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Opening Address of the 2009 National Conference given by Eva Nislev.
Good morning.
The Montessori Australia Council is thrilled to host the National Montessori Conference for 2009 in Brisbane. Brisbane is in a beautiful part of the world, it is my home town – welcome.
I hope your attendance at the conference is enjoyable and productive and that you leave feeling enabled, engaged and enthused about Montessori practice and the role you have in the enrichment of children’s lives.
In the same spirit in which we acknowledge and give thanks to the traditional owners of the land on which we now meet we welcome our visitors from interstate and all parts of the world; from the United States, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, New Zealand and even Western Australia!
I would like to thank our keynote speakers and presenters for the time and effort they have put into preparing and sharing with us over the next few days. I would also like to thank the centres that have so graciously opened their doors for our optional schools tour. To our exhibitors and sponsors, welcome and thankyou.
I particularly want to publically thank Sheryl Ridout for her untiring work bringing this conference to fruition. Thankyou also to our administrative officer, Lucy Delaney who has come in half way through and filled the gaps.
For those of you who are new to the MAC let me share a little of our journey here. The Montessori Australia Council has grown out of the Montessori Association of Australia after 22 years. Like all organisations and businesses it has had a face-lift – a gorgeous new look, revamp and review. A mandate was given by members to move forward and investigate further our already four year association with the International Montessori Council. For quite a few of us, myself included, our relationship and subsequent friendship with the IMC goes back over ten years.
In the IMC we recognised a shared value system – we all come together as equals regardless of affiliations, training, countries, states etc. The IMC board today is comprised of many people whose ‘day jobs’ are as principals, trainers from different organisations, company directors etc. These people represent a wide section of the community – all have a love of Montessori.
Australia (the Montessori Australia Council) is the first country to become a fully fledged affiliate (chapter in US terms). This is a very exciting adventure for both organisations. Together we will be able to bring our members all over the country more and improved benefits – we Australians will have the opportunity to both listen and give voice on the world stage. This weekend is our time to celebrate this momentous step. To our members here, thankyou for your support and partnership we look forward to this journey together.
When we think about the Montessori philosophy we don’t get far without realising that ‘nurturing the human spirit’ is at the heart. Through this philosophy we are able to engender joy in learning and bring about a sense of wonder to the world we live in to the children and adults we share our lives with.
Please enjoy the next three days.
Eva Nislev
MAC Chair
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