Maria Montessori, Essay Example

Introduction

Maria Montessori (1870-1952) was born in Ascona, Italy.  She came from a family of well-educated people and was greatly influenced by the support from her mother.  She was the first Italian women to receive a degree in medicine and she worked within the fields of Psychiatry, Anthropology and Education.  She was highly influential in the way that we view the education of children and as such changed societies views.  A pioneer in raising educational awareness of children, her research outlined three important points:

1. All children were born with a unique potential that needed to be revealed; as opposed to a blank canvass to be written upon;
2. The child needed to have the right supporting environment in order to be nurtured and developed intellectually;
3. The environment required continued adaption to meet the varying physical, emotional and spiritual facets of the child’s development.(Montessori Schools, 2011)

The Early Years

Montessori had a number of early successes in her career.  She founded a psychiatric clinic in Rome and here she became interested in the education of retarded children.  She later founded the Orthophrenic School in Rome and started to implement her strategies by working in the Association of Good Building in San Lorenzo.  Most significant was that she opened the Casa del Bambini where they developed the education of pre-schoolers.  She was amazed at the progress of these children and she widely spread the word for others to come and see the potential of these children.

Important Observations

Montessori made a number of important observations from her work and these included the following points:-

It is important that the children have the right amount of freedom in order to explore and examine their surroundings and those who interact with them. They should be allowed to experiment and complete voyages of self-discovery;

Children have the inbuilt ability to develop and strive from an intellectual base.  They are born with this ability but need the right environment and conditions in order to express this and allow it to develop;

The powers of observation and empirical research are important tools that enable teachers to determine and understand the needs of children;

Educational opportunities are aligned to the child’s mental development and should not be constrained by rigid curriculums;

Appropriate activities stimulate the minds of children and give them great joy.  This keeps them engaged and occupied for long periods of time;

The use of objects must be placed in the teaching rooms where they gain immediate attention. These capture the children’s imagination and allow them to react instinctively.

Four Levels Of Development

Montessori identified four distinct levels of development in child psychology:

1. Age of Prudence [ 0-6 years]
2. Age of Temperance [6-12 years]
3. Age of Justice [ 12-18 years]
4. Age of Fortitude [ 18-24 years]

The age of prudence essentially combines two modes of learning.  The unconscious mind in the children from birth to 3 years of Age.  The conscious mind in the 3-6 year old group.  Learning is easier and faster in this age group and are formative years in building the foundation of character;

The age of temperance in the 6-12 year age group is where learning takes place by the use of reasoning and logic.  These years provide the bridge to abstraction and that of the intellectual mind where we explore the world around us and understand our place in the scheme of things;

The Age of Justice in the 12-18 group is where we develop our social, cultural and moral values and the determination of our place in society;

The age of fortitude in the 18-24 year age group is the emergence into adulthood and where we try to determine our role and place in society.  Consolidation of moral values in the determination of right and wrong.

International Recognition

Montessori was invited to the USA by a distinguished panel of leading scientists and business pioneers. In 1915 she addressed an audience at Carnegie Hall in New York. She established an exhibition of her methods in San Francisco where spectators were allowed to view the demonstration of her educational model working with 21 children.  This lasted some four months and resulted in the award of the only two gold medals being offered to this class.  From this point the approach to developing the education of young children changed forever.

During World War 2 Montessori had to flee the fascist regime in Italy and went to work in India. The development of her work here resulted in two nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize.  Montessori developed five areas of education:

• Sensorial – The training of the senses
• Practical Life – Self care, care of the environment, grace and courtesy
• Language word cards – Use of vocabulary, phonetics, grammar and word study
• Math Counting – the decimal system, memory work, abstraction, culture, geography, history, science art and music

Conclusions

Since the death of Montessori in 1952 the interest in her teaching methods has expanded throughout the world. The concept of ‘follow the child’ in education has left an eternal legacy in the provision of teaching methods for child education.  The method has become somewhat misunderstood in certain quarters. The real full potential of the Montessori teaching method can only be revealed by following the method to the full. A truly remarkable individual who has had a profound impact on both the private and public sector educational institutions.

The essence of the method evolved around the teacher being the keeper of the environment, thereby permitting the children with the freedom to develop and explore the educational activities.  (Smith, 2011)

References

Montessori Schools. (2011, 11 3). Maria Montessori MD. Retrieved from Montessori Schools: http://www.montessori.edu/maria.html

Smith, M. K. (2011, 11 3). maria montessori and informal education. Retrieved from Infed: http://www.infed.org/thinkers/et-mont.htm