Three days of keynotes, workshops, reflection, and exchange for Montessorians working from birth through adolescence.
The full program is still being shaped and will be announced gradually.
23–25 April 2027 · Prague
A journey from arrival to inspiration, and from insight to lasting impact.
Your journey begins with registration and a warm welcome from our hosts.
We open together with our first keynote speaker, setting the tone for the days ahead.
In the evening, join the Welcome Gathering, a relaxed opportunity to meet old friends and new faces in the international Montessori community.
A full day of learning, discovery and exchange, with shared sessions in the Main Hall.
Smaller workshops invite you to explore the themes and practice areas that matter most to you.
In the afternoon, the World Café creates space for conversation, new perspectives and connection across the community.
We begin with reflection and shared synthesis of our key takeaways.
Closing sessions bring perspectives together and highlight next steps for our community.
You'll leave with clarity, practical ideas and a renewed sense of purpose, ready to bring what matters back to your school and team.
The outline below gives a sense of the shape of each day. Exact times and session details will be confirmed and updated as the program develops.
| Time | Session |
|---|---|
| 09:00 | Optional guided Montessori school visits in Prague separate fee |
| 15:00–16:00 | Registration & welcome |
| 16:00–16:30 | Official opening, Montessori Institute Prague |
| 16:30–17:00 | Opening keynote, Lynne Lawrence, Executive Director, AMI |
| 17:00–17:30 | Keynote |
| 17:30–19:00 | Meet & greet with light refreshments |
| Time | Session |
|---|---|
| 09:00–10:30 | Morning keynote |
| 10:30–11:00 | Break |
| 11:00–13:00 | Parallel workshops, all planes of development |
| 13:00–14:30 | Lunch |
| 14:30–16:00 | World Café |
| 16:00–16:30 | Break |
| 16:30–18:00 | Parallel workshops, all planes of development |
| 20:00 | Saturday evening dinner optional, separate fee |
| Time | Session |
|---|---|
| 09:00–10:30 | Morning sessions, parallel workshops |
| 10:30–11:00 | Break |
| 11:00–12:30 | Closing keynote |
| 12:30–13:00 | Closing reflection & farewell |
| 13:00 | Congress closes |
Across five connected pillars, the program opens space for the questions Montessori schools are facing across classrooms, teams, leadership, and families.
How can Montessori respond to a fast-changing world while protecting what is deeply human?
What do children growing up now truly need to develop independence, concentration, confidence, and responsibility?
How can we support the adults who carry Montessori environments without lowering the quality of the work?
How can Montessori schools remain high-quality, credible, sustainable, and faithful to their core principles?
How can schools and families build trust around the child’s development?
In addition to the main congress program, a number of optional activities are available for a separate fee.
Spend time in a Montessori setting in Prague: an opportunity to observe, ask questions, and see practice up close. School visits are guided and limited in size. Details and booking information will follow.
A shared dinner for congress participants on Saturday evening. A natural extension of the day: good food, good company, and the kind of conversation that tends to happen when the formal program is over.
Further optional activities may be added as the program develops.
The program is designed so that different members of your school can follow different planes of development and areas of interest. One person may focus on 0–3 or 3–6, another on elementary or adolescence, while school leaders can follow sessions connected to leadership, culture, and quality.
Together, your team can return with a broader picture, shared language, and concrete ideas for whole-school development.
The program is developing step by step, with new speakers, workshops, and session details being announced throughout 2026 and early 2027. Join the mailing list to follow the program as it grows.
AMI 12–18 Educator and Writer
A leading voice in Montessori adolescent education, with a long-standing focus on the philosophy, psychology, and educational goals of the 12–18 plane of development.
David Kahn is one of the foremost voices on Montessori adolescent education in the English-speaking world. He holds a B.A. in fine arts and classics from the University of Notre Dame and the AMI Montessori Elementary diploma from Bergamo, Italy.
He has seventeen years of Montessori teaching experience, twelve of them as teaching principal at Ruffing Montessori School in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.
His writing on the philosophy, psychology, and educational goals of Montessori adolescent education has been widely published in the field.
AMI 6–12 Trainer
AMI 6–12 Trainer and Director of Training at FCISM Bergamo, continuing one of the oldest AMI elementary training traditions in the world.
Baiba Krumins Grazzini is an AMI 6–12 Trainer and Director of Training at the Fondazione Centro Internazionale Studi Montessoriani, FCISM, in Bergamo, Italy. FCISM is the first and oldest AMI elementary training institute, established by Mario Montessori himself in 1961.
Baiba was Co-Director of Training with Camillo Grazzini from 1992 to 2004 and has been the sole Director of Training at FCISM since 2004. Her work is closely connected with AMI elementary training, cosmic education, and the foundations of Montessori practice for children aged 6–12.
