Introduction Maria Montessori was an Italian educator working in the first half of the twentieth century. Even in her lifetime she was regarded as one of the foremost female educationalists, and her legacy continues today in many Montessori schools worldwide. Her training was originally in medicine. Perhaps as a result of this her approach to education was scientific. Montessori believed in the 'self-construction' of the child through their interactions with the environment and the practitioner (Isaacs). Her research and understanding of how children learn and how they should be supported in their development are known as the Montessori Method, and she recorded her pedagogy in a book of that title in 1912. A Brief History Montessori was born in Chiaravalle, Italy, in 1870. She was the only daughter of her soldier and civil servant father and well-educated mother. She studied hard and trained to be a doctor, becoming the first woman in Italy to graduate from medical school in 1896. During her studies she had specialised in paediatrics and she was particularly interested in children with learning difficulties. Montessori became a director of a school in Rome for special needs children and began to study other educational theorists. Her observations of how these children learned and the techniques that supported them led her to believe that her approach might also work with other children. In 1907 she set up her first 'Casa dei Bambini' or 'Children's House' in a deprived area of Rome. It was here that the Montessori Method was applied and refined. News of her work spread, and in 1911 she travelled to America to explain her method to practitioners there. Her first visit to London was in 1919. By this time she was so well known that 'newspapers described her arrival as the beginning of a great era for children in this country' (Pound, p.30). She was forced to leave Italy in 1934 because she opposed Mussolini's fascist regime. Montessori continued her work in Holland, where she died in 1952. Montessori's Theories: A short summary of the Montessori Method Montessori herself believed that her methods should be constantly evaluated and adapted. However, at the core of her theory were three main components: the child; the favourable or prepared environment; and the teacher (Isaacs). Montessori's pedagogy revolved around the mutual existence of these factors. The Prepared Environment Montessori strongly believed that young children should be able to do everything for themselves. The Montessori classroom was designed to facilitate this autonomy. She introduced small tables and chairs, tiny basins and toilets, and pegs that were low enough for children to reach. Resources were made accessible to children, neatly laid out on low shelves. Montessori wrote that 'the special characteristic of the equipment of these houses is that they are adapted for children and not adults' (p.38). She emphasised that all items within the classroom should be a resource for learning, including those related to the practicalities of everyday life such as cleaning and food preparation. Only things that were considered 'good and useful' to the children's development were allowed into the classroom (Standing, L&W, p.294). The space was also beautifully kept, simply decorated, calm, and above all, orderly. The order and readiness of a Montessori classroom is what she meant by a 'prepared' environment. There has been some debate about the restrictions this structure places on children, but it was key to the principles of Montessori's educational theory: 'In fact we could not give true freedom of choice to children without such a prepared environment - an environment which contains many motives for learning' (Standing, L&W, p.284). Montessori believed that children's learning was based on creating order out of their experiences, and that the prepared environment should both mirror this order and be a scaffold for it. Equally important to her method was the child's freedom to choose any activity within this environment. The resources within the prepared environment The resources Montessori created for her classrooms were very precise and lent themselves to the sense of order in the prepared environment. She divided them into three areas: Motor education, which included the children's care of themselves and the environment; Sensory education, which included materials such as structured sets of geometric blocks, graded colour tablets and bells of different pitch; and Language and Arithmetic, which were supported with materials such as sand paper letters, number cards, and rods and stairs for counting. The aim was to offer the child concrete objects with which to learn various concepts. Montessori noted that 'small children learn by doing, and therefore manipulation is a key strategy for learning' (Isaacs, p.53) Her early observations of children led her to conclude that they preferred to work at their own pace on a more structured activity than to be left to play. From then on she referred to children 'working' with these resources, as opposed to 'playing'. The Teacher To Montessori, the teacher was the link between the children and the prepared environment, a role that included the immaculate care for the materials and the space they were in. Although Montessori valued teacher training, and gave many lectures herself, she believed that a teacher of young children should have an instinctive feel for the task. They should have a natural humility and patience, and above all 'a deeper sense of the dignity of the child as a human being' (Standing, L&W, p.298). The Montessori approach to teaching was one of non-intervention. She warned that too much adult interaction would disrupt the natural cycle of a child's activity. This was especially true with a small child when they were trying out something new: 'This debut is so fragile, so delicate that the smallest thing suffices to make it disappear like a soap bubble, and with it at the