Dr Maria Montessori and her work in India

Dr. Maria Montessori and her Work in India

Dr. Maria Montessori is considered to one of the greatest -- if not the greatest -- educational innovator of all time. Her work all over the world has left an indelible imprint on how education is viewed and conducted. However, it is her work in India, where Montessori journeyed to from Italy during World War II, that her revolutionary ideas flourished most profusely. It may have been her opposition to the war that caused to her to leave Europe, but it was her connection to the philosophies of India that drew her to choose that country as her destination.

Montessori's experiential approach to education had already become popular in India before the Doctor ever arrived. According to Rita Kramer in her biography of Maria Montessori, "The Montessori movement had been gathering momentum there over the years, and the time seemed ripe for its leader to make the long journey to meet with her followers and train as many of them as possible to carry out her work" (340). Montessori was indeed a welcome visitor. In fact, "Indian leaders of the stature of Gandhi and Tagore were friendly to Montessori and believed her methods could be of great use in their country, and leaders of the Theosophical Society had expressed interest in establishing a Montessori training center in India" (Kramer 340).

The essence of the Montessori System of education is that children's potentials need to be identified, nurtured and stimulated. Children's minds are therefore seen not as empty canvases, but rather as budding works of art that are in need of 'fertilization'. This philosophy was an ideal fit for the Indian culture and its powerful focus on enlightenment and self-discovery. So it is no surprise that Montessori's presence in the country was vastly welcomed.

Part of the reason Montessori's principles were so well-accepted in India is because they functioned as a supplement to Mahatma Gandhi's "Basic Education" approach. Like Montessori, Ghandi believed in learning through experience. Ghandi and Montessori shared philosophies on experiential learning as well as the use of the culture and environment to enhance the learning experience (Bhavnagri 159). Additionally, both leaders' approaches had political undertones that advocated decentralization, equality and freedom from oppression (Kramer 324).

Because India was so receptive to Montessori's principles, this was the only venue in which she could truly expand her ideas. Montessori preschools exist across the globe, however according to Roland a. Lubienski-Wentworth, "Apart from some experiments made during her time spent in India, Montessori was never able to create a complete well-tested school program for children ages 6 to 9 or older" (12). Therefore, modern educators must rely on her work in India as the only real guideline for applying the Montessorian preschool method to the elementary school classroom.

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).