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Montessori pedagogy
?Whatever an education is, it should make you a unique individual, not a conformist; it should furnish you with an original spirit with which to tackle the big challenges; it should allow you to find values, which will be your road map through life.?
From Dumbing Us Down, by John Taylor Gatto, recipient of a New York State Teacher Award (1991)
If this is our idea of education, then surely we should find ways to bring it about. Many people acquainted with the Montessori approach to education ask themselves this question, ?Why is it that so few people know about Montessori?? Why indeed? I myself discovered Montessori almost ?by accident? when, 15 years ago, I decided to leave my IT career and go back to my first love ? psychology and, child psychology, in particular. In my opinion, the Montessori approach is one that would successfully achieve the aims outlined above by John T. Gatto.
<U>What is Montessori?</B></U>
Montessori education is characterised by multi-age classrooms, specially designed educational materials, uninterrupted work chosen by the child, an environment conducive to learning and development of skills, absence of grades and tests, and individual and small group instruction in academic and social skills.
Montessori is not merely a ?method? but rather an approach or philosophy, which embraces the whole child and allows his natural curiosity and love of learning to find expression. And this is achieved by giving him the freedom to work hands-on with concrete materials within a carefully prepared environment. Teachers do not ?teach? but guide children towards independence and self-discipline.
<B><U>Why is it called Montessori?</B></U>
This approach to education was developed by an Italian lady, Maria Montessori. She gradually became interested in education after working with children with mental disorders. She discovered that these children were capable of learning by using special educational materials and within an appropriate environment. Most surprising of all, she entered them for the required state school examinations, and they passed!
Montessori began to think that if those children could learn in this way, then children with normal intelligence would be even more responsive to her methods. She opened the first Montessori school, called the Casa dei Bambini (Children?s House), in 1907. Today, 100 years later, Montessori is the single largest pedagogy in the world ranging from 0-18 year-olds with more than 8,000 schools worldwide.
<B><U>How does it work?</B></U>
Key ideas of the Montessori approach include:
Absorbent mind:</B> from birth to age six, the child has a unique ability to learn and assimilate anything surrounding him, comparable to a sponge immersed in water. This happens effortlessly and in a completely unconscious way.
<B>Freedom and responsibility:</B> these are the two poles of the Montessori approach. Freedom equals activity and is the most genuine expression of a child?s intelligence. This concept is often misunderstood. Freedom in Montessori does not mean letting the child do whatever he likes. Rather, he is given the freedom to act within clearly defined limits. He channels his energy towards a specific task within the range of activities accessible to him at his stage of development. Organization and discipline would be useless without the freedom to make use of them according to the child?s preferences and choices.
<B>Independence:</B> the child naturally strives for functional independence so childhood education should help the child to achieve that independence and ultimately become an autonomous, self-disciplined individual.
<B>Normalization:</B> the ?normalized? child is a child living in complete harmony with his surrounding environment. This is usually achieved through letting him work on a freely chosen task, on which he can concentrate and be fully absorbed.
<B>Observation: </B>the key element in the teacher?s duty is that of observing the child and letting him express himself. Due to her scientific background, Montessori was convinced that educational theory and practice should be first and foremost grounded in observation. The teacher?s role is to create a joyful and stimulating classroom environment, encourage the children in all their efforts and, by so doing, allow them to develop self-confidence and self-discipline.
<B>Prepared environment: </B>the typical Montessori classroom is carefully prepared by the teacher in all its details. It must include all the essential elements (the ?keys?) that will contribute to the children?s learning at each given stage of their development, and nothing superfluous or distracting. Essential features of the prepared environment are: beauty, order, simplicity, and accessibility.
<B><U>What does a Montessori classroom look like?</B></U>
Maybe what will strike you the most when you step into a Montessori classroom is the impression of a busy beehive. Busy, yet quiet and peaceful. Children are busy with their individual activities and, as they finish, they carefully put their work away and move on to something else or stand by to watch a friend working. You get the feeling that this is the children?s ?house? and they feel confident as they go about their business. Many activities include movement and this is what the pre-school child needs. There is a large open area for larger group activities, which include songs, games and story-telling.
<B><U>Education for life </B></U>
Maria Montessori used to say that education should be ?for life? or as ?an aid to life?. She described ?success? not in terms of good grades but rather the degree to which the child believes in him/herself and has developed a certain degree of independence, leadership and self-discipline, which will set a pattern for a lifetime of good work habits and a sense of responsibility.
<B>Marianne LAN</B> (holder of a Diploma in Montessori Education (3-6) from the Association Montessori Internationale).
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