She has lectured internationally in Spain, Ireland, India, and Japan, where she gave the first elementary training course. Through her long work in Bergamo and abroad, Baiba continues the elementary training tradition that has shaped AMI Montessori education across generations.
Keynote Speaker
Executive Director of the Association Montessori Internationale, leading AMI’s global work in teacher training, research, development, and Montessori educational projects.
Lynne Lawrence has been Executive Director of the Association Montessori Internationale since 2008. Before that, she served as AMI General Secretary ad interim and headed the AMI Human Resources Committee.
She was Director of Training and Schools at the Maria Montessori Training Organisation, now the Maria Montessori Institute, from 1989. This role placed her at the centre of AMI-recognised teacher training for nearly two decades before she took on the global leadership of the association.
In her role as Executive Director, Lynne actively promotes AMI's involvement in Montessori educational projects in developing countries, alongside teacher training programmes globally, research and development, and the many other areas of the association's work.
AMI 0–3 Trainer
AMI 0–3 Trainer shaping how Montessori principles are applied from birth, in both the home and the prepared environment.
Heidi Philippart M.A. (Edu), AMI (Dip), lives and works in Amsterdam. She was first introduced to Montessori in the late 1980s and early 1990s while working under the guidance of Patty Wallner (AMI Assistants to Infancy Trainer) and Silvana Montanaro, founder of the AMI Assistants to Infancy programme.
Heidi trained in Denver with Judi Orion at the Assistants to Infancy level and has worked extensively within the 0–3 environment. She is an AMI Trainer at the Assistants to Infancy level, as well as an AMI Trainer of Trainers and External Examiner.
In 1996, she opened her first Montessori school, which she continues to run in the centre of Amsterdam, working with approximately 80–90 families each year.
Her work focuses in particular on supporting parents in the application of Montessori principles and bilingualism in the home environment. She has lectured extensively both in the Netherlands and internationally, including in France, the USA, Australia, Britain, Japan, Vietnam, India, China, and South Africa, on topics such as toilet independence, preparation of the home environment, and the development of the child from birth to three.
AMI 3–6 Trainer
AMI 3–6 Trainer bringing decades of classroom practice and international training experience to early childhood Montessori.
Madlena Ulrich spent her childhood in Germany, where she attended a Montessori Elementary school.
She later moved to Norway and obtained a Bachelor’s degree as a preschool teacher at the University College of Vestfold. She completed her AMI 3–6 training at Mount St. Mary’s Montessori College in Dublin.
Since 1995, she has worked in Montessori classrooms and has been actively involved in the development of Montessori education in Norway through lecturing and serving as Vice President of the national Montessori association (NMF).
In 2008, she began her Training of Trainers, working for two years with Molly O’Shaughnessy in Minnesota and attending a summer course with Ulla Wikefeldt in Sweden.
Since 2010, she has been training students in Norway, working in close collaboration with Carla Foster (AMI 6–12 Trainer). She is also part of the AMI China Faculty and has contributed to courses in China, Russia, Romania, and Thailand, gaining extensive multicultural experience in the application of Montessori pedagogy.
Madlena regularly delivers lectures and AMI certificate courses internationally.
AMI 6–12 Trainer
AMI 6–12 Trainer contributing to the development of AMI timelines and deepening how we present human history to the child.
Carla Foster is an AMI Elementary Trainer originally from California and has been living in Norway since 1995.
She holds AMI diplomas at both the 3–6 and 6–12 levels, from MMI London and the Montessori Institute of Milwaukee. She has worked with children aged 3–6, 6–9, and 9–12 in both private and public Montessori schools.
Carla has been an AMI Elementary Trainer since 2011.
In recent years, she has been part of the creation committee for the new AMI timelines of human beings and the chart of the Family Tree of Hominins, giving her a unique insight into the reasoning behind how human history is presented within Montessori education.
AMI 12–18 Trainer
AMI 12–18 Trainer bringing a cross-plane perspective informed by work in infancy, primary, and adolescent Montessori environments.
Françoise Sansoni was born and raised bilingually and biculturally in the United Kingdom. She later moved to France and then to the United States in 1996 as a young mother of two.
She has been involved in Montessori education for approximately 25 years.
Françoise began her Montessori journey with an AMI Primary diploma and deepened her understanding of pedagogy and practice through several years of work with young children.
She later completed her 12–18 training and consolidated her experience through work in adolescent communities, alongside lecturing. From its inception, she has been part of the 12–18 Training of Trainers programme.
Françoise is now an AMI 12–18 Trainer and holds AMI diplomas at the Assistants to Infancy, Primary, and 12–18 levels. She offers lectures, workshops, and certificate courses in both French and English.
