On August 25th, 2015, Tim Seldin’s guest was Senior Montessori Foundation consultant, Jonathan Wolff.
The topic: The importance of supporting new staff members early and often in the school year – BEFORE they go off course
Common wisdom among Montessori school leaders is to give new staff members the time and space to settle in and normalize their classrooms before beginning to observe and assess their performance. We take issue with this approach. There is too great a chance that new people may get off on the wrong foot, acting in ways that are out-of-tune with the standards and values of your school community, and, in doing so, can have an adverse affect on student learning and parent perceptions.
