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Montessori Method
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Montessori pedagogy refers to the system of teaching children developed by Dr. Maria Montessori (the beginning of implementation in practice — 1906), as well as the philosophy of teaching in schools and kindergartens. Montessori pedagogy is based on open teaching, as opposed to closed, for example, frontal teaching. This pedagogy, in contrast to ideological pedagogy, can be called experimental, in the sense that the child’s own observations lead the teacher to the choice of appropriate didactic techniques in relation to the given child and the given situation. The essence of Montessori pedagogy lies in the motto: «Help me do it myself.»
Philosophy
Montessori pedagogy is often characterized as a pedagogical method in which the child and his individuality are at the forefront. Montessori believed in the intrinsic worth of every child. In Montessori pedagogy, comparisons and measurements are not used according to existing general standards. Instead, children learn freely, without coercion, outside interference or criticism. Maria Montessori was convinced that both reward and punishment are harmful to a person’s internal orientation and that people should learn from their own motivation. First of all, because the desire to take part in the life of adults is organically inherent in the nature of the younger.
Montessori pedagogy focuses on the needs, abilities and gifts of each individual child. Children learn best when they can determine their own pace and way of learning. Therefore, Montessori educators encourage children to be in control of their choice of pace, topic, and retention of what they have learned.
The leitmotif of the Montessori method is to maintain the child’s natural joy in learning. According to Montessori, this joy of learning is one of the main features of a growing person in general. By maintaining this feeling and managing it in a spirit of respect, the teacher contributes to the development of a holistic and balanced personality.
Children who learn at their own pace and in accordance with their own interests gain confidence in their own abilities and absorb what they learn in the most effective way.
Independence is reinforced by tasks from practical life (that is, those that find direct application in everyday practice). Montessori kindergarten teaches (primarily through imitation) such things as dressing, washing, setting the table, etc. on their own. Montessori teaching at school leaves a lot of room for group work. Children can choose who they want to work with and on what. At the same time, group work puts emphasis on the personality of the student as the leader of his intellectual development.
For Maria Montessori, it is of paramount importance to give the child the opportunity to develop his sensory perception in a prepared environment that meets his psychological needs. At the same time, it is especially important that the teachers perceive themselves as learners, take into account the own rhythm of each child, try to understand him in his individuality and recognize what interests him at the moment. For example, it may happen that a child uses special mathematical material not for doing mathematics, but for measuring, or builds machines from it, etc. — and in this case, the leader must accept such a development.
Principles of Montessori Pedagogy
According to Maria Montessori, the process of development of a child’s personality is divided into three phases:
- first stage of childhood (0 — 6 years)
- second stage of childhood (6 — 12 years)
- youth (12 — 18 years).
Each of these stages is a distinct independent segment of development.
The phase of the first stage of childhood (0-6 years) is the most important time of life, since it is at this time that the personality and abilities of the child are formed. Montessori understands the first six years of life as the second embryonic phase of growth, in which the spirit and soul of the child develops. While the adult filters his perceptions, the child absorbs the environment and it becomes part of his personality.
Montessori defines the second stage of childhood as the lability phase. In the course of its development, the child goes through the so-called «sensitive» or «sensitive» periods. During such periods, the child is especially sensitive to certain excitations from the environment, for example, with regard to the development of movements, speech or social aspects. If, during the sensitivity phase, the child finds an activity that suits his needs, he will become capable of deep concentration. During this phase, the child does not allow himself to be distracted by other stimuli — he goes through a process of comprehension, which, according to Montessori, captures not only his intellectual side, but all personal development. Montessori uses the term «normalization» for this process.
The following observation is decisive for the development of Montessori pedagogy and related materials: one of the most important phases of the sensitivity of each child is the “improvement of the senses” phase. Every child has a natural desire to feel, smell, taste everything. From this observation, Montessori concludes that access to the child’s intellect is not through abstraction, but fundamentally through his senses. Feeling and knowing become a single entity during the learning process. In these positions, Montessori was influenced by the teachings of Jean Itard and Edouard Seguin.
