Maria Montessori: Education & Philosophy

• Maria Montessori was born in 1870 in Chiaravalle, Italy.
• She was the only daughter of wealthy, well-educated parents.
• Her mother encouraged her to think, study, and pursue a professional career.
• Her father, a conservative man, wanted her to become a teacher, but supported her studying science.
• She went to medical school, faced resentment from male students and disapproval from her father, but earned her classmates’ respect.
• In 1896, she became the first woman in Italy to graduate from medical school.
• Her first job involved visiting insane asylums to select patients for treatment, sparking her interest in young children and their needs.
• She observed that children diagnosed as "unteachable" responded positively to her methods.
• Applying her scientific training, she used observation to understand children's needs.
• She determined problems existed not in the children, but in the adults' approaches and environments.
• By this time, Montessori developed a reputation for her gifts with children and education, and was referred to as "Teacher."
• Although she was known as "Teacher", many people forgot her first vocation was in medicine.
• In 1907, she opened her first Casa dei Bambini (Children’s House) in the slums of Rome, as an attempt to keep children of laborers from being on the streets.
• Because her students were impoverished coming from the slums of Rome, she was known to create a school environment to make up for the impoverished conditions of many of the children's homes.
• It was said that Montessori made her own materials since things for children such as tools that fit their small hands were not available at the time
• Montessori learned from her students and developed an international reputation for her work by developing her own observations and theories.
• By 1913, almost 100 schools in the United States followed Montessori's methods.
• In 1922, she became a government inspector of schools in Italy.
• She left Italy in 1934 because of her opposition to Mussolini's fascism.
• Maria Montessori was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times.
• Upon her death in Holland in 1952, she left educators of every nation a legacy of ideas and writings still relevant today, specifically regarding programs for young children.

Montessori's Theories

• Many of Montessori's ideas about early childhood are now considered basic and taken for granted.
• In 1907, her child-sized furnishings and tools and the concept of children working independently were considered radical.
• Her research has influenced how early educators think about children and also provided foundations for theorists like Piaget and Vygotsky.

Child-Centered Environments

• Montessori believed preparing the learning environment was the main characteristic to which her method would be identified.
• She believed that “environment” included not only the space the children use and the furnishings and materials but also the adults and other children alike.
• She believed children learn language and significant life skills without conscious effort from the environments where they spend time.
• She advocated for beautiful and orderly environments to facilitate learning order.
• Montessori thought children learn best through sensory experiences.
• She championed teachers provide wonderful sights, textures, sounds, and smells for the children and have tools and utensils that fit their small hands as part of sensory experience.
• Most American early childhood programs have child-sized versions of furnishings, equipment, and utensils.

Provide Real Tools That Work

• Size of furnishings and materials were suggested to be important.
• When she opened schools in Italy, child-sized tools and furnishings were not available, which caused her to become involved in making her own equipment.
• Montessori took environment planning seriously, even custom-designing the staircase in her school.
• Child-sized hammers, saws, workbenches, pitchers, bowls, and pots are all demonstrators of Montessori's influence.
• Montessori thought these child-sized tools should really work as part of her educational philosophy.
• She thought children needed real tools to do the real work that interested them.
• She believed children could learn to use tools safely, and giving them tools that didn't really work undermined their competence.
• It is more dangerous to use dull tools when you should use sharp tools properly.

Keep Materials and Equipment Accessible to the Children

• In addition to having real tools, Montessori stressed the need for children to reach materials when they needed them to help children become reliable for their own learning.
• Open shelves give children control over what they need without getting assistance from the teacher.
• Children should not have to interrupt their work to get the teacher's attention or ask for permission to use the materials they need.

Create Beauty and Order

• She thought cleaning and organizing should be viewed as a teaching skill.
• Well-planned spaces for children would be described using the word cheerful.
• Knowing how to arrange an interesting, beautiful environment is as much a part of teaching as knowing how to select fine children's books.
• Teachers need to ask themselves what experiences they are providing via “educating the senses”.
• Beauty and order are critical to prepared environments for children.

Competence and Responsibility

• Montessori believed that children need to care for themselves and their surroundings.
• She felt adults spent too much time "serving" children.
• Montessori thought it is sometimes easier to do things for children than teaching them to do it for themselves.
• However, for children to grow and develop skills, adults need to provide opportunities for them to do things for themselves.
• Fostering independence is part of Montessori's legacy.
• Montessori stated that children learn best by doing and through repetition.
• Montessori thought that teachers should not interfere with the child's patterns and pace of learning.
• The teacher's job is to prepare the environment, provide appropriate materials, and then step back and let the children experiment.
• Open-ended scheduling, with large blocks of time for free work and play, is part of Montessori's legacy.

Allow Children to Take Responsibility

• The more teachers manage for children, the harder the job will be.
• Children have a passionate interest in real work.
• She believed it is the teacher's responsibility to increase each child's competence whenever possible.

Schedule Large Blocks of Open-Ended Time

• Children are capable of great concentration when surrounded by interesting things and given the time and freedom to do them.
• Teachers have more time to observe and assist children individually.
• Montessori's theory tells teachers not to pull children away from projects that interest them unless it’s absolutely necessary.

Observation

• Since she was trained as a doctor, she brought the skills of a scientist to the classroom.
• If you are going to teach, you need to know all that you can about those you hope to educate.
• Montessori said careful observation helps determine what the children are interested in or need to learn.
• Careful observation is part of her legacy.
• Montessori suggested that if we carefully watch children and then reflect on those observations, we can figure out what the children need from the environment.
• Teachers should use these observations to guide their environment and curriculum planning.
• Montessori viewed observation as a jumping-off point to help teachers learn what children needed and wanted to be doing.

Montessori in the Twenty-First Century

• Montessori believed that adults can undermine children's competence by doing too much "serving" for them.
• Children remain incompetent if adults do for them what they are capable of doing themselves.
• Walking is a basic skill yet a good example of 21st century parents sparing children any effort.
• Depriving children of satisfaction and competence is a well-documented trend.
• Montessori's legacy is as important today as when she first shared it.

Explore Maria Montessori's educational philosophy, her methods for understanding children's needs, and the impact of her medical background in shaping her innovative approach to education. The quiz covers her career aspirations, the establishment of Casa dei Bambini, and her lasting impact on the field.