Introduction to Montessori free essay sample

Q1. Discuss the life and works of Dr. Maria Montessori and why is she referred to as a lady much ahead of her time? If education is always to be conceived along the same antiquated lines of a mere transmission of knowledge, there is little to b hoped from it in the bettering of man’s life. For what is the use of transmitting knowledge if the individual’s total development lags behind. Dr. Maria Montessori . Maria Tecla Artemesia Montessori (Italian pronunciation: [ma? ria montes? s? ri]; August 31, 1870 – May 6, 1952) was an Italian physician and educator best known for the philosophy of education that bears her name, and her writing on scientific pedagogy. Her educational method is in use today in public and private schools throughout the world. Contents 1 Life and career 1. 1 Birth and family 1. 2 1883–1896: Education 1. 3 1896–1901: Early career and family 1. 4 1901–1906: Further studies 1. 5 1906–1911: Casa dei Bambini and the spread of Montessoris ideas 1. We will write a custom essay sample on Introduction to Montessori or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page 6 1909–1915: International recognition and growth of Montessori education 1. 7 1915–1939: Further development of Montessori education 1. 8 1939–1946: Montessori in India 1. 9 1946–1952: The last years 2 Educational philosophy and pedagogy 2. 1 Early influences 2. 2 Scientific pedagogy 2. 3 Casa dei Bambini 2. 4 Further development and Montessori Education today 3 Montessori Method 4 Works . Birth and family. Montessori was born on August 31, 1870 in Ancona, Italy. Her father, Alessandro Montessori was a conservative military man. Her mother, Renidle Montissore was an educated and liberal lady and supported Maria’s educational pursuit. She got chance to have education throughout Italy because of her father’s frequent transfers. 1883–1896: Education Montessori entered a public elementary school at the age of 6 in 1876. Montessori entered a secondary, technical school Regia Scuola Tecnica Michelangelo Buonarroti by the time she graduated in 1890 with a certificate in physics–mathematics, she had decided to study medicine instead, an even more unlikely pursuit given cultural norms at the time. University of Rome—Medical school. Montessori moved forward with her intention to study medicine, but was strongly discouraged. Nonetheless, in 1890, she enrolled in the University of Rome in a degree course in natural sciences. This degree, along with additional studies in Italian and Latin, qualified her for entrance into the medical program at the University in 1893, she was met with hostility and harassment from some medical students and professors and her father. Despite opposition of many years, Montessori graduated with highest honors from the University of Rome in 1896 as a doctor of medicine and holds the title of being the first lady doctor in the history of Italy. She found employment as an assistant at the University hospital and started a private practice. 1896–1901: Early career. From 1896 to 1901, Montessori worked with and researched so-called phrenasthenic children—in modern terms, children experiencing some form of mental retardation, illness, or disability. She also began to travel, study, speak, and publish nationally and internationally, coming to prominence as an advocate for womens rights and education for mentally disabled children. Work with special children. After graduating from the University of Rome in 1896, Montessori continued with her research at the Universitys psychiatric clinic, and in 1897 she was accepted as a voluntary assistant there. As part of her work, she visited asylums in Rome where she observed children with mental disabilities, observations which were fundamental to her future educational work. She also read and studied the works of 19th-century physicians and educators Jean Marc Gaspard Itard and Edouard Seguin, who greatly influenced her work. Maria was intrigued with Itards ideas and created a far more specific and organized system for applying them to the everyday education of children with disabilities. When she discovered the works of Jean Itard and Edouard Seguin they gave her a new direction in thinking and influenced her to focus on children with learning difficulties. Also in 1897, Montessori audited the University courses in pedagogy and read all the major works on educational theory of the past two hundred years. Public advocacy. In 1899 Montessori was appointed a councilor to the newly formed National League for the Protection of Retarded Children, and was invited to lecture on special methods of education for retarded children . She joined the board of the National League and was appointed as a lecturer in hygiene and anthropology at one of the two teacher-training colleges for women in Italy. Orthophrenic School. In 1900 Montessori was appointed directed of the new Orthophrenic School, a medico-pedagogical institute for training teachers in educating mentally disabled children with an attached laboratory classroom. During her two years at the school, Montessori developed methods and materials which she would later adapt to use with mainstream children. The school was an immediate success, attracting the attention of government officials from the departments of education and health, civic leaders, and prominent figures in the fields of education, psychiatry, and anthropology from the University of Rome. The children in the model classroom were drawn from ordinary schools but considered uneducable due to their deficiencies. Some of these children later passed public examinations and Montessori startled the world. 