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Angela Molfese Ed.D., is a 2026 graduate of the Ed.D. program in Educational and Professional Practice at Antioch University.

Dissertation Committee:

Richard Kahn, Ph.D., Committee Chair 

Kimberly Hardy, Ed.D., Committee Member

Katie Keller Wood, Ed.D., Committee Member

Document Type

Dissertation

Publication Date

2026

Abstract

This dissertation examines the experiences of White Montessori elementary and adolescent practitioners as they engage in understanding and enacting their teaching practice from the conceptual framework of a liberatory consciousness, as developed by Dr. Barbara J. Love and presented in the American Montessori Society’s Anti-Bias Antiracist certificate course. Liberatory consciousness is a mindset that enables individuals to exist within oppressive systems and institutions with awareness and intention, rather than how one has been socialized into society. It asks all people to reflect on how they participate in maintaining unequal systems and then to act to dismantle those systems, regardless of whether they benefit from them or not. This work offers unique challenges for White Montessorians as they must grapple with questions surrounding universalism present in Montessori practice, their understandings of Whiteness and how it operates within themselves and the communities they are a part of, and the call to consider another philosophical and pedagogical frame in which to see and exist in their worlds. This interpretive phenomenological analysis employs semi-structured interviews to record and analyze the experiences and meaning-making of eight White Montessori guides engaging in this work. By capturing the stories of individuals who have participated in the AMS ABAR course, this study provides a means to share stories of potential transformative change and identify challenges that the Montessori community will continue to grapple with in educating for peace and social justice. The findings of this study will inform future professional development offerings in the Montessori community, supporting the enactment of Montessori practice from a liberatory framework. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA (https://aura.antioch.edu) and OhioLINK ETD Center (https://etd.ohiolink.edu).

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ORCID No. 0009-0003-3839-6004

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