Bringing Work of the Hand into our Montessori Secondary Curriculum and Classroom

To meet such essential human tendencies as movement, creativity, and exploration, we must create passageways in our classrooms – passageways for deeper physical, intellectual, and emotional connections. In early and elementary levels, this often happens through work of the hand. Such hand work, however, is sorely lacking in many middle and high school settings, underplayed as frivolous or menial in an era where education is driven by what is quantifiable. Yet to truly embrace a holistic approach to learning, we can’t ignore the vitality of authentic work nor what we can create by the power of our own hand – even in adolescence.

In this workshop, we’ll explore how we can incorporate the hand throughout our secondary curricula and learning activities, our solo sessions, our innovations. Together, we’ll look at the power and potential of the hand to spark the spirit of learning, to cultivate creativity and problem-solving mindsets, to support choice and differentiation, to build skills in practical life, and to empower the individual in preparing for a life that is satisfying and connected to the heart and mind.

Let’s see how the work of the hand can work into the subjects we teach, thread throughout three periods of learning, and find a place in our open work cycles. Let’s get the work of the hand back into our secondary classrooms!

General registration, $45. Register HERE.

CGMS Alumni and Faculty, $35. Register HERE.

About Jocelyn Bell Swanson

“The best part about being a Montessori secondary-level guide is the joy of helping students in their irresistible quest to discover their potential – a journey from discovery to exploration innovation.” Her specialty is in language arts and history. As a Montessori parent, she watched her local school grow beyond its original primary level to add an elementary program. Eventually, she agreed to become Montessori secondary-certified and open a secondary program there, now thriving in the heart of Williamsburg, Virginia.

Her work in the Humanities has centered on the Socratic method of discussion, a key takeaway from her Montessori training, and a philosophy that she finds essential to feeding the curiosity and character of her learners. In addition to working with children and adolescents, now at a farm school she recently founded, she enjoys working with adult learners, serving as the Secondary-level Director for the Center for Guided Montessori Studies and an educational consultant and curriculum designer.

In her pre-teaching career, Jocelyn ran her own marketing business, starting out  as a writer/editor. Jocelyn has an undergraduate degree in business/communications and a Master’s degree in education. She lives in Williamsburg, Virginia on a farm with her husband and children and a fun variety of animals. All of them fulfill a considerable role in Montessori Erdkinder experiences for children and adolescents in the community.