Trailers for Karin Slabaugh's presentation at the International Montessori Congress - Prague 2017 

Format

This course is designed as a Montessori Environment for Adults prepared according to the same principles used in educational environments for children: a judgement free environment where there is freedom to choose, where there is equality, respect, exploration, community, trust, and love between those in the space.

Adele Costa Gnocchi studied newborns in Montessori’s name from 1947 to 1967 and she believed that Montessori’s educational approach for children was also the best approach for adults. She prepared learning environments for her students where they could be actively involved and observe at the same time, such as the foundling orphanage of Rome; hospital labor and maternity wards; family homes with children under three; and the Scuoletta (opened in 1927 as her study of children in the Casa dei bambini) where they observed how the youngest children learn when they are left to their spontaneous nature. These ‘prepared environments' provided embodied experiences which could then be looked at through a Montessori lens in the afternoon group time. After two years of this daily practicum and theory her students were awarded a birth-to-three Montessori diploma. Those attending the Assistants to Infancy Montessori School spent these afternoons in “class”, but Adele Costa Gnocchi rarely lectured. She didn’t believe that that was how people best learned. Rather her technique was Socratic. She asked questions and presented ideas that were to be explored and measured up against one’s own experiences.

Her students were encouraged to come to conclusions based on what they were seeing every morning in the field. In order to understand what the children’s behaviors were teaching them about the 0-3 age group, they discussed the observations as a study group. Only then were they prepared to discuss how Montessori’s theory and pedagogy related to what they were experiencing in their internships.

Maria Montessori felt strongly that people did not teach each other, and each person’s very own experiences were the primary source of their learning. “We cannot create observers, saying to the children, ‘observe!’ rather we must give them the power and the ability to make their observations, and this ability is acquired by the education of the senses”, (La scoperta del bambino p.185.) And so we too will be learning by using our own senses, engaging in observations and discussions. Materials are provided to provoke your curiosity to learn more and perhaps will evoke strong reactions, doubts or questioning. The presentations, readings, observations and audios represent a “prepared environment” where you can, at your own pace, find what you need to stimulate your senses.