POWER
How do learning environments recognize the child’s dignity, voice and agency as a foundation?
AFMOCON 2027
African Montessori Conference
THE CHILD
AT THE
CENTER
Power. Identity. Possibility.
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AFMOCON 2027
A gathering with the child at its center.
African Montessori Hub invites educators, leaders, and partners to gather around a simple but demanding question: What shifts when the child's dignity, voice, and brilliance truly lead?
Across many contexts, education systems have been shaped by control, standardization, and inherited hierarchies that often silence the very learners they aim to serve. “The Child at the Center” challenges this paradigm by placing identity, agency, and belonging at the heart of learning, drawing from Montessori principles and Afrocentric ways of knowing to explore how environments can nurture independence, cultural rootedness, and purpose in every child.
“The Child at the Center : Power, Identity, and Possibility.”
Conference theme
Three lenses. One center.
The 2027 theme invites contributors and participants to explore what becomes visible when learning begins with the child rather than the system.
IDENTITY
How do culture, place, language and belonging shape how children understand themselves and the worlds they inhabit?
POSSIBILITY
What becomes possible when education is child-centered, culturally grounded and open to new ways of knowing and doing?
The 2027 journey
Two cities. One conference story.
AFMOCON 2027 is fully in person, beginning with a three-day immersion in Masvingo before moving to Harare for the gala and main conference.
09–11 AUG
MASVINGO
Great Zimbabwe
A three-day immersion set within the history and cultural landscape that informs Afrocentric Montessori practice.
13 AUG
GALA
Harare
A Friday evening gathering that brings the AFMOCON community together before the main conference weekend.
14–15 AUG
AFMOCON
Harare · In person
The main conference weekend: workshops, research posters, dialogue and exchange centered on children, culture and possibility.
Call for presenters
Bring your work to AFMOCON.
African Montessori Hub invites educators, researchers, practitioners and youth leaders to submit proposals that bring the conference theme to life through practice, evidence and story.
A
Track A
WORKSHOPS
- 60–90-minute interactive sessions
- Practice-based, participatory and reflective
- Classroom practices, leadership, policy or community models
- Delivered in person in Harare
No virtual option
B
Track B
RESEARCH POSTERS
- Original research or evaluation findings
- Dedicated poster gallery with a live Q&A slot
- Welcomes student, early-career and community-based researchers
- Presented in person during the Harare conference days
Research that can be seen, discussed and shared
What we are looking for
Work rooted in children, practice and context.
Strong proposals should connect the conference theme to lived educational environments and meaningful participation.
Child-centered
Proposals that center the child’s dignity, voice and agency in learning environments.
Grounded in practice
Work drawing on Montessori pedagogy, play-based and Afrocentric ways of knowing, or both.
Context-diverse
Contributions from rural, urban, formal and non-formal learning contexts.
Youth voice
Sessions and posters that include, surface or amplify youth perspectives.
How to submit
HAVE
HAVE
SOMETHING
TO CONTRIBUTE?
Send your proposal to admin@amhhq.org with the subject line “AFMOCON 2027 Submission.”
01
Presenter / author details
Name(s), affiliation and a short bio of 100 words.
02
Session or poster title
A clear title for the work you are proposing.
03
Abstract
200–300 words describing the content, format and intended takeaway.
04
Track selection
Choose Workshop or Research Poster.
Submission deadline31 MARCH 2027
Ask a question
Key dates
Mark the journey.
Everything from proposal submissions to the final conference weekend, in one view.
31 Mar 2027
Submission deadline
Call for proposals closes
30 Apr 2027
Notification of acceptance
Presenters notified
09–11 Aug
Masvingo Immersion
Masvingo · Great Zimbabwe
13 Aug
Gala Dinner
Harare
14–15 Aug
AFMOCON 2027 Conference
Harare · In person only
AFMOCON 2027
THE CHILD REMAINS AT THE CENTER.
Join a Pan-African gathering of educators, researchers, practitioners, parents, youth leaders and changemakers in Zimbabwe in August 2027.