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(FREE) Montessori Colloquium: Why It’s So Great to Be a Child (As An Adult): Self-Advocacy Toolkit for Montessori Educators with José Antonio Gordillo Martorell!

January 20, 2026 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Free

Join us on Tuesday, January 20th, at 7:00 p.m. ET for an engaging webinar on Why It’s So Great to Be a Child (As An Adult): Self-Advocacy Toolkit for Montessori Educators with José Antonio Gordillo Martorell! 

Event Description:

We live in adult-centered/built societies where the (inner) children’s perspective is usually absent or simply not considered. As adults, we have so many words, mental models, power, and institutions, etc to “speak for” them and control the narrative. We know what is best for them, what is safe, and what is worthwhile for them to be useful people in the future”. However, in many cases, the child is a great unknown. We hardly really know what they think, what they think, what they think about the world around them, and in which they have hardly had any chance to make a decision.
 
In this workshop, we will give some clues as to how children and young people understand key aspects such as play, language, the creation of stories and identity, the use of AI, the relationship with nature, and their political participation and leadership. Finally, inspired by Maria Montessori, we will propose a new way for adults to meet their inner child in a safe space where they will not be judged. A kind of reverse Kindergarten in which the teachers are the children and the pupils are the adults. 

Please register in advance for this meeting, and feel free to share the registration link with your friends and colleagues:

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

https://zoom.us/meeting/register/YZ9XL5RIQca6wqKU_fogDQ#/registration

About José Antonio Gordillo Martorell:

Mr. Jose Antonio Gordillo Martorell, Ph.D. is the Founder and CEO of Cultural Inquiry, a micellium  company located in Switzerland that operates internationally. He is a professional with 26 years  of experience in education, collective creativity, content co-creation, change-driven strategy,  participation and community weaving with a passion for the democratization of minoritized and  unrepresented cultural voices in the cultural arena. He founded Children’s Boards in different  Museums of the world like the City of Arts and Sciences, Norrbottens Museums, HOTA-House of  the Arts, and more recently Historisches Museum Saar, Museo of Solutions in Mumbai, Museum  of Communication Bern, or Swiss National Museum-Château des Prangins. 

As a participant in the 4th Edition of Catalyst Lab of Collaboratio Helvetica, he is a community  weaver, agent of change, and catalyzer of disruptive social and cultural projects, an author,  futurist, and playful expert. Jose is passionate about building new children and nature-centered  narratives as strategic tools for organizations. His main work areas are children’s participation in  democratizing organizations, Ge-AI design thinking civic participation of Indigenous people,  elderly, and children (capacity building), care for Museum’s creation and implementation, new  community-based fundraising formulas, and “soft” playfull organization skills acquisition and  training. 

He is a member and advisor of the Diversity and Inclusion Task Force and Climate Action  Community Task Force Member in the Europeana Foundation, one of the most comprehensive  cultural platforms in Europe. Jose advises leading social and cultural organizations and  institutions, such as Haus der Bewegungen in Bern, MuseoSpace Foundation, or EIT Culture &  Creativity as an external evaluator. 

Martorell loves to contribute by offering mentoring support to social and cultural professionals who are thriving in the new-gen AI hype by acquiring children-centered skills. He has been involved in  capacity-building programs such as the 7th cohort of the Museum Education Mentorship program  (EdMEM) of the American Alliance of Museums. Currently, he is part of important learning  communities like the Learning Community of Impact Hub Zürich or AI for Kids UX. He currently  offers an out-of-the-box digital workshop program led by children on the platform My Creative  Networks in cooperation with some international prestige experts like Polina Lulu, Sonia TiwariMarie Williams, Pip Kennedy, and Mitra Martin

Jose is the author of 22 articles in peer-reviewed International Journals. He publishes articles regularly in peer-reviewed international journals such as the Journal of Museum EducationCulture Caleidoscoop, or in digital platforms such as Medium or LinkedIn. Currently, he is involved  in some main editorial projects as his book with Routledge & Taylor Francis Children’s Boards in  Museums to The Children’s Board: A New Way to Work with Children in Museums to be published  in the first half of 2025. He penning the chapter, “Students as Museum Creators” for Barbara  Smith’s Coordinate book Urgen Care for Schools. Situating Responsability as an Engaging Way  for Students to Transform Schools Cultures publish by Brill in January 2025. He is preparing a  new book called “50 Micelium Words for Museum Lovers. Sparks to Ignite a Love Story with Your  Museum“

He is invited as a keynote speaker at international forums, conferences and summits such as  Museums & Change, MuseumExpert, MusemNext, FabCafe Kyoto, Independent Museum  Professionals, as well as on podcasts such as the Museum Human, Plan Dulce, The Business  Narrative or Cooperate Culture. He is External Evaluator and member of the Ethical, Legal, and  Social Issues (ELSI) Board of EIT Culture & Creativity.

Certificate of Attendance

Upon the completion of this session, all attendees are welcome to fill out our 3-2-1 form and receive their certificate of attendance. If you missed the live session, you may watch the recording from our YouTube channel and complete the 3-2-1 form at a later date.

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