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Give children the opportunity to learn how to exercise their rights
An Interview with André Roberfroid, previously Deputy Director of UNICEF and President of AMI
André Roberfroid has been committed to child rights for most of his life, having worked for UNICEF for more than 30 years, which then led him to connect with AMI and the global Montessori community. Often referred to as a child rights militant, André also contributed to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. We asked him about his work and what has driven him throughout his career.
André Roberfroid speaking at the AGM 2018 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands
What has inspired you to work for the rights of the child for the majority of your career?
What led me to care so much for children is a very personal story. I lost a child when I was young and living in Africa. My daughter was 2 years old and this shaped my life forever. Having experienced what it is to lose a child, I couldn't accept this happening so often to others, and following this, opportunities presented themselves, and I began working with UNICEF. I worked as a UNICEF officer in the field, in Africa, the Middle East and Asia and eventually in New York, where we began to bring together the Convention on the Rights of the Child over 30 years ago. It took nearly 10 years of extensive and sometimes frustrating meetings, but it ended with the production of the Convention in 1989, which we have today.
What led me to care so much for children is a very personal story. I lost a child when I was young and living in Africa. My daughter was 2 years old and this shaped my life forever. Having experienced what it is to lose a child, I couldn't accept this happening so often to others, and following this, opportunities presented themselves, and I began working with UNICEF. I worked as a UNICEF officer in the field, in Africa, the Middle East and Asia and eventually in New York, where we began to bring together the Convention on the Rights of the Child over 30 years ago. It took nearly 10 years of extensive and sometimes frustrating meetings, but it ended with the production of the Convention in 1989, which we have today.
"If the child, whatever its origin, is educated from the first stage of his development, he will show characteristics far superior to those commonly attributed to him". I believe that conviction is still not given enough attention in the world.
How did you discover Montessori?
When I retired from UNICEF, my intention was to take a peaceful retirement – and then I found AMI. When AMI asked me to join them, I did so for one reason alone – at UNICEF I believe we had been quite successful in terms of child survival and protection, but we were not very good in what we tried to do in education. I left with a sense of an unfinished job, that we hadn't found the appropriate formula for education. Then I discovered Montessori, and I felt that there was something there that could be the answer we needed.
Within Montessori, we have a set of experiences which are extremely positive, but I feel we still have some way to go before we have the impact on the world that we should have.
I believe all Montessori practitioners across the world are giving too much importance to the tool box and not enough to the spirit and philosophy behind the education.
When preparing for our interview, I re-read a piece which was a speech given by Maria Montessori in 1947. It was called the "Forgotten Citizen". It was on the anniversary of the declaration of human rights, and I quote from it: "If the child, whatever its origin, is educated from the first stage of his development, he will show characteristics far superior to those commonly attributed to him". I believe that conviction is still not given enough attention in the world.
When I retired from UNICEF, my intention was to take a peaceful retirement – and then I found AMI. When AMI asked me to join them, I did so for one reason alone – at UNICEF I believe we had been quite successful in terms of child survival and protection, but we were not very good in what we tried to do in education. I left with a sense of an unfinished job, that we hadn't found the appropriate formula for education. Then I discovered Montessori, and I felt that there was something there that could be the answer we needed.
Within Montessori, we have a set of experiences which are extremely positive, but I feel we still have some way to go before we have the impact on the world that we should have.
I believe all Montessori practitioners across the world are giving too much importance to the tool box and not enough to the spirit and philosophy behind the education.
When preparing for our interview, I re-read a piece which was a speech given by Maria Montessori in 1947. It was called the "Forgotten Citizen". It was on the anniversary of the declaration of human rights, and I quote from it: "If the child, whatever its origin, is educated from the first stage of his development, he will show characteristics far superior to those commonly attributed to him". I believe that conviction is still not given enough attention in the world.
We need to ensure our teachers and trainers are fully knowledgeable about the convention. Then we need them to reflect on how each article of the convention relates to Montessori philosophy and how it translates into Montessori practice.
