UCC Explores Collaboration with Washington Montessori Institute

The College of Education Studies (CES) of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) is exploring a partnership with the Washington Montessori Institute (WMI), USA, to strengthen Montessori teacher education and professional development in Ghana.

To advance the proposed collaboration, CES management met a WMI delegation to discuss strategies to improve access to quality Montessori education and strengthen the professional competencies of early childhood educators.

The WMI delegation included Executive Director, Ms. Grace Lee, and Executive Board Member, Ms. Inga Sieminski. They outlined the Institute’s approach to Montessori teacher training, curriculum development, and quality assurance, guided by the standards of the Association Montessori International (AMI).

Ms. Lee highlighted the need to establish clear standards for Montessori education in Ghana and develop local expertise to ensure sustainable teacher training initiatives. She disclosed that WMI was developing a proposal to guide potential collaboration with educational institutions and relevant regulatory agencies in Ghana.

Welcoming the delegation, the Provost of CES, Prof. Douglas D. Agyei, highlighted the College’s academic programmes, institutional capacity, professional development initiatives and contributions to teacher education in Ghana.

He expressed concern about the limited access to Montessori education for the average Ghanaian early childhood teacher and stressed the need to broaden opportunities for quality training. He reaffirmed the College’s readiness to work with WMI, drawing on its experience in teacher professional development to advance the proposed initiative.

The discussions also covered flexible training arrangements, curriculum alignment, instructional resources and strategies for building sustainable local capacity in Montessori education. Both institutions expressed interest in sustaining the engagement towards a mutually beneficial partnership.

Present at the meeting were the Director, Centre for Teacher Professional Development, Prof. Kofi Acheaw Owusu; Head, Department of Arts Education, Prof. Bernard Yaw S. Acquah; Director, Centre for Teacher Support, Prof. Forster Ntow; Head, Department of Basic Education, Dr. Joyce Esi Tawiah-Mensah; and Assistant Registrar, Ms. Ethel Esi Ennin.