S P O T L I G H T: L E A D E R S H I P

LEADING

MANAGING

Are You Leading,

or Just Managing to Get By?

By Jonathan Wolff, Michael Eanes,

and Dana Kaminstein

What is the difference between being a leader and being a manager of a Montessori school community?
YOU ARE A LEADER IF you are spending the majority
of your time facilitating program quality and professional
development improvement plans, researching systems for
better recruitment and retention of families, acting as a
resource for the strategic plan task force, systematically
assessing the needs and satisfaction levels of all school constituencies, working with the board to plan the future of the
school over the next 10 years, and offering encouragement
and appreciation to those who need and deserve it.

YOU ARE A MANAGER IF you are spending the majority of your time responding to staff and parent problems,
dealing with facility upkeep and maintenance issues, talking with upset or unruly children, trying to keep the board
organized and in check, tracking down late tuition payments, and ironing out the logistical details of educational,
social, or fundraising events.
The next natural question is, How does a school
administrator as busy and overwhelmed as I am move from
being a manager to being a leader?

34

In the leadership consultation and organizational development work we do with schools and business organizations around the world, and in creating the curriculum for
the Course for Leading Schools at Houston Montessori
Center, we have identified seven essential principles of
convergent school leadership, each of which can be
found in the educational philosophy of Maria Montessori.

Leaders Cultivate Convergent Learning Communities

What does it mean to have a convergent school
community? A Montessori school is comprised of six
constituencies: students, staff, parents, administrators,
trustees, and alumni. Each of these groups comes to the
school community with a distinctly different set of needs
and expectations. Students want to have fun learning with
their classmates. Teachers require the time, space, and
resources to create a vibrant prepared environment. Parents
expect their children to be safe and secure, and to reach
their personal and academic potential. Administrators
want satisfied students, staff, and parents, full enrollment,
and a balanced budget. The board aspires to keep the

MONTESSORI LIFE FALL 2005

school stable and growing into the foreseeable future.

Alumni wish to enjoy pleasant memories of their time in
the school community and like being kept abreast of good
things happening at their alma mater.
Each of these groups functions within its own distinct
framework. Picture these constituencies as six parallel
lines. One might go so far as to say that these constituencies live in parallel realities within the school community.
Many times, however, as a school grows, these groups do
not remain parallel. They may begin to diverge from one
another as their desires and dreams begin to surface. Or
worse yet, we may find these groups in conflict with one
another concerning the direction of the educational program or institution.
Sometimes Montessori administrators inherit school
communities that have constituencies that have gone from
functioning parallel to one other to operating on diverging
or conflicting paths. Needless to say, diverging or conflicting constituencies do not produce a happy, harmonious, or
sustainable school community.
It is the job of the leader to cultivate a convergent
culture throughout the school community, one in which all
populations share the schools mission, operating values,
standards of program quality, and vision for the future.
When the six constituencies share common goals for
human development as well as for institutional advancement, the school community energizes all participants.
Such school communities tend to attract and maintain the
human and financial resources required to deliver and sustain an authentic Montessori program well into the future.

Seven Principles of Convergent Leadership

We have identified seven principles of leadership that
empower individuals and school communities to fulfill
their potential. In the Montessori classroom, where children
share common goals and guidelines, and in the process
gain independence and maturity, the teacher moves from
being a manager of capricious behavior to acting as the
facilitator of self-disciplined learning. Similarly, in a Montessori school community, where everyone shares a common
educational vision and language, the administrative paradigm changes from one of managing people and problems
to one of leading people toward their dreams and destiny.
Principle 1
Convergent leadership focuses first on what is
working effectively.
Defining Questions: What is working effectively in our
school community? What assets and accomplishments can
we build upon?

