What Is The Current Influence Of The Montessori Method?
Maria Montessori is the creator of an educational method which was the starting point of a real revolution. The scope of his proposals was so important that his name went beyond his field of expertise. The method she proposed emphasized play, identifying it as the perfect way to achieve the development of multiple abilities and skills in children.
Many infant schools are currently applying this concept. We refer to non-compulsory training that focuses on play, fun and flexibility with the aim of making children spontaneous and encouraging them to take initiative. Ultimately, Maria Montessori’s method promotes the independence of the little ones, while at the same time providing them with the basic values of living together and of cooperation, starting with respect for their comrades.
The basic principles of the Montessori method
Today, we can analyze the Montessori method from the basic principles that govern it. Although its implementation can give rise to different adaptations according to the preferences of the educators, we can find the following in its essence.
For starters, the Montessori method promotes learning through discovery. Discoveries that take place thanks to the innate curiosity that is in each of us. We think we learn best when something challenges us, makes us curious, and prompts us to investigate to ‘find out more’. This method seeks precisely to take advantage of the natural taste of children to ask questions and then seek the answers.
This method does not forget either that the environment must meet the needs of each child according to his characteristics (age, culture, existence of any diagnosis: hyperactivity, autism, etc.). To this must be added the fact of being able to adapt the method to natural material with which each child can interact and play. We are referring to wood, earth and other materials that are not artificial.
The idea is that all the games offered have a collaborative component and that they are always supervised, directed and coordinated by the teacher. The latter will intervene as little as possible in the children’s learning process: he will try to be a simple guide.
To finish with the principles which govern this method, it is necessary to point out the fact that the Montessori method seeks to constitute large classes grouping together children of various ages (an age difference of 3 years maximum). In fact, for example, children aged 6 to 9 can be grouped together in the same classroom so that they can interact together and not just with peers of the same age. This stimulation can be very beneficial.
The Montessori method today
Fortunately, the Montessori method has survived the passage of time and its spirit is now part of the educational strategies of many schools. A type of training in which we work a lot with play promotes the independence and autonomy of the child as well as his interaction with various elements that arouse his curiosity. Ultimately, we take advantage of children’s natural penchant for play and fun to convert it into a primary educational driver.
On the other hand, the panorama changes as we reach primary education. Children spend hours sitting listening to the teacher, receiving help learning to be quiet (or being punished for not being quiet), not being able to speak, and having to be focused for very periods of time. long. Classes that follow one after the other in such a dynamic are specialists in eliminating any type of intrinsic motivation for learning.
There are different colleges that have opted for the Montessori method: Ecole Montessori 21 Paris Jaurès, Ecole Montessori in Bordeaux Cadaujac or even Ecole Montessori Colors in Toulouse among many others. But despite this, it is possible that a doubt crosses our mind. Is the Montessori method only intended for children from 0 to 6 years old? Although the majority of schools today only offer the method for this age group; Maria Montessori imagined it so that it can be used up to 12 years old.
However, the Montessori method could now also be applied at the stage of secondary education. Although Maria Montessori didn’t have time to imagine and fully develop her for this stage, she left some guidelines on what to do with older children.
The data collected shows us that education from primary school bores children. Far from motivating them, this teaching provokes in them the birth of negative thoughts about school and high school that they consider useless. This situation should be an incentive to reconsider our way of teaching. Our current method encourages the development of competition and its principle is based on the fact that the mark identifies us as zero or intelligent, while the priority objective disappears: the fact that the student feels motivated, beyond the evaluation, to understand the world around him.
Our thoughts The Montessori method suggests that we offer the “ray of sunshine” that every child needs to then allow him to continue on his way. Deco …
