Gunasekharan Kavitha

Gunasekharan Kavitha, Director at IMTC-Elementary-Chennai, is a graduate in Physics from PSGRK – Coimbatore and holds an Honours diploma in Network Centered Computing from NIIT. She has an International Graduate Diploma in Counselling skills from Banjara Academy and is pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Special Education in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities currently. Kavitha, started her journey in the Montessori methodology in the year 2004 when she joined CMTC (Centre for Montessori - Chennai), now IMTC-C, to be trained in the Montessori Primary Methodology under Mrs. Uma Shankar and Ms. Chithra as her mentors. This was a life changing point in her life. She then went on to work with children in Abacus Montessori School, Perungudi, Chennai. In due course she pursued the Elementary course from AMI - Navadisha in the year 2009 under Ms. Jean Miller and Ms. Carla Foster. She has varied interest in singing, arts and in an avid reader.

She continued to work with children in the elementary environments in Abacus Montessori School. There she had the opportunity to set up the elementary environment from scratch taking every detail into account and implemented the methodology in several environments.

She believes that ‘every child deserves the best of education to actualise their true potential’. In pursuit of this she involved herself to train teachers in the Montessori Method for the rural schools run by Relief Foundation and Sriram Foundation in 2012. Here she also worked in the Primary and Elementary environments providing learning opportunities for Homeschoolers from various strata.

She founded Aakam Montessori Learning Centre at Pallikaranai, in the year 2013, creating an inclusive environment for children from 2 1/2 years to 14 years of age, with an aim to give them the ‘Joy of learning’. An enriching experience working with children with varied intellectual and learning difficulties has reinforced to her how the method works like magic, with all the children alike, bringing them to normalcy as they discover the “Joy in Learning”. This asserted her the universality of the Montessori method. The children have been her mentors in understanding the philosophy at a deeper level and that which is practically applicable.

Her Journey as a trainer for the adults began in 2013 since when she has been associated with IMTC-Chennai’s Elementary-teacher training programme. As a trainer, at IMTC-Chennai, she has had the responsibility for the design and execution of the elementary course in its practical and pedagogical aspects. She believes that “The elementary training is a spiritual calling in one’s life and only when the adult breaks the notions of a conventional schooling that one has been through can one look at the child’s cosmic task of self-construction.” She has been the associate director for Elementary courses from 2017 to 19 and the External faculty in courses at Bangalore, Pollachi & Vietnam and has been the External examiner for the courses at Bangalore, Tirupur and Coimbatore.

She was felicitated as the Director of IMTC-Elementary-Chennai in 2020 and has started the Elementary courses at IMTC-Elementary-Chennai from Aakam Montessori Learning Centre, No. 35/c, 3rd street, IIT colony, Narayanapuram, Pallikaranai, Chennai 600100. As an initiative to bring the Montessori community together and to propagate the Montessori movement by bringing awareness to the larger group she conceptualised the Newsletter for IMC which started in September 2022. IMTC-Elementary-Chennai also conducts webinars monthly once to enhance and refresh the knowledge of the alumni. Montessori 360 degrees is a reading group facilitated by a team guided by her to touch base upon the Montessori philosophy for anyone who is interested.