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Operation Brotherhood Montessori Center Incorporated (also known as OB Montessori Center Inc.) is an Italian-based school in the Philippines named after Maria Montessori. It was founded by former UNESCO-Philippines Secretary-General Amb. Preciosa Soliven in 1966. 〔() Retrieved on 18 March 2009.〕 The mother organization Operation Brotherhood International was founded by Oscar B. Arellano. OBI provided medical help and community upliftment assistance to the war refugees in Vietnam and Laos. When OBI started operations in the Philippines in 1963, village projects became its first priority including schools for the poor. Ambassador Preciosa S. Soliven who had been teaching young children in Vietnam and later worked with a Swiss Montessori preschool teacher in Makati was asked by OBI to manage these schools.〔() Retrieved on 18 March 2009.〕 OB Montessori offers toddler, pre-school (known as Casa), elementary school, high school and college levels and is the first school in the Philippines to use the Montessori method.〔() Retrieved on 18 March 2009.〕 ==History== Operation Brotherhood International is the mother organization of O.B Montessori Center, Inc. It was founded by Oscar Arellano in 1956. OBI provided assistance to the war refugees in Vietnam and Laos. The OBI team was made out of doctors, nurses, food technologists, agriculturists, and Social Workers. In 1963, its Filipino team helped relocate 3,000 squatter families from Intramuros, Manila to Sapang Palay, Bulacan. The Principal of "self help" pervaded all OBI activities. The education of the family unit was given emphasis. Thus, while the adults were engaged in community activities, their children attended nursery school. When OBI started operations, village projects including kindergarten schools for the poor were set up. Oscar Arellano asked Ambassador Preciosa S. Soliven to manage these schools.OBI assisted in the fundraising that initially financed the O.B Montessori Center making it self-supporting until its incorporation in 1975. Amb. Soliven assumed the presidency of this non stock, non profit institution. The original board members were SEC commissioner Angel Limjoco, Sen. Salvador Laurel, Greek Counsel General Alexander Adamson, Sony Philippines President Elena Lim and Philippine Star publisher Max Soliven. In 1964, Italian Ambassador, Signor Rubino awarded Amb. Soliven, project manager Operation Brotherhood International Village Children's Schools, a government organization to train in the Association Montessori International (AMI) Primary Course in Perugia, Italy. Years later, eight of her teachers received the same kind of scholarship grant. They were enrolled at the AMI Primary Course for 3-7 year old's. Amb. Preciosa Soliven specialized in the Montessori Language Arts in London, England as arranged by Mr. Mario Montessori and Muriel Dwyer, head of the Maria Montessori Center at Lyndhurst Gardens. A British counsel grant was also given to her in the same year which included observation of British and Scottish primary schools. In 1968-1969, she was awarded an additional Italian scholarship to take the AMI Elementary Course for 7-12 year old's in Bergamo, Italy. Internationally recognized Montessori experts with whom Soliven has worked with were Antonietta Paolini, Elnora Ilonegger, Camilo Grazzini, and Sofia Cavaletti of AMI Italy. Montessori became a household word when Soliven hosted 2 children's shows at ABS-CBN: "Montessori for the Home" in 1970 and "Montessori for everyone" in 1971. The shows were broadcast in both Filipino and English. They became so popular, that their ratings surpassed that of "Sesame Street" which aired simultaneously in another channel. "Montessori for Everyone" ranked 17 in the list of 400 weekly TV programs aired over local channels. In 1990, Soliven moved to a new medium, informing the country about the Montessori way in her column, "A Point of Awareness". Every morning in OB, the high school students read, cut and paste these columns in their SSDG notebooks. Every year, O.B Montessori Center stages a play or a musical, usually based on well-loved fairy tales and Broadway plays with participants from among the students aged 3-18 years. The gala affairs are often attended by national leaders, members of the diplomatic corps, entertainment personalities and well known socialites. Their common observation is that OBMCI students perform like "professionals". Funds raised are used for the O.B Montessori Twin Project of Pagsasarili Preschools and Mothercraft Training and Literacy Course for Village Mothers. When Mrs. Corazon C. Aquino became president in 1986, she appointed Soliven to represent the Philippines in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris, France. It was here that she was elected a member for the Executive Board, the highest governing body of UNESCO. In discussing the UN priority of literacy projects for Asia, Latin America and Africa, Amb. Soliven would often mention to the Director-General and members of the board how the Montessori System has worked so well in the Philippines for all Social classes of children as well as adults. Her colleagues, former Prime Mister of Australia, Mr.Whitlam; Amb. Wagner de Reyna of Peru, Dr. Zhao of China, Amb. Aboussouan of Lebannon and Mr.Cosmapodoeus of Greece were touched by her constant reference of Dr.Maria Montesori who championed for the cause of the child. Back in the 1940s when UNESCO was founded, the popular Peruvian ambassador recalled that it was Dr.Maria Montessori's philosophy of the "inner man" that triggered off a rich spiritual discussion among the founding members of the Executive Board. Mesdames Halima Inayatullah of Pakistan, Paronetto-Valier of Italy and Ulvhammer of Sweden were attracted to the O.B Montessori Pagsasirili Preschool and Mothercraft programs. Soliven demonstrated the modified Montessori Pagsasarili Program by convening a class compound of the children of African, European, Asian, and Latin American employees in the 2 succeeding years during which she participated in the spring seasons at Place des Fontenoy in Paris. Dr. Zacarias of the Education Committee adapted several Montessori ideas in their primary school experiment in South Africa. Meantime, in 1988, then Secretary of Education, Dr. Lourdes Quisumbing appointed Soliven as one of the 9 founding members of the Education Department Task Force to coordinate Early Childhood Education in the Philippines (CONCEP). Its work was to streamline the curriculum teacher training and facility guidelines to make it easier for Congress to include preschool education within the national budget in the near future. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Operation Brotherhood Montessori Center」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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