Our aim is to create highly professional Montessori Teachers
AMTI’s vision is that every person in Australasia will have equitable access in their local area to education that practices the Montessori approach.
AMTI’s mission is to provide convenient and flexible teacher training to expand the pool of quality Montessori educators available to educational organisations in the private and public sectors.
Director for 0 - 3Training
Ferne has provided training and support for hundreds of families on setting up environments for independence, effective communication skills and practical strategies for dealing with challenging behaviour. In particular, her deep understanding, sense of humour, and ability to see opportunities and find solutions in just about any situation have seen her become highly sought after by parents who find themselves ‘stuck’ for ideas about how to deal with a particular issue.
Susan Chahwan
Director for 0 - 6 Training
Susan Chahwan, a trained music teacher (Diploma in Music Education from the Sydney Conservatorium) discovered her a passion for Montessori education after becoming a parent. Susan gained a Diploma of Teaching (Early Childhood) and then the AMI 3-6 Diploma in Sydney. After a decade of classroom experience, she was mentored by Mrs W. Duyker de Vries, who was the founder of The Montessori school in Kingsley Western Australia (for children from 3 years to the International Baccalaureate). Susan now calls her Montessori education and care centres Montessori Works because she firmly believes that Montessori education does work! It works for the sustainable future of all people for a peaceful world.
Susan is currently on the Montessori Australia executive team and a board member.
Mark Powell
Director for 6 - 12 Training
After studying anthropology, sociology and music at the University of Queensland and economics at the University of New South Wales, Mark discovered a passion for Montessori education when he stumbled on a primary classroom at Balmain Montessori School in Sydney. He traveled to New York in 1994 to take elementary Montessori training at the Center for Montessori Teacher Education and was then offered a position at CMTE’s flagship, Lexington Montessori School in Massachusetts. Mark met his wife Olga when she came from Puerto Rico to take the same training. They were married at the training centre in 1996 in a ceremony based on the Montessori curriculum.
Mark taught in 6-9 and 9-12 classrooms in the Boston area and the San Francisco Bay Area for 22 years. During that time he was also a trainer with CMTE for 12 years. Other roles have included Technology Coordinator at an independent school in Oakland, California. While in the US Mark earned a MA State teaching credential and also a M.Ed. degree in Curriculum & Instruction, specialising in Conflict Resolution from Lesley University in Cambridge MA. Mark returned home to the Sunshine Coast region of Queensland in 2016 as Assistant Principal at Montessori International College. In 2018 Mark returned to the classroom as 9-12 guide at Montessori Noosa.
Beyond his work as a teacher, Mark has actively participated in the broader Montessori movement. He has published 25 articles on Montessori education in Montessori and other education journals, and wrote a chapter in the 2008 book A Place for Play, edited by Elizabeth Goodenough. Mark has also designed many classroom materials, several of which are now sold across the US and internationally by companies such as Hello Wood, Nienhuis Montessori, and Montessori Math Cards. He also delivered workshops at conferences worldwide, and has consulted for dozens of Montessori schools in the US, Australia and New Zealand. Mark was a founding member of the Montessori Leadership Collaborative, a group of Montessori leaders in the US which has met to promote collaborative action within the US Montessori movement.
In 2021 Mark left the classroom to join Montessori Australia as Director of Education Services. In this role Mark develops professional development opportunities for Montessori teachers and is helping to rebuild Montessori Australia as an umbrella organisation that seeks to promote Montessori widely to families across Australia and to unify Montessori educators from all training traditions.