Minority Parents, Montessori Schools: Perceiving Cultural Fit in Theme-Based Public Schools

• In Event: How Public Are Desirable Urban Public Schools? Theme Schools and Equity, School Choice, and Gentrification

Abstract

Since the 1970s, public Montessori schools have been some of the most sought after theme based schools, and at nearly 500 schools, they form the largest alternative pedagogy in the public sector (NCMPS 2014). Public Montessori schools were created as part of desegregation initiatives in cities including Cincinnati, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Denver, Houston and Hartford, recruiting a diverse population of students, despite some of the barriers created by complex choice systems (Pattillo 2015, Pérez 2011, Rhodes and DeLuca 2014). Unlike other selective programs like International Baccalaureate and Gifted and Talented, students of all abilities can enroll, and students work at their own individual pace.

What do parents think of the choice after enrollment? My research found that some parents embrace the choice and others continue to question it, and that this variation was connected to parents’ racial and class privilege.

My research included one year of ethnographic research observing the parent communities at two public Montessori magnet schools in Hartford, CT, schools that are part of a suburban-urban desegregation initiative. I conducted interviews with a random sample of fifty racially and economically diverse parents at my two school sites as well as 28 staff and policy makers. I also compiled an original data set of the demographics of 484 American public Montessori schools.

While parent engagement researchers have focused on parents’ social class background as the main explanation for parent involvement (André-Becheley 2005; Bourdieu 1984; Calarco 2014; Lareau 1989, 2003; Perez 2011), at my research sites, I found that race was equally critical. In fact, middle class Black and Latino parents I interviewed were most skeptical of the Montessori approach. In order to explain this variation, I argue that parents’ interaction with school staff led them to create their own cultural meanings, what I call a cultural fit or lack thereof, with their child’s school.

Some Black and Latino parents I interviewed perceived a negative cultural fit around 1) academics 2) gardening 3) discipline practices, and 4) healthy eating. The Montessori belief that children learn at their own pace and should not get homework outside of school was particularly challenging for middle class Black and Latino parents who had been successful in traditional schools and shared the greatest anxiety about their children’s academic performance. The school promoted gardening and a farm based middle school program which concerned some middle class Black and Latino parents who wanted their children to escape agricultural work. Montessori educators promoted positive discipline, using observational and encouraging language to empower children. While many parents appreciated the guidance, it was also perceived by some Black parents as undermining their authority. And lastly, school expectations around healthy eating, particularly the banning of chocolate milk in favor of “white milk,” were interpreted by some Black parents as limiting their own freedom to choose for their children, and a prioritization of limiting sugar over concerns about basic nutrition.

The paper concludes with recommendations for how public Montessori schools in particular, and theme schools more broadly, can communicate a more inclusive pedagogy to all families.

Author

• Mira C. Debs, Yale University