Can All Children Succeed with Montessori?

A Presentation by Meaghan FloodApril 23, 2003

Maria MontessoriBiography Info

• Born in 1870 in Italy• Graduated from medical school in 1896 and she became

the first woman doctor in Italy• Worked in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology,

philosophy, and education• Began her work with children in 1907 when she opened the

“Casa dei Bambini” or “House of Children”• Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times: 1949, 1950, & 1951

Montessori’s Ideas:• Children should not be treated as “blank slates” to be written

on as Rousseau believed, but rather, children should be treated as though they each have their own unique potential to be achieved.

• Throughout the study of the areas she studied, she concluded that:

1. The child should have a natural and life supporting environment in which to learn.

2. Instead of teaching such as in a traditional classroom, teachers should observe their students freely.

3. The teacher should continually prepare the environment in order that the child will grow not only mentally and physically, but also emotionally and psychologically.

Montessori said:“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.”

Important Terms:• Absorbent Mind• Sensitive periods

• Prepared environment• Independent mastery

• Adaptation• Practical life exercises

• Work centers• Concentration

• Control of error• Normalization

Montessori Classroom vs. Traditional ClassroomMontessori Classroom:

• Specially developed reference materials, materials with control of error

• Integrated learning• Students are active and are

allowed to talk to others• Multi-aged classrooms• Uninterrupted work-time• Working and learning directly

correlated with social development of the child

• School meets the needs of the students

• Product focused report cards

Traditional Classroom:• Textbooks, pencils & papers,

worksheets, and other dittos

• Individual subjects• Students are quietly seated in

desks• Single graded classrooms• Block time with lessons• Working and learning without

emphasis on social development of the child

• Students are molded to fit into the school

• Process focused assessment

What is a Montessori school like?• Class Size: most successful classes are 30-35 children to one teacher

and one non-teaching assistant; this number develops over 1-3 years.

• Teaching Method: children learn from the teacher one on one or in a small group, but more so from the environment and each other. Large groups almost never occur, except at the beginning of a new class or at the beginning of the year and these large groups are phased out.

• Multi-aged Grouping: multi-aged grouping allows for children to better develop their social, problem solving, and interaction skills with other children.

• Schedule: there are two three-hour work sessions per day, during which children are allowed to work on whatever they chose with no interruptions.

What is a Montessori school like?• Studies are intertwined: each subject can be linked or related

to each other subject, and can all be studied at the same time.

• Practical Life Skills: students are taught to do basic skills of everyday life, such as cutting fruits and vegetables, washing dishes when they are finished, and sweeping up a mess

• Basic Lessons: trained Montessori teachers pay special attention to the level at which a child progresses and therefore is able to teach basic lessons one on one or in small groups, after planning lessons for each child each day However, a teacher will allow a child to work on something he or she has a passion for

• Assessment: children are not rewarded or punished for their behavior, they are only observed by the teacher with a portfolio, which tests the child’s maturity, kindness, happiness, and love of learning and work

Classroom Organization:Preschool Montessori classrooms are organized into Five Areas:

• Practical life enhances the development of task organization and cognitive order through care of self, care of the environment, exercises of grace and courtesy, and coordination of physical movement.

• The sensorial area enables the child to order, classify, and describe sensoryimpressions in relation to length, width, temperature, mass, color, pitch, etc.

• Mathematics makes use of manipulative materials to enable the child to internalize concepts of number, symbol, sequence, operations, and memorization of basic facts.

• Language arts includes oral language development, written expression, reading, the study of grammar, creative dramatics, and children's literature. Basic skills in writing and reading are developed through the use of sandpaper letters, alphabet cut-outs, and various presentations allowing children to link sounds and letter symbols effortlessly and to express their thoughts through writing.

• Cultural activities expose the child to basics in geography, history, and life sciences. Music, art, and movement education are part of the integrated cultural curriculum.

Problem:

Will all types of children will succeed

with a Montessori education?

Hypothesis:

Children who are loud, rambunctious, and who cannot concentrate will not succeed

in a Montessori environment, while children who are calmer, more laid back and who concentrate better will be the

ones to succeed with a Montessori education.

Setting:

• St. Alcuin Montessori school in Dallas, TX• 3-6 year old classroom

• Teacher: Margaret Barlow• Admissions and Visitors Director:

Peggy Larson• 28 students, 1 teacher, &1 non-teaching assistant

The Montessori Process of Learning:

• Stage One: introduction to a concept by means of a lesson, or something read

• Stage Two: processing the information and developing an understanding for the concept through work, experimentation, and creation

• Stage Three: knowing or possessing an understanding of a concept, demonstrated by the ability to teach another or express with ease

*Stage Two is the longest and most important stage, because during this stage the child is really able to

learn, and remember what was learned*

Methodology:• First I observed the class room for 30 minutes, to

see what materials were present and how the children interacted with each other.

• Then I spoke with the admissions director and asked her a series of questions about the school and its policies concerning acceptance, assessment, and rejection of students from the school.

Questions and Answers Admissions Director:

1. How is a child’s progress noted? A child’s progress is noted daily by the teacher in a portfolio.

2. Do you believe that there is a specific type of child suited forMontessori education? All children are suited, not all parents.

3. Have you ever had to reject a child from admittance to your school and if so, why? Although St. Alcuin’s is a large school, not all facilities are available, specifically not enough special attention for all those who need it, so not every child could attend there, but every child could attend and succeed a Montessori school somewhere, with all of the proper facilities.

4. Have you ever felt that a child at your school was not suited for a Montessori education? No child has ever not been suited for Montessori as a whole, but some children would do better where there is more special attention.

Questions and Answers Admissions Director:

5. Have you ever had to ask a child to leave you school? Yes, however these children only needed the extra attention, so they were not unsuitable for Montessori education.

6. Are all the materials in the classrooms Montessori certified materials? Yes.

7. Is this an AMI certified school? Yes.

8. Are there any parts of a Montessori education that are not practiced in your classrooms? No.

Classroom Observations:• Children were rather quiet without having to be told• Children moved quickly and quietly from one work

station to another• Some children worked on the same thing for the entire

time I was there, others worked on lots of different things

• Children cleaned everything up immediately after they were finished

• Less than half of the children even acknowledged my presence sitting in the middle room

• Some children worked together and some worked alone

Limitations

• No rubric on which to analyze my data because this was more of an opinion based study.

• I was unable to get input from the children about how they felt as Montessori students.

• My information that I received from the school was slightly biased because the person whom I interviewed was the director of Admissions for the school.

Analysis:Using the data from the classrooms and

all of the information that I collected from books, the internet, and the

school, I was able to judge whether or not I believed that all children could

be successful in Montessori education.

Conclusion:After careful consideration of all the data I collected and all

of the answers that I received from the Montessori school, I concluded that all children cannot be successful

with a Montessori education. I realize that this conclusion is somewhat of an opinion, however, some

children are simply better suited to learn in a more disciplined environment. Although Dr. Maria

Montessori claimed in her research that all children will succeed through the use of Montessori Methods, I

believe that there will always be children who will not be able to focus or concentrate or achieve self mastery the way others can and this will hold these children in the way of complete success of the Montessori Method.

Nature vs. NurtureAlthough Maria Montessori believes in a prepared

environment, which would correspond with the Nurture side, I believe she would still be on the Nature side of this debate, because she did not

believe that children were like little “tabula rasas” to write on. Instead, she believed that

children will learn the most when they are put in a prepared environment and are given the opportunity to use their own self mastery.

Nature_______________________________Nurture

Montessori