Modeling a Healthy Use of Technology for Ourselves and Our Children
It has been a year since the world took a turn that no one was expecting nor for which anyone was prepared. In that year, as educators, we have scrambled to stay true to who we are while still meeting our students’ and schools’ needs. Throughout this upheaval, this global chaos, I have reflected a good deal on the exceptional works I read during my time in TIES. I have thought about chaos theory, quantum physics, neurophenomenology, and a lot about the prepared environment. As educators, we were constantly reacting to factors and decisions beyond our control. Our prepared environment altered to an almost unrecognizable state as we continually looked for the end of the chaos.
Exploring Learning Possibilities and the Integrative Structure of Life through Mindfulness and Montessori Education
I have found that observing the present moment with clear, non-judging attention gives the space to explore the mind’s natural balance and discernment which have been there waiting to unfold. In life, where learning cannot be separated from the environment, connecting all life experiences with curiosity could transform this curiosity into insightful creative learning experiences, in which one might find something unique to contribute to the world.
Paul Freedman on The Unique Qualities of TIES
||| TIES has offered me a privileged window through which to witness some of the most personally integrated expressions of study, practice and reflection I have witnessed in education. What is it about TIES that nurtures such authenticity, vulnerability and full...
9th Anniversary of Christchurch Earthquake
On this 9th anniversary of the February 22 Christchurch earthquake, our hearts remain connected with our Montessori family at Nova and all our Kiwi mates.Dylan and Jordan Moliken outside of Nova's earthquake tweaked greeting gate.
Delila Olsson On Graduating in Challenging Times
Mixed Feelings February 28th had been imprinted in my mind for months, in anticipation of submitting my TIES Culminating Project. Little did I know, that date would also mark the first case of COVID-19 diagnosed here in Oregon. In the flurry of activity surrounding...
Tammy Oesting – Montessorian
It was one of those long-shot ideas formulated in an online conversation with my dear friend Andy Lulka. Did she think her mentor, Dr. Philip Snow Gang, might be interested in speaking to the greater Montessori community through an online conference? She wondered...
Reflection on Adolescent Symposium
For two weeks in late November, a “Symposium” – a gathering of learned scholars, assembled around the relatively contemporary phenomenon of adolescence. Skillfully and heartfully guided by TIES faculty Steven Arnold and Julie Haagenson, two hundred registered...
Adolescents and The Natural World
(A post by TIES alumna Kasey Errico) I recently returned from a fall overnight experience with 17 adolescent learners. On our way from our campsite to the morning harvest, with the students in front of me, descending the hill toward the garden house of the Community...
Empathy, Compassion and Healing Our Planet
Empathy, Compassion and Healing Our Planet As a teacher for 23 years, I have learned that one's capacity for empathy and compassion provides a platform for love, life and making a difference in our fragile world. When guiding students to fall in love with the Earth, I...
Join us fireside for upcoming adolescent symposium
What is a TIES symposium? I was recently asked, "What is a TIES symposium?" Being on the inside, I think it’s easy for me to forget that our online gatherings are unique in their simplicity, and yet profound in their outcomes. A newcomer could easily pass, thinking...
Montessori’s Cosmic Vision
If we look at Montessori’s cosmic vision through the planes of development, we see that each plane can be summarized in a phrase. The first plane is cosmic wonder and exploration. The second plane is cosmic stories and imagination. And the third plane is cosmic action...
Listening to Adolescents
We approach adolescents in a different way, for our benefit and theirs. It is not that we, the adults, should invite adolescents to the table, and share our plan of the future with them. It is that we should hang out in their space, and hope to be invited to watch...
Adolescents as Guides
Mentors and apprentices are partners in an ancient human dance, and one of teaching’s great rewards is the daily chance it gives us to get back on the dance floor. It is the dance of the spiraling generations, in which the old empower the young with their experience...
Seasonal Transitions
Seasonal Transitions By Marc Cobb, TIES Alumni The changing of seasons has long been a reliable marker of time. Early humans used the unwavering journey of the sun to track the hours into days — and then the days to track the sometimes subtle, often blatant...
The Cosmic Citizen
The Cosmic CitizenBy Lauren de BoerPlanet Earth, turning and turning, transmutes the rays of the Sun to a dazzling multiplicity of form and expression, an alchemy of tassel and leaf, fin and feather, eye and bone; all are progeny of a planet in reverie. And the dream...
A Traveling Montessori Workshop
Montessori: The Essence A traveling workshop with Dr. Gang. Dr. Philip Snow Gang, TIES' founder and director is journeying to Europe where he is facilitating his workshop Montessori: The Essence in Prague and Oslo. This workshop is participatory and dialogue based. In...
Alum Jessica Starman
SerendipityIsn’t life serendipitous? At pivotal moments life seems to have a way of showing us the right path if we are paying attention. Right before I started training to become a Montessori guide, I had reached a major turning point in my life. I was...
To Educate Eco-sapiens
Through story, Philip Snow Gang relates the personal to the universal, with cosmic stories that pull viewers in, calling on our shared experience of being human in a very large universe.To Educate Eco-Sapiens engages the deep questions that follow us through life and...
Alum Sarah Everett on Community at TIES
I have felt very connected to the TIES community. I am quite a spiritual person and so strongly believe that certain things happen for certain reasons. Just like I felt I moved to Squamish in order to find my new job in West Vancouver, I feel...
Alum Joan Scheide on Dialogue at TIES
Bohm (1996) pointed out, “For each will hear the other through the screen of his own thoughts, which he tends to maintain and defend, regardless of whether or not they are true or coherent” (p. 3). Alertness to this tendency set the tone for the TIES dialogue,...
Education 2000: A Holistic Perspective
Featured Videos
To Educate Eco-sapiens
Through story, Philip Snow Gang relates the personal to the universal, with cosmic stories that pull viewers in, calling on our shared experience of being human in a very large universe.To Educate Eco-Sapiens engages the deep questions that follow us through life and...
2018 Graduates
We interviewed some of our 2017 graduates at their graduation ceremony. Here's what they have to say. click thumbnail below to play video.
2017 Graduates
We interviewed some of our 2017 graduates at their graduation ceremony. Here's what they have to say. click thumbnail below to play video.