 | Barbara Isaacs – United Kingdom / Czech Republic President |
Barbara Isaacs’ career of training Montessori teachers spans 35 years. During this time, she has supported adults in obtaining a wide range of Montessori qualifications from Degree level to assistants and parents, working both face to face and at a distance and in later years using online resources to celebrate Montessori’s vision of children – their agency and capacity to change the world. Barbara’s aspirations have always been to make Montessori education and teacher training accessible and to this end she has worked with state schools and ensured that the Montessori Early Years Educator diploma achieved a national recognition in England. Her many articles and two published books aim to promote Montessori pedagogy to the wider early years community. Recognising that teaching is about ongoing learning Barbara dedicated recent years to working with teachers by promoting reflections in our daily work and gently but critically challenging Montessori practice through Montessori Musings. In her role as President of Montessori Europe Barbara continues to challenge practice and reflect on the relevance of Montessori’s pedagogy in the 21st Century. She is committed to Montessori’s vision of cosmic education which raises awareness of the importance of nature in our lives and promotes care for each other and the community and stewardship of our planet, ensuring peace education is embedded in our understanding of the world of today and above all providing children and young people with tools to lead the world of tomorrow. | |
 | Judith Cunningham – Italy Vice President |
Judith Cunningham is the Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Montessori Model UN. Judith founded MMUN to help students find their voices, take action and build peace as a way of honouring Maria Montessori’s legacy and implementing her dream of world peace. Judith holds an AMI Elementary Diploma, a Master’s Degree in Education and postgraduate work in Alternative Dispute Resolution. She is a board member of Montessori Model UN and MUN Impact. Prior experience includes 20 years as a Montessori teacher for elementary and middle school and 10 years as a Montessori Head of School in the US and Canada. | |
 | Jochen Iseke – Germany Treasurer |
Jochen is the director of a Montessori campus in Berlin that has 400 children and adolescents aged 1 to 16 years. He is an educator and organisational developer and holds a Montessori Diploma for 6-12. Over the past 20 years he has assisted in successfully founding and developing several Montessori institutions. Prior to his Montessori career, Jochen worked for international corporations and medium-sized companies as a senior executive and consultant. Jochen’s mission is to create a carefully prepared environment in which teachers and children can evolve in the best possible way within the spirit of Maria Montessori’s ideals. His current challenge is navigating the effects of digitalisation and the question of how children can be best supported in developing self-confident, responsible and peaceful personalities in a world that is increasingly violent, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. | |
 | Roelant Wijngaards – The Netherlands |
| For the past seventeen years, Roelant Wijngaards has worked as an English teacher, team leader and Agora Coach at Montessori College Nijmegen. As webmaster and Public Relations coordinator he has experience in managing the website, developing content for social media and coordinating with activities to promote the school. He is co-founder of Global Association of Montessori Education and Sport, which has created the Global Montessori Games and Sustainable Development Games. These international events bring together Montessori schools, from all over the world, with the aim of creating peace and connecting people through sports, education and shared culture. | |
 | Ellen Zeiss – Germany |
| For almost 20 years Ellen has been working with her heart and soul as a Montessori teacher. Her career is marked by continuous development and further education. Among others, she has acquired 2 national diplomas (IfgL and ÖMG) and an international diploma (AMI) for the second plane of development. For the 3rd plane of development, she continued her education with MMUN and as an Independent Facilitator for the World Peace Game. One of Ellen’s main interests is adult education, and she works as a lecturer for the German Montessori Society and as an independent school consultant. It is of utmost importance to her that the Montessori principles of freedom and responsibility are rediscovered into the Montessori experience and positively influence the work of Montessori colleges in general. | |
 | Carola Lang-Howard – Cyprus / Sweden |
| Carola’s nomadic feet have allowed her to work with Montessori Education in different countries and cultures for the past 27 years. She is from Sweden but has spent several years in the Middle East and Europe. While living in London she worked with Montessori Centre International as a Teacher Trainer guiding adult students for several years. Her current permanent residence is Cyprus where she has two schools for children aged 2 to 6 years old. Carola holds the St. Nicholas Diploma for 0-6 years, a Bachelor Hons. Degree in Early Childhood Studies, as well as a Master’s degree in the Early Years. | |
 | Jaroslaw Jendza – Poland | ||
| Dr. Jarosław Jendza is an assistant professor in the Institute of Education at the Social Sciences Faculty (Gdańsk University, Poland). He specialises in alternative, engaging and non-traditional approaches to education, specifically in Montessori. Awarded the Distinguished PhD Dissertation Award, Dr. Jendza has published a number of scientific articles on Montessori pedagogy focusing mostly on the issue of teacher education. He holds a Master’s degree in early education and teaching English as a foreign language. In his professional career he has worked as a kindergarten and primary school teacher as well as a principal of a Montessori school. He has been involved in various Montessori teacher training programmes and has supported Montessori educational institutions as an external consultant. Dr. Jendza believes that education can create a better world for all human beings, especially the education that promotes self-confidence, self-reliance and active participation based on mutual respect and peaceful relations. | |||
Malin has worked and lived in the Montessori community for about twenty years, as a teacher, parent and head of school. Her commitment lies in the pedagogy and in international work. Malin has worked in a lot of international Montessori projects, student exchanges, MMUN, and teacher training/workshops. She has also spoken at various conferences around the world. Bringing Montessorians together to strengthen the pedagogy across borders lies close to her heart. | |||