Based on the results presented, Montessori developed her educational material, focused exclusively on the sensory perceptions of the child. Thus, its mathematical material allows the child, feeling in his hand one bead and a block of a thousand beads, to get an idea of the numbers one and a thousand long before he is capable of an abstract idea of numbers.
Commandments of Mary Montessori
- Never touch a child until he comes to you (in some form).
- Never speak ill of a child, either with or without him.
- Concentrate on developing the good in the child, so that in the end there will be less and less room for the bad.
- Be active in preparing the environment. Show constant pedantic care for her. Help your child establish constructive interactions with her. Show the place of each developmental material and the correct ways to work with it.
- Be ready to respond to the call of a child who needs you, always listen and respond to the child who calls to you.
- Respect the child who made a mistake and will be able to correct it now or later, but immediately firmly stop any incorrect use of the material and any action that threatens the safety of the child or other children, his development.
- Respect the child resting or watching others work, or reflecting on what he has done or is about to do. Never call him and do not force him to other active actions.
- Help those who are looking for a job and cannot find it.
- Be tireless, repeating to the child presentations that he previously refused, helping the child to master the previously unmastered, to overcome imperfection. Do this by filling the world around you with care, restraint and silence, mercy and love. Make your willingness to help obvious to the child who is in search, and invisible to the child who has already found everything.
- Always use the best manners in dealing with the child and offer him the best of you and the best of what you have at your disposal.
Prepared environment
The prepared environment is an essential element of Montessori pedagogy. Without it, it cannot function as a system. A prepared environment gives the child the opportunity to gradually, step by step, be freed from the guardianship of an adult, to become independent from him. Therefore, the environment surrounding the child must, according to Montessori, correspond to him. Thus, the equipment in the child’s home or school should be appropriate for the height and proportions of the child of the appropriate age. Children should be able to rearrange tables and chairs on their own. They should be given the opportunity to choose their own place to study. Moving chairs from place to place that makes noise is considered by Montessori as an exercise in motor skills. They must learn to rearrange objects as quietly as possible so as not to disturb others. The surroundings are aesthetically pleasing and elegant, fragile porcelain is used in the orphanages. Children need to learn the confidence to handle fragile items and recognize their value. The material is freely available, at the level of the child’s eyes. This is in the nature of a call to action. Each type of material is available only in one copy. This should teach the child social behavior towards other children, taking into account their needs. Children take care of their own environment. In this they acquire the skills of independence from adults.
The role of the adult in Montessori pedagogy
From the moment of his birth, the child strives for freedom and independence from the adult. Montessori describes this process as a biological principle of human life. Just as the child’s body develops its faculties and gives it freedom of movement, so the child’s spirit is filled with a hunger for learning and for spiritual autonomy.
In this process, an adult can become an ally of the child and create for him an environment that meets his needs and desire for knowledge. Adult self-understanding in Montessori pedagogy is the role of an assistant, smoothing the path to independence for the child in accordance with the principle “Help me do it myself”. The process of learning and cognition takes place in the child, the child is his own teacher. An adult must learn to lead the child to learning, in order to then withdraw himself and remain in the role of an observer accompanying the process of cognition in children.
Since each child goes through the sensitivity phases individually, the curriculum at the child’s home or school must be individually oriented. The teacher knows the technique of recognizing the phases of sensitivity and is able to lead the child to activities that would activate his interest. In principle, however, the child should be given the freedom to choose what he wants to work with.
The role of the educator
In relation to what the educator should do, the first pedagogical requirement lies. This is not a requirement to do something specific, but a requirement not to do something specific, namely, a categorical call not to interfere with the process of self-development. This requirement stems at least from the thesis that parents are not the creators of the child, that the child, as already mentioned above, is the foreman of his own development; parents are assistants at this construction site and should be content with this role. From this follows the whole understanding of education, which is the basis of Montessori pedagogy, which she understands as «assistance in the self-development of the child from the moment of his birth.» Montessori expects an “internal refocusing” from an adult, leading to the fact that an adult in communication with a child thinks not about himself, but about the child and his future.
Literature
- References on Montessori pedagogy in Russian: http://www.montessori-center.ru/li/content/9/
- About Maria Montessori
- Montessori Kindergarten