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Montessori method

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"I have studied the child. I have taken what the child has given me and expressed it and that is what is called the Montessori method."

::-- Dr. Maria Montessori.
The Montessori method is both a methodology and educational philosophy. It was originally developed in the early 1900s by Dr. Maria Montessori as a way to educate poor children in her native Italy. Although a few Montessori schools go through high school level, most are preschool or elementary school programs.

Contents

Philosophy

Concepts

The Montessori method believes that the child is the best judge of what he or she is ready to learn, and that children learn best individually in a supportive and non-competitive atmosphere. The child controls the pace, topic and repetition of lessons independent of the rest of the class or of the teacher, and takes personal responsibility for his studies. This does not occur randomly, but is carefully nurtured within the child over time; the energy of the toddler who wants to do all things for him or herself is thus channeled into life-long self-determination and personal responsibility.

The Montessori method emphasizes the uniqueness of each child and recognizes that children are different from adults in the way they develop and think (they aren't just "adults in small bodies"). Dr. Montessori believed in children's rights and the value and importance of children. The Montessori method discourages traditional measurements of achievement (i.e. grades, tests) as negative competition and damaging to the inner growth of children (and adults). Feedback and qualitative analysis of a child's performance does exist but is generally provided in the form of a list of skills, activities and critical points, and sometimes a narrative of the child's achievements, strengths and weaknesses. Deficiencies in one area are treated as points to work on, not as failures.

As an educational approach, the Montessori method's focus is on the individuality of each child in respect of their needs or talents. Children who experience the joy of learning are believed to be happy, confident, and fulfilled.

As one might surmise, then, the Montessori method encourages a great deal of independence. The youngest children are taught "practical life" skills in order to be able to dress themselves, help cook, clean, put their toys and clothes away and play an active part in their household, neighborhood and school. Montessori education carried through the elementary and high school years begins to encourage more group work but still relies on the student as guardian of his or her own intellectual development.

Premises

The premises of a Montessori approach to teaching and learning include the following:

Goals

The goal of Montessori is to provide a stimulating, child-centered environment in which children can explore, touch, and learn without fear, thus engendering a lifelong love of learning as well as providing the child the self-control necessary to fulfill that love.

A 2005 book, entitled [Montessori: Science Behind the Genius], by Angeline Stoll Lillard looks at how some of the foundational components of Montessori environments stand up in respect to current research on developmental psychology.

Implementation

Montessori is a highly hands-on approach to learning. It encourages children to develop their observation skills by doing many types of activities. These activities include use of the five senses, kinetic movement, spatial refinement, small and large motor skill coordination, and concrete knowledge that leads to later abstraction.

The classroom

A Montessori classroom is quiet, bright, clean, well-maintained and attractive. Nothing should be torn, broken, dirty, or otherwise unattractive. Furniture is child-sized, and there is no teachers' desk. The typical classroom consists of four areas: Practical Life, Sensorial, Language, Mathematics. Practical life includes activities such as buttoning, sweeping, pouring, slicing, tying, etc. Sensorial includes activities to stimulate and train hearing, touch, smell, and taste.

Most Montessori classrooms try to include ways for the children to interact with the natural world, perhaps through a classroom pet (rabbits, gerbils, mice, etc), or a small garden where the children can plant vegetables or flowers.

In larger schools that extend to the upper grades, Montessori classrooms are often grouped in three-year segments in order to establish a non-competitive atmosphere in the classroom. The children realize that class work is different for each person and are less likely to try to keep track of where other children are academically. This system allows for children to review work as many times as necessary and to move rapidly through the materials as they are able, as well as allowing children to become natural teachers by sharing what they have learned.

Pedagogical materials

Every activity has its place in the classroom and is self-contained and self-correcting. The original didactic materials are specific in design, conforming to exacting standards, and each activity is designed to focus on a single skill, concept or exercise. All of the material is based on SI units of measurement (for instance, the Pink Tower is based on the 1cm cube) which allows all the materials to work together and complement each other. In addition to this, material is intended for multiple uses at the primary level. A perfect example of this is the "Knobbed Cylinder" materials: not only do they directly offer a sensorial lesson, but indirectly the child's grip on the cylinders paves the way for holding a pencil, and the grades of cylinders allow for an introduction to mathematics. (For a sampling of typical traditional Montessori materials, see [Kaybee Montessori].)

Other materials are often constructed by the teacher -- felt storyboard characters, letter boxes (small containers of objects that all start with the same letter) for the language area, science materials (e.g. dinosaurs for tracing, etc), scent or taste activities, and so on. The practical life area materials are almost always put together by the teacher. All activities, however, must be neat, clean, attractive and preferably made of natural materials such as glass or wood, rather than plastic. Sponges, brooms and dustpans are provided and any mishaps (including broken glassware) are not punished but rather treated simply as an opportunity for the child to demonstrate responsibility by cleaning up after himself.

At higher grade levels, the teacher becomes more involved in creating materials since not only the students but also the potential subject matter widens so much. However, many of the earlier materials can be revisited with a new explanation, emphasis or use; for example, the cube that a five-year-old used as an exercise in color matching is revealed to the junior-high level student to physically embody the mathematical relationship (a+b)3=a3 + 3a2b + 3ab2 +b3.

Lessons

A child may not work with an activity until the teacher has demonstrated its proper use to him, and then he must use the activity as he has been shown. This is done not to maintain control, but because each activity leads directly to a new level of learning or concept. When a child "plays," he or she is acquiring the basis for later concepts. Repetition of activities is considered an integral part of this learning process and children are allowed to repeat activities as often as they wish. Eventually they tire of repetition which is a sign they are ready for the next level of learning.

