"Montessori, that is us!" she exclaimed and one could understand that contradiction was not welcomed.

However, opinions like hers seem to exist in other Montessori organizations as well. "What we offer is Montessori education in pure form," declared Neige Cohendy. "There are other schools that already abandoned the original concept of Montessori and created their own model according to the ideas of the persons who run them."

Those words could just as well have been spoken by a priest furious at schismatics within his congregation. In fact, for many persons, the work in the Montessori system also implies a search for words and will of the founder. There are even some Montessori institutions that limit themselves to only the materials originally created by Maria Montessori herself.

However, reverting to the roots also brings about problems, as exemplified by the reversal of its social agenda.

Still on the path of wisdom?

When Maria Montessori implemented her methods for the first time in Casa dei Bambini, she was focusing on a particular clientele: the children's home in the San Lorenzo quarter of Rome, which was co-founded by Montessori, was aimed toward children of poor working-class families.

That is not the case in China today.

On a Sunday afternoon in April, wealthy Chinese and foreign parents crowded into a function room at the Beijing Kempinski Hotel, seeking the perfect education for their offspring. On the tables, the schools and kindergartens promoted themselves using iPads and Powerpoint presentations. Among the numerous providers in a room buzzing with the English language were also several Montessori schools.

Have Montessori schools degenerated into elitist institutions?

"If you interpret all international schools as elitist schools, one might agree," argued Isabelle Meyers. The school fees tell their own story: parents have to summon up 140,000 yuan ($22,000) for full-time childcare at the MSB kindergarten each year. At the recently founded Little Village Montessori Kindergarten the amount is 78,000 yuan ($12,000), unaffordable for migrant workers.

Given that secondary Montessori schools still do not exist in China, after their time in elementary school, pupils of Chinese Montessori institutions have to change schools, often to international schools, well chosen by prosperous and concerned parents.

Under such circumstances and the fact that the long term objective of many Montessori students is to study at an American or European university, the question of how and whether the children might reintegrate into the Chinese school system loses its relevance.

The next steps

This development is pushed forward by the fact that it often was foreigners that founded many Montessori schools and kindergartens. In that case, the Chinese legal system binds them to register as international schools and thus to exclusively accept students holding foreign passports.

According to experts, at least for well-off Chinese people, this does not result in a greater problem, as they have already organized foreign passports or American greencards for their offspring.

Regarding local Montessori schools on the other hand, Chinese authorities do not put obstacles in their way. The Chinese Montessori Society has around 50 member schools and kindergartens, not including international institutions. The Chinese Government tolerates the flourishing Montessori schools, as long as they obey the general guidelines of the Ministry of Education, which apply to all private schools.

Is there an opportunity for a change towards a more diverse education system? At least Wang is optimistic.

"We don't want to remain at this point. We have already planned to expand and build up a second kindergarten near the Fifth Ring Road of Beijing," Wang said through his marketing manager. "Then we consider expanding to other cities."

The Montessori model, it seems, is ready to take off.

The author is a German intern editor of Beijing Review