Ogden Valley Montessori School - Montessori Philosophy

Montessori Philosophy

Maria Montessori
The Montessori Method
The Montessori Teacher
The Montessori Classroom

Biographical Sketch of Maria Montessori

Dr. Maria Montessori
1870 - 1952

Montessori education was founded in 1907 by Dr. Maria Montessori who was, in many ways, ahead of her time. Born in the town of Chiaravalle, in the province of Ancona, Italy, in 1870, she became the first female physician in Italy upon her graduation from medical school in 1896. She worked in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology and education and based her educational methods on scientific observation of children's learning processes. She saw a great need for reform in the educational system of her day, just as we see a need for reform in our educational system today.

Maria Montessori's goal was to develop the whole personality of the child which lies dormant within, waiting to be brought forth. This is the original intended meaning of the word 'education' from its Latin root word 'educare' (pronounced 'e-doo-kah-ray'), which means 'to lead forth'. Dr. Montessori believed that children learn best by doing, not by passively accepting other people's ideas and pre-existing knowledge. She also believed that each child is born with a unique potential that is waiting to be revealed with guidance, rather than as a "blank slate" waiting to be written upon. "A child's work," she wrote, "is to create the man he will become. An adult works to perfect the environment, but a child works to perfect himself."

At the age of twenty-eight, Dr. Montessori became the director of a school for mentally disabled children. She spent eleven hours a day at the school and worked late into the night at home also on this project. After two years under her guidance, these mentally disabled children, who formerly had been considered ineducable, took a school examination along with normal children and passed successfully. Educators called Dr. Montessori a miracle worker. Her response was that if mentally disabled children could be brought to the level of normal children, what was the potential of "normal" children?

In 1906 she was given the responsibility of starting a school for the children of working parents in the San Lorenzo slum district of Rome. With a minimal budget, she contracted a carpenter to make child-sized furniture and equipment of her own design. She began this school with 60 unruly children under the age of six and it became known as the Casa dei Bambini, or "Children's House." What ultimately became the Montessori method of education developed there, based upon Montessori's scientific observations of these children's almost effortless ability to absorb knowledge from their surroundings, as well as their tireless interest in manipulating the materials she provided. Every piece of equipment, every exercise, every method Montessori developed was based on what she observed children to do "naturally," by themselves, unassisted by adults.

The news of her amazing success soon spread around the world and people came from far and wide to see the children for themselves. Gradually, her work became known and practiced world-wide. She refused to patent her name or work because she wanted to see this approach to life grow freely, and it has. Sometimes the name "Montessori" has been used in schools where the method is not fully practiced. However, careful evaluation of a school and its staff to see if they are affiliated with one of the two major Montessori organizations (AMS, American Montessori Society, or AMI, Association Montessori Internationale) can help parents know whether a school they are considering is "true" Montessori or not.

Maria Montessori made her first visit to the United States in 1913, the same year that Alexander Graham Bell and his wife Mabel founded the Montessori Educational Association at their Washington, DC, home. Among her other strong American supporters were Thomas Edison and Helen Keller. In 1915, She was invited to appear at Carnegie Hall in New York. She was then invited to set up a classroom at the Panama-Pacific International Exhibition in San Francisco so that more interested people could observe her methods. A room was built with a glass wall behind which spectators sat and watched the children. Twenty-one children, all completely new to a Montessori environment, attended for four months. The observation seats were filled every day and the two gold medals awarded for education at the Panama-Pacific International Exhibition both went to the Montessori class.

In 1922, she was appointed a government inspector of schools in her native Italy, but because of her opposition to Mussolini's fascism, she was forced to leave Italy in 1934. In 1938, she founded a series of teacher training courses in India in 1939 and in 1940, when India entered World War II, she and her son, Mario Montessori, were interned as enemy aliens, although she was still permitted to conduct training courses. After World War II, Dr. Montessori's concern with education for peace intensified and she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times: in 1949, 1950, and 1951. Her motto was: "Averting war is the work of politicians; establishing peace is the work of education".

Maria Montessori died in 1952 in Noordwijk, Holland, after training directors in many countries and having devoted her life to the interrelated work of peace and education. Now, nearly a century after the first "Casa dei Bambini", Montessori education is found all over the world, spanning ages from birth to adolescence. It is estimated that there are about 4,000 Montessori schools in the United States and about 7,000 worldwide.

Maria Montessori, a wonderfully gifted individual, revealed many of the mysteries, not only of childhood, but also of human nature. Her books are read all over the world, in many languages. The significance of her discoveries is yet to be fully understood as much of her work is still being translated and compiled, although the principles of her teaching and their various practical expressions are gradually being recognized by other theorists and practitioners in the larger educational system. Modern kindergarten classrooms use the child-sized furniture and many didactic materials first introduced by Maria Montessori or inspired by her. Such current concepts as individualized learning, manipulative/hands-on learning, combined age groups, team teaching and open classrooms reflect many of her early insights.

