Creating Learning Communities by Gaian Design

Who We Are

The Institute for Educational Studies (TIES) was founded in 1987. Our global activities advance a systemic-ecological paradigm in education. Since 1996 we have pioneered a collaborative Master of Education in Integrative Learning and Montessori Integrative Learning that is hosted by a global eCampus.

Our entire context has its origins in the work of Maria Montessori. This has been the backbone for our contribution to education for more than 30 years. We embrace The Great Work as coined by Thomas Berry, and foster the Brian Swimme and Thomas Berry eco-cosmological collaboration as part of the context for our work with Montessori Learning Communities.

Communication is the vital force that links the various components of a learning community. Compassionate dialogue is the approach we use to help set the context for learning.

What We Do

Through Endicott College in Beverly, Massachusetts (USA) we offer an M.Ed. in Montessori Integrative Learning (www.ties-edu.org). Students from all over the globe telecommunicate through uniquely designed interactive forums that foster both collaborative and independent work. Students are aspirant teachers, teaching practitioners and administrators.

We develop virtual events and conferences that embrace integrative learning and transformative process... fostering ecological sensitivity, individual competency, and collaborative and compassionate exchange. The first major event was Learning Millenium 99 in 1999. The second eConference was held in 2002 and titled The Great Work. Archives for these conferences are available by contacting us.

Principals

Marsha Snow Morgan	Philip Snow Gang

Foremost among their many experiences is their current role as grandparents. This is their prime motivator as they seek to discover and promote sustainable living practices.

Philip Snow Gang, Founder of TIES
Professor Gang is Academic Dean for the Master of Education (M.Ed.) program and author of Rethinking Education and Conscious Education: The Bridge To Freedom. He created the ecological game, Our Planet, Our Home, and he appears in the anthology, Towards a New World View: Conversations at the Leading Edge. Phil and Marsha are the developers of the CD An Introduction to Montessori's Radical Education.

After a ten-year career in engineering and business, Gang became a Montessori teacher. He has been a Montessori school head, consultant and educator of teachers. In 1978 he helped initiate the National Erdkinder Consortium - a group dedicated to founding Montessori secondary schools.

In the early 90's Gang was on the faculty of California Institute of Integral Studies as a professor-mentor to students engaged in doctoral studies in the School of Transformative Learning. This was the first collaborative on-line distance learning program.

Today, Gang's major interest is exploring eco-cosmological patterns and their implications for the human journey.


Philip Snow Gang Ph.D.
AMI 6-12 Training 1973
AMI 3-6 Training 1982
AMI Training of Trainers 1982-1984

Marsha Snow Morgan, Co-Director of TIES

Professor Morgan has worked as a Montessori teacher, school director, educator of Montessori teachers, consultant, and workshop leader. These initiatives have taken her through Europe, South America, North America and the Pacific Rim. In New Zealand she is Founder of Ripple Education Community and has been active in the Kids Edible Garden Project -- a program to place permaculture gardens in government schools.

The main focus of her work is perceiving systemic patterns in the design and creation of learning communities. She explains, "We are storytellers, mythmakers and symbol designers. Addressing the present planetary crises through Montessori education may provide new possibilities for Gaian renewal." Her graduate thesis was titled: "An Ecogenesis for Education: A Context for Learning."


Marsha Snow Morgan, MA
AMI 6-12 Training 1970