Maria Montessori

MARIA MONTESSORI
Prepared By
DR.S.PRAKASH
Principal
Thiagarajar College of Preceptors
Madurai
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A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF TODAY'S
EDUCATORS

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Biography
* She was born in Italy in 1870.
* She graduated from the medical school in 1896.
Became the first female physician in Italy.
* During her medical practice she found that children
themselves tend to learn from what they find in their
environment.
* Later on, she studied the subjects Philosophy and
Psychology and became the professor of
Anthropology.
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Biography…..
• She was however interested in innovations in
school education.
• She began her work with sixty children of working
parents in Rome and founded the first “Children's
House”.
• It was here that the Montessori Method of
education was developed.
• She established training centres in North
America, Europe and India,
• She died in the Netherlands in 1952.
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Her work with Mentally Deficient
Children….
• She came into contact with a group of
mentally deficient children in the “lunatic
asylum.”
• She felt their treatment should be educational
rather than mental.
• She used curative pedagogy and cured their
mental deficiency.
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Her work with Normal children…..
• She wanted to try her scientific methods in
educating normal children in primary schools.
• She felt convinced that her methods
contained certain elements which were likely
to benefit the development of normal children
as well.
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Her work with children of slum areas
• In 1907, She was invited , as a social worker ,
to take some interest in a group of slum
children of illiterate and poverty stricken
parents.
• Her interest in Experimental Psychology
prompted her to use these young children for
a psychological experiments.
• She was able to transform the children.
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Supervisor of schools
• In 1907, she received an offer from the Director
of Roman Association for Good Buildings to
supervise some schools.
• Children between the age of 3 and 7 whose
parents were mostly out at work and who were
neglected and made all sorts of nuisance in their
absence attended such schools.
• It was named the “Children’s House”.
• She developed a novel method of educating
children through a process of sense training.
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Inspectress of Infant Schools…..
• She was appointed as Inspectress of Infant
Schools by the Government of Italy in 1922.
• She began to impart training to teachers in the
new method discovered by her.
• Teachers from other countries of Europe,
Including England, received training.
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Her Running , Away from Italy….
• Mussolini came to power to Italy and wanted
to educate the children for war.
• Montessori who was an ardent supporter of
child’s freedom could not work under such a
regime.
• So she was obliged to run away from there
and proceed to Holland where she founded a
school
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Her Visit to India….
• She came to India in 1939 and remained here
upto 1951.
• She spent her time in propagating her new
method and training teachers for small
children according to her method in Madras.
• She returned to Holland in 1951 and breathed
her last there in 1952.
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Books written
• The Discovery of Child
• Education for new world
• To Educate the human potential
• The secret of childhood
• The Child, Peace and Education
• Reconstruction in Education
• The Absorbent Mind
• What you should know about your child
• Child Training
• The Montessori Method.
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Educational Principles
1.Development from within
• Education of the child is from within.
• Education must help in the complete
unfolding of the child’s individuality.
• Suitable environment should be provided so
that the child may grow and develop the
potentialities that he has within him
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2.The Doctrine of Freedom of
Liberty…..
• It is the outcome of the concept of education
as development.
• There should be no hindrance or interference
in the way of child’s growth and development.
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3.Principle of Individual development
• Every child is peculiar in himself.
• He progresses in his own speed and rate.
• Collective method of teaching crush his
individuality
• She treats each child as a separate individual
• She recommends that he should be helped
and guided in a manner that helps in his
proper growth and development.
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4.Principle of Self-Education
• She believes that self education is the only
true education
• The child should remain undistributed by
adult interference.
• She has devised the didactic apparatus which
attracts the attention of the children.
• It keeps them busy spontaneously.
• It leads them to learn the power of
movements, reading ,writing etc.
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5.Principle of Sense Training…
• Our senses are the gateways of knowledge
and therefore on their training and
development depends the acquisition of
knowledge throughout life.
• Senses are very active between the age of 3
and 7 and that a lot of learning takes place
during this period.
