Maria Montessori

Maria Montessori’s university studies and early career steps are fascinating to reflect upon. She seemed to be preparing herself unconsciously toward the culmination of a revolutionary way of approaching learning for children. Of course, she did not realise this at the time, but she always had an inkling that ‘it was almost as if I was keeping myself for an unknown mission’ (E.M Standing). From studying medicine to philosophy, physics, mathematics and anthropology, Dr Montessori approached education for children from a scientific stance. However, she also had a strong moral and spiritual conviction underpinning all that she did, advocating for the underdog through women’s and children’s rights. She was also a vocal advocate for peace given much of her life was affected by war. The beauty and mysticism of the natural world also fascinated Dr Montessori and this reverence for creation is a theme throughout her work. It is no surprise that she was nominated for three Nobel Peace Prizes in her lifetime.

It seemed that her training to observe and then act was key to the groundbreaking work Dr Montessori did in education. In many accounts of Dr Montessori, we are told she had a firm belief in allowing things to unfold in their natural course. Certainly, she held a scientific view of the world and one which would allow her to be innovative and not follow the educational methods of the day.

Dr Montessori developed a learning cycle with the children of observation, reflection and action. The voice of the child was clear in her actions. This approach is regarded as best practice and essential today. She was not afraid to try new things.

In her book The Secret of Childhood, Dr Montessori is very clear that she did not discover anything new - certainly not an educational system - rather it was the children revealing the secret to their learning to her. She was merely there to create the learning conditions and environment that they were clearly telling her they needed. She discovered that children learnt from each other and there were common needs between groups of children from zero to three, three to six, six to nine, nine to 12, 12 to 18 and 18 to 24. She created environments and systems to provide optimal conditions for each group, from the prepared adult supporting them to the physical environment they would learn from and within.

The secrets of childhood that Dr Montessori observed in the children from zero to six years old included human tendencies. That is, they were observed in children all over the world. It was observed that all children zero to six:

are sensorial learners;
need physical movement for optimal learning;
go through ‘sensitive periods’ – an unconscious period of great interest and activity guiding a child to gain knowledge or a skill. Sensitive periods are language, movement, order, refining the senses and social relationships;
must feel a sense of belonging and be orientated to a place. With this comes a need for order;
need opportunities to explore and use imagination;
must be able to carry out repetition to achieve exactness and precision;
have the need to communicate; and
have an ‘absorbent mind’ where learning is effortless if the right moment is chosen to be exposed to the skill or knowledge.

The Montessori environment includes:

preparation of the activities by a trained adult
a limit of materials to develop social skills such as impulse control and flexible thinking
a prepared adult who is properly trained in the findings of Dr Montessori
freedom of choice for the child but always within limits. There is freedom to engage in repetition, freedom to work indoors, outdoors, at a table, at a mat, individually or with a friend
knowledge moving from large to small or whole to parts
concrete learning to abstract learning
isolation of the difficulty within activities
respect for the child
invitations to learning
experience before given language
hands-on, manipulative materials
purposeful activities that are an ‘aid to life’
friendliness with error – mistakes are key to learning
supports and encouragement of independence in the child
long, uninterrupted periods for the child to engage with the environment
peer teaching
control of error in the materials – that is many of the materials teach and correct