THE MONTESSORI APPROACH

(Please note:  I have included five common criticisms of the Montessori Program provided by the Our Kids website – www.ourkids.net.  Although this  website used excerpts  from “The Essential Montessori:  An Introduction to the Woman, the Method, and the Movement” by Elizabeth G. Hamstock to debunk these criticisms, I present the criticisms in an attempt to give a balanced view.)

Source:  Motherly website

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Title:  What is Montessori?  10 key principles all parents should know.

Author:  Christina Chemer

Publication Date:  20 January 2018

Summary:

10 principles of this alternative form of education:

1. Experiential learning.
2. Mixed-age classrooms.
3. Uninterrupted work periods.
4. Academics.
5. Role of the teacher.
6. Freedom within limits.
7. Educating the whole child.
8. Individualized curriculum.
9. Prepared environment.
10. Peace education.

The focus of the first four principles is the framework  the Montessori  program implements in educating their students.  This framework has the goal of appealing to a child’s innate nature for learning and provides opportunities to develop and progress a child’s knowledge. The Montessori credo is that children learn best through experience and therefore they have specially designed materials such as movable alphabet blocks  for learning how to read and write.  Part of experiential knowledge is learning from others and Montessori addresses this issue by having a 3-year cohort classroom (3-6, 6-9, 9-12, etc.).  The principle of experiential learning can also be seen in their vision of uninterrupted work periods.  This program disregards segregated time slots – math time, circle time, gym time – and instead tends to offer a morning work period and an afternoon period thus allowing children the opportunity to deeply explore materials and extend their intensity of concentration. The final component in the student framework includes academics.  The Montessori Program includes math, science and language but also includes a Practical Life and Sensorial component to their approach.  Individualized, developmentally appropriate skills are introduced and built upon so that children will understand how to tackle practical life issues from tying shoe laces to counting currency.  Sensorial learning is experiential education that fosters growth of the five senses.  Attention is given to providing children with materials that allow for the five senses to engage and develop.

Principles 5 through 9 provides a framework for the responsibilities of a Montessori educator.  The Montessori Program shuns teaching through rote memory  and views the educator as a guide who assists children in the quest for learning.  The guide is expected to observe and provide one-on-one guidance thus eliminating the need for rote-learning group facilitation.  Through such observations the guide will know  what academic materials to present and when the moment is right to present them.  A sense of freedom is felt because the work periods are child-directed but there are a few caveats to this freedom.  Children can choose an option such as working on math or language or where they would like to sit.  Behaviours that are viewed as non-producing or distracting – i.e. walking aimlessly about the classroom – is not acceptable and guides are responsible for redirecting the child.  As the philosophy is to educate the whole child, the Montessori guide would be equipped with a multitude of strategies to rely on to assist with this responsibility.  Previous observations will note physical, spiritual, social, mental, and emotional development as the Montessori Program avows  that each of these domains are equally important; redirecting behaviour through a spiritual or metal domain strategy such as yoga or meditation would be an option available to a Montessori guide.

Just as other programs, the most challenging responsibility of the Montessori guide is the development of curriculum and its corresponding environment.  Observation and documentation are vital strategies in implementing a Montessori Program.  Individualized learning is the goal based upon one-on-one lessons.  Specific skill levels and needs are identified and curriculum is created to build and perfect previous lessons, increasing moments of independent learning.  And having the appropriately prepared environment allows children to continue this independence.  Exploration materials, low shelves and natural lighting are used to provoke the children to learn independently throughout the work periods.

Principle 10 is unique to the Montessori classrooms specifically because of Maria Montessori.  As a witness to wars and global upheavals, Ms. Montessori became aware of the importance of community.  And for her, it was just as important that her students have this understanding.  The knowledge and the practical life skills they receive in the Montessori Program to be successful in the community of the classroom – appeal to the nature of the person instead of fighting it; a place for everything and everything in its place;  the older generation supporting the younger; life needs a holistic approach – is the knowledge and practical life skills the student will need to become a productive adult  member of the larger local and global communities.

FIVE CRITICISMS:  (Provided by Our Kids website www.ourkids.net)

1. Interpersonal skills and social development hindered with the elimination of group activities.
2. Early use of cognition quells creativity and childhood experiences by overly focusing on practical life skills and ignoring the value of play.
3. Environment juxtaposed between an overabundance of material choices based on the freedom principle and a strictly structured, work-focused arena in the classroom.
4. Montessori Programs have additional fees and cannot be accessed by every socio-economic class.
5. There is no research that supports the Montessori Program Model as being more effective or advantageous than attending a public school.

In essence, the main criticism is that this approach focuses too much on practical life skills at too early of an age.  Children need to make sense of their world through their creative explorations in flexible environments.  Memorable parts of childhood and the learning it creates come from interactions with others during free play periods and the relationships built from these interactions.  These opportunities are not available in a Montessori Program.  Instead of a group-collaborative approach, the Montessori guide identifies whatever potential she has deemed worthy and creates an environment strictly tailored to build upon this potential.  Creativity with Montessori designed materials is not acceptable.  For example, the movable alphabet blocks can be moved around the classroom while learning to read and write but cannot be used to make a tower where a dragon guards a princess!   And as environments are predetermined work periods, a multitude of materials will be presented but only on one topic i.e. math.  This can be overwhelming and daunting for many children trying to choose just the right material.  Finally, the cost as compared to its effectiveness is a criticism that the Montessori Program has endured.  Because Montessori has no theoretical method, it can not be replicated in a laboratory, and the studies that have followed the graduates of this program are based in anecdotal evidence,  there is no evidence that this is  a superior program compared to other scholastic programs.  The issue of cost has been defrayed by the formation of Parent Advisory Committees responsible for fundraising the  tuition costs which has improved accessibility to all families.