Our journey to Montessori with Mrs Duyker

Mrs Duyker, born in The Hague, Netherlands, played a pivotal role in the development of Montessori education in Western Australia. Her journey was marked by a deep commitment to the Montessori method and remarkable resilience in the face of personal and historical challenges.

Mrs Duyker introduction to Montessori education began in her childhood when she attended a Montessori Children’s House in The Hague. Inspired by her early experiences, she pursued formal Montessori training in 1939 at a two-year course in Laren, Netherlands. During this time, she had the rare opportunity to learn directly from Dr. Maria Montessori and her son Mario Montessori. This experience left a lasting impression on her and set her on a path dedicated to Montessori education.

After the war, in 1952, she and her family emigrated to Australia. In 1959, the Duykers adopted a child, Terry, which prompted Duyker to think about her son’s future education. In 1962, she opened a Montessori school at her home, which quickly outgrew the space. Determined to continue, the Duykers established a primary school.

As the school grew, Mrs Duyker faced a significant challenge: finding qualified Montessori staff. In response, she decided to take matters into her own hands by founding a Montessori teacher training course. In 1986, her course received official accreditation from the West Australian government as a Certificate in Montessori Education, addressing the critical shortage of trained Montessori educators in the region.

It was through this training where Vicki Mckinnon, CEO of Building Futures, began her Montessori learning journey.

Vicki McKinnon:

“I consider it an immense privilege to have trained under Mrs Duyker.   She was incredibly steeped in the philosophy which was expressed in sentences, each worthy of making into a motivational poster.  She tolerated our clumsy questions and rephrasing, correcting our thoughts when we attempted to express the philosophy through the pigeon-holes of our existing frameworks.   Words matter, and our exploration of definitions and examples led to greater clarity of understanding.

She flew to Brisbane for a weekend each month for a period of two years, in 2001 and 2002.   It was transformational, and as I have continued my journey in Montessori through early childhood centre ownership, I faced the same challenge that she did – finding qualified Montessori staff.   In 2009 the Australian Montessori Society (inc) that Mrs Dukyer had founded was no longer effectively operating and the course was passed on to me.   Being able to offer an effective training program for our teams became the core facet that enabled quality Montessori programs.   We opened Building Futures Education in December 2009, as an accredited RTO (Registered Training Organisation) and over the years made it more and more available to other South-East Queensland based services.

It was very exciting in 2025 to expand our reach to the remainder of Australia, predominantly through the online space with our new badging as MECTA (Montessori and Early Childhood Training Australia).”

The influence.

Written by Vicki McKinnon

Each month she’d sit with tiny frame
Via red-eye flight each time she came
four double-decaded dame

Folder open she began to read
We’d interrupt, struck indeed
By thoughts upon which to feed

Each sentence was a worthy post
Each ideal impressed the most
Til next eclipsed, with this wise host

Rich quoteable quotes tumbled out
To contextualise, we explored about
Learning quite the circuitous route.

And often aged weariness was seen
With dropping head as words fell lean
And then repeat where she’d just been.

Anecdotes twice or even thrice
On given day, but we were nice,
Seeing an even deeper price.

Such wisdom deeply held and known
Experience shared is experience grown
Seeds aplenty then were sown

And decades since I saw you last
And knowing long ago you passed
Your influence remains, expanding vast

I never was able to say goodbye
This continent breadth just too wide
But what you began has never died

You passed to me a baton true
A cause worthy in my view
I hope I’ve earned that faith in you.