WHO WAS MARIA MONTESSORI? Born in Ancona, Italy in 1870, Maria
Montessori was to become the first woman to graduate from the University of Rome
Medical School. Upon her graduation in 1896, she began her work with the
University's Psychiatric Clinic. Her visits with children in insane asylums in
Rome prompted her to study the works of Jean Itard and Edward Seguin, Pioneers
in special education for the mentally deficient. In 1898 Dr. Montessori became
director of the State Orthophrenic School. Basing her educational methods on the
insights she had gained from Itard and Seguin, she spent the following two years
teaching the children, preparing materials, taking notes, and reflecting on her
observations and work. As a result of this intensive study, and her discovery
that these children could learn many things that seemed impossible, she devoted
her energies to the field of education for the rest of her life.
 Montessori returned to
the University of Rome to study philosophy, psychology, and anthropology. The
following years provided her with experiences in clinics, hospitals, a daycare
center in a housing project, and in schools which she opened in San Lorenzo,
Milan, and Rome, the latter for the children of well-to-do parents. Studying the
children in all conditions throughout the world, she discovered universal
principles underlying the development of all children.WHAT IS THE MONTESSORI PHILOSOPHY? According to
Montessori, "A child's work is to create the person she/he will become."
Children are born with special mental powers which aid in the work of their own
construction. But they cannot accomplish the task of self-construction without
purposeful movement, exploration, and discovery of their environment - both the
things and people within it. They must be given the freedom to use their inborn
powers to develop physically, intellectually, and spiritually. A Montessori
classroom provides this freedom within the limits of an environment which
develops a sense of order and self-discipline.
Also basic to Montessori's philosophy is her discovery of
Sensitive Periods in children's development. During these periods children seek
certain stimuli with immense intensity, to the exclusion of all others. So it is
during this time that a child can most easily master a particular learning
skill. Dr. Montessori devised special materials to aid children in each
Sensitive Period. It is the responsibility of the teacher to recognize these
periods in individual children and put them in touch with the appropriate
materials in the classroom environment.
The focus of Montessori education continually changes to adapt
to the child's natural stages of development. Montessori described these stages
as Planes of Development, which occur in approximately six year intervals, each
of which is further subdivided into three year segments. These Planes of
Development are the basis for the three-year age groupings found in Montessori
school classes: ages three to six; six to nine; nine to twelve; and twelve to
fifteen.
WHY MONTESSORI AT THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL LEVEL? Some regard
Montessori education to be important only at the preschool (Children's House)
level. However, the work of developing into fully formed, self-reliant, and
responsible individuals continues beyond this period. Children at the elementary
school level have a whole new set of needs that call for the continued
sensitivity of the teacher. From birth to age six, children are sensorial
explorers, studying every aspect of their environment, language, and culture.
From age six to twelve, children become reasoning explorers. They develop new
powers of abstraction and imagination. They utilize and apply their knowledge to
further discover and expand their world. During this time it is still essential
that the child carry out activity in order to integrate acting and thinking. It
is his own effort which gives him independence, and his own experience which
brings him answers to how and why things function as they do. The teacher's role
is to prepare an appropriate environment with those materials which have value
and purpose, and to foster and protect the child's endeavor to explore. The
teacher serves as a guide and is the link between the child and the environment.
by Doris Cox and Marsha Enright, Council Oak Montessori School, 11030 S.
Longwood Dr., Chicago, IL 60643
Links to Montessori Sites
|