• Sensory training is the key to intellectual
development.
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6.Principle of Muscular Training….
• Muscular facilitates other activities like
writing, drawing, speaking etc.
• She takes muscular activity as purely
physiological in character.
• She stresses that running, walking etc. all
depend on muscular training.
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7. The teacher as directress….
She replaces the word ‘teacher’ by the word
‘directress’ as she thinks that the function of
the teacher is to direct and not to teach.
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8. No Place for Fairy Tales……
She would like to banish fairy stories from the
curriculum of young children since these tend
to confuse children and hinder them in the
process of adjusting themselves to the real
world.
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9.No materials rewards and
punishments….
The incentives are unnatural or forced effort
and the development that comes with their
help in the process of adjusting themselves to
the real world.
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Functions of the Teacher…
• Teacher as Gardener: The teacher should care for
the child like a gardener who cares for the plant
so that the natural growth of the child is properly
guided and aided.
• Knowledge of each child: The teacher should
have an intimate knowledge of the mind and
character of each individual. She should keep the
physiological records of each child’s development
,his weight, height and other measurements
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• The Directress and not the Teacher: She
insists and the Directress should have an
extensive knowledge of psychology and
laboratory techniques.
• Doctor cum Scientist cum Missionary: Like a
doctor she should avoid scolding and be
sympathetic. Like scientist should wait
patiently for the results. Like religious lady,
she should be there to serve the child.
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• Faith in the personality of the child: She
should provide children with suitable
opportunities to think for themselves.
• Moral Qualities: She must acquire moral
alertness, patience, love and humility. She
must banish anger which is a great sin and
which prevents from understanding the child.
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Children’s house
There are many rooms in children’s house
• Study room
• Common room
• Lunch room
• Rest rooms
• Room for manual work
• Gymnasium
• Lavatory
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Children’s house
• Rooms equipped according to the needs of
the children
• Tables and chairs are specially made for the
children
• Sofas of different shapes and long row
cupboards are provided
• Children keep didactic apparatus in the cup
board and their things in little drawer
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Children’s house
• Blackboards are fixed in the walls on which
the children draw or paste pictures of
different kinds according to their own
interests.
• The students are provided with flowers , toys,
pictures , indoor games etc.
• Lunch room contains low tables, chairs ,
spoons , knives and tumblers etc.
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Children’s house
• The children are provided with their own little
shelf in the drawing room where they keep their
soap and towel for washing.
• There is a small garden also which is looked after
by the students themselves
• Shelters are provided in the garden so that they
can enjoy the open air can play and work there,
may take rest or sleep.
• They may have their lunch there if they please to
do so.
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Aims of Education…
• Montessori was particularly concerned about
children who were below the age of 12.
• According to her, Education should help the
process of full development of the physical
and individual characteristics of the child.
• Suitable environment to be provided so that
the child develops its potentialities.
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Method of Education
• Children could manipulate suitable materials
from the surroundings and effortlessly and
spontaneously absorb knowledge from them.
• Children teach themselves in the suitable
environment.
• The environment should accordingly be
prepared to the child.
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Prepared Environment
• Children’s House represents the prepared
environment.
• It enables the children to perform various tasks
which include thinking about relationships.
• It also provides occasions for introducing social
relationships through interactions.
• Spelling rules for example are not merely
memorized but are derived through recognition
of patterns.
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Three types of Exercises
Three types of exercises that are provided in the
children’s school are
1. Exercises in practical life.
2. Sense training exercises
3. Didactic exercises for teaching language and
arithmetic
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1.Exercises in practical life
• Helpful for motor education
• Imparted in connection with movements of
walking , sitting and holding objects.
• The care of child’s own body, managing the
house hold affairs , gardening and manual
work and rhythematic movements provide
motor education.
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1.Exercises in practical life…..
• Purpose is to make the child self reliant and
independent.
• Activities include washing , ironing and
decoration of flowers.
• They learn how to use their own soaps and
towels, comb their hair, cut their nails and
brush their teeth.
