The History of CLARA

The University of Kansas Center for Learner Agency Research and Action (CLARA) grew out of the Center for Montessori Research (CMR) which was founded in 2018 with support from the American Montessori Society, Brady Education Foundation, and Harold Simmons Foundation.

Since 2018, CMR’s work has had a significant impact in the field of Montessori education through:

• Managing and editing the Journal of Montessori Research
• Editing the Bloomsbury Handbook of Montessori Education
• Launching the Montessori Bibliography Online
• Hosting the Montessori Research Working Group
• Organizing the Racial Justice and Equity in Montessori Research virtual conference
• Collaborating on the Global Montessori Census
• Authoring multiple scholarly publications on Montessori education practices today as well as important stories from its history

At the same time, the organization found opportunities to explore how the foundational Montessori concept of learner agency could benefit all learners in a variety of contexts. Reflecting the center’s expanding focus is work in areas such as understanding the impact of early educational experiences on entrepreneurial tendencies in business and pro-social roles as well as the alignment of trauma informed care in education with principles of learner agency.

In addition, the center’s work is expanding into postsecondary spaces by exploring learner agency in undergraduate and graduate education with a specific focus on diversifying pipelines in technical fields such as quantitative psychology, analytics, and assessment.

Launching CLARA in 2023 represents the expanded focus of the center. Montessori education will remain an important focus area for CLARA alongside projects that incorporate principles of learner agency from a wider range of approaches to examine these principles in a broader array of contexts.