ontessori education is a pedagogy that was developed around the insights of Dr. Maria Montessori (1870 – 1952) at the beginning of the 20th Century. A phenomenal scientific observer, Dr. Montessori was able to intuit through her work with children fundamental patterns in psychological, mental and physiological development that revolutionized the views of childhood we hold today. Far ahead of her “time”, Montessori internalized the complex processes of neurological development. Yet Dr. Montessori took no propriety of her pedagogy, even resisting it being dubbed “The Montessori Method”. Instead, she understood the methodology she espoused as the simple manner in which education is naturally and intrinsically experienced by all children. In fact, the Montessori pedagogy evokes many parallels to the forms of education practiced by Aboriginal Australian education and other indigenous cultures for 60,000 years or more.
The core principle of Montessori is in understanding education as for the whole child. Education must be approached as a vision of life; everything must be done under the guidance of intelligence and reason. The formation of the child’s self, the “Formation of Man?“Man”, in this sense, does not refer to a gender. Though perhaps now co-opted, the word comes from the roots *men-, “to think” and man-, manu, “hand”—the gifts that, when endowed with spirit, hu-, “breath”, are that which make us Human.,” is the task of the child alone; his—the child’s—goal being “the development of a complete human being, oriented to the environment, and adapted to his time, place and culture.”?Lillard, Paula Polk.
Montessori Today.
Schocken, New York. 1996. (p. 3) He is working to become a complete person…fully realized in his great potential, and the adult must learn to—and how to—respect this task.
With the Human Tendencies—the self-driven tendencies for education and personal growth inherent in human nature—serving as the foundation for his developing self, the child sets to work from even before birth to realize this potential. These Tendencies are found there inside of himself, and it is only the energy within that can guide the child to his eventual completion. Therefore,
“Education must concern itself with the development of individuality and allow the individual child to remain independent not only in the earliest years of childhood but through all the stages of his development.”?Montessori, Dr. Maria.
Education and Peace.
Clio Press, Oxford. 1997 (p. 56)
And because, like all of Mankind itself, the child must necessarily be a social creature to satiate his spiritual hunger.
“Two things are necessary: the development of individuality and the participation of the individual in a truly social life. This development and this participation in social activities will take different forms in the various stages of childhood. But one principle will remain unchanged during all these stages: the child must be furnished at all times with the means necessary for him to act and gain experience. His life as a social being will then develop throughout his formative years, becoming more and more complex as he grows older.”?Montessori, Dr. Maria.
Education and Peace.
Clio Press, Oxford. 1997 (p. 56)
When he is so apt, the child must be given every opportunity possible to meet the great potential he has.
“Knowledge can best be given where there is eagerness to learn, so this is the period when the seed of everything can be sown, the child’s mind being like a fertile field, ready to receive what will germinate into culture. But if neglected during this period, or frustrated in its vital needs, the mind of the child becomes artificially dulled, henceforth to resist imparted knowledge. Interest will no longer be there if the seed be sown too late, but at six years of age all items of culture are received enthusiastically, and later these seeds will expand and grow. If asked how many seeds may be sown, my answer is: ‘As many as possible!’ Looking around us at the cultural development of our epoch of evolution, we see no limit to what must be offered to the child, for his will be an immense field of chosen activity, and he should not be hampered by ignorance. But to give the whole of modern culture has become an impossibility and so a need arises for a special method, whereby all factors of culture may be introduced to the six-year-old; not in a syllabus to be imposed on him, or with exactitude of detail, but in the broadcasting of the maximum number of seeds of interest. These will be held lightly in the mind, but will be capable of later germination, as the will becomes more directive, and thus [the child] may become an individual suited to these expansive times.”?Montessori, Dr. Maria.
To Educate the Human Potential.
Clio Press, Oxford. 1989 (pp. 3-4)
Principal elements of Montessori philosophy include a recognition of the Planes of Development (similar to the pedagogies developed by Jean Piaget, Rudolf Steiner and others), the Needs & Tendencies of human beings, the Sensitive Periods and Absorbent Mind in childhood development, the prime value of a consistently Prepared Environment, Freedom & Responsibility as interconnected precepts of education, the importance of Imagination, necessity of teacher/guide Observation, Cosmic Education, and interaction with the societal world through “Going Out”.