same instant the beauty of its nature' (Montessori, in Standing, L&W, p.313). Montessori advised that a successful teacher must watch and listen: 'Wait while observing. That is the motto for the educator' (Montessori, p.132). This patience would give the adult all the information they needed to guide a child gently towards their own discoveries. Montessori gave the teacher the new name of 'Directress' (they were all female teachers at that time) to emphasise her understanding of how the adult should support a child's learning. The Child Like many educational theorists, Montessori divided a child's development into distinct phases. She called these 'periods of metamorphosis'. According to Montessori, the first phase was between birth and six years of age, which she labelled the period of the Absorbent Mind: 'There exists in the small child an unconscious state which is of a creative nature. We have called it the Absorbent Mind' (Montessori in Hainstock, p.85). During each phase of a child's development, Montessori understood there to be 'sensitive periods' when children were most open to learning a particular concept, such as reading or number. Occasionally an individual child might reach a point of sudden realisation about a concept. As Standing explains, 'the long, tranquil, joyful work with the materials, and the profound persuasion that comes with it, often bring about a spontaneous leap of the mind to a new and higher level' (MR, p.20). These 'spontaneous leaps' were known as 'Montessori Explosions'. The prepared environment was designed to assist the child's development by offering opportunities for self-managed exploration and repetition (Mooney). The materials were structured to make it possible for a child to correct themselves. For example, if the different sized cylinders are not put correctly into their corresponding holes, it becomes obvious to the child when they reach the end of the activity and there is a big one left to fit a small hole. Montessori writes that 'control of the error lies in the material itself, and the child has concrete evidence of it...hence at this point there begins the process of auto-education' (Montessori, p.71). Her belief in auto-education, or self-teaching, is fundamental to Montessori's method. According to her theory, the child is the creator of the adult-to-be. Linking Montessori's theories to today's practice Montessori's influence on present day early years practice runs deep. It is taken for granted that settings will have small tables and chairs and accessible resources with clear labelling. The EYFS document states that 'the indoor environment contains resources which are appropriate, well maintained and accessible for all children' (Enabling Environments, 3.3). Although a mainstream nursery will house a wider range of resources than the special materials created by Montessori, many of them will resemble the comparative and sensory experiences offered by her original designs. Her ideas about the practitioner as observer and guide are now considered fundamental to good practice. Montessori wrote that 'it is the manifestations of the sensitive periods for which the ...teacher should look as they observe, so they can provide appropriate learning opportunities for the child' (p.11). This is very similar to the current EYFS guidelines: 'observe children to find out about their needs, what they are interested in and what they can do' (Enabling Environments, 3.1). Montessori's approach has not been without its critics. One of the most hotly debated areas of her Method in recent years has been her emphasis on children working, as opposed to playing. The concept that children learn through play is the foundation of current practice in early years education. Isaacs defends the Montessori Method, explaining that it is important to understand Montessori's meaning when she refers to children 'working': 'I believe Montessori's emphasis on work needs to be seen as the child's need to do, to be active, to manipulate and so to learn - it does not negate the importance of play' (p.25). Isaacs points out that many Montessori teachers today recognise the importance of play and do not differentiate between work and play in their settings. Montessori's ideas influenced other educational theorists such as Piaget and Vygotsky (Mooney). She maintained a progressive attitude towards her own educational theories. Hainstock explains that 'as originally conceived, the Montessori Method is not a stopping point, but rather a springboard for new thinking about today's world and today's children' (p.48). Conclusion The Montessori Method has stood the test of ever changing times. This may be due to its capacity to retain an innate sense of order while absorbing new ideas. Many of her theories still seem fresh today. Her belief that 'every child is a born explorer' (Standing, MR, p.25) is likely to remain relevant to early years practice indefinitely. Links with other educational pioneers Friedrich Froebel, 1782-1852 Jean Piaget, 1896-1980 Lev Vygotsky, 1896-1934 References Maria Montessori: Her Life and Work, by E.M. Standing, Plume, USA, 1984 (L&W) The Montessori Revolution in Education, by E.M. Standing, Schoken Paperback, USA, 1966 (MR) Theories of Childhood: An Introduction to Dewey, Montessori, Erikson, Piaget and Vygotsky, by Carol Garhart Mooney, Redleaf Press, USA, 2000 (The section on Montessori's life was partly resourced in Mooney's book). The Essential Montessori: An Introduction to the Woman, the Writings, the Method and the Movement, Elisabeth G. Hainstock, Penguin Group, USA, 1997 Bringing the Montessori Approach to your Early Years Practice, by Barbara Isaacs, Routledge, London, 2007 Dr Montessori's Own Handbook, by Maria Montessori, Schoken Books, USA, 1965 How Children Learn, by Linda Pound, Step Forward Publishing Ltd, UK, 2005 (The section on Montessori's life was partly resourced in Pound's book).
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