is important to keep Dr. Montessori’s remark in mind:
“It is impossible to fix a priori a detailed programme for study and work. We can only give the general plan. This is because a programme should only be drawn up gradually under the guidance of experience.”
This workshop will deal
with examples of:
- How to start an Adolescent programin concrete terms (at the place where you are or a place you are looking for)
- How to support adolescentsto take on and fulfill responsibilities in their setting
- How to create conditionsfor adolescents to do real work
- How to find adults suitable for workingin such a setting and how to help them prepare for these tasks
- How to align an adolecent approachwith the requirements of the state curriculum
Panel Discussion with practitioners:
In the panel discussion, experienced Adolescent program practitioners will have ample opportunity to report on the start and status of their Erdkinder implementation, to address challenges and solutions, and to provide advice for people who intend to start with an Adolescent program.
Panel led by Ela Eckert, Dr. phil.
Xavier Barrameda
Christopher Barrameda
Helena Matoušková
Darina Gurutidu
Roman Klune
- ONLINELive on Zoom
- RECORDINGS OR LIVEAccessible for 3 months
- LANGUAGE OF THE WORKSHOPEnglish, with Czech interpretation
- LANGUAGE OF RECORDINGSEnglish, Czech
- CERTIFICATE OF ATTENDANCEIssued by Montessori Institute Prague
Ela Eckert, Dr. phil.
trained as a teacher and studied educational sciences at the universities of Oldenburg/ Germany and Uppsala/ Sweden. Maria Montessori's approach to education in its various aspects became the focus of her studies early on; after obtaining a Montessori diploma and gaining practical experience with 6-12year-old children in Uppsala, she chose the fascinating topic of the origins of Cosmic Education for her dissertation and completed her doctorate at the University of Oldenburg in 2001. As her students grew older, Montessori's Erdkinder concept became another exciting adventure in her work, which continues to this day.
Ela Eckert is also a board member of the Deutsche Montessori Gesellschaft (DMG), where her main focus lies on publications; in this capacity she is active in the editorial team of the journal DAS KIND, but also engaged in editing Montessori texts in Germany.
DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION?
Feel free to contact us!