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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, p. 2). She contended that through Cosmic Education, the needs of the individual child would be met and would lead, in turn, to the needs of the greater world being met. In attempts to further these ideas, Dr. Montessori incorporated methods now considered key to the overall Montessori Method. These include: grouping children by periods of development, usually in three-year age spans; applying methods based on human tendencies, like tendencies to move, share, explore, and abstract ideas from experience; and preparation of the environment, by both having a knowledgeable teacher and additional resources available to the child for further learning (Stephenson, 1998).
This groundwork has enabled current programs, most notably Montessori schools, to continue helping children at all ages and levels of development. Even children with multiple and severe disabilities have received considerable benefits after being integrated into Montessori classrooms. The integrated environment seems to be a positive learning experience for both disabled and non-disabled students...
Other applications based on the Montessori method are still evolving today. For example, Sharon Dubbles' paper Evolving People/Evolving Schools discusses the far-reaching applications of Montessori theory as it is evolving into new methods for the same purpose: to fully develop human potential.
Through her exhaustive study of children and educational methods, Dr. Maria Montessori made incredible strides to help children of all needs and situations. Though her applications are specifically used in Montessori Method schools, her research and breakthroughs with disabled children led the world and other researchers to focus on those children who were previously forgotten. Special Education as we know it today owes Dr. Montessori their gratitude, as do countless children around the world.
References
Dubble, S.L. Evolving people/evolving schools. North American Montessori Teachers' Association Conference. Phoenix. 33-24 Jan 1998.
DuCharme, C.C. Margaret McMillan and Maria Montessori: Champions of the poor. Annual Meeting of the National Association for the Education of Young Children. New Orleans. 12-15 Nov 1992.
Stephenson, S.M. (1998). Michael Olaf's essential Montessori. Arcata, CA: Michael Olaf Publishers.
Thompson, B. (1991). A qualitative research approach for investigating and evaluating an emergent early childhood inclusion model for children with severe disabilities in a Montessori Preschool. (Report by Kansas University & Kansas Early Childhood Research Institute for Special Education Programs, Washington, DC, Nov 1991).
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
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
The Absorbent Mind “The Absorbent Mind” by Maria Montessori gives a comprehensive education about the various stages of child development. The book has 22 chapters that cover different ideas in six major categories. The first category focuses on the formative education of the child when they are most malleable. Here, under the subcategory of world reconstruction, the author notes that the first two years of development provide the foundation of psychic
There are others though that believes that learners are born with certain innate capabilities that are then shaped and formed from the outside (Montessori theory, 2011) No matter which theory one looks at though the bottom line is that each philosophy is based on the idea that everything possible should be done to encourage as much learning as possible. All philosophies are based on the fact that education should be
That is why the child's psychic manifestations are at once impulses of enthusiasm and efforts of meticulous, constant patience" (1963, p. 223). Empirical observations suggest that children want and need guidelines and rules to help them understand what is expected of them in terms of behavior, but they desperately want to be able to learn on their own and achieve a sense of accomplishment through their own endeavors - this
Montessori approach to teaching / learning involves strategies that seek to develop the whole child. What are the Montessori strategies and how to they work? What are the criticisms, and which of those are valid? This paper reviews and critiques those strategies and evaluations of Montessori, based on the available literature. According to the Montessori website the strategy in the Montessori classroom is to place the children not by grades but