Progress Reports as Spiritual Practice

By Susan Holmes-Glazier
IMTI Team Member, Practitioner Support

I dread the process of writing progress reports. There, I have said it, it is on the page in writing. It is true. I often come to the end of a term and resent the many hours ahead that will be spent compiling project summaries and writing student progress reports. 

However, something shifted for me this fall. 

The progress reporting process we currently use at our school is this: at the end of the term, the three Adolescent Guides meet and discuss our observations of each student, one at a time. We are then responsible for writing about the progress of our advisees. Guides who teach Spanish or Math write those observations individually because they are the only adults who directly observe those students in that work. What we discuss together is everything else - writing, reading comprehension, individual responsibility to the community, how well they are keeping track of their work, moments of leadership, signs of development toward independence, development of skills in creative expression and physical expression, sportsmanship, resilience, diligence, growth in general, and so on. 

Again, if I am being honest, I feel some resentment about the extra hours of meetings this requires, the extra hours at home of writing, the extra hours of reviewing and giving feedback on the progress reports of each student once they are complete.

Here is the thing that shifted for me though: progress reports as a spiritual practice.

When we slowed down and discussed each student’s work, I once again appreciated them as whole people, fragile and vulnerable adolescents who are working so hard to find themselves,  who are also strong and mighty adolescents contributing every day to our small community, and to my life directly.

After discussing our observations of each student, I felt lighter, a sense of relief. I felt more connected to the students, more forgiving of their individual foibles, and more appreciative of their contributions to the community. It renewed my sense of purpose in serving the individual human being on their path toward adulthood. And isn’t that at the heart of being a Montessori Guide?  It brought me back home, to my center, after many months of anxiety and fear related to teaching during a global pandemic.  

One of the many gifts Dr. Maria Montessori gave us is the mandate to observe every individual, every day, and to meet them where they are on that day. It is difficult to do this in normal times, much less when I come to school thinking “windows cracked, humidifiers on, air filters on, mask check, temperature check, remind students to wash hands…” There has been so much noise in my head that at times I have found myself short tempered and quick to react before taking the time to notice what is really happening. 

When we slowed down and discussed each student’s work, I once again appreciated them as whole people, fragile and vulnerable adolescents who are working so hard to find themselves,  who are also strong and mighty adolescents contributing every day to our small community, and to my life directly.  A student who daily was driving me crazy with interruptions and who has yet to be able to find a pencil for class, is also a student who cried when reading a personal reflection. I hadn’t been there during that moment. When I heard about it, that student became again a whole, complex individual who deserved more patience than I had been giving. Like Dr. Seuss’ Grinch, my “small heart grew three sizes that day.” 

Am I now going to look forward to writing progress reports? Probably not. I hope, though, that I will remember that having the deadline of progress reports three times per year brings me back to my center, helps me to truly observe the developing human being in front of me, and may even fill me with hope for the future of humanity.

“In the child is much knowledge, much wisdom. If we do not profit from it, it is only because of neglect on our part to become humble and to see the wonder of this soul and learn what the child can teach.” 

—The Theosophist, Dr. Maria Montessori