What is Montessori education, and how does it differ from traditional methods of learning and theories of child development? Parents of children in Montessori schools are regularly asked questions about Montessori education by family and friends, and it isn’t easy to respond in a manner that captures the essence of Dr. Montessori’s philosophy and Method.
Of course, we know there are many factors that make Montessori Education unique, but understanding how the pieces of the Montessori puzzle fit together isn’t always so clear. This is the third in a series of four articles written to help Montessori parents better understand the Montessori Method, and to improve how we communicate about it with others.
In the first two articles we explored the following questions: (1) What is the primary goal of Montessori education? and (2) What is the process through which this goal is attained?
As her life and work with children evolved, Montessori came to see that the creation of a peace-based society was directly linked to the realization of the child’s potential; therefore, the goals of cultivating the potential of the child and transforming humanity are intimately linked. They are really one goal.
To some, this goal may sound like a lofty ideal couched in dramatic language, but Maria Montessori provided more than ideals and goals, she gave us the tools to understand the practical how-to’s and details. For Montessori, unveiling the potential of the child was as much a practical issue as well as an ideal. There is a clear path to follow, a fundamental process that supports the goal.
That process, proclaimed Montessori, was simply the process of normal human development. Dr. Montessori insisted that, when allowed to develop normally (naturally) without unnecessary adult interference, the child can self-educate, given the learning environment is carefully prepared and the adult understands his role as guide and facilitator, rather than all-knowing dispenser of knowledge.
In this article we will go one step further and explore the workings of a Montessori classroom that supports normal development in order to nourish the child’s potential. We begin by asking: What is the essential principle that allows the process (normal development) to occur? There is one underlying principle that must be adhered to if we are to nourish the child’s potential: liberty. The concept of liberty for the child, probably more than anything else in Montessori Education, has caused a great deal of misinformation.
From the very first time Montessori spoke of freedom (she also used the term liberty) and children in the same sentence, her intentions have been misunderstood and criticized. Some might ask if this talk of freedom is merely a permissive philosophy and method that gives a young child the go-ahead to do whatever she wants to do. It is a widespread and enduring misconception that Montessori advocated for unbridled freedom in childhood. She was forever trying to clarify this idea to her audiences, readers, followers, and critics.
To know a child who has been educated as Montessori advocated, it becomes readily apparent that this is far from the truth. She was not advocating “anything goes,” but rather freedom to develop normally, to become a self-reliant, autonomous human being, who is free to discover her potential and purpose. In order for the child to learn in this way, she must be free, but this is a freedom that is paired with structure.
The structure takes different forms: the prepared environment, ground rules, self-discipline, and, yes, on occasion, teacher intervention. Finding that perfect balance between the two — freedom and structure — is no easy task, for the correct balance is unique to each child and changes as the child grows. In the best-case scenario, the child needs less structure and more freedom as she grows, but if this balance is upended in early years — if the child has more freedom than she is ready for, or if the adult is too controlling and authoritative — the child can become confused, frustrated, and undisciplined.
In The Absorbent Mind (1997), Montessori warns of misinterpreting the concept of freedom in childhood. “If freedom is understood as letting the children do as they like, using (or more likely misusing) the things available, it is clear that only their ‘deviations’ are free to develop; their abnormalities will increase.” In other words, freedom that is not tied to responsibility and self-discipline is a not the freedom that cultivates potential; instead it encourages self-centeredness, arrogance, timidity and weak-mindedness. These traits restrain the natural development of a human being’s potential. To let the child do as she likes when she has not yet developed any powers of self-control is to betray the idea of freedom. Simply put, it is a falsehood that children in Montessori schools “are free to whatever they want.”
When liberty is balanced with structure, however, the child is able to develop normally. Liberty allows the child to engage in the process that is his birth-right: normal human development. This is not an adult-centered process; the process belongs to the child. It is a process of self-creation. It is how the child builds the adult he will become, and he can only engage in the process if he is free. This is the crucial task of childhood, and all of the child’s experiences in play and work are the building blocks of self-creation.
The child must be free to engage in the creative and important work of building the adult he will become. He must be free to engage in spontaneous activity and purposeful work.
