Montessori education could reduce the advantage gap between rich and poor, but it's only available to the rich | Matt Beard

There’s evidence of the benefits of Montessori methods, but mostly only the white middle-class have the time or money for it

Around the middle of last year a scandal broke out in the US after it emerged that fifty people – including some B-grade celebrities for extra juice – had been bribing college admissions officials to get underperforming rich kids enrolled at prestigious universities. This was fuel to the already-blazing fire of doubt around how meritocratic elite higher education in the US really is.

The problem isn’t just that the briberies made for an unfair enrolment system. Rather, it’s that we think the trajectories of two people – one who enrolled in a prestigious school and one who didn’t – are likely to deviate considerably after that point.

Related: Teachers as 'guides': inside the UK’s first Montessori secondary school

Related: Do we have to choose between being a good parent and good at our job? | Matthew Beard

Matt Beard is an Australian moral philosopher, fellow at the Ethics Centre and a regular writer on philosophy and ethics

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