Interview with Joey Liaw, 4th Cohort Participant of Y2 Social Impact Talent Development Program
Joey Liaw’s childhood dream of education comes to life through the Montessori learning group at Yixin Academy inside Chuang-Wei Junior High School.
Nestled inside Chuang-Wei Junior High School in Yilan, the Chinese name of Yixin Montessori School may sound like an independent bookstore, but it is actually a vital hub for Montessori experimental education in the region. Its founder, Joey Liaw, took an unexpected yet seemingly destined path into education—a story that reads like a twist of fate.
From Military Officer to Principal: A Childhood Dream Realized
Joey is a lifelong learner. With a background in mechanical engineering from Chung Cheng Institute of Technology, he is pragmatic and passionate about innovation.
Before entering the field of education, he served as a professional military officer for 22 years, specializing in engineering and munitions development. His self-taught projects ranged from signal flares to smoke bombs and rescue pen flares, and he was once honored with the prestigious Chu-Kuang Model award. Despite his success, a question lingered: “As a soldier, I serve only my superiors. What else could I do if I left the military?” With that, he made the bold decision to walk away from his decorated military career in pursuit of something more meaningful.
Although now an advocate for Montessori education, Joey's own junior high years were filled with pain. His family ran a noodle shop, and due to a missed transfer of school records, he was temporarily placed in the remedial class at his new school, where fights broke out daily. In seventh grade, he moved to an average class, and by eighth grade, to a gifted one.
However, as his academic foundation was weak, he found himself second-tolast in the class and was often ridiculed by peers. Having nearly given up on academics, a homeroom teacher encouraged him to aim for the prestigious Taichung Second Senior High School. Surprised by the faith his teacher had in him, Joey was motivated to study hard and ultimately got accepted into his fourth-choice school.
Back then, he would daydream about an ideal school: one with mountains, rivers, and streams—a place to freely play and learn. He now marvels at how Montessori education has made that vision come true.
The Spirit of Self-Directed Learning: A Natural Fit with Montessori
Joey's path into education seemed serendipitous. Upon retiring from the military, a senior colleague told him about an opening at Tamkang University's Lanyang Campus in Jiaoxi, Yilan. There, he leveraged his scientific expertise to teach general education courses in innovation and research.
In 2008, he transferred to Toucheng Humanities School, where his engineering mindset shone through: teaching by day, coding by night. He independently built a student portfolio system to help teachers better understand their students and communicate across disciplines.
“The system helps teachers see both the trees and the forest—creating a more complete picture of each child,” Joey explained. With technology as an aid, students found greater stability. He even developed an elective course system that allows students to manage their own learning pace. Though he had not yet formally trained in Montessori, his approach was deeply aligned with its philosophy.
Channeling his engineer mindset, Joey teaches by day and codes by night—building teaching support systems that document student learning and support teacher collaboration.
In 2012, Joey moved to Qingshui Experimental Elementary School in Yilan and taught there for six years. Due to enrollment difficulties in the mountainous area, the school eventually ceased operations. He spent several years teaching part-time at various schools and always feeling regret that he couldn't provide long-term support for students.
That changed in 2020, when he joined the “Montessori Education in Public Schools” workshop organized by Y2 and Taiwan Montessori Education Center (TMEC). At the same time, he began teaching at Chuang-Wei Junior High and formed a Montessori learning group with just three students. By the 2023 academic year, it was officially established as a certified Montessori experimental education group. Rated "Excellent" by the Yilan County Government, the Education Department specially approved the group’s three-year experimental education project
Lifelong Learning at Yixin Montessori School: Living Up to the Name
The early days were tough—Joey even had to advance teachers’ salaries out of his own pocket and later borrow money from them to keep the school running. Despite outside skepticism, his drive to learn and refusal to give up never wavered.
To ensure Yixin truly embodied the spirit of Montessori, Liaw continued studying Montessori philosophy even while serving as principal. He successfully applied for Y2 Social Impact Talent Development Program, which allowed him to travel to Ohio over the summer to attend the International Montessori Training Institute for the AMI 12 – 18 Adolescent Training Course.
One of his greatest takeaways from the training was understanding why Montessori works the way it does. "Some schools misunderstand freedom as letting students do whatever they want," he said. "But Montessori offers gentle invitations and guidance rather than force. Students feel welcomed and gradually learn to take responsibility for their choices. That’s when true growth begins."
Having devoted nearly every moment of his life to Montessori, Joey jokes that he doesn’t separate work from personal life. He enjoys embodying Montessori in everyday living: Taking breaks when tired and being present in the moment. "My attitude toward people and students has completely changed—I no longer get angry when challenged," he laughed. “A real teacher should dedicate themselves to the classroom. Montessori is something you can do for a lifetime.”
Through Montessori education, Joey seems to have rediscovered the adolescent version of himself—this time, with joy in learning. “This is what adolescence is truly meant to be.” If Joey had the chance, he would tell his younger self: “Believe in yourself.”
Text by Yu-Hsiu Su