Dr. Maria Montessori
Excerpt from AMI webpage:
Born in Chiaravalle in the Province of Ancona in 1870, Maria Montessori was the first woman to practise medicine in Italy, having graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Rome in 1896. As a physician, Dr. Montessori was in touch with young children and became profoundly interested in their development. Through careful and exhaustive scrutiny, she realised that children construct their own personalities as they interact with their environment. She also observed the manner in which they learned as they spontaneously chose and worked with the auto didactic materials she provided.
Her approach to education stemmed from a solid grounding in biology, psychiatry and anthropology. She studied children of all races and cultures in many countries around the world, soon seeing the universality of the laws of human development played out before her. She continued her observations throughout her life, widening and deepening her understanding until her death in 1952.
More information at Association Montessori Internationale
or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montessori_method
Montessori Classroom
In Montessori classroom teacher respects the children. The classroom is theirs; it was designed with them in mind and everything is accessible to them. That is quite a difference from most peoples homes that are designed for adults, where children need help even to get a drink of water!
The teacher is not issuing commands. Her role is to help when asked and to guide the pupils through the various activities. Children are taught how to take care of their needs without adult intervention. Sometimes parents and teachers like to do things for children to keep them dependent. Even if parental instincts make us want to help, children will learn more by helping themselves.
Another very important aspect is connection with nature. Montessori classrooms should have direct access to an outside garden. Children observe nature, learn to respect it, and roam around. It shouldn’t be another playground, with everything made by man; it should be a piece of wilderness, otherwise missing in their environment.
I would compare such school with a workplace. If we have a job we enjoy, pleasant co-workers and good boss, we should be happy. If a child has interesting materials at school, a community of children and a respectful teacher, school can become a place to look forward to and not a place where the child is ‘parked’.
Veronika Snytrova-Newkirk, August 2003