Alignment to Montessori Philosophy: She [the teacher] must

learn how to appreciate and gather in all those tiny and delicate manifestations of the opening life in the childs soul.
(Eugenie, 1975)
Principle 2
Convergent leadership views the school as a system, not
disparate parts. All parts are interrelated. When one part
is affected, the whole system is affected.
Defining Question: What impact will this decision, plan,
or policy have on the entire school communitychildren,
teachers, parents, administrative operations, program
quality, enrollment, financial well-being, and school growth?
Alignment to Montessori Philosophy: All mankind forms a
single organism . . . Humanity forms a single unita single
nation. This single nation has opened the whole world and
brought all men together. (Montessori, 1972, pp. 1167)
Principle 3
Convergent leadership is committed to gaining a clear
understanding of the needs and aspirations of each constituency participating in the school community (students,
faculty, administrative staff, parents, trustees, and alumni)
and of that community as a whole.
Defining Questions: What are the needs and dreams of
each constituency? What touches them? What brings them
meaning and fulfillment?
Alignment to Montessori Philosophy: Follow the lead of
the child. (Eugenie, 1975)
Principle 4
Convergent leadership guides the school community to
achieve a clear vision of educational outcomes. This
includes achieving consensus on Montessori Best
Practice, communication agreements, and strategic goals.
Defining Questions: What is our vision of human development and human potential? How will we support one
another and resolve our differences respectfully? What are
the essential elements of Montessori education for our
program? What makes the experience of our learning
community special and compelling?
Alignment to Montessori Philosophy: The Montessori
teacher is constantly looking for the child who is not yet
there . . . In her imagination she sees the single normalized
type, which lives in the world of spirit. (Montessori, 1967,
pg. 252)
Principle 5
Convergent leadership creates and follows a strategic
plan for program and institutional enhancement. The

MONTESSORI LIFE FALL 2005

35

S P O T L I G H T: L E A D E R S H I P

plan covers all essential systems and functions: finances,

administrative structure, program quality, staffing, enrollment, board development, and marketing/communications.
Defining Question: What is our blueprint for growth
and greatness?
Alignment to Montessori Philosophy: Teach teaching, not
correcting. (Eugenie, 1975)
Principle 6
Convergent leadership develops the leadership capabilities of others in the school community.
Defining Question: How can I empower others to take
the lead and become leaders?
Alignment to Montessori Philosophy: To aid life, leaving
it free, however, to unfold itself, that is the basic task of the
educator. (Seldin & Epstein, 2003, p. 18)
Principle 7
Convergent leadership demands personal growth and
self-improvement. It means a leader must become a role
model of normalization, an individual who exemplifies consensus building, handles conflict with honesty
and empathy, and acts as a catalyst for excellence and
innovation.
Defining Questions: Am I honestly working to become a
happier, healthier, more effective, and supportive human
being? Do people in the school community see me as a
lifelong learner, striving to improve my capabilities?
Alignment to Montessori Philosophy: The first essential
is that the teacher go through an inner, spiritual preparationcultivate certain aptitudes in the moral order. This
is the most difficult part of her training, without which
all the rest is of no avail. (Eugenie, 1975)

Creating a Prepared Environment for School Leadership

In the Montessori classroom we guide children to manage
their own lives and learning by designing prepared environments that focus students attention on what we want
them to explore and experience. Our carefully constructed
classroom environments produce both the stimulation and
isolation required for successful learning.
Similarly, there are strategies for preparing an administrative environment that can move us from being managers
of constant conflict and contingencies to being leaders who
empower people to work responsibly and collaboratively
toward common goals:
1. Give yourself long, uninterrupted work (and play)
periods on a regular basis. This is what leadership expert
Stephen Covey calls Quadrant II, self-management activity
(Covey, 1989, p. 1623). Many Montessori school leaders
36

are so busy putting out fires and trying to make people

happy or accountable that they have little time left for
reflection, research, creative thinking, or recreation. Dr.
Covey sees this as time for improving ones production
capability (Covey, 1989, p. 2889). Other organizational
development experts emphasize the importance of taking
time for reflection and gaining perspective. We know that
effective Montessori teachers take time from their instructional activities to observe, assess, and document the
learning and social dynamics of their classroom communities. Similarly, effective school leaders create time for
deep reflection and systems thinking about the needs and
tendencies of the school community.
2. Build relationships early and often with all your constituencies. If you dont make time to build bridges of
understanding with students, staff, parents, trustees, and
alumni, you cannot expect to get support and commitment
from these people when the time comes to build a new
school, improve the quality of the program, or respond to
a crisis. Effective school leaders are proactive in showing
an interest in the happiness, health, ideas, and aspirations
of everyone in the school community, from the president
of the board to the part-time aftercare or assistant teacher.
When we reach out to the people who contribute to our
school community to understand their needs and perspectives, we foster invaluable allies for the future.
3. Know what is important and make your decisions
accordingly. In Houston Montessori Centers The Course
for Leading Schools we propose the following rubric for
all school decision-making, whether it be educational,
operational, or strategic in nature: We suggest that if the
Montessori philosophy is based on what is good for the
child and for healthy human development, then the order
of inquiry in considering any change must be:
a. Will this decision support the healthy and whole
development of the child?
b. Will this decision support the delivery of an authentic
Montessori program and the staff that facilitates it?
c. Will this decision support the development of a
stable and sustainable school community?
d. Will this decision meet the needs of the families
served and those you wish to serve?
When school leaders and boards make decisions based primarily or solely on what parents want, or what a faction on
the board wants, or what a group of veteran teachers wants,
they are no longer advocating what is best for the child, for
the program, or the institution. They have forgotten the
principles and values that drive the Montessori train.

