AMI Talks – Cross Pollinating Peace

On 6 January 2023 Alain Tschudin and Takako Fukatsu presented their AMI Talk on the theme Cross Pollinating Peace. The date is one well known as it marks the opening of the first Casa dei Bambini.

We are grateful that our president Alain Tschudin, professor of Peace Studies and Takako Fukatsu, Montessori advocate in Japan, shared their commitment to a Montessori concept that is embedded in all our work and values: the preparation and transfer of peace. The theme “Cross Pollinating Peace” taps into their wide and varied experiences.

Click to watch or listen to the recording of this session.

Presenters

Alain Tschudin

Alain Tschudin was appointed President of Association Montessori Internationale in April 2022. He is Professor of Peace Studies and Director of the International Centre of Nonviolence at the Durban University of Technology, South Africa. Prior to this he served as lead consultant to the United Nations Special Adviser on Africa on the nexus and fast-tracking the SDGs and has extensive humanitarian experience, having worked with UNICEF and Save the Children in child protection in Africa and the Middle East. He was formerly Executive Director of a pan-African governance NGO. He is a registered psychologist and holds a Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Natal and a Ph.D. in moral philosophy and theology from the University of Cambridge.

Takako Fukatsu

Takako is one of the founding members of Children House on Peace Boat in 2009. Her work is to propagate that Peace Starts from Children to all passengers, parents as well as to crew members. Takako Fukatsu was born in Osaka and currently resides in Tokyo, Japan. She worked for an NGO at an Indo-Chinese refugee camp where she had her first encounter with Montessori education. From 1984 to 1985, she undertook Montessori Primary Training. She attended the 1st EsF meeting in Città di Castello in 1999 and served as an AMI board member from 1999 to 2005. Takako also acted as the Vice President of an affiliate in Japan, "Friends of AMI NIPPON," and served as an adviser when the Peace Boat initiative introduced a Montessori Children's House on board. She has interpreted AMI training courses, examinations, and seminars, and translated a number of Montessori's books into Japanese. Takako also hosts a child-care consultation service called "Montessori with Tea or Coffee?" at an organic café, "Café Slow" in Tokyo.
 
For an impression of the 3–6 Montessori environment on the Peace Boat, click here.