Ms. Uma Shanker, the Director of Indian Montessori Training Courses – Chennai, (IMTC-C), holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from the Madras University. She began her career in the field of education when she completed her Montessori-teacher training under the directorship of Mr. S. R. Swamy in1984 in Kolkata and received her AMI Diploma in Montessori education. Uma Shanker received her Certificate to be an independent Director of Training from Indian Montessori Centre (IMC), Bangalore and set up the first Montessori Teacher Training institution in Chennai in 1998. At present she is Mentor-Advisor of IMC, Bangalore. A member of the Central Governing Council of IMC for over 15 years, she has also served as its Secretary-General and Director – General.
Working with children in Calcutta and Madras, Uma Shanker realized that this was her true vocation and became convinced that the Montessori Method offered the ideal environment for all children, to work towards their development. When she realized the importance of having trained teachers in the classroom, she decided to qualify herself as a teacher-trainer. Uma saw her role as that of a facilitator to help the adult-students look at the child from Montessori’s point of view and from thereon it was an exciting journey exploring ways to dream and discover the possibilities of extending oneself to help future teachers transform themselves to serve the child. She firmly believes adults have to be prepared intellectually, technically and spiritually and this can only be achieved through intense and relevant training.
Uma Shanker has undertaken pioneering work in taking the Montessori method of education to the underprivileged children by conducting teacher training courses and workshops for several NGOs including Sneha in Nagapattinam, SOS Village, Tambaram, Sri Ramacharan Charitable Trust (SRCT), Nishkam Trust and Vidiyal Montessori Kalvi, a unit of M. K. Mohan Trust at Chennai. She has led a team that has trained a large number of teachers of Greater Chennai Corporation.
Uma Shanker has authored a book titled, “Your Child and You”, a guide to parents. She has also written a booklet titled “A Guide to Montessori Education for the Early Years, published by Indian Montessori Centre, TN Chapter. The book deals with Montessori education for the 3 to 6 years and address questions frequently asked by parents. Her articles have also been published in the press. Uma Shanker has presented several papers in National and International conferences. In 2016, she presented a paper at a UNESCO education conference. More recently, in November 2019, she presented a paper in Kuala Lumpur at a conference organized by the Montessori Association Malaysia.
Uma Shanker is the recipient of the Lady Kalyani Sivaswami Ayyar Best Teacher Award.
In 2019, she received the first Maria Montessori award instituted by Shri Ramacharan Charitable Trust, for her pioneering work to formulate the Montessori education and training courses in Tamil.
Ms. D. Janaki Raja, Director of Indian Montessori Training Courses-Erode, (IMTC-Erode) holds a Fine Arts degree from Madras University. Her teaching career began after completing her Montessori Primary Course at IMTC-Chennai (formerly CMTC-Chennai) under the directorship of Ms. Meenakshi Sivaramakrishnan in 2000 and earning her IMC Diploma in Montessori Education.
In 2001, in association with her family trust, she founded the Ceedee’s Foundation School (formerly Ceedee’s Montessori School and Ceedee’s School) in her hometown of Erode.
Janaki Raja furthered her Montessori training by completing her Montessori Elementary Course at Navadisha Montessori Foundation under the directorship of Dr. Jean Miller in 2009 which led to her AMI 6-12 Diploma. She also holds the AMI-NAMTA Orientation to Adolescent Studies in Ohio.
Since 2005, she has been involved with training programmes conducted by IMTC-Chennai in Kongu region. Her work experience includes teaching children aged 2 ½ to 6 years until 2007, 6 to 12 years from 2009 and has also worked with adolescents from 2011.
In 2024, she completed her Montessori Directors Training Course from Indian Montessori Centre (IMC) and became an independent director of IMTC-Erode.
Her deep faith in the Montessori philosophy has led her in this journey from working with children to working with adults and stay rooted in the belief that this is a method to be made available far and wide so that more children will benefit.
Ms. R. Hema, Associate Director, IMTC Chennai completed the Montessori primary-teacher training course in IMTC Chennai in 2004 and received the Diploma from IMC, Bangalore. She qualified herself further by completing the Montessori elementary-teacher training course at IMTC-Chennai in 2018. Hema joined IMTC-Chennai in 2008 as an assistant faculty member and has supported the primary courses of IMTC-Chennai at Chennai, Erode, Coimbatore and Tirupur.
Hema’s passion to work with rural children set her on a journey to start a Montessori House of Children with an NGO called Rise Foundation in Thimmanguthu, a village near Coimbatore. In 2008, she moved to Chennai to join IMTC-C and has continued to work and support children in many ways directly and indirectly. Hema works with Kalvi Trust for Research and Education to coordinate the Montessori teacher-training courses for the Chennai Schools, Corporation of Chennai. She helps schools to set up Montessori environments and assist teachers to equip their environments with materials.
Hema is currently doing her Montessori Director’s Training Course with Indian Montessori Centre.
At IMTC-C, Hema is ever ready to go the extra mile, especially to facilitate learning for the students who enrol with Tamil background.
Ms. Priya David is an M. Phil graduate in Zoology. Her journey as an educator began when she sought training to work with young children that brought her into the wonderful world of Montessori.
She completed her diploma in Montessori Primary Teacher Training from IMTC-Chennai in 2007 and Montessori Elementary Teacher Training from IMTC-Chennai in 2014. She also holds a B. Ed. and is currently pursuing M. Ed.
She has worked both in Casa and Elementary environments. She became the first Principal of Maharishi Vidya Mandir, Bala Bhavan, Washermenpet. She has helped set up the Montessori Environments and conducted various in-house Montessori Training Programs for the teachers of the Primary and Elementary sections.
She continues to mentor Montessori teachers of both Primary and Elementary at Maharishi Vidya Mandir, Thiruvottiyur.
She joined IMTC-Chennai in 2008 as an Assistant faculty member. She is undergoing training with the Montessori Directors’ Training Course (MDTC) of Indian Montessori Centre. She is currently working as a visiting faculty member at IMTC-Chennai.
Her strong belief is that Montessori Education when offered to both children and adults can bring about a tremendous change in the individual and thereby in the world at large.
Ms. Renuga Devi Ashok completed her Montessori Primary Teacher Training Course at IMTC Chennai in 2018. After receiving her diploma, she joined IMTC and helped students during the practice sessions.
Renuga found that the Montessori philosophy and method matched her own firm belief that if children were helped in their early years of development they would be able to do well in the future. She also firmly believes that we have to be role models for children as well as our adult students. Striving for perfection is second nature to Renu and her presentations are done gracefully and precisely. She is soft-spoken and yet determined in helping students complete their course work.
Since 2019, she has been assisting in various aspects of the training course and has been an assistant faculty member since 2022. Renu’s meticulous way of working has added significant value to the work of the institute.
Ms. Ramya Sankaran is passionate about both the Montessori philosophy and the Montessori Method of education. She graduated as a student of the 45th Batch (2020-21) of IMTC – Chennai.
She brings with her hands-on experience working with children in primary environments, including Cascade FLS and Third Environment in Chennai. She is currently pursuing the MDTC Course at Indian Montessori Centre, Bangalore, and gaining practical experience as an intern and trainee at IMTC -Chennai.
With a strong foundation in Montessori principles, she sees the value of creating nurturing spaces for children that foster curiosity and independence, and a love for learning among adult students. As a trainer, she is committed to guiding educators in developing these environments, empowering them to inspire young minds and shape the future of education.
