Dear Paradigm Breakers,
We are starting this post with something new and different- sharing a new chapter for us at Breaking the Paradigm/Developing Education as we start our third year of operations in January!
In response to what we have heard from so many of you, that this podcast has given you a deeper sense of community and connection, we are happy to share that we are hosting a six week course, facilitated by Christine Lowry, “A Responsive Classroom: Montessori for ALL.”
The course offers six weeks of videos AND an optional weekly live session for questions and sharing (total about 2 hrs. per week), and is applicable to all levels of Montessori classrooms in public & private schools.
The course explores how to understand and serve ALL students with practical teaching and guiding techniques for minimizing, or preventing challenges, creating a classroom of calm, providing instructional success for all, and partnering with families and community professionals.
Learn more about the course here: https://developingeducation.thinkific.com/products/courses/responsiveguidance
Now, on to our episode!
What if the very practices we think are Montessori are actually authoritarian?
Sometimes the greatest threat to authentic education comes from within—when we control the pipeline of lessons, when we operate from fear instead of trust, when we prioritize materials over spiritual preparation. The question isn’t whether children are ready for independence. It’s whether we’re brave enough to give up control.
In this provocative conversation with Charles Terranova—a Montessori educator who fled law school, trained under Mother Isabel, met Mario Montessori, and has spent decades questioning the authoritarian practices creeping into Montessori schools—we challenge everything we think we know about our role as guides.
Why do we require children to wait for lessons before exploring materials?
What happens when we mistake control for leadership and let fear drive our decisions?
Charles shares his radical experiments: abandoning the rule that children must have lessons before taking materials, observing from outside the classroom, removing lids from boxes to stop controlling what children can see.
His insight cuts to the heart of our work: this approach requires trust in children, giving up our attempts at control, and releasing the fear that something terrible will happen if we let go.
This conversation isn’t about perfecting technique, it’s about confronting the authoritarianism we’ve internalized and choosing trust over control.
All these paradigm-shattering insights on trust, fear, and the spiritual work required to truly guide, in this episode of Breaking the Paradigm.
Thanks, Charles, for a great conversation!
You just heard another conversation that mainstream education won’t have.
The question is: What are you going to do about it?
Most educators listen to paradigm-breaking ideas and return to the same broken systems tomorrow.
But you’re different - you’re here because you refuse to accept “that’s just how education works.”
Ready to move from consuming revolutionary content to building revolutionary alternatives?
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Here’s the reality: The educational revolution won’t be built by people who just listen to podcasts about change. It’s being built by educators who question everything, implement alternatives, and prove that transformation is possible.
The traditional education system had its chance.
Now it’s our turn.
