What We Have Learned from Maria Montessori?
Maria Montessori was an educator, innovator, and physician born on August 31, 1870 in Italy. Her family valued education, even for young women which was not typical at the time. At the age of thirteen she applied and was accepted into an all boys technical institute to become an engineer, however she decided she wanted to be a doctor instead. She applied to the University of Rome’s medical program. At first she was not admitted, but after taking additional courses and pushing forward, she was eventually granted acceptance into the program. She graduated medical school in 1896 as one of Italy’s first woman physicians.
Focusing on psychiatry, she found herself drawn to educational theory and was engulfed by her passion for developing educational methods specifically for students with developmental and intellectual disabilities. In 1900, she was able to research and strengthen these methods as a co-director at a training center for special education teachers. In 1907 she opened a full-day daycare center in a poor inner-city district of Rome. This daycare center was designed for children ages 3-7 with parents who were leaving their children home alone while they went to work. With the observed success of her program the “Montessori Method” gained attention and by 1910 Western Europe had many Montessori schools and in 1911, the first United States Montessori school was established in New York.
The key components of the Montessori Method is that education is student led, self paced, but guided and assessed by trained teachers. The Montessori Method promotes natural opportunities for independence, citizenship, and accountability as well as multi-sensory learning in cognitive, emotional, social, and physical areas. Montessori also uses specifically designed learning materials for students.
I believe that the Montessori Method is still important to children and their learning today. Research has proven that children learn best when it is taught in a way that is meaningful to them. We also have modern research that proves that children thrive in environments where they are given time to explore their natural world during free play with the guidance of trained teachers.
Maria Montessori’s impact on early childhood education is widespread. Not only in Montessori classrooms but in classrooms around the world. Her research opened the door for promoting child centered learning, quality educational toys, and much more. The movement for fostering student creativity and valuing the process vs. the product is rising in today’s education systems thanks to the research and practices of Maria Montessori.
The movement for Montessori education is on the rise. Unfortunately, many claim to be Montessori educational centers, but they are not affiliated with the American Montessori Society and even fewer are accredited by the AMS. I believe it is the basic philosophy and fundamentals that have so many claiming to be Montessori. My preschool has many practices and toys considered to “Montessori" because Maria Montessori’s practices are well known and evidence based.
I hope to incorporate more of the Montessori philosophy into my classroom after my research on her proved to be very interesting to me. I plan to be intentional about what materials I am adding to my classroom environment. As I was researching Montessori toys, I was amazed by their descriptions of what each toy manifests from the children who use it. I want to spend money wisely on classroom purchases, so really thinking about the toys I am putting out and purchasing is going to be a large part of what I do throughout the school years to come.