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Maria Montessori was one of Italy's first female physicians, and she developed a groundbreaking educational method based on astute observation of children's behavior while working in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Rome (Gutek 2004; Kramer 1988). As someone who witnessed the extent of injustice experienced by poor women and children particularly, she turned from medicine to focus on education, seeing its potential power for social reform (Gutek 2004). Others have been drawn to the Montessori philosophy, sharing her belief that all children have the potential to become self-motivated, independent, and lifelong learners given an appropriate environment in which to flourish. Marginalized communities in the United States find this inclusivity to be a compelling message, leading to a growing number of public Montessori schools serving disadvantaged children (Debs 2019). The work and influence of Black Montessori educators is less wellknown than the stories of their white counterparts, so we profile three Black pioneers in the field. Before elaborating on the stories of Mae Arlene Gadpaille, Roslyn Williams, and Lenore Gertrude Briggs, Black Montessori pioneers who shared Maria Montessori's belief in the power of education for social justice, we first provide background on the Montessori Method, Maria Montessori's early years, and the history of Montessori education in the United States.
MONTESSORI METHOD
Educators in Maria Montessori's day found her ideas quite radical. She was a woman before her time in suggesting that children learn through handson activity, that critical brain development occurs during the preschool years, and that children with disabilities could and should be educated (Montessori 1912b). Before tracing the history of Montessori education, we first provide an overview of Montessori education today.
The Montessori name is likely familiar because many schools across the country and around the world include Montessori in their names. The National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector (NCMPS) reports that roughly 20,000 Montessori schools exist worldwide, with 4,500 in the United States, including roughly five hundred public programs (National Center for Montessori, n.d.). Though a large proportion of these schools are preschools, Montessori programs exist for children of all ages ranging from infants through high school (Culclasure et al. 2019).
Montessori education is an individualized approach with a long-term perspective. Children remain with the same teacher in multiage classrooms...
