Dr. Matt Bateman: How Traditional Schools Kill Agency (And Montessori Fixes It)

Matt Bateman is a philosopher and founder of Montessorium, working on building Montessori schools enhanced with AI.

What’s the difference between patiency and an agency?

In this conversation, Matt explains why agency matters more than test scores, how AI can scale personalized learning, why education reform keeps failing, and what the world would look like if every child learned to be an agent instead of a patient.

Follow Dr. Bateman on X: https://x.com/mbateman

Follow me on X: https://x.com/benaverbook

Check out Montessorium: https://montessorium.school/program

(0:00) Would Maria Montessori Love AI or Hate It?

(3:14) How AI Scales the Montessori Method

(5:43) The Right Way vs Wrong Way to Use AI Tutors

(7:23) Why Matt Bateman Believes Montessori Is the Best Education Philosophy Ever Created

(9:45) Inside a Montessori Morning Routine: Students Running Their Own Day

(14:20) What Is Agency and Why Does It Matter More Than Test Scores?

(18:30) Traditional Schools Teach Kids to Be Patients, Not Agents

(22:00) Can You Build Agency After 13 Years of Being Told What to Do?

(24:45) Three Strategies for Developing Agency as a Young Adult

(28:50) Why So Many Thiel Fellows Went to Montessori Schools

(30:20) What the World Would Look Like If Everyone Had a Montessori Education

(33:40) Can Montessori Scale to a Billion Kids?

(36:10) Why Education Is Like Medicine Before Galen

(37:50) Why Most Education Startups Die (And Why Khan Academy Weakened After Gates Foundation Money)

(39:20) The Only Two Paths to Fixing Education: Build Schools and Make Arguments

(41:18) School Choice and Free Market Dynamics

(42:59) The Real Cost of Public vs Private Education

(44:21) The Zombie Bureaucracy Blocking Education Reform

(46:20) Teachers Unions Are the Biggest Problem in American Education

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