MONTESSORI LIFE FALL 2005

4. Understand the anatomy of your school community,

then delegate and systematize. Some Montessori school
administrators delegate program, business, or strategic
functions to other people and groups before they fully
understand the characteristics and interrelationships of
these institutional domains. This is dangerous, as there is
no knowledgeable oversight or quality control. Certain
groups or factions invariably get out of control and off
task. Other administrators understand the systems and
functions that comprise a school community but are afraid
to relinquish control and delegate responsibilities to proven
and capable people. This produces a micromanaged climate
in which people feel oppressed and the over-controlling
leader rarely has time to focus on big-picture program
goals and strategic vision.
5. Stop providing answers and rules. Pose questions that
facilitate clarity, standards of quality, and consensus.
People who think deeply and innovatively, solve problems
creatively, and work collaboratively tend to be surrounded
by leaders who ask penetrating, focused, and imaginative
questions. Managers keep people on task and on time
with rigid rules and ready answers. Leaders foster adaptable and motivated learners through the art of facilitative
questioning.
6. Build your school community on a foundation of gratitude and dreams. Leaders help people focus on what is
most valued, who should be thanked today, and the
potential for doing greater good in the future. Research
on employee satisfaction, loyalty, and retention indicates
that workers care as much if not more about positive and
supportive feedback from leaders and professional peers
as they do about compensation and benefits.
7. Champion innovation and experimentation. Managers
want people who merely stay on task. Like a good Montessori teacher, leaders encourage people to expand their
proficiencies by testing new ideas and trying extensions
and variations of proven practices.
8. Be aware of the world beyond Montessori. Leaders keep
themselves abreast of research and discoveries outside of
their own organizational and philosophic frameworks.
Learning about emerging trends and practices in leadership, organizational development, global economics, and
education helps everyone in the school community to
expand his or her horizons and abilities.

The Bottom Line

Many school administrators were raised in families

and educated in schools that operated from commandand-control paradigms. Do what the authorities tell you
to do, or else! As children we may have been managed by
our caregivers, and not led to the life skills of self-management. This sort of programming is difficult to overcome.
Many of us tend to supervise adults in our school communities in a manner that mirrors our own upbringing as
children. To move from being a manager to being a leader
requires the same degree of trust in the capacity of adults
(including yourself) to learn and grow that Dr. Montessori
had for every child.
Leading a Montessori learning community requires
more than an understanding of school management. It
calls for the ability to stay focused on the principles, priorities, systems, and strategies that can produce an authentic
and sustainable Montessori program.
References
Covey, S. (1989). The 7 habits of highly effective people. New York:
Simon & Schuster.
Eugenie, I. AMI Early Childhood Course, 1975, Montessori
Institute of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA.
Montessori, M. (1964). The Montessori method. New York:
Schocken Books.
(1966). The secret of childhood. Notre Dame, IN: Fides Publishers, Inc.
(1967). The absorbent mind. New York: Delta.
(1972). Supernature and the single nation: Education and peace.
Chicago: Henry Regnery.
(1973). From childhood to adolescence. New York: Schocken Books.
Seldin, T., & Epstein, P. (2003). The Montessori way. Sarasota, FL:
The Montessori Foundation.
Suggested Reading
Ackoff, R. (1999). Re-creating the corporation: A design of organizations for the 21st century. New York: Oxford University Press.
Covey, S. (1990). Principle-centered leadership. New York: Simon &
Schuster.
(2004). The 8th habit. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Miller, A. (1983). For your own good: Hidden cruelty in child rearing
and the roots of violence. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux.
Oakley, E., & Krug, D. (1992) Enlightened leadership. Denver: Stone
Tree Publishing.
Watkins, J., & Mohr, B. (2001). Appreciative inquiry: Change at the
speed of imagination. San Francisco: Jossey Bass/Pfeiffer.

DANA KAMINSTEIN is a Fellow at Wharton Executive

Education, University of Pennsylvania. MICHAEL EANES is a
former president of the Council for American Private Education
(CAPE) and former executive director of the American Montessori
Society. JONATHAN WOLFF is director of Learning for Life,
an organization dedicated to enhancing staff performance,
program quality, and institutional development.

MONTESSORI LIFE FALL 2005

37