The Montessori Method

Guided by her discovery that children teach themselves, Dr. Montessori designed a "prepared environment" in which children could freely choose from a number of developmentally appropriate activities. She sought to understand, through scientific research and observation, what guided the child's psychological structure and what could be done to aid this growth. It was her belief that learning should occur in multi-age classrooms where children at various stages of development learn from and with each other. Her developmentally appropriate approach was designed to fit each child instead of making each child fit the program. Its success with children from all social strata and those with special needs has attracted wide interest.

Maria Montessori's understanding of children was well ahead of her time. She believed that the child's mind from birth to six years is quite different from that of an adult and labeled it the absorbent mind. This refers to the young child's ability to absorb all aspects of one's culture and environment without effort or fatigue, primarily through sensorial exploration. In addition to sensorially absorbing his surroundings, the young child is more responsive to certain learning experiences at particular times. The Montessori approach recognizes that there are critical times during a child's growth when he or she is more responsive to certain learning experiences than at other times; that there are natural mental and physical "clocks" in children that make them more receptive to learning particular skills and subjects at specific times in their lives. She termed these sensitive periods and examples of them are: language acquisition, sensorial exploration, reading, writing and math. Almost a century later, scientists are now finding scientific data to support Dr. Montessori's discoveries.

The Montessori classroom is designed to appeal to the child's propensity to explore and discover, following his own natural sensitive periods. "The hands are the instrument of man's intelligence," wrote Dr. Montessori, and for this very reason she developed a line of manipulative equipment. Everything is custom-sized to facilitate the child's independence and development. Our teachers act as guides, resource persons and friends. As a result, students bring their energy and enthusiasm to the adventure of learning. As the poet Yeats said, "Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire".

Dr. Montessori saw a tremendous need for the child to have respectful and intelligent help during the absorbent mind stage. She saw the child as constantly unfolding and developing himself and saw the adults who were trying to teach him the traditional way as obstacles to his process. Her life work could be summed up as defining the nature of the child and the role of the adult in helping him, thus easing the tug-of-war which exists when two completely different natures meet:

…The child loves concentration - the adult entertains or interrupts him. The teacher in this prepared environment respects his concentration and allows him to complete it. .

…The child loves repetition whereas the adult becomes bored with it. Montessori education allows this freedom as the child seeks to perfect his actions.

…The child loves order but the adult provides a toy box which can afford nothing but disorder. The prepared environment offers shelves with neatly arranged activities that are returned to the same place after use.

…The child thrives on the freedom to choose his activities but the adult prefers that everyone do the same thing at the same time. The prepared environment offers the solution: "Choose your work from what is on the shelf". With this freedom to choose comes the responsibility to return it to the shelf correctly.

…Children prefer work (in terms of learning) to play (in terms of toys) - adults don't. A child's work is his preparation for life. Hopefully, when he matures he will enjoy the paid employment he chooses for he will have perfected what he likes to do best.

…Children don't need rewards, although adults like to think they do. Accomplishment and creativity are reward enough for the child. A young child is self-motivated and, in given the proper environment and education, will remain so as he grows.

…Children love silence whereas adults demand it. The Montessori environment creates an awareness of silence in the child through such invitations as, "Let me see if you can tiptoe away so quietly I can still hear the birds chirping."

On and on her discoveries go toward providing a practical way to a peaceful coexistence with children.

The Montessori Teacher

The role of a Montessori teacher is one of guide and observer, whose ultimate goal is to intervene less and less as the child develops. The teacher builds an atmosphere of calm, order and joy in the classroom and encourages the children in all their efforts, thus promoting self-confidence and discipline.

With the younger students at each level, the teacher is more active, demonstrating the use of materials and presenting activities based on an assessment of the child's needs. Knowing when to observe and when, and how much, to intervene is a skill the Montessori teacher develops during a rigorous, specialized course of training at training centers throughout the world.

The Montessori Classroom

If you look around the classroom you will see two things that make this environment unique. The first is that the activities have been designed for independent use. For example, you will see trays and baskets on the shelves that have everything the child needs to complete a particular activity. This way the child does not need to wait for the teacher to commence his or her chosen activity. The teacher does the important work of preparing the environment before the children come into the classroom each day. The Primary classroom is designed to accommodate the child in each of the curriculum areas as he or she is ready. Thus, though learning is self-paced in a Montessori classroom, it is not random.

The second unique feature of a Montessori classroom is the degree of cooperation and community mindedness you will find there. If you have visited a non-Montessori classroom you may have seen the adults doing the clean-up or putting the children's work away. Look around our Montessori classrooms and notice how the children function with both a sense of independence and interdependence. You will see adults working with the children, but not for them. You will also see children helping one another: one child may be giving a lesson to another; a tall child may help turn off the water for a shorter one; or one child may be helping to tie another's shoes -- or teaching him how to tie it. The Montessori class is purposely made up of a beneficial mix of older and younger children since children learn invaluable lessons from helping one another. Over a period of time, the children develop into a "normalized community" working with a deep level of concentration and few interruptions.