Montessori school teacher
Also called Montessori teacher, Montessori educator, Montessori primary teacher
Montessori school teachers educate students using approaches that reflect the Montessori philosophy and principles. They focus on constructivist and "learning through discovery" teaching models, through which they encourage students to learn from first-hand experience rather than through direct instruction and thus provide the students with a relatively high level of freedom. They adhere to a specific curriculum that respects the students' natural, physical, social and psychological development. Montessori school teachers also teach classes with students differing up to three years in age in rather large groups, manage, and evaluate all the students separately according to the Montessori school philosophy.
What you'd do
Early childhood educators · ILO- Planning and organizing individual and group activities designed to facilitate the development of children's motor skills, cooperative and social skills, confidence and understanding
- Promoting language development through story-telling, role-play, songs, rhymes and informal conversations and discussions
- Leading children in activities that provide opportunities for creative expression through the media of art, dramatic play, music and physical fitness
- Observing children in order to evaluate progress and to detect signs of developmental, emotional or health related problems
- Observing and assessing nutritional health, welfare and safety needs of students and identifying factors which may impede students' progress
- Supervising children's activities to ensure safety and resolve conflicts
- Guiding and assisting children in the development of proper eating, dressing and toilet habits
- Discussing progress or problems of children with parents and other staff members and identifying appropriate actions and referrals to other services
- Establishing and maintaining collaborative relationships with other service providers working with young children
- Indoors and outdoors
- A mix of sitting and standing
- Constant contact with people
- Some freedom to decide
- Usually under 40 hours a week
- Deadlines now and then
- Varied tasks, little repetition
Will there be jobs?
Yes, good prospects12 EU countries are short of early childhood educators now, but fewer jobs than in most work will need filling by 2035.
Solid: measured. Dashed: forecast.
What does it pay?
About averagePay depends a lot on the country: from about €1,700 a month (Hungary) to €9,900 (Luxembourg), before tax.
Pick a country at the top of the page to see typical pay there, for people under 30, and compared with all jobs.
Among professionals in the EU, women earn 21% less per hour than men. Professionals · Eurostat
What do I need to study?
Usually a degreeA degree in education science is the usual route.
823 institutions in the EU offer education bachelor's degrees. Pick a country at the top of the page to see where to study and the official course finders.
Will AI change it?
Very littleAI could help with only small parts of the tasks.
Average task score 0.21 on a scale from 0 (AI can't do it) to 1 (AI could do it fully).
See the score for each of the 9 tasks
Based on what AI could technically do when assessed in 2025. It is not a forecast for a future year, and not a forecast of job losses. Scores for early childhood educators. Source: ILO (2025), adapted (credits).