Ms. Maria Montessori was the founder of the Montessori education system, and it is all thanks to her that the Montessori system of education got so much acclaim and spread all across America.
Ms. Maria Montessori and her son Mario set up the Montessori schooling system. The brainchild of these two people changed the education system of the United States of America.
AMS vs AMI
The main difference between AMS and AMI is that they are two different organizations that govern the Montessori education system. These institutions have the same facilities with tiny little tweaks in some places. The AMS is the original society of Montessori schools, while the AMI is the modern version with changes in how the affiliated schools conduct the education of its students.
AMS refers to the American Montessori Society, which is a society formed by the original creators of the Montessori form of education. It differs from the other AMI society by some intricate terms but on the whole. These societies work on the same idea to make learning interactive and fun.
AMI refers to the Association Montessori Internationale. This society is the modern brainchild of one of the AMI-trained teachers and is one of the variations brought in the original idea. Even though this association holds the original spirit of Montessori education, it has included some minute technical changes in how its schools function.
Comparison Table Between AMS and AMI
| Parameters of Comparison | AMS | AMI |
| Headquarters | The AMS Montessori has its headquarters situated in New York | The AMI Montessori has its headquarters situated in Amsterdam |
| Originality | The purity of the Montessori education was not preserved where the AMS system is concerned. it has modern adaptations. | The originality and true essence of the Montessori education is preserved and no variations have been included |
| Teacher Training | AMS does not follow a particular method of teacher training | AMI follows a formal approach of teacher training |
| Student Friendly | No formal teacher training causes the student to lose continuity if they change schools | Formal training ensures students get continuity when they change schools. |
| Compatible | AMS schools are adapted according to the place the school is situated in and have a uniqueness restrained to each school. | Common way of teaching across schools does not give much uniqueness to the teaching styles of each school. |
What is AMS?
AMS refers to the American Montessori Society, the original society behind the formulation of Montessori education. Ms. Maris Montessori and her son, Mario, formulated the Montessori form of education, and the AMS was the one that carried it forward. Despite many troubles and scopes of improvement suggested by the other committee members of the association, the true essence was preserved.
The AMS preserved the true spirit of Montessori education and did not let any improvement that caused a change in the original system take place. The association was a true group of authorities that strived hard to make education fun. Ranging from tutoring teachers and faculty about the curriculum to be followed and the formal approach to education, the association took care of all technicalities. The association was the head of all affiliated schools and took responsibility for all activities.
It dictates the newer and updated rules and conditions that change every year and makes it customized according to the yearly needs of students. The student studying in this community follows a formal approach and a fixed syllabus; the syllabus remains the same when the person moves schools, and it becomes easy for the student to cope with all the place change and surrounding change issues.
What is AMI?
AMI is the Association Montessori Internationale society of Montessori schools. It is the society that includes deviation from the original AMS society. The idea behind the creation of the AMI was that the AMS used to use resources that were available and were kind of more reserved and orthodox.
To change this, the AMI was formed, which was more open-minded and used to use resources from outside. The resources were textbooks and resource materials, which exposed the affiliated schools to the curriculum of the outside world and allowed them to think further than what was taught.
It also was open-minded towards uniqueness and incorporated other ideals which, though deviated from old-school Montessori education, were worth the change.
Main Differences Between AMS and AMI
- AMI and AMS both have the same essence of Montessori education. Still, only some parts are different, which shows us the purpose and reason behind the creation of these societies and associations.
- Some reasons led to the forming of the AMI community, which believes in using additional and 3rd party resources to teach its students about concepts.
- This is opposed to the originals using whatever resources they already possess.
- There is a tinge of uniqueness regarding AMI education and a restraint in mobility, too.
- The AMS preserves the true Montessori spirit and allows the students to have a formalized approach towards formal education.
Conclusion
Montessori education’s essence is to make education and learning fun. In this noble thinking comes the conflict of contrasting noble thoughts. These contrasts brought about the difference in opinions and the formation of the society of AMI. The trained AMS teacher had the AMI brainchild, and it was thanks to the scope of difference in opinion the AMS society was created.
The AMS society wanted to create an educationally conducive environment where the resources that the society previously had would be stored and used. The AMI wanted to use extraneous resources to give students a wider resource base. The resources used were wider and of better value when compared to the AMS. The AMS wanted to create a syllabus-oriented program that allows students mobility and permission to go wherever they want and not lose out on any study material.
The AMI prioritized uniqueness over mobility, and the AMS school students took a little more time to cope with the past knowledge. At the heart of things, these organizations talk about the same things and have the same curriculum. Both these organizations are why Montessori education still prevails, and students educated in this system have a better grip over concepts than the other system-educated students.
References
- https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Angeline-Lillard/publication/290448065_What_Belongs_in_a_Montessori_Primary_Classroom/links/56994f1708ae6169e5517e46/What-Belongs-in-a-Montessori-Primary-Classroom.pdf
- https://www.tcrecord.org/books/Content.asp?ContentID=14765
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