1901–1906: Further studies In 1901, Montessori left the Orthophrenic School and her private practice, and in 1902 she enrolled in the philosophy degree course at the University of Rome. She also pursued independent study in anthropology and educational philosophy, conducted observations and experimental research in elementary schools, and revisited the work of Itard and Seguin, translating their books into handwritten Italian. During this time she began to consider adapting her methods of educating mentally disabled children to mainstream education. Montessoris work developing what she would later call scientific pedagogy continued over the next few years. In 1903 and 1904, she conducted anthropological research with Italian school children, and in 1904 she was qualified as a free lecturer in anthropology for the University of Rome. She was appointed to lecture in the Pedagogic School at the University and continued in the position until 1908. Her lectures were printed as a book titled Pedagogical Anthropology in 1910. 1906–1911: Casa dei Bambini and the spread of Montessoris ideas. In 1906 Montessori was invited to oversee the care and education of a group of children of working parents in a new apartment building for low-income families in located in the worst slum district of Rome. Montessori was interested in applying her work and methods to mentally normal children, and she accepted. The name Casa dei Bambini, or Childrens House, was suggested to Montessori, and the first Montessori house opened on January 6, 1907, enrolling 60 children between the ages of two or three and six or seven. At first, the classroom was equipped with a teachers table and blackboard, a stove, small chairs, armchairs, and group tables for the children, and a locked cabinet for the materials that Montessori had developed at the Orthophrenic School. Activities for the children included personal care such as dressing and undressing, care of the environment such as dusting and sweeping, and caring for the garden. The children were also shown the use of the materials Montessori had developed. ] Montessori herself, occupied with teaching, research, and other professional activities, oversaw and observed the classroom work, but did not teach the children directly. Day-to-day teaching and care were provided, under Montessoris guidance. In this first classroom, Montessori observed behaviors in these young children which formed the foundation of her educational method. She noted episodes of deep attention and concentration, multiple repetitions of activity, and a sensitivity to order in the environment. Given free choice of activity, the children showed more interest in practical activities and Montessoris materials than in toys provided for them, and were surprisingly unmotivated by sweets and other rewards. Over time, she saw a spontaneous self-discipline emerge. Based on her observations, Montessori implemented a number of practices that became hallmarks of her educational philosophy and method. She replaced the heavy furniture with child-sized tables and chairs light enough for the children to move, and placed child-sized materials on low, accessible shelves. She expanded the range of practical activities such as sweeping and personal care to include a wide variety of exercises for care of the environment and the self, including flower arranging, hand washing, gymnastics, care of pets, and cooking. She also included large open air sections in the classroom encouraging children to come and go as they please in the rooms different areas. She felt by working independently children could reach new levels of autonomy and become self-motivated to reach new levels of understanding. Montessori also came to believe that acknowledging all children as individuals and treating them as such would yield better learning and fulfilled potential in each particular child. She continued to adapt and refine the materials she had developed earlier. She began to see independence as the aim of education, and the role of the teacher as an observer and director of childrens innate psychological development. Spread of Montessori education in Italy. The first Casa dei Bambini was a success, and a second was opened on April 7, 1907. The children in her programs continued to exhibit concentration, attention, and spontaneous self-discipline, and the classrooms began to attract the attention of prominent educators, journalists, and public figures. In the fall of 1907, Montessori began to experiment with teaching materials for writing and reading—letters cut from sandpaper and mounted on boards, moveable cutout letters, and picture cards with labels. Four- and five-year-old children engaged spontaneously with the materials and quickly gained a proficiency in writing and reading far beyond what was expected for their age. This attracted further public attention to Montessoris work. Three more Case dei Bambini opened in 1908, and in 1909 Italian Switzerland began to replace old methods with Montessori in orphanages and kindergartens. 1909–1915: International recognition and growth of Montessori education. As early as 1909, Montessoris work began to attract the attention of international observers and visitors. Her work was widely published internationally, and spread rapidly. By the end of 1911, Montessori education had been officially adopted in public schools in Italy and Switzerland, and was planned for the United Kingdom. By 1912, Montessori schools had opened in Paris and many other Western European cities, and were planned for Argentina, Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Switzerland, Syria, the United States, and New Zealand. Public programs in London, Johannesburg, Rome, and Stockholm had adopted the method in their school systems. Montessori societies were founded in the United States (the Montessori American Committee) and the United Kingdom. Highest recognition and awards . Maria Montessori was pictured on the Italian 200 lire coin and through the 1990s on the 1000 lire bill. Montessori for the Noble Peace Prize thrice. Italian 1000 Lire banknote (approx. 0. 52 â‚ ¬) representing Maria Montessori Montessori’s Death. She left the world in the Netherlands in 1952, but would always stay alive as she lives as an immortal through her method, which has helped and would continue to help children of all ages to be better human beings. She lived in old days but was definitely â€Å" A WOMAN MUCH AHEAD OF HER TIME†