Madam, - Mary Hanafin's decision to review teacher-training methods (The Irish Times, May 28th) is to be welcomed wholeheartedly. Among the range of issues mentioned, I note with interest the following areas: early childhood education, early identification of and the teaching of children with special needs, and the distinctive skills required to teach infants. Surely these are the very areas in which Montessori-trained teachers excel. It will be some years before children will reap the benefits of the revised teacher-training programme.
Meanwhile, highly trained and experienced Montessori teachers have been excluded from applying for any of the new Special Educational Posts. Schools now stand to lose a body of expertise, as Montessori teachers find themselves funnelled back into special schools. This is hardly in the spirit of integration.
Who will benefit if Montessori teachers are excluded from new SEN posts? Certainly not the child with special needs. - Yours, etc,
LAURA MOMBRUN, Granville Road, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin.