Together for Parents: pitching up, tuning in and turning off
Alain Tschudin, Ph.D., President of Association Montessori Internationale and UNESCO Gandhi-Montessori-Luthuli Chair on Education for Peace and Transformative Solidarity
The theme of this year’s UNICEF Global Day of Parents, “Together for Parents”, is particularly apt. I say this, having commenced my thought piece on Mother’s Day while on a work trip abroad, far from home and my own family, back in South Africa. It was my wife’s first Mother’s Day and having seen the extraordinary lengths to which she has gone to love our baby, I can only stand in awe and wonder of all mothers, who by and large are our children’s primary caregivers. And on that day, I gave credit to my wife for her sage reminder that single parenting is not for the faint hearted.
Having only recently become a father myself, some fresh insights have proved to be helpful in framing what otherwise might have been a cerebral piece, but not very experiential. First, parenting significantly shifts one’s frame of reference on reality and one’s priorities. For me, the process has been humbling. As someone who would regard myself as relatively competent in most spheres of existence, I hit the ground with a bit more than a thud; something akin to a meteorite crater.
The sleep deprivation, constant checking on baby (and mum), trying to be a supporting act to the main show while developing nappy-changing and culinary skills was a challenge. The generous paternity leave that the wonderfully empathetic HR team at my workplace, Stellenbosch University, granted me, made all the difference. I don’t know how dads return to work after two weeks. Four months on and I still felt like a zombie upon my return to professional life. Supposedly our cerebrums shrink, but hopefully our hearts expand. Having seen some of my friends struggle to raise their young ones on their own, my second takeaway would be, “Parents together”, whenever and wherever possible.
But when we ramp up to education, even solidarity between parents does not necessarily translate into quality processes and outcomes for their children at school. Parental participation contributes to optimal child development, but in large part is itself dependent upon information flows and awareness of what the educational environment entails. And this presupposes engagement, where the school reaches out to the parents, interacts with them and invites them to become involved.
In a helpful 2025 paper, the Annie E. Casey Foundation suggested that the earlier schools engage parents, the better the effect on learner performance. The same paper defines parental involvement as: “a setting where parents participate in school events or activities while teachers hold the primary responsibility of setting educational goals.” From our own research into the transformative potential of Montessori pedagogy for those living in rural and urban poverty in South Africa, parents at mainstream schools are more aware of their children’s activities than those at Montessori schools, whose ‘prepared environments’ remain an enigma.
Indeed, AMI schools and our broader organisation have become more acutely aware of the critically important role played by parents and we are increasingly attempting to bring parents along. In fact, at a recent visit to a Montessori school for Mayan children near Akumal, Mexico, the school leader told me that unless fathers committed to pitching up to help maintain the environment of the school on at least a couple of weekend days every semester, their children would not be permitted to learn there. This echoes our experience in the rural Eastern Cape province of South Africa, where parents who attended briefing sessions from Montessori guides were more likely to value the impact of the pedagogy on their kids. Most parents also expressed a tremendous desire to be more involved in their children’s lives, albeit that the dire unemployment situation oftentimes and tragically precludes this.
I have witnessed how, in diverse parts of the world, parents send their children to Montessori schools based purely on recognition of brand. Most often, even if these schools offer “Monte-something” instead of high fidelity Montessori, the price tag is very dear. Our hope is that parents will not only rely on word of mouth and shrewd marketing, but will also consult the evidence base that exists. Alan Preece, a senior AMI colleague, has indicated that in a survey in 2025, roughly 44% of parents surveyed in the US have not actively sought to close the information gap.
Knowledge is power [1], as the old saying goes. In our work to provide quality Montessori to children aged 0-6 in underserviced communities, we have found preliminary statistical evidence of improvements across several developmental domains, including gross and fine motor skills, social relationships and well-being. Likewise, Professor Angeline Lillard, distinguished psychologist at the University of Virginia, has demonstrated the science behind the enduring value of a Montessori education for learners later on in life.
We need to be bolder about being “together with parents” which includes raising awareness of the benefits of what this pedagogical method offers, not just academically, but also as regards a plethora of virtues. Life and career skills such as independence, inclusion (especially when it comes to neurodiversity), empathy and cooperation are encouraged, along with the quintessential Montessorian values of grace and courtesy. Lest we forget, Maria Montessori was herself thrice-nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and was a founder of UNESCO.
Indeed, parents are oftentimes the best advocates of an informed choice to send their children to Montessori schools, based on their recognition of exactly what this pedagogy provides. The ‘human tendencies’ imparted to children are timeless, and as Harvard University recognised by giving its imprimatur to the Method way back in 1912 [2], there is a substance to this educational approach which encourages integral human development. Much as Montessori is often associated exclusively with the early years of childhood, this is a misnomer. Dr Montessori herself ruminated on the development of young people to the age of 24 and there is a drive, internationally, to offer more adolescent schooling. More recently, the power of applying Montessori across the lifespan, and especially to the elderly and those living with dementia and disability, is being increasingly recognised.
To bring the story full circle. I am now back home; baby and I have taken mum out for a belated Mother’s Day celebration. It is a gorgeous May day as we enjoy the beauty of the Indian Ocean from a beachside café. We notice that all but one of the young children at the family tables around us are on mobile phones or watching tablets. Much as we can now better appreciate the need of parents for just a little free time, we are not fans of screentime for children. This is especially the case since neonatologist Professor Ulrika Ådén of the Karolinska Institutet, alerted us to the policy-shifting work of her colleagues during a keynote at a previous Nordic Montessori Congress. So deleterious are the effects for child brain development that the Public Health Agency of Sweden has banned screen time for children 0-2 years of age and suggested heavily monitored use thereafter.
My wife half-jokingly recalls a nightmare in which our newborn miraculously uttered the words “take it away”, referring to a mobile phone. In an age of digital distraction that radically undermines a child’s development, weakens her attachment to family and peers and gnaws away at social fabric, Montessori speaks to the importance of focus, perspective, turn-taking and patience, inhibiting the dopamine fix of immediate gratification. Children, perhaps, but more so we, the adults, could benefit greatly from a little more presence and focused attention in being appropriately “Together for Parents”. Thankfully Maria Montessori’s legacy can help.
Notes
[1] The expression "ipsa scientia potestas est" ('knowledge itself is power') is commonly attributed to Sir Francis Bacon and occurs in his Meditationes Sacrae (1597). The exact phrase "scientia potentia est" (knowledge is power) appears to have appeared for the first time in the 1668 version of Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes.
[2] Professor Henry W. Holmes, professor of education at Harvard University, wrote an introduction for the first American English edition of Maria Montessori’s seminal book The Montessori Method (New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1912, p.XVII). In the Preface to the book Maria Montessori wrote, “In February, 1911, Professor Henry W. Holmes, of the Division of Education at Harvard University, did me the honour to suggest that an English translation be made of my Italian volume, "Il Metodo della Pedagogia Scientifica applicato all' educazione infantile nelle Case dei Bambini." This suggestion represented one of the greatest events in the history of my educational work.”
About the author
Alain Tschudin is the UNESCO Gandhi-Montessori-Luthuli Chair on Education for Peace and Transformative Solidarity, where he is hosted as a Full Professor by the Centre for Sustainability Transitions, Stellenbosch University, South Africa and co-hosted by St Edmund’s College, University of Cambridge, as a Fellow. Alain is a registered psychologist with a Ph.D. in Psychology and a Ph.D. in Divinity. A recognised humanitarian who has worked with UNICEF and Save the Children, he has served voluntarily as President of the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) since 2022, as he seeks to steer the organisation towards its centenary in 2029 and beyond.
