Abstract
The education approach plays a fundamental role in the cognitive development of a child. The Montessori theory of Education introduced in 1903 by Maria Montessori has been identified to significantly contribute to effective cognitive development. The Montessori curriculum has emerged popular across the globe with the Montessori principles being adopted across private and public school setting. The Montessori education philosophy demands a redefining of school and redesigning of the classroom from a constrained environment to a free environment where children have autonomy in interest and pace of learning. The Montessori education is designed to offer sensory training, arithmetic, language acquisition, practical life skills, physical education and self-discipline to the children. The Montessori theory is founded on the philosophy that education process is grounded on two elements; child and environment. The Montessori curriculum is designed to ensure individualized and sequential learning pace. Contrary to the abstract conventional education system that has a standardized curriculum, the Montessori education system is a spontaneous designed to allows the learners to explore their innate power and urge for knowledge. Multiple studies have demonstrated that education curriculum integrating the Montessori principles performs superior to the conventional principles of education.

Key Words

Montessori Education, Absorbent Mind, Environment

1. Background of Maria Montessori Curriculum

Fostering children’s enthusiasm and intrinsic motivation for knowledge remains a fundamental challenge for the contemporary education system and a foundation for the Montessori education curriculum introduced in the early 20th century by Italian Physician Dr. Maria Montessori (Gurek, 2013). The Montessori curriculum was fundamentally designed for the “absorbent mind” phase of life and puts emphasis on the interaction of a child and immediate environment. Montessori conceived the philosophy that interaction with the environment shapes the cognitive development of a child. She claimed, “The child make use of all that he finds around him, shapes himself for the future.”- Dr. Maria Montessori. Montessori methods reformulated the conventional teaching pedagogy of teacher-centered learning to child-centered education and has continued to attract interest across the globe. The Montessori education approach has prevailed for over 100 years and continues to remain a flourishing with over 22,000 Montessori schools operating in over 100 countries (Marshall, 2017)

Montessori was a major force for integration of constructivism, sensory theory and self-directed learning in education curriculum (Cooeny & Samantha, 2018). Born on the 31st August 1870 Chiaravalle, Italy, Maria Montessori grew to an aggressive woman who pushed the limits of the traditional Italian society by pursuing engineering and medical fields, fields that were predominantly considered as a male profession (Marshall, 2017). Maria Montessori pursued a medical degree in neurology, specializing in mental illness and graduated from the University of Rome Medical School and became the first woman to be awarded a Medical Degree in Italy (Cooeny & Samantha, 2018). Working at the pediatric unit and attending to children with intellectual disabilities, Montessori developed interest in the science, psychology and special education needs of children (Gutek, 2013). Montessori appointment as director of Orth phrenic School opened an opportunity for pursuing an integral pedagogical method of children education in 1901 and later on in 1907 opened the first Montessori school in San Lorenzo district in Rome serving 2-6-year-old 50-60 children from low-income households. The school was the first center to apply the Montessori materials that incorporated her clinical experience and pathology of “degenerate” child.

Montessori founded Association Montessori International (AMI) in 1929 to promote quality education and remained vocal quality training till her demise in 1959. Montessori traveled across the globe to offer lectures on her theories of training and remain recognized for her contributions to psychology and education of children. Her work attracted substantial interest and saw her being nominated for the 1949, 1950 and 1951 Nobel Peace Prize. The Montessori education approach has prevailed for over 100 years and continues to remain a flourishing with over 22,000 Montessori schools operating in over 100 countries. The system was introduced by Maria Montessori (1870–1952) in the 19th century (Marshall, 2017).

Montessori left a legacy in childhood education by introducing the pedagogical method of early childhood education. The Montessori education theories are founded on the sensory education concepts of physicians Edouard Sequi and Jean Itard and scholarly work of scholar Froebel (Cooeny & Samantha, 2018). She claimed that a child’s mental and physiological constitution determines the child’s power to act while the environment provides the essential milieu for cognitive development (Gurek, 2013). Accordingly, it’s the interaction between the child and the environment that determines the extent of the physic and psychological powers development. The cornerstone of the Montessori curriculum is autonomy where children are given the freedom to have control over the daily learning routine. Montessori emphasis the existence of inherent capacity of children to bear responsibility hence should be allowed to exercise their judgment driven by enthusiasm and imagination. The Montessori curriculum is founded on the concept that interaction with activities, events, believes and ideas construct one’s knowledge and understanding (Ültan?r, 2012).

Dr. Montessori believed that kids who are allowed to be creative, free independent and let to listen to their inner voice would emerge free, independent and creative adults which would ensure a society devoid of wars with abundance kindness and peace (Cooeny & Samantha, 2018). Montessori pedagogy work extensively focused on the “Absorbent mind” phase of 0- 6...…Montessori curriculum is spontaneous and designed to afford the learner autonomy in learning. The Montessori curriculum is designed to ensure individualized and sequential learning pace. The repetitive design and sequential materials ensure that a learner completes a single activity before proceeding to the next activity which ensures mastery of constructs and self-sufficiency of the learners. The learners have the freedom to repetitively engage in an activity which aids in refining the children understanding of a construct. Moreover, the learning sessions are strategically linked to ensure consistency in learning (Shivakumara, et al., 2016).

In the conventional classroom settings, the learners are grouped in a uniform age group centrally to the three-year span of age grouping in the Montessori classrooms. The Montessori classroom consists of student groupings according to interest and skill levels as opposed to age. Mixed age grouping fosters collaborative, supportive and trusting relationships among the learners. The older children in a mixed age classroom get leadership and mentorship opportunity while the younger observe advanced practices from seniors which cultivates an environment for social skills learning. Shivakumara, et al. (2016) identified “more pronounced” leadership skills in mixed –age classrooms. The mixed-group approach cultivates self-awareness and self-discipline as each of the children has responsibility such as conflict resolution. The conventional education approach emphasizes on memorization of concepts and use of standardized test to evaluate children learning progress which essentially fosters competitive learning as opposed to intrinsically motivated learning. Shivakumara, et al. (2016) comparative analysis identified that the children educated under the Montessori curriculum had superior cognitive and social performance relative to children with the conventional education orientation, which demonstrates the significance of incorporating the Montessori principles in the education curriculum.

4. Conclusion

The ultimate objective of education is fostering independence where a learner becomes fully grounded on the dynamics of life. Undoubtedly, the Montessori curriculum is designed to cultivate independence from the onset. The education policy should, therefore, endeavor to incorporate the Montessori principles to ensure children develop both social and academic skills at earlier phases of cognitive development. As Montessori observed with her first school Casa dei Bambini, reorienting the education system to a learner-centered approach particularly in early childhood education is fundamentally significant for lifting the poverty-affected children who are mainly the beneficiaries of conventional education from the circles of quality education deprivation. As opposed to the approach that children are empty vessels that need to be filled with knowledge, children need to be given an opportunity to explore their innate hunger for knowledge. As Montessori emphasizes “The goal of early childhood education should be to activate child’s own natural desire to learn.”