Maria Montessori and the Process of Maturation

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 did not agree with this point-of-view but instead believed that children were filled with a "vital force" waiting to unfold the child's personality, potential, and independence. With this point-of-view, children were seen as captivating individuals with original ideas and the ability to participate in his or her education. This insight into the way children learn is the topic of this paper and can be illustrated by this statement:

"The child's conquest of independence begins with his first introduction to life. While he is developing, he perfects himself and overcomes every obstacle that he finds in his path. A vital force is active within him, and this guides his efforts towards their goals" (Montessori, 1967).

A key principle of Montessori's approach was her understanding that human beings were universally made with certain attributes; for instance, a proclivity for exploration, work, communication, and order. Rather than these things being added to a person after birth, she saw these qualities as an integral part of the person from conception to advance age. Maria thought of these attributes as "special traits" that would help the child to achieve maturation and perfection.

Doctor Montessori's educational strategy was to be a guide for the child who sought perfection through his or her own natural motivation to learn. She believed that children thirst for knowledge in order to reach practical and cognitive goals. However, she recognized that children since begin as infants with an intellect and will that are not fully formed they need the guidance of nurturing adults to provide them with safe learning environments. The learning process is a kind of partnership between child and adult. As the child grows his natural desire for knowledge and truth leads him to perfection and happiness. Maria called this process 'the process of maturation.'

Maria Montessori's concepts of children were juxtaposed to traditional understandings of how children learn. The pedagogy of her time followed a philosophy of linear development which supposed that the intellectual development, like physical development, advanced in stages, with one stage building on the other like blocks. Students sat in rows of desks gathering information from the teacher, who conducted lessons from the front of the classroom. Montessori thought this approach was unacceptable. She declared, "In such a school the children, like butterflies mounted on pins, are fastened each to his place, the desk, spreading the useless wings of barren and meaningless knowledge which they have acquired" (Montessori, 1912).