Spontaneous activity is the term Montessorians use to describe the young child’s response to the inner instincts and desires, which guide and energize the development of his potential. When the child is free to fulfill the inner desires (or drives), specific traits and skills are developed. This process is as normal as the process of physical growth. If he is not able (or allowed) to eat the foods he needs to grow in good health, the child’s body will suffer. Similarly, if he is not allowed to express and satisfy the needs of his inner self, his mind and spirit will suffer.
The liberty that Dr. Montessori spoke of frees the child to respond to the inner dictates that motivate her to learn new things, try a classroom material that she hasn’t used before, repeat an activity many times, and express herself and what she is learning in creative ways. This is the normal process of human development, but only when a child is free can she respond to her inner directives.
If she is confined to a desk, allowed to speak only when a teacher gives permission, and forced to follow a schedule throughout the school day that is prescribed by an adult, then she is not at liberty to listen or respond to the natural urges that guide her normal development. These natural urges take the form of curiosity, enthusiasm, inspiration, desire, and passions. When she is free to respond to the inner callings that guide her development, she is, in effect, following her inner voice.
When the child is free to follow these urges, there is no need for external motivators such as rewards and punishments, the cornerstone of most traditional methods of education. The motivation to learn is intrinsic; in a classroom that is true to Maria Montessori’s teachings, you will find children who, because they are free to develop normally, exercise extraordinary self-discipline. The child who has been denied this liberty will not thrive; instead, she will be more likely to bend under the weight of adult dominance, be more submissive, and struggle to find herself or to discover her purpose in life.
If the child is free to engage in spontaneous activity, she will be free to do the work that is necessary to nourish her potential. Spontaneous activity is intimately linked to a child’s work, for, as Maria Montessori discovered, the child wants and needs to work. Most adults are baffled by this idea, because our perspectives reflect our own feelings and cultural influences regarding the inherent value of work and, far too often, the lens we use casts a light of drudgery and unpleasantness upon work.
We work or do chores in order to get to the ‘good stuff’ in life. Often, we are unable to see the opportunities that work presents, because work has become a ways to a means: get good grades, make money, earn a title, advance up the so-called ‘ladder of success.’ But authentic work is much more than that. Purposeful work provides opportunities to build character and determination, to demonstrate patience, diligence, and self-reliance, as well as kindness and compassion. Work allows us to express our creativity, develop specific skills, problem-solve, and use our minds, hearts, and hands in service to others. While work may not be who we are, it provides opportunities to develop traits and behaviors that expose our best selves. Work is an avenue to cultivate and reveal our own uniqueness, our innate goodness, and the gifts that allow us to live an intentional and purposeful life.
Montessori herself was shocked by her discovery that the child wants to work! In fact, the child loves his work! This passion for work is obvious when the child is free to choose his work, when it is self-directed and purposeful. It is true that the Elementary student sometimes works from a work plan, but in the best-case scenarios, that plan serves as a guide for several weeks to a month and is steeped in choices (freedoms) that are authentic and meaningful for the students.
During morning work periods, the child should be at liberty to choose what to explore or study, whether to work alone or with others, where in the room he should do his work, and how long to engage in the work. He should have the freedom and opportunities to self-reflect and assess his own work. The young student is motivated even more when he has ample opportunities to choose how to demonstrate what he is learning. Shall he make a booklet, a poster, write a report, create a timeline, or give an oral presentation? These very real choices and freedoms are the foundation of the classroom that allows children to develop their innate love of work.
The freedom that Montessori extolled is the freedom that guides a child in his normal development. Freedom is the key that allows the child to develop normally. When normal development is allowed and supported, human potential is nourished. When the child is free to develop his potential in this way, his very best self will be nurtured and he will develop the following traits which Montessori referred to as the characteristics of normalization: sustained intellectual curiosity, a love of work, self-discipline, self-reliance, the ability to work well with others, and respectfulness. Kindness, compassion, and joy are also apparent in the child who develops free of obstacles and interferences that so often oppress and diminish the traits that nurture peace, human wholeness, and happiness. Dr. Montessori said it best:
“The children in a Montessori classroom are given the freedom that is the liberty of the human being, and this freedom allows the children to grow in social grace, inner discipline, and joy. These are the birthright of the human being who has been allowed to develop essential human qualities.”
Tomorrow’s Child / January 2012 / p. 14
