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Dr. Montessori did, however, work to ensure that her method would continue on by establishing training centers designed to pass her philosophies on from generation to generation. Interestingly, in the only country that allowed her to expand her methods to older children, are the only training centers that train elementary school teachers. An online article by Prachi Nayak reports, "Currently Indian Montessori schools cater to children only till the age of six. But to train teachers at a higher level, the elementary level 6-12 AMI [Association Montessori Internationale] teacher training course is now made available at Navdisha in Chennai. To train more teachers at this level, the IMF [India Montessori Foundation] will help in starting more training centres for the AMI 6-12 years course."
India was also the place where Dr. Montessori conceived her "Education for Peace" initiative. Montessori believed that in order to achieve peace, it must be taught and actively promoted. In her book Education and Peace, Montessori expressed the following sentiments: "Peace is a goal that can only be attained through common accord, and the means to achieve this unity for peace are twofold: first, an immediate effort to resolve conflicts without recourse to violence -in other words, to prevent war -and second, a long-term effort to establish a lasting peace among men"(Montessori 27).
Montessori's program for peace was in direct alignment with her educational methods in that it revolved...
The doctor incorporated this philosophy of action into all of her methodologies. Her experiences in India among the poor, starving and remarkably serene population helped to enforce her understanding of the power of the mind to resolve seemingly irresolvable issues.
Although she passed away in 1952, Dr. Maria Montessori's methods and philosophies continue to drive education across the globe. India was not her only venue for exploration and inspiration, but it was undoubtedly one of the most powerful. The work she has accomplished both during her life and after her death gives credence to the notion that our spirits live on long after our bodies do.
WORKS CITED
Bhavnagri, Navaz Peshotan. "An Interview with Professor Amita Verma: A leader in Early Childhood Education in India." Childhood. Education, 71.3.(1995):156-160. Print.
Kramer, Rita. Maria Montessori: A Biography. Reading, MA: Perseus. 1988. Print.
Lubienski-Wentworth, Roland a. Montessori for the New Millennium: Practical Guidance on the Teaching and Education of Children of All Ages, Based on a Rediscovery of the True Principles and Vision of Maria Montessori, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Print.
Montessori, Maria. Education and Peace. Chicago: Henry Regnery Company, 1972.
Nayak, Prachi. "Montessori sets base in India" DNA. 2009. Web. 12 June, 2010.
WORKS CITED
Bhavnagri, Navaz Peshotan. "An Interview with Professor Amita Verma: A leader in Early Childhood Education in India." Childhood. Education, 71.3.(1995):156-160. Print.
Kramer, Rita. Maria Montessori: A Biography. Reading, MA: Perseus. 1988. Print.
Lubienski-Wentworth, Roland a. Montessori for the New Millennium: Practical Guidance on the Teaching and Education of Children of All Ages, Based on a Rediscovery of the True Principles and Vision of Maria Montessori, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Print.
Montessori, Maria. Education and Peace. Chicago: Henry Regnery Company, 1972.
Dr. Maria Montessori "We cannot know the consequences of suppressing a child's spontaneity when he is just beginning to be active. We may even suffocate life itself. That humanity which is revealed in its entire intellectual splendor during the sweet and tender age of childhood should be respected with a kind of religious veneration. It is like the Sun which appears at dawn one flower just beginning to bloom. Education cannot
Working with both the poor and the disabled, Dr. Montessori further developed her ideas of a system under which all children can develop at their own pace and, again, to fully develop to their own potential. She instituted a study of Cosmic Education, or the "gradual discovery, throughout the whole of childhood, of the interrelatedness of all things on earth, in the past, present, and in the future" (Stephenson, 1998,
Similarly, Maria Montessori's life provides key lessons for educators and for other individuals confronted with large systems that they can see to be clearly broken. Montessori managed to overcome the general gender discrimination typical of her time, and more than that she managed to challenge and the preconceived and largely entrenched patriarchal notions of education as an exercise in control, replacing them with her own theories based solely on
Another keynote of the Montessori method is the de-centering of the teacher (Smith). The teacher's role was more of an observer and monitor than an instructor. Therefore, the Montessori is a quintessentially student-centric pedagogical method. The child determines what and how to learn, and the teacher observes, monitors, and facilitates. Having gained respect among the medical community and having spoken at more than one women's conference, Montessori's methods drew considerable international
Maria Montessori and the Process of Maturation Maria Montessori has had a dramatic effect on the methods of education. She was an insightful teacher who was had the courage to challenge traditionally held views of education at the beginning of the modern era. Maria Montessori brought vitality and insight into the classroom where children were routinely thought of empty vessels to be filled with information given to them by adults. She
Moreover, the Montessori method seems to be rediscovering its roots as a universal method of instruction. Montessori education has become "popular with some black professionals and are getting results in low-income public schools with the kind of children on which Montessori first tested her ideas," (Matthews 2007). Just as Maria Montessori practiced her pedagogy with the poorest children of Rome, modern Montessori educators are noticing "long-term success in several