What's Your Montessori Personality? You Can Be The First to Know!

Personality Traits of the Montessorian

What is the possibility that personality traits play a part in career longevity and job satisfaction in the field of Montessori Education? 

Are there some personality traits shared by all primary guides and others shared by elementary guides? 

If there are differences, what are the personality traits of individuals drawn to serve specific planes of development (infant/toddler vs. children's house vs. elementary vs. adolescence)?

I Want To Know!

Our community has experienced many benefits of the few Montessorians who continue their careers in the lab after the classroom.  Often, they study the children of our schools and their outcomes.  Now, a Minnesota Montessorian-turned research scientist is bringing attention to the adults in service to children in our schools. Seeking to explore the question

What are the fundamental traits of those who love working in the Montessori education system - and do they vary across those working with children in each of Montessori’s planes of development?

The Montessori education system struggles mightily with staff retention, staff shortages, and a massively disproportionate number of white educators.  Jobs go un- and under-resourced, schools experience exhausting staff turn-over, programs contract or cannot expand to meet demand, training programs proceed with empty seats, and BIPOC students are served by white teachers.  There are many challenges to unravel, and this research aims to support the effort.

Considering the significant influence educators have on students' lives, it is relevant to conduct research that focuses on teachers' personality characteristics and their satisfaction in the classroom. Tymber’s research examines trends among the Big Five personality traits (Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism) and their relation to interest and job satisfaction. ​

What is the goal of this research?

This research aims to understand what factors make Montessorians unique and create a valid and standardized tool to:

1. Help prospective staff members determine if working in a Montessori school is likely to be a satisfying experience for them.
2. Help those who are not consistently represented in the Montessori education system today "see" themselves as valuable contributors for which there is a high need.
3. Help current staff and prospective trainees decide in which level train to invest.
4. Help current Montessorian understand how their temperament informs their current job satisfaction and conclude if it may be a best-fit with another plane of child development. 

Who is conducting this research?

Tymber Anderson, a primary-trained MN Montessorian with ten years classroom experience.  She is the original creator and strongest supporter of the annual MN State Fair Interactive Classroom

She currently completing her graduate studies in child and adolescent development at the University of Minnesota. ​For the last four years, Tymber has worked as the research coordinator of a nationwide longitudinal study investigating typical brain development at the University of Minnesota's Institute of Child Development.  Tymber partners with multiple scientists in the US and UK who share her passion for this transformational work.

How Can I Help?

Are you currently working in a Montessori school?  Have you formerly worked in a Montessori school?  Would you like to work in a Montessori school?   We need your expertise and experience!  We would like to interview you, send you a survey and/or share a link to the new tool and get your feedback as soon as it's ready to test!

Why should I participate?

Your engagement in this work is the only way a valid tool can be created to help the Montessori education system with it's teacher pipeline challenges.  If you feel the these challenges and the goals of this research are important, we need you.  Plus, who doesn't love a super-customized "right-on" personality assessment they can take from their phone in two minutes?!

Click below to help bring this new tool to life!  If you would like to know more, please contact Tymber Anderson at tanders@umn.edu

Let's Do This!