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1.Exercises in practical life…..
• They are required to sweep their rooms, clean
the furniture , and arrange it , as they like.
• They take turns in various house hold
activities , learn by imitation and overcome
the difficulties in the process of learning.
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2. Sensory Training
Purpose
1. For perception of size
2. For perception of colour
Apparatus
• Series of wooden cylinders
varying in height, diameter
are both. Blocks and rods of
varying sizes
• Pink cubes ,brown prisms,
green and alternately red
and blue rods and colored
tables etc.
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2.Sensory Training
Purpose
3.For perception of form
4. For discrimination in weight
5. For discrimination in touch
6.For discrimination in sound
Apparatus
• Geometrical insets in metal
wood drawer.
• Tables of wood similar in
size but different in weight.
• Rectangular tables with
rough and smooth surface.
• Cylindrical boxes containing
different substances.
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Method to be Employed
• Association of the sensory percept with the
name , “This is red”
• Recognition of the object, “Give me the red”
• Recalling the name of the object, “What is
this?”
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3. Didactic apparatus
• According to Montessori, Writing is a purely
mechanical activity and reading partly
intellectual.
a)Teaching of writing – three factors involved
1. Movement which help in reproducing the
forms of letters.
2. Manipulation of pen
3.Use of sand paper.
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3. Didactic apparatus ….
The Didactic apparatus for teaching language
and arithmetic consists of the following
1. Two sloping disks and various iron rods
2. Cards on which sand paper letters are placed
3. Two alphabets of coloured card board of
different sizes
4. A series of cards which are pasted sand paper
figure
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3. Didactic apparatus ….
5. A series of large cards bearing the same
figures in smooth paper for the enumeration
of numbers above ten
6. Two boxes with small sticks for counting
7. The volume of drawings belonging specially to
the method and coloured pencils
8. The frames of lacing, buttoning etc which are
used for motor education of the hand.
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Art of writing
• According to Montessori, muscular skills
would develop easily and precede the
intellectual skills. Reading is partly intellectual.
Therefore the child should first involve in the
activity of writing.
• The letters in the alphabet are cut in a paper
and pasted on cardboards. The child has to
pass the fingers on them.
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Art of Reading
• Names of the familiar objects are written on a
card.
• The child has to utter them slowly and then
has to read them quickly.
• He can then attach the cards appropriately
with the corresponding objects.
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Practice in numbers
• A long stair with a set of rods varying in length
is used.
• The stair is divided into alternate red and blue
parts
• The child will first learn to arrange rods of
different sizes and then counts till red and
blue parts.
• Association, recognition and recall are
involved.
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Merits
• Gives important place to child
• Based on scientific grounds
• Individual teaching
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Limitations
• Too much importance to didactic apparatus
• More importance to Biological aspects and
less on psychological.
• Belief in transfer of training.
• Lack of suitable teachers
• Very expensive.
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Points of Similarity
Montessori & Froebel
• Recognition of the importance of Nursery
Education.
• Education as development from within
• Love and affection for the child
• Stress on sense training.
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Points of Contrast
Froebel’s Kindergarten Method
• Based on Philosophical
background
• Scope for development of
imagination
• More scope for social
development
• Classroom teaching
• Sense training through gifts
Montessori Method
• Based on Scientific
background
• No scope
• Less scope for social
development
• Individual learning
• Sense training through
didactic apparatus
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Points of Contrast…..
Froebel’s Kindergarten Method
• Emphasis on Play way
• Importance on manual
activites
• The teacher as a leader
• Easily applicable
• Not a detailed system
Montessori Method
• Self corrective apparatus
• Importance on daily
activities
• The teacher as a directress
• The Apparatus is
indispensable
• Detailed system
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Review
• Biography
• Books
• Educational principles
• Functions of the teacher
• Children’s house
• Three types of Exercises
• Merits
• Limitations
• Similarities and contrast of Montessori and
Froebel.
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Thank
You 68
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Maria Montessori

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