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Montessori Education is founded on the belief that within every newborn there is an enormous untapped potential that needs a fertile environment in order to be fully expressed. If you have already heard about Montessori it is likely that you have associated it with nursery education for young children. However, Dr. Montessori's research and theories addressed human development from birth to adulthood. Montessori education is designed to support the natural development of human beings; not just nursery but taking the child right through secondary school too.
Great focus is given to the formation of the child’s fundamental capacities during the first years of life - not just intellectual capacity but also the development of a strong and kind character.
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If a child can think clearly and logically, concentrate and persevere he will be able to learn to read and to write, to do mathematics and to learn about the world.
- If a child can communicate and live well with others, taking into account the needs of others the social problems of his generation will be solved.
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If a child has a strong character he will be able to make a positive contribution to society
Children who have been given the right kind of support during these formative years grow into people who are self-motivated and love learning, can think flexibly and creatively and who are not only conscious of the needs of others but actively foster harmony within their peer groups.
In traditional education, children are given a diet of facts dictated by an adult-led curriculum and are tested to see how much they have retained.
This ability to retain information is then given a test score, which is used as a measure of academic success.
All children are assumed to have the same learning style and have equal capacity to achieve certain standards. In this model the teacher is active and the child is the passive receiver of information.
In the Montessori approach the teacher takes on a different role - that is, to guide rather than teach, so the child becomes an active learner and the teacher a passive facilitator. The Montessori curriculum is child-led.
Children are given the freedom to develop according to their own unique timetable and as a result they are able to reach each developmental milestone with self-assurance. Actively engaged in their own development, in this way they grow into confident, socially aware, empathetic adults who are contributing members of society.
