Today lots of students are being migrated to the Montessori schools. According to recent research, the main reason for this is the Montessori benefits of education it provides to the kids.
So how is Maria Montessori Impacting education? Maria Montessori is known as the mother of Montessori Education. The impacts it has brought are like bringing education that emphasizes individual learning and letting the child learn at their own pace.
Who was Dr. Maria Montessori?
Dr. Maria Montessori was a physician and educator who developed the Montessori method of education. She is often called “the mother of early childhood education.”
She was born in 1870 to a prominent family in Chiaravalle, Italy. She graduated with a degree in medicine and a medical degree at that university.
After practicing as a physician for several years, she returned to school at the University of Rome, earning her Ph.D. in 1906.
In 1907, Dr. Maria Montessori opened her school outside Rome devoted exclusively to educating young children using her methods based on scientific observation and experimentation rather than traditional methods such as memorization or rote learning.
Maria Montessori Breaking Barriers in Education
Maria Montessori is one of the most famous educators in history, and she broke barriers as a woman in a male-dominated field.
Maria Montessori was a medical doctor who was also an educator. She pioneered early childhood education through her philosophy of “education for independence” and created a classroom environment that encouraged young children to learn through self-directed play.
Scientific Concept of Education
The teacher emphasizes teaching as a science in the scientific concept of education, and this means that they teach using the scientific method, which involves making observations and conducting experiments.
Students also learn through lectures and demonstrations, emphasizing individual instruction.
In this way, you can see how Montessori’s concept of education is based on many aspects of the scientific approach to learning.
Emphasis on Individual Teaching
While traditional education emphasizes the teacher as the one who teaches and students learn, Montessori education is different. In this system, teachers are not the ones who teach, but rather they are the facilitators.
They observe and provide feedback to help students achieve their goals by guiding them through their learning process.
This shift of focus from teacher-centered teaching to student-centered teaching has been proven to stimulate children’s creativity and critical thinking skills at an earlier age, eventually leading to better academic performance over time.
Psychological approach to Education
Maria Montessori believed that the psychological development of a child leads to its social and intellectual development. In other words, she felt that learning is a natural process, and therefore we should not interfere with it.
She also thought that children were naturally active, curious, and creative. Children learn best through self-directed activity instead of being told what to do.
They should be allowed to move freely within their environment because movement helps develop their mental capacity faster than sitting down at desks all day long (like most schools teach).
Freedom for the Child
The most important principle of the Montessori method is freedom. The child must be allowed to make his own choices and mistakes and learn from them at his own pace. In this way, he becomes self-sufficient and independent.
Montessori believed that children are born with an innate desire to learn, but they need appropriate materials for their age level. The materials should also be presented to allow them to develop an interest in their surroundings.
They should not be presented as dull activities but as games or challenges that will motivate the child to continue exploring independently.
In addition, teachers should engage students directly so they can observe how different children react when faced with specific challenges or situations.
This information helps guide later lessons based on what works best for each child’s needs.
Positive Discipline
Positive discipline is the method of teaching that is based on the principles of love, care, and understanding.
It is a non-punitive approach to discipline that works with rather than against children’s natural tendencies towards cooperation and self-discipline. It teaches children how to make their own decisions in life by giving them choices.
The methods are based on mutual respect and cooperation between teachers, parents, and students.
Learning by Doing
MarÃa Montessori believed that children learn best when allowed to engage in their environment, and this is because children learn by doing, by creating their reality.
Children do not just absorb information from the world around them; they create it and make it their own. The well-known phrase “learning by doing” describes this process perfectly.
Children experience the world as something they can change, manipulate, and mold into something more familiar or comfortable through interaction with their environments.
When we focus on learning through learning materials (books) rather than allowing our students to interact with objects found in nature or other parts of their lives, such as science experiments.
We miss out on an essential aspect of child development that allows them to create themselves through trial-and-error experimentation within different contexts.
Right Place for the Teacher
To Montessori, the right place for the teacher was in the classroom with the children.
She believed that you could better guide your students by observing them and seeing their specific needs as a teacher.
Additionally, it was important for teachers to be there to teach their lessons more effectively because they were able to observe what methods worked well and what did not work well (Chandler).
Montessori also believed that teachers should learn from their students. She said that “the teacher who does not learn from his pupils is unworthy of being a good teacher.”
She felt that if teachers were able to observe how children learn best and implement those observations in their classrooms, it would create an environment where both teachers and students succeed (Montessori).
Conclusion
Maria Montessori’s teaching method is a revolutionary way of thought in education, and it has influenced many teachers, parents, and educational institutes across the world. Her motto with which she began her journey in education still remains etched in our minds.
FAQs
Why is Maria Montessori essential to early childhood education? She introduced the Montessori method of learning that focuses on a child and gives them the freedom to make choices and learn from their mistakes.
What did Maria Montessori believe about education? She thought that education should prepare an individual for all aspects of life.