AMI President’s Message 2026
Dear friends,
This is my fourth New Year’s message to you since assuming the office of the President of the Association Montessori Internationale. On behalf of our Board, which is made up of dedicated directors who volunteer from around the world, allow me to extend our sincere wishes to you, our members in many different places, to your families, and to all people of goodwill, wherever you may be.
Browsing through previous messages, I have noticed some recurring themes, such as the repeated call to promote peace, harmony and hope; an emphasis on doing this by preparing children and their educational environments, achievable only through prepared adults and the active promotion of Montessorian values which are pro-human and pro-planet. Sad to say, but in each of my messages I have had to refer to the scourge of war, conflict, violence and division.
My hope, shared with you this time year last year, was for a more humane world. This has unfortunately not materialized. 2025 saw an uptick in violence, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and repeated violations of children’s rights and human rights. The rise to power of authoritarian regimes and the abrupt termination of humanitarian aid has had profoundly negative implications for world peace and sustainable development, let alone the right to life. The dictum of “might is right” is not only provoking conflict but eating away at our capacity to live and thrive together, acknowledging our differences while celebrating our shared humanity.
Having been blessed with the responsibility of parenthood over the last year, things look very different to me as we enter the New Year. Everyone is someone’s sister, brother, daughter or son; someone’s mother or father, grandparent or grandchild. We are all related. Some world leaders, so-called, are hellbent on dividing us and destroying the fabric that binds and bonds us. Within our Montessori community, I would urge all leaders and, indeed, all our members (since we all have the agency to lead), to exercise our will and be upstanding in defence of our common human dignity. No person is a pig, or a cockroach, and as the common saying goes, “God doesn’t make garbage”.
Only if we all stand up, and stand together against tyranny, will peace and goodwill prevail. Maria Montessori knew this, as did her peers like the Gandhis and Luthulis of this world, Martin Luther King Jr, Dag Hammarskjöld and later Nelson Mandela. In this vein, it was refreshing to see Pope Leo XIV, in his Apostolic Letter Drawing New Maps of Hope, on the importance of education to human life, name Maria Montessori among courageous women, who “opened doors for girls, migrants and the marginalized”.
What doors are we opening this year, for girl-children and children in general, for women, for migrants and the marginalized, variously defined to include the socially or economically excluded, those with diverse or special needs, those with multiplex identities, immigrants, refugees, the elderly, the poor and others? Montessori has the power to do this, and I urge us all to take comfort and draw inspiration from this.
As an affirmation of our common humanity, from May 1-4, we are meeting in Mérida, Mexico, for the 30th International Montessori Congress, with the theme, Joyful Journey. I invite you, personally, to come along and celebrate what we share together. Despite the challenges we face, my wish for 2026 is that we continue to work together, with more hope and greater conviction, to bring a little more joy and a lot more peace to the world!
Alain Tschudin
President, Assocation Montessori Internationale
