 | | | | | | Peter Hanson | | My dad was a teacher so I may be sociologically predisposed to being an educator.
After graduating magna cum laude from San Francisco State University, I had the good fortune to visit a Montessori school where I observed young children doing work projects joyfully, peacefully, and independently. I was impressed!
I traveled to India in 1973 to spend a year studying Montessori education for children ages 2 ½ - 6 years old. When I returned, I founded and taught in a small Montessori school in the Twin Cities area. Looking for a new challenge, I spent 1979- 1980 at the Washington Montessori Institute learning to be an elementary Montessori teacher.
Upon returning to Minnesota, I taught E1 (ages 6 – 9) and E2 (ages 9 – 12) for twelve years at a private school in Minneapolis, Lake Country School. I completed the Minnesota state teaching licensure program at the University of St. Thomas in 1983 and was soon hired as an E1 teacher by the St. Paul Public Schools. In that same year, I started training Montessori teachers as an adjunct professor at the College of St. Catherine and I have enjoyed doing that ever since.
I served as the coordinator of J. J. Hill Montessori from 1995 until 1998. But I missed the day-to-day contact with a class of young learners: the joys of discovery, the bustle of classroom life, and the music that children love. I requested - and received - a transfer to an E1 class at J. J. Hill. I am happy here.
I earned an M.A. in Education from the College of St. Catherine in 1998, completing a research project on how children do after they “graduate” from Montessori (almost always, very well). This research is available if you Google “Peter Hanson What Happens After Montessori”.
My wife, Terri, loves volunteering at J. J. Hill Montessori. We chose this school for our son, Noah, who is an active, powerful learner and a sports enthusiast. My older son, Anders, attended Montessori school from preschool through junior high and is now a successful artist/illustrator for a media firm in Minneapolis.
I enjoy being part of the E1 team of teachers. We get together regularly after the school day for mini-workshops that help us keep inspired, cooperating on a higher level, and growing professionally. I am happy here.
|
|
|
