The Words of Maria Montessori
"Scientific observation has established that education is not what the teacher gives; education is a natural process spontaneously carried out by the human individual, and is acquired not by listening to words but by experiences upon the environment. The task of the teacher becomes that of preparing a series of motives of cultural activity, spread over a specially prepared environment, and then refraining from obtrusive interference. Human teachers can only help the great work that is being done, as servants help the master. Doing so, they will be witnesses to the unfolding of the human soul and to the rising of a New Man who will not be a victim of events, but will have the clarity of vision to direct and shape the future of human society."
Maria Montessori, Education for a New World
"Supposing I said there was a planet without schools or teachers, study was unknown, and yet the inhabitants - doing nothing but living and walking about - came to know all things, to carry in their minds the whole of learning: would you not think I was romancing? Well, just this, which seems so fanciful as to be nothing but the invention of a fertile imagination, is a reality. It is the child's way of learning. This is the path they follow. They learn everything without knowing they are learning it, and in doing so pass from the unconscious to the conscious, treading always in the paths of joy and love."
The Life of Maria Montessori
Just who was this woman who began an educational revolution that changed the way we think about children more than anyone before or since?Maria Montessori was born in Italy in 1870. She was the only child of parents who valued education enough to move the family from Ancona, Italy to Rome to better Maria's educational opportunities.
Women generally did not work outside of the home at that time, if they did, they were teachers and Maria's parents encouraged her along those lines. Maria, however, was interested in mathematics and engineering and though she attended a technical school for boys, eventually discovered biology and decided that she wanted to become a physician. This was a decision that was not supported by her parents, in particular, her father.
Though not much is known about her attempts at gaining admission to medical school, she was initially rejected and needed to prove her mettle by winning scholarships and tutoring privately to pay for it. Gaining entrance to medical school was not the end of her troubles. She was severely ostracized by professors and classmates alike, was routinely jeered and made the subject of many practical jokes. These obstacles only made her more determined to succeed.
Succeed she did, Maria Montessori became Italy's first female physician in 1896. After graduation, she joined the staff of the Psychiatric clinic. Care of "special" children became part of her responsibility at the clinic. As she keenly observed these so-called "unteachables", she began to notice that these children possessed an innate sense for order and became convinced of the possibility of educating them. She developed a growing interest in the treatment of children and, for several years, she worked, wrote, and spoke on their behalf.
In 1907 she was given the opportunity to study "normal" children, taking charge of fifty poor children of the dirty, desolate streets of the San Lorenzo slum on the outskirts of Rome. She began to create materials to help a child make sense of the world. She scaled furniture down to a child's size so that the children would feel more competent. She provided an ordered, safe and non-judgmental environmental for them to explore. She discovered over the next two years that these children not only learned, but thrived.
The news of the unprecedented success of her work in this Casa dei Bambini "House of Children" soon spread around the world, people coming from far and wide to see the children for themselves. Dr. Montessori was as astonished as anyone at the realized potential of these children:
- Preparing the most natural and life supporting environment for the child.
- Observing the child living freely in this environment.
- Continually adapting the environment in order that the child may fulfill his greatest potential -- physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
From Europe To The United States, India, And The Rest Of The World
Invited to the USA by Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, and others, Dr. Montessori spoke at Carnegie Hall in 1915. She was invited to set up a classroom at the Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco, where spectators watched twenty-one children, all new to this Montessori method, behind a glass wall for four months. The only two gold medals awarded for education went to this class, and the education of young children was altered forever.
During World War II Dr. Montessori was forced into exile from Italy because of her anti-fascist views and lived and worked in India. Her concern with education for peace intensified and she was twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Since her death an interest in Dr. Montessori's methods have continued to spread throughout the world. Her message to those who emulated her was always to turn one's attention to the child, to "follow the child". It is because of this basic tenet, and the observation guidelines left by her, that Dr. Montessori's ideas never become obsolete.
