Montessori schools

A new type of school which is becoming increasingly popular is, what is known as, a Montessori school. Montessori schools were founded by Maria Montessori (1870-1952), when she opened her first Montessori school known as “Casa dei bambini” or House of the Children[1]. Maria Montessori lived in Rome and believed that children are capable of learning by themselves[2]. Maria stated that “The essential thing is for the task to arouse such as interest that it engages the child’s whole personality”, due to this statement she felt that there was a need for a new type of school, as the normal schools do not provide this for their students.

The emphasis of these schools is on active learning, it is important for the child to be “actively involved in their own learning”[3].Montessori has devised the system of learning into 6 areas, these key areas are; refinement of the senses, communication language and literacy, practical everyday life, maths, cultural aspects and creativity[4].

During a typical day at these schools, tasks are laid out on the tables and as soon as the children come in they get on with these tasks without being told to do so[5]. The role of the teacher/directress is to just observe, until he or she notices that a child is struggling with the task then they will intervene and offer suggestions[6].

As I have previously stated, the Montessori schools are becoming increasingly popular. The Montessori Teachers Association state that they believe there are 4000-4500 Montessori schools in the USA today, and 20000 in the whole world[7]. Children can be taught in Montessori schools from the foundation phase to comprehensive school[8] . In these schools, teachers do not exist, instead they call them “directress” as they don’t dictate what the children have to do but they help the children if they get stuck[9] .

I believe that the Montessori way of learning is a very effective method, as the statistics show these schools are becoming increasingly popular. The video attached, highlights a very interesting point about Montessori. It states that the school doesn’t force children to do things like reading or writing until they are ready, but when they are ready, the materials are there for them. I like this concept because as a child, I can vaguely remember beginning to write and feeling like children were ahead of me in my class and as though I wasn’t quite ready to learn. Children will naturally learn to read and write when they are ready and Montessori allows them this opportunity, whereas normal schools do not. Overall, I believe that this type of school is a very effective context for learning due to the emphasis on learning when the child is “ready” and them not being rushed into it.

http://www.montessori-namta.org/About-Montessori

References-

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montessori_education

[2] Lewis, C. 2013
[3] Lewis, C. 2013
[4] Lewis, C. 2013
[5] Feez, S. "Montessori and early childhood". 2010, Sage, London.
[6] Feez. S. "Montessori and early childhood". 2010, Sage, London.
[7] http://www.montessori-namta.org/FAQ/Montessori-Education/How-many-Montessori-schools-are-there
[8] Lewis, C.2013
[9] Lewis, C. 2013