Community Conversation
with Dr. Punum Bhatia
Parallels Between Corona Quarantine and
Maria Montessori's lockdown in India
Where did Maria Montessori find her strength? What did she learn?
What can we learn from her experiences to face our hardships today?
How can we stay strong during these turbulent times?
Dr. Punum Bhatia,
Executive Director Montessori Casa International
Inspired by Dr. Maria Montessori’s philosophy, Punum Bhatia, PhD has dedicated her life to Montessori education as a parent, teacher, and teacher educator for nearly thirty years. She completed her Bachelor’s degree in English Literature; earned Masters’ degrees in English Literature and Education from the University of Calcutta; and completed a certificate diploma in Montessori Pedagogy. She earned her Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Colorado Denver in 2012 for her work on the Self-Efficacy of Montessori teachers. In her efforts to understand children and the environments necessary for them to grow and flourish, Punum focuses on Maria Montessori’s original philosophy and techniques. After teaching the Montessori Method to cohorts all around the world, she is proud to open her very own bilingual preschool.
More About Work of Dr. Punum Bhatia
Books by Dr. Punum Bhatia
Author Dr. Punum Bhatia invites you to walk beside her as she revisits Maria Montessori’s incredible journey through Italy, Spain, England, the United States, and India. For over thirty years, Dr. Bhatia has been involved in Montessori, and has tirelessly studied Maria Montessori’s philosophy and methodology.
Dr. Montessori was a pioneer and educator who implemented methods through which young children learned social skills, spontaneous discipline, and achieved academic excellence unheard of until that time. Not only did she revolutionize education, but she also worked to further the rights of women, children, and all of humankind.
She worked consistently to create a better world, confident in the ability of the child to create a more peaceful, harmonious society. Dr. Bhatia began her travels in 2006, and 13 years later, with determination, passion, and resolute, the result of Dr. Bhatia’s in-depth research into the footsteps of Maria Montessori is Cultivator of the Human Spirit: Revisiting Maria Montessori’s Journey.
For over thirty years, Dr. Punum Bhatia has diligently studied in great detail and tenacity Maria Montessori’s philosophy and methodology. Every account of Dr. Montessori’s beliefs, studies, and international journeys was pieced together by Dr. Bhatia and brilliantly woven together in her book, Cultivator of the Human Spirit: Maria Montessori’s Journey Revisited.
Dr. Punum Bhatia could have stopped and would have still made a powerful difference in keeping the flame of Maria Montessori’s vision alive, but Dr. Bhatia was just starting. Her follow-up book, The Montessori Difference: Creating a Children’s House, focuses on the intricacies of the daily ins and outs of the Montessori Method as it plays out at Montessori Casa International in Denver, Colorado, where Dr. Bhatia is the Executive Director.
The Montessori Difference: Creating a Children’s House takes the reader inside the loving walls of the Montessori system. It’s a heartwarming and encouraging testimony of how Dr. Maria Montessori’s vision from yesteryear has been played out and sustained within the classroom and playground of the present day. Author Punum Bhatia leaves no stone unturned, no question unanswered, and no thought compromised in this beautifully orchestrated insight into the lives of the children of today – the men and women of our future! Come take a walk alongside Dr. Bhatia and the children of Montessori Casa International as they explore, create, and grow in immeasurable ways toward a life filled with joy, curiosity, wonder and success!
The book will be published very soon!