Sian’s Assignment: Montessori View of
Children’s Development
Maria
Montessori was born, an only child, in Chiatavale in 1870 and lived until 1952.
She was supported by her mother in her passion to study maths, science and
later medicine. Montessori later enrolled to study medicine in university of
Rome medical school, 1892 and graduated in 1896. She then became the first
women to qualify as an Italian physician. Whilst focusing her career on
psychiatry she grew an interest in Education and attended classes on pedagogy to
support the concept of the importance of the first six years of a child’s life,
as she believed that these years were more important than the university years
because they set a foundation in a social aspect and learning aspect for the
individuals future (Isaac, B 2012). Maria Montessori named the first six years
of a child’s development the ‘Absorbent Mind’.
Barbara Isaac (2012) cited that “It
is at this stage that children absorb information from their environment
effortlessly and with an ease which is not matched in subsequent developmental stages.”
– (Isaac B 2012 P19) Montessori believed that this is achievable because of
a child’s inner drive which is known as ‘the horme’. Maria Montessori believed that the child goes
through a six year period throughout their lives which are referred to as the
sensitive periods. The first period is, as stated above, the absorbent mind
form the ages of 0-6, the second period is childhood from ages 6-12 and the
third is adolescence from ages 12-18.
After quickly realising that
education is a necessity in a child’s life and with a growing interest in
Education and after working for ten years with teachers in Rome, she went back
to the University of Rome to study Education and anthropology. In 1906
Montessori set up a nursery in the San Lorenzo slum in Rome. She set up the
first children’s home for all ages of children to be cared for whilst the
children’s mothers worked. She made sure that each child was cared for and worked
to their full potential and ability, she made many of her own resources at the
children’s home and some are still used today at Montessori schools.
There are 22,000 Maria Montessori
schools throughout the world for children ages 3 to 6. The first school was set
up in 1912 in America, during this year Maria Montessori had taken to
travelling around the world to deliver lectures. The link below shows a video of just one of
the Maria Montessori School. The motto within the Montessori schools is that
the world begins within a classroom. Inside these schools we can see that the
classrooms are undoubtedly different to normal class rooms because Montessori
school does not teach through textbooks or hand outs but through independent
learning using learning tools and materials, this allows each child to develop
at their ability and pace. A Montessori school bases a child’s learning on
self-discovery this gives children more confidence in themselves and they also
learn about responsibilities. The children are also encouraged to look after
the classrooms and the materials they use.
REFERNCES
Isaac, B., 2012.Understanding the Montessori approach. London:
Routledge
No comments:
Post a Comment