UVic-UCC becomes an Association Montessori Internationale Training Center

The University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia (UVic-UCC) has become a fully-fledged training centre of the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) through the Faculty of Education, Translation, Sports and Psychology. This institution, the world's highest body that certifies trainers in Montessori Pedagogy, thereby recognises UVic-UCC, which had been a satellite centre of the Montessori Institute in San Diego, for its track record and expertise as a training centre. This means the UVic-UCC Montessori Training Center will become one of the nine Training Centers in Spain  and the only one that is part of a university institution.

UVic-UCC has been coordinating the university master's degree in Montessori Pedagogy for thirteen years, and starting next academic year, it will be offering advanced level specific vocational training in Pre-School Teaching Specialising in Montessori Pedagogy. According to Berta Vila, the coordinator of the master's degree course, "the fact that we can present ourselves to the world as a Training Center sets us apart from other less rigorous training, and at the same time consolidates our long-standing relationship with the AMI. This reinforces and raises the profile of the work being done at the Pre-School Teaching Training and Research Laboratories: the Teresa Buscart Classroom and Montessori Classrooms."

A unique master's degree in Europe 

The university master's degree in Montessori Pedagogy is the only one in the world that is recognised and validated by the AMI. It has highly specialised university and international teaching staff. It offers comprehensive and rigorous training that provides a scientific, philosophical and methodological foundation, enabling graduates to work as a Montessori teacher and guide in the two cycles of pre-school teaching from 0-3 and 3-6 years old. UVic-UCC has two Montessori classrooms in the Research Laboratories - one environment for children aged 0-3 years (the Nest and the Children's Community) and the other for children aged 3-6 years (the Children's House) with materials accredited by the AMI. It is the only facility for children aged 0-6 years old that uses this method of teaching in Catalonia for initial teacher training.

The various editions of the course carried out to date have sparked the interest of students from many countries, and have brought an enriching cultural diversity to the master's degree course. The training programme provides an opportunity to do internships in Montessori centres all over the world and is professionally focused, with an employment rate of 100%. Berta Vila says that one of the strengths of this master's degree is that it not only trains you to work in a Montessori school recognised by the AMI, but also at other schools that do not use the methodology, "since the master's degree studies the foundations of pedagogy in depth, which means the master's degree studies are complemented with criteria that provide a way to support boys and girls in their development."

The master's degree course also provides access to the Doctoral Programme in Educational Innovation and Intervention offered by UVic-UCC with Mondragon Unibersitatea. 

The advanced level specific vocational training in Pre-School Teaching Specialising in Montessori Pedagogy - ready for next year
Starting next year, UVic-UCC is launching the new advanced level specific vocational training in Pre-School Teaching Specialising in Montessori Pedagogy. In this training, in addition to the qualification of Pre-School Teaching Specialist, those completing this training will be recognised as Assistants to Infancy 0-3 AMI.

The training will take place on the university campus, and will be integrated with the master's degree courses and will share the Pre-School Teaching Training and Research Laboratories - the Teresa Buscart Classroom and Montessori Classrooms - with them. This cycle is part of the 2 + 3 programme, which allows students to complete the training cycle and the bachelor's degree course in five years.