The child proceeds at his or her own pace from concrete objects and tactile experiences to abstract thinking, writing, reading, science, mathematics. For example, in the language area, the child begins with the sandpaper letters (26 flat wooden panels, each with a single letter of the alphabet cut from sandpaper and affixed to it). The child's first lesson is to trace the shape of the letter with their fingers while saying the name of the letter. A next level activity might be the letter boxes (small containers each with a letter on the top, filled with objects that begin with that letter). Having mastered these, the child may move on to the word boxes (small containers each with a short three-letter word on the top, for example CAT, containing a small wooden cat and the letters C, A, T). One child might move through all three levels of lessons in a few weeks while another might take several months; although there is a prescribed sequence of activities there is no prescribed timetable. A Montessori teacher or instructor observes each child like a scientist, providing him with appropriate lessons as he is ready for them.

Home schoolers may find both the philosophy and the materials useful since each child is treated as an individual and activities are self-contained, self-correcting, and expandable. Aspects of the Montessori Method can easily scale down to a homeschooling environment - save, of course, Montessori's requirement for large mixed age groups of children.

Montessori in the USA

Montessori schools

There are currently over 3,000 privately held Montessori schools in the USA, as well as several hundred public schools that include Montessori programs (see below). Most schools have a primary program (from 3-6 years) and often a lower elementary (6-9 years). Less common is the upper elementary programs (9-12 years), although about one school in eight will have this program. The Montessori environment for toddlers is also a bit of a rarity as well. At this time there is no "standard" Montessori high school, as Maria Montessori's work was primarily centered around younger children, but several pilot Montessori high schools have opened based on writings by Montessori on 'erdkinder'. Schools such as the Arthur Morgan School in North Carolina and the Hershey School come closest to meeting the goals Montessori had for adolescent education.

Montessori programs in public schools

A survey conducted in 1981 collected data from 25 of the approximately 50 school districts nationwide known to have Montessori programs at the time (Chattin-McNichols, 1981). The only other study of public Montessori programs is much more recent. During school year 1990-91, this study received responses from 63 of the 120 school districts or schools to whom surveys were sent (Michlesen and Cummings, 1991). Results from this study indicate that the number of students in the schools or school districts averaged 233, with an average of 10 teachers per program. A total of 32, or 58%, of the schools surveyed reported that they were magnet schools. A total of 69% of the Montessori programs shared a building with other programs. District funding for the training of Montessori teachers was provided in 66% of the districts. Only 42% of the programs provided the three-year age span of three-, four-, and five-year-olds. This is indicative of the fact that the degree to which particular districts implement the Montessori model varies.

A total of 16 of the 57 schools charged tuition for some part of the program. About two thirds of the programs provided free transportation. In addition, two thirds of the districts reported that additional staff were used in the Montessori magnet schools. These factors can add to the overall costs of the program.

Criticisms

The Montessori method

A wide range of conflicting criticisms have been levelled at the Montessori method. Some parents believe the Montessori environment leaves the children "too free" while others see the Montessori principle of "freedom within limits" as stifling creativity. Some see Montessori schools as prep schools for preschoolers while others decry the children spending time on such menial tasks as washing tables or arranging flowers. Some adults are put off by Montessori teachers' manners — some appearing too subdued, others too stern, none of them necessarily praising or coddling the children.

Another criticism of Montessori arises from the fact that Montessori schools do not assign any homework. The lessons taught in a Montessori classroom are not generally conducive to home use, and the materials are highly specialized. It would be unlikely that a parent would buy materials for this purpose. Critics allege that a child who transfers to a traditional school and is required to do homework will have trouble adjusting. Homework in some form has started to find its way into the Montessori curriculum, if in a somewhat forced manner.

Within the Montessori professional community, there have been squabbles ranging from minutiae to the core principles of the philosophy. Those from one training background may believe another is too strict or outdated while others are accused of diluting Montessori's scientifically derived vision of ideal environments to support human development.

Internal divisions regarding the classroom materials also exist. Some Montessori associations (such as AMI) are adamantly opposed to the development or inclusion of new types of materials. Other associations and schools see this as stultifying and dooming Montessori to stagnation. A further problem lies in the traditional Montessori requirement that materials used in the classroom should be of natural materials (primarily wood) and of high quality. This creates a rift between well-funded schools who purchase material based on quality, and those schools who purchase cheaper materials (often plastic) in order to stretch their budget.

Finally, the public perception of Montessori schools is often that they are elitist and only for the rich, despite the fact that Maria Montessori developed her method to help the poor and mentally handicapped.

Is it really a Montessori school?

Thousands of schools label themselves as Montessori schools, either directly or through implication such as 'founded on Montessori principles' or identifying themselves as 'Montessori/Waldorf', regardless of the fact that the two philosophies are divergent almost to the point of being mutually exclusive. Because the term 'Montessori' isn't trademarked, and there is no single accrediting body, there is no one single definition that can be associated with a school having Montessori in its title. There are two accrediting bodies in the US: AMI (Association Montessori Internationale) and AMS (American Montessori Society), both of whom accredit a large number of teacher training centers as well. There are many other training options, such as MEPI (Montessori Education Programs International) and UMA (United Montessori Association). Many Montessori Teacher Training Programs are also accredited by the US Department of Education's MACTE (Montessori Accredidation Council for Teacher Education).

The following questions may help determine if a school truly is "Montessori:"

Famous Montessori students

See also

References

External links

 

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