The founders of
Google and Amazon, have Montessori schooling in common. Sergei Brin and Larry
Page both attended Montessori schools. Both credit their Montessori education
for much of their success. It was the Montessori experience, they claim, that
made them self-directed, think for themselves and pursue their real interests. Jeff
Bezos's mother tells of his single-mindedness at his Montessori school, being
so absorbed in the tasks he chose, that they had to drag him off to give him a
change, the same, self-directed, single-mindedness that was a feature of his
Amazon adventure.
Casa dei Bambini
As the first woman to graduate as
a Doctor in Italy, Maria Montessori, worked with children with special needs,
but quickly drifted towards education, as she saw in her patients the results
of a constricted approach to education and learning. She opened a school for
the poor of Rome, the Casa dei Bambini, and developed her theory and practice
from this real experience, first captured in the Montessori Method in 1909. It was a worldwide sensation but the
Second World War came and Mussolini closed down all of her schools and the
educational establishment in the US closed ranks and attacked her work. It is a
testament to her theory that the movement, and Montessori schools, are still a
feature of the educational landscape in many countries around the world.
Montessori method
As a modern heir to Rousseau, she
sees the need to let children develop naturally with a strong emphasis on
individualised learning. This is based on her belief that a child learns best
when left to make their own choices within given constraints. Children have
‘tendencies’ to behave and learn and we must let them develop these tendencies
to realise their potential. The method is perhaps best known as a system of
auto-education where children are taught in mixed-age groups and not coerced
into learning but given choices within a range of options. There is a great
emphasis on discovery and learning by doing, making and manipulating things,
rather than direct instruction, and the specific use of Montessori learning
materials.
Classrooms
Classrooms are open environments
and, as children do not have assigned seats, they work on floor mats or at low
tables. These are in specific areas that contain selected and designed materials,
carefully placed, in different subjects in a specific order and children are
encouraged to work with their hands. Montessori materials are often made of
wood but painted and made attractive to children. Low shelves are provided as
children are encouraged to tidy away materials after use.
Teaching
Lessons are given but the
structure is not rigid and teaching takes place with individuals or small
groups, not to the whole class. Although assessment is largely through
observation and not tests, the learning process is far from being unstructured.
In fact it is highly organised. Children learn to write before they read and
Montessori long encouraged the phonetic approach, as opposed to the whole word
method, that became so disastrously popular elsewhere.
Home from home
Context matters and this means
designing schools, not to be institutions separate from the world but part of
the real world, like a real home with an extended family. Montessori schools are
designed to be orderly, clean and aesthetically pleasing but also allow freedom
of movement and exposure to relevant, learning materials. They are often deliberately
remodelled to resemble a home, with small furniture and the feel of a family
home.
This has become an issue in
education as schools, since the industrial revolution, have had to deal with
absent working fathers, and increasingly, mothers. Montessori recognised this
need with an emphasis on domestic activity. She did not want school to be
cleaved off from the real world. It should, rather, be a home from home. With
ideas similar to Rousseau and Dewey she was also keen on adolescents living in
the country, running a farm or shop, and learning from making things and
problem solving.
Evidence
Stoll Lillard's
claims that Montessori’s methods are confirmed by research in psychology and
education on eight points.
1. movement can enhance thinking and learning; 2. learning and well-being are
improved when we have a sense of control; 3. we learn better when we are
interested; 4. extrinsic rewards such as test scores, negatively impact
motivation; 5. collaboration is conducive to learning; 6. learning is deeper and
richer when situated in meaningful contexts; 7. adult interaction helps with
learning and 8. order in the environment is beneļ¬cial to children. It has not
been easy to determine through research whether Montessori methods are inferior
or superior, as the schools have been selected by parents. Further difficulties
arise from the lack of clear classroom and pedagogic structures that can be
compared with other mainstream forms of schooling.
Criticism
Dewey thought the method too
restrictive and this has been echoed by others who see strict adherence to the
Montessori materials a limit to creativity. They have been accused to being too
attached to a method devised by one person on the basis of limited experience
and research. Interestingly, others have seen Montessori schools as too
unstructured. As one would expect with a movement with a controlled method,
disputes also arise within the movement about the rights and wrongs of marking
homework and so on.
Conclusion
Montessori certainly influenced
Piaget with her belief in careful, structured child development but her main legacy
endures through Montessori schools, with around 20,000 schools around the world
(700 in UK). Many see virtue in its softer, more child-centred concept of
education and school. They want their children to be free from the strictures
of institutional schooling and let them develop at their own pace in a caring
and personalised environment. In practice, modern schools have inadvertently
absorbed many of these lessons into mainstream schooling.
Bibliography
Montessori , M. The Montessori Method
Montessori , M. Education and Peace
Montessori , M. From Childhood to Adolescence
Montessori , M. The Absorbent Mind
Montessori , M. The Secret of Childhood
Kramer, Rita (1976), Maria Montessori: a biography,
University of Chicago Press.
Stoll Lillard A.
(2005) Montessori: The Science Behind the
Genius, Oxford University Press
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