The Wellan TEP (Teacher Education Program) Early Childhood Montessori Teacher training course is a 13-month adult education experience that runs from May of one year to June of the following year. During that time, students take academic courses (on weekdays in the summer and weekends during the school year) and complete a 9-month practicum in a Montessori classroom.

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Our educational philosophy has its roots in Maria Montessori’s belief in the inherent dignity and worth of each individual. We respect neurodiversity as well as the diversity represented by age, ability, gender identity, race, religion, ethnic heritage, nationality, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, citizenship, or other identifiers. We work hard to recognize what individual students have to offer their learning cohort and invite them to share insights they have gained from their prior educational and life experiences.

We also emphasize the importance of having a growth mindset, which sometimes means needing to “unlearn” certain assumptions about child development or education. Wellan TEP students are asked to recognize that it may be necessary to change one’s ideas and teaching practices in order to fully embrace the role of Montessori teacher.

We hope that by providing a transformative teacher education experience to our adult learners and by nurturing their spirits, we can in turn empower them to transform their student learners into confident, independent, responsible, community-minded citizens.