What do Montessori's words say to you about children's rights?
Rights are not something which should be given, instead we need to learn how to exercise our rights – these two things are not the same. Children need to be put into a position where they can learn how to exercise their rights. In Montessori education, children are given the capacity to be their own educators, and it is the role of the adult to manage the environment to allow that.
This idea that children are not just receivers, but are actors in their education, is becoming more and more accepted now. I view Montessori education through three values, these are: freedom; respect and solidarity. For example, freedom is about developing your own capacity to make decisions in a responsible manner. In Montessori classrooms we exercise freedom of choice, but it has to be done within the environment where others are also affected. The right to be free to choose means that you live up to your duty to make a responsible decision. Many adults today have not had the opportunity to develop this and they prefer others to make the decisions for them. Respect also comes from this freedom of choice. As a Montessori child you know your decision is limited by the decisions of the others around you and you have to make that decision with respect for others. For the third one – Solidarity, we discover from an early age that when we are more than one we are able to achieve much more – it's as simple as that. If the group work as a group, what we achieve as a group is often more than we can achieve by ourselves.
I believe if we were to read the Convention on the Rights of the Child with these three values in mind, we could achieve much more. It also means that we need to give much more attention to the convention when we are training our teachers and we need to offer more materials to our teachers to enable them to present the Convention , for example, giving a timeline perspective on the history of rights – which in my own research I go back to the Magna Carta in 1215 – which is the first place the word "rights" was used.
Rights are not something which should be given, instead we need to learn how to exercise our rights – these two things are not the same. Children need to be put into a position where they can learn how to exercise their rights. In Montessori education, children are given the capacity to be their own educators, and it is the role of the adult to manage the environment to allow that.
This idea that children are not just receivers, but are actors in their education, is becoming more and more accepted now. I view Montessori education through three values, these are: freedom; respect and solidarity. For example, freedom is about developing your own capacity to make decisions in a responsible manner. In Montessori classrooms we exercise freedom of choice, but it has to be done within the environment where others are also affected. The right to be free to choose means that you live up to your duty to make a responsible decision. Many adults today have not had the opportunity to develop this and they prefer others to make the decisions for them. Respect also comes from this freedom of choice. As a Montessori child you know your decision is limited by the decisions of the others around you and you have to make that decision with respect for others. For the third one – Solidarity, we discover from an early age that when we are more than one we are able to achieve much more – it's as simple as that. If the group work as a group, what we achieve as a group is often more than we can achieve by ourselves.
I believe if we were to read the Convention on the Rights of the Child with these three values in mind, we could achieve much more. It also means that we need to give much more attention to the convention when we are training our teachers and we need to offer more materials to our teachers to enable them to present the Convention , for example, giving a timeline perspective on the history of rights – which in my own research I go back to the Magna Carta in 1215 – which is the first place the word "rights" was used.
What do you think Montessori teachers need to do to further the work of the rights of the child?
We need to ensure our teachers and trainers are fully knowledgeable about the convention. Then we need them to reflect on how each article of the convention relates to Montessori philosophy and how it translates into Montessori practice. I see it as a progressive improvement of our practice. It's taking the opportunity to do what we do, but even better.
Maria Montessori's "The Forgotten Citizen" is so illuminating. At the time, people were not prepared to listen. They believed that the child was an entity waiting for us to give them something, rather than a human being capable of their own development. Montessori was far ahead of her time – she was probably ahead of our time, to some extent.
We need to ensure our teachers and trainers are fully knowledgeable about the convention. Then we need them to reflect on how each article of the convention relates to Montessori philosophy and how it translates into Montessori practice. I see it as a progressive improvement of our practice. It's taking the opportunity to do what we do, but even better.
Maria Montessori's "The Forgotten Citizen" is so illuminating. At the time, people were not prepared to listen. They believed that the child was an entity waiting for us to give them something, rather than a human being capable of their own development. Montessori was far ahead of her time – she was probably ahead of our time, to some extent.
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