After operating a Montessori preschool for the past thirty years, I believe that most people have some idea of the basic premise of a Montessori classroom. They can tell you that we teach to the individual, set up curriculum areas where the child is free to make choices, and have a strong emphasis on personal development and responsibility. Some may even be aware of the work we do to bring cultural awareness, tolerance, and acceptance of inherent differences to the children. Community service and care of the environment are also key components of a good Montessori program. But I wonder who really knows anything about Maria Montessori herself, or how many gifts she is responsible for giving to the world.
Maria Montessori is my hero. The more I learn about her, the more I am in awe of this dynamic, brilliant and courageous person. She directly influenced such key figures as Anna Freud, Jean Piaget, and Eric Erikson who used her work as a jumping off point for their own. Her educational insights have recently received scientific support as the secrets of the brain are unlocked. Popular educator and author Howard Gardner impressed the educational community with his work defining multiple intelligences, and how to incorporate them into a successful learning environment, but 100 years ago, Maria Montessori was already implementing the same concepts in her children’s houses. She was unquestionably an educational genius with a gift for observing and understanding human behavior.
And how many people know that she was also the first female physician in Italy, at a time when women had few options outside the home? While teaching medical students, she found time to devote to various social reform movements, work in free clinics, and promote women’s rights. She traveled Europe accepting speaking engagements as a peace activist, and child labor law reform advocate. While working to improve life for the underprivileged , she accepted a post as the director of a school that was formerly an asylum for “deficient and insane children”.
Always a humanitarian, she insisted her staff treat the children with respect and dignity, and began studying the patterns of their behavior. She designed purposeful activities that promoted self care, and care of the environment. The children responded so quickly that she soon found herself creating more and more materials that spoke to their developmental interests, based on her scientific observations of their behavior. In time, her students were performing at or above the level of their “normal peers”. This led her to wonder what children with no handicaps could learn if presented with the same opportunities. The Montessori method was born, and completely changed the world of education in the early 1900’s. Because of her work, we have child sized furniture, learning centers, movement based curriculum, multi-age classrooms, manipulatives, and preschool education.
Truly, Maria Montessori was no less than a prophet. She was the embodiment of a true humanitarian, always willing to get down and work with the poorest poor, or handicapped. She had the strength and courage to fly in the face of society to advocate for the rights of women, children, poor, and downtrodden. She fought for world peace, understanding that peace begins within each one of us, and taught that lesson every day of her life. She was a beacon of light, controversial and dynamic, a true gift to the world.
As you begin to dream of what you want for your child educationally, those of you who come to Montessori schools should know that you come to more than a preschool. You come to a historic house of love, light, hope, courage, inspiration and peace. That is the legacy of Maria Montessori, and one I am proud to promote.
Connie Mercier
Administrator
Auburn Montessori School
Auburn, NH 03032
