The Montessori Method

Dr. Urban H. Fleege, Associate Vice President of DePaul University

The basic idea in the Montessori approach to education is that every child carries unseen within him the potentialities of the man he will someday become. In order to develop his physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual capacities to the fullest, he must have freedom--a freedom to be achieved through order and self-discipline.

The world of the child is full of sights and sounds which at first appear chaotic. From this chaos, the child must gradually create order, and by learning to distinguish among the impressions that assail his senses, slowly gains mastery of himself and of his environment. Dr. Montessori developed the “prepared environment” which possesses a certain order and disposes the child to develop his capabilities at his own speed, according to his own capacities in a noncompetitive atmosphere.

A child most easily learns the ground rules of human behavior between the ages of two-and-a-half or three and six years. These years can be constructively devoted to “civilizing” the child - freeing him through the acquisition of good manners and habits to take his place in his culture. The child who has had the benefit of a Montessori environment is better prepared at a later age to devote himself to the development of his intellectual potentialities. Since the child has learned to work by himself, in the prepared environment, enjoying the presence of other children, but not working necessarily directly with them, the Montessori teacher can teach a child individually, thus fostering within him competence as an independent learner. The structure of Montessori learning involves the use of many materials with which the child may work individually. At every step of his learning, the teaching material is designed to test his understanding and to correct his errors.

Dr. Montessori has recognized that the only valid impulse to learning is the self-motivation of the child. Children move themselves toward learning. The teacher prepares the environment, directs the activity, functions as the catalytic agent or leader, offers the child stimulation and guidance, but it is the child who learns, who is motivated through the work itself to persist in his given task.

If the Montessori child is free to learn, it is because he has acquired from his exposure to both physical and mental order an “inner discipline.” This is the core of Dr. Montessori’s educational philosophy. Patterns of concentration, stick-to-it-tiveness, and thoroughness established in early childhood, produce a self-confident, competent learner in later years.

Schools have existed historically to teach children to observe, to think, to judge. Montessori introduces children to the joy of learning at an early age and provides a framework in which the intellectual and social discipline go hand in hand.

In brief, the Montessori approach is designed to help the child build within himself the foundation for a lifetime of creative learning. In a rapidly changing society this objective becomes evermore important. Love of learning and confidence in self as an independent learner are prerequisites in a world of constant change.

Seven Points of the Montessori System

1. Each child works at his own pace. Hence the quick child is not held back by the slow; nor is the latter, in trying to keep up with the former, obliged to flounder along helplessly out of his depth. Each stone in the mental edifice is well laid before the next is added.
2. Since the child works from his own free choice, without competition or coercion, he is freed from danger of over strain, feelings of inferiority, or other experiences which are apt to be the unconscious cause of profound mental disturbances in later life.
3. It has proved itself of universal application. Within a single generation, it has been tried with complete success with children of almost every civilized nation. Race, color, climate, nationality, social rank, type of civilization--all these make no difference to its successful application.
4. The Montessori method develops the whole personality of the child, not merely his intellectual function, but also his powers of deliberation, initiative, and independent choice, with their emotional compliments. By living as a free member of a real social community, the child is trained in those fundamental social qualities which form the basis of good citizenship.
5. The Montessori system encourages self-discipline, self-knowledge, and independence, as well as enthusiasm for learning, an organized approach to problem-solving, and academic skills.
6. Most children appear to adjust readily to new situations when they go from Montessori to traditional classroom environments. In all likelihood this is because they have developed self-discipline and independence in the Montessori environment.
7. In a Montessori class, a child is not pushed to intellectual accomplishment. He is given the keys to exploration through sensorial material, which is an aid to classifying and organizing the impressions his mind already holds. Intellectual exploration forms the backbone and structure of all the creative work in a Montessori classroom. Voluntary repetition of an exercise by a child without suggestion or command is a phenomena common in Montessori classrooms throughout the world. To repeat is to acquire understanding, to demonstrate concentration, to work toward perfection.