The Indigenous Montessori Institute is an anti-racist, anti-biased approach to education using Indigenous knowledge systems and the Montessori Philosophy to deliver teacher training. The Indigenous Montessori Institute (IMI) was born jointly out of KCLC’s need to develop its own teacher training pipeline and the lack of existing teacher training programs that prioritize Indigenous Education and Indigenous children. IMI works to redefine success and achievement in Indian Education, making Western achievement standards relevant only when it serves the whole child by nurturing and honoring the language, values, and beliefs of the child’s community alongside rigorous academics. IMI’s intention is to reclaim and center Indigenous Education by decolonizing education in the classroom and system levels, restore Indigenous knowledge systems that support early childhood education, and center Indigenous languages, values, and beliefs in education.
While IMI is focused on Indigenous education and recruiting Indigenous people for training, training at IMI is open to all, regardless of race or ethnicity.
Philosophy of Indigenous Education Courses
PIE courses deliver up to 10 training modules, one in each of the Keres Children’s Learning Center’s fundamental principles. Modules are up to 3 hours long and meet via Zoom up to two times a week (summer) and are delivered in a lecture and facilitation style. Courses follow the academic school year: Reclaiming Indigenous Education in Fall, Indigenous School Leadership Development in Spring, and Indigenous Language-Immersion Approaches in Summer. Readings and additional material are located on Populi, IMI’s online learning platform.