The story of Montessori Tours and Travel

Our Story

The story of Montessori Tours and Travel begins with the remarkable woman who was...

Dr Maria Montessori

Maria Montessori (1870-1952) was an incredibly insightful researcher and educator who recognised the developmental stages from birth to maturity, and how to allow individuals to self harness their natural abilities to become active participants in helping achieve a more harmonious and peaceful world. Social reform was a strong theme throughout her life, whether it be advocacy for children or gender roles.

"Seeing Montessori’s prepared environment and what led her to make the astounding leaps filled in so many gaps. Reading about this just does not give the sense of what it was like, seeing and experiencing it in person ... made Montessori more real for me." Jan G, Bali.

Montessori Tours and Travel had a decade-long gestation before a light-bulb moment in 2017. In 2007, Roelie Hartwig was fortunate to lead the inaugural Montessori International Study Tour, 100 years after the opening of the first Montessori school, Casa dei Bambini, in San Lorenzo, Rome. The tour took in the Centenary Conference in Rome in January 2007, as well as significant places in the history of Dr Montessori’s life in Italy and The Netherlands.

This tour was a huge success and 10 years later, in 2017, a second tour brought together people together from seven nations to experience a similar itinerary. Something happened on that trip. Not only did Roelie develop a deep and abiding connection with the Montessori legacy, her fellow travellers were inspired, moved, excited, amused and delighted by what they saw and experienced.

Montessori Tours and Travel was born. Roelie (rhymes with truly) felt driven to continue to offer that special insight into the world of Montessori, to help more people to connect and be moved - download our handy one-page flyer for future reference, or to pass on to a friend.

Roelie has vast tour and travel experience and connections from her global Montessori work, her professional Montessori experiences, and her personal travel over many years.

MT&T offers you the opportunity:

to have an extraordinary experience
to experience a tour available to very few travellers
for exposure to new cultures and environments in the company of like-minded travellers
to promote the work of Montessorians across the globe
to create new, and strengthen existing, connections and friendships
to bring together Montessorians with similar interests from different global communities
to strengthen your understanding of Maria Montessori’s life and work
to combine Montessori study and cultural immersion
to observe connections between Maria Montessori’s legacy and local culture
for a quality Montessori educational experience that complements and raises the profile of your Montessori training
to develop broader and international perspectives on your Montessori work
of distinct combinations of attendance at Montessori events and visits to significant Montessori sites
to experience interactions with Montessori specialists, guest lecturers, school tours, local cultural experiences, field trips, with time for optional extras
to draw from Dr Montessori’s own modelled experience as a traveller
to develop enlightened global citizenship for peace
to deepen the knowledge of who Dr Maria Montessori was by increasing the understanding of her life in the context of the social, political, educational, musical, artistic and gender norms of the times
to experience first hand outreach projects around the world
to better understand the joys and challenges of global Montessori work today

Roelie Hartwig

In 2006, Brisbane born and bred Roelie Hartwig gave up a diverse choice of restaurants, cheap good coffee, heavy traffic and big city living, in exchange for clear blue skies, RM Williams boots, inland river systems and small town living.

She now lives in the Australian Outback, in Longreach, central western Queensland, and is an active community member and supporter of all events cultural.

Roelie, a qualified primary teacher with experience in both overseas and Queensland schools - including three years at Brisbane Montessori School - holds a Bachelor of Education, a Masters in Montessori Education and Association Montessori Internationale diplomas for 0-3 and 3-6 teaching. She was the founder of the Montessori Infants’ Playgroup in a small church in Auchenflower and for a year, ran a Montessori program for the Indigenous teenagers at WadjaWadja High School at Woorabinda, outside Rockhampton in Central Queensland.

For over ten years, Roelie has been a proud Director of the Caboolture Montessori School, watching it grow and flourish. She finds being part of the ever growing, dynamic and fabulous Caboolture Montessori School community both exciting and challenging.

Roelie works remotely, devoting her work time to creating tours for Montessori Tours and Travel. She used to be found busily organising attendees at the AMI USA annual conference each February, at the Association Montessori Internationale AGM in Amsterdam a couple of months later and at major AMI events, such as the International Congress.

When not creating itineraries or jetting off to lead tours for Montessori Tours and Travel, Roelie loves to share her unique part of the outback, listen to well-performed bush poetry, folk music and yarns around a campfire, spend time with friends… oh, and a night in the Million Stars Hotel (in a swag under a starry sky) when the opportunity arises.

"Thanks for being a wonderful tour guide, for keeping us together and organised, in the right place at approximately the right time, and in good spirits.
You are amazing.
It was a great experience and you made it just wonderful." Jan G, Bali.