Our Team

Amukta Mahapatra, founder of SchoolScape has been associated with the field of education since many years. She has worked with small schools and also developed programmes that have been implemented by the education departments across a state or many states in India. Wherever she has worked, she has fought for the child’s right to live and learn spontaneously.

She started her teaching career at the The School K.F.I, the Krishnamurti Foundation India school in Chennai.

Later, as the first principal of Abacus School in Chennai, she enabled Montessori practices from preschool to high school, to be seen from a contemporary perspective.

While working with UNICEF, she helped to develop a Quality Package to be implemented in government schools across ten states.

She conducted a training programme called the Professional Development of Teacher Educators for the faculty of the DIETs (District Institutes for Education and Training) in Tamil Nadu. The education department took the evolved modules forward and trained 200,000 elementary teachers across the state. This was the harbinger for the ABL programme for primary schools to be developed and later implemented in all the 37,500 elementary schools in the state.

She has organised many national and international conferences and is the initiating force for the movement of democratic education in India, under the banner of IDEC and InDEC. She has participated and presented papers at national and international seminars.

She has published articles and papers; her work has been mentioned in books and reports on best practices to be taken forward.

Member of Task Force for Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India.

Besides this, she has interests in the fields of craft, philosophy, indigenous knowledge and wildlife.

Nalini Tanguturu comes from a technology background, with ten years of professional IT experience in India and the USA.

After returning from the US, she got interested in Montessori education. She trained to be an elementary Montessori educator at SchoolScape in 2017-18.

Nalini worked as an Elementary teacher in Montessori schools, where she helped in setting up environments for children. She has also been a faculty​member ​for ​the ​Elementary Montessori Courserun by SchoolScape from the past two years.

Combining her global IT experience with her Montessori knowledge, Nalini has been instrumental in setting up the online platform for Montessori Training at SchoolScape.

Nalini describes her experience of working under Amukta as a career defining one. She has not only been able to realize her inner calling towards Montessori philosophy, but also been able to become an able administrator.

Gracy Kingsley is a Post Graduate MBA (HR). She completed her Diploma in Montessori Primary teacher training from IMTC-Chennai in 2003 and later completed the Montessori Elementary teacher training from Sharanalaya Montessori School in 2016.She holds a B.Ed and Diploma in Special Education (Autism). She is undergoing the Trainers training Program for Elementary with SchoolScape.

 Gracy has extensive experience working with children since 2003 in Sharanalaya Montessori School, Chennai in both the Preschool and Elementary levels. She  started as a Montessori teacher and then became the Principal, which she held for seven years till 2020. She has experience training and mentoring teachers during this time, while she set up and managed the school..

Sharon Caldwell is a teacher, teacher trainer, writer, and speaker. She was the founder of Nahoon Montessori School, a radical experiment in student empowerment embodying the pedagogy and vision of student liberty encouraged by Dr Montessori, but also inspired by the model of student self-governance exemplified in schools within the Democratic and Free School tradition. She has experience working with children in a Montessori context from 2½ to 15
years and has taught in conventional high school, as well as homeschooling her sons from age 13.

Sharon has key-noted and presented at conferences in India, the USA, Australia, Indonesia, Honk Kong and in South Africa. She has consulted and conducted Montessori teacher professional development in Tokyo, Hanoi, Beijing and Dakar as well as South Africa. She has contributed to two books on school innovation (Turning Points: 35 Visionaries in Education Tell Their Own Stories! and The Directory of Democratic Education) and co-authored and edited teacher training materials for the Centre for Guided Montessori Studies. She is a regular guest lecturer for the Montessori Campus, a Montessori teacher training program in South Africa, as well as running her own professional development seminars for Montessori teachers.

She served on the Executive Committee of SAMA (South African Montessori Association), and for two years was CEO of that association. She is currently the General Secretary of SAMA and represents the Association on NAISA (National Alliance of Independent Schools Associations), on which she holds the ECD portfolio.

For a number of years, she mentored Montessori school leaders for the Montessori Foundation, and has designed and written three short online courses for the Montessori Leadership Institute. She has been a regular contributor to Tomorrow’s Child Magazine and Montessori Leadership, magazine of the International Montessori Council, of which she was Assistant Editor.

In 2014, she was invited to begin an Adolescent programme at the Montessori School of Tokyo, after completing the AMI/NAMTA Orientation to Adolescent programme. In 2015/16 she was employed as Curriculum Coordinator and Director of Professional Development at the same school, during which time she led the school through the IMC (International Montessori Council) Accreditation process.

She is currently working as an independent consultant supporting South African Montessori Schools.

Khushbu Gupta is a trained Montessori Educator from AMI – RTI Mumbai. She has had a background in banking, is a mother of a pre-teen, a storyteller, and has participated in various children’s events by organising and performing puppet shows and book reading sessions.

She has always found the world of children to be vastly fascinating and intriguing.

What thoughts do they have?

Why do their perspectives differ so much?

During her journey as an Educator, she realised that it’s not just helping her find some of the answers to these questions; but it’s also increasing her self-awareness and providing opportunities for self-discovery.

She has 4 years of experience working in the Casa and elementary environment.

She firmly thinks that Montessori is not only a method of education but also a means of nurturing life that can benefit the whole of humanity.

Bulbul Hasan was born in Shillong, Meghalaya in India and later went on to live and study in Bangalore and Chennai where she graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Literature, Psychology and Journalism and also completed a Montessori training as a 3-6 guide with the Association Montessori Internationale. Soon after completing her diploma course she started on a search for a Montessori school where she could put into practice the theory of Montessori education that had had such a deep impact on her life. She went on to work in different schools across the globe and also deepen her understanding of different cultures. She has worked and lived in Montessori schools in Singapore, New York, Jersey City, Chihuahua Mexico, and Madrid, Spain.

Bulbul has also conducted Montessori related workshops at various schools across the world for teachers and parents. She has provided support and consultancy to schools in Mexico, Spain and India. Bulbul looks at her work in schools, with teachers as one of support and mentorship where her observations form the basis of a more sustained approach to the changes required in their work as continually preparing to be the adults working with children and also in terms of the preparation of their environments. She has also had the opportunity to create and teach short Montessori courses for teachers and parents and is interested in continuing to offer training to new students who are looking for a practical understanding of Montessori education. While including Montessori theory Bulbul also keeps in mind the very important experiential aspect of learning. Her lectures often include anecdotes from her personal experience.

Her other interests include travelling and exploring new cultures and she currently lives in Mexico.

People from India and other countries are included as faculty for different areas and subjects. Those who have experience working with children are preferred. Those who are willing to learn, unlearn, work as a member of a team, guide students in a collaborative manner are those who have grown with this experience at SchoolScape.

With an internship programme for becoming trainers, the team evolves with mentorship and reflective practices built-in to the process, as one continues to teach and learn.