“We cannot teach children from three to six years of age. We can but observe them with intelligence and follow their development. Growth comes from activity, not from intellectual understanding. What the child achieves between three and six does not depend on doctrine but on a divine directive which guides his spirit to construction. These are the germinal origins of human behaviour and they can only evolve in the right surroundings of freedom and order”.
(Montessori, M. (1998) The Absorbent Mind Oxford: Clio Press)
Any child educator is familiar with a child’s stages of development, whether they were learned from Piaget’s directions on the 4 universal stages of cognitive development (Sensorimotor, 0-2, Preoperational 2-7, Concrete Operational 7-11 and Formal Operational Stage 11 years and over) or from Jung’s developmental theory (Childhood, Puberty to young adulthood and Middle age). Inspired by their work and research Maria Montessori divised her own stages of development or growth, often referred to as ‘planes of development’ (Standing, 1984).
The first plane of development referred to as the Absorbent Mind refers to the birth to 6 years age span and is subdivided into the spiritual sub-stage (0-3 years) and social embryonic (3 to 6 years). The sensitive periods characteristic to this plane of development are driven by the ‘hormic’ impulse (“Horme is the Greek spirit personifying energetic activity, impulse or effort, eagerness, setting oneself in motion […] The name ‘horme’ was adopted by Sir Percy Nunn to refer to all the purposive behaviours of an organism – whether conscious or not (http://englishdictionary.education/en/horme)) and develop from an initial unconscious interest for order, small objects, movement and language all the way to the conscious shift of the refinement of the senses, social awareness and problem solving thinking.
The innate and genetic traits or ‘human tendencies’ specific to this stage range from Maslow’s basic need for food and shelter correlated with the tendency to explore, orientation and exploration all the way to the top of the pyramid of needs where communication and development of language touch on the self fulfillment needs.
If we judge strictly by the definition of the environment which refers to the surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal or plant lives and by the definition of favourable which is to the advantage of someone or something, we are stuck within a linear understanding of a concept which in fact extends its meaning out to a life style. However, if we bring the child to the favourable environment we can think about a holistic development supported by these two factors in the main areas of physical, intellectual, emotional, linguistic and social implication.
Bringing Maria Montessori’s philosophy into the description, then a favourable environment refers to exploration, investigation, problem solving, freedom within limits and autonomous learning. Standing (1984, p 263) considered the environment to be ‘the 3rd factor in education’, alongside with the teacher and the material objects offered to meet children’s needs.
However, in a traditional school and non democratic society the environment was very often very confining both from a material and a psychological point of view. Let us consider a communist classroom which, I too, survived for 13 years of education and then an extra 4 years during University: the stationary desks and benches, the isolation of children who had to sit alone or in pairs of two, for prolonged periods of time (50 minutes per hour, 4 to 8 hours a day), without being allowed to move or disturb the class. In front of the rows of benches sat one imposing teacher who used a blackboard to impart knowledge accompanied by verbal instruction. The same teacher was allowed to use threats, corporal, verbal or grade marking punishment and even humiliation to control the classroom. The teaching was a one-size-fits-all approach and it aimed at producing obedient ‘wheels’ in the communist social machinery.
Furthermore, in a world dominated by adults children had little opportunity to express themselves. Even to this date children are hurried, are constantly helped to dress, have put shoes on by rushed adults which is deviating a child from his/her natural path towards autonomy. Ironically parents wish to have independent children, but the children’s upbringing is far from the objective. Kids are kept ‘good’, ‘well behaved’ and ‘convenient’ with toys or TV distractions and not allowed to help out in the house or explore as the adults get annoyed with how long it takes or with the quality of the work done.
On the opposite, a Montessori classroom environment changes the nature of children’s learning and the teacher’s role. Child is free to act on impulse, to choose an activity and repeat it until s/he decides to have exhausted his/her interest. Children are not taught, they are helped in their own learning, at their own pace by the teacher as a facilitator and not as a controller.
When a child has the opportunity to choose what s/he has a sensitivity for at a certain time, then the vitality and the pleasure with which s/he is performing the activity nurtures an inner satisfaction at the development of a particular skill. The sense of achievement becomes then internal and there is absolutely no need for external motivators under the form of charts, stickers and the overused verbal ‘well done’.
Considering the importance of movement in a child’s brain development and his/her sensitive period for the same, the environment needs to provide plenty of opportunities to perfect the skill. As the child evolves from a sensitivity to small objects and to order for the safety provided by predictability, s/he then moves on to language, refinement of senses and ultimately to the social aspects of life, hence the need for an environment to protect an harmonious holistic development of the individual.
Remembering the communist classroom I grew up in, the desks and benches were stationary, uncomfortable and the 50 minutes of having to sit still for and listen to the central ‘piece’ conducting the silent orchestra of children seemed like an eternity. The children did not choose where they sat, the teacher did on various criteria: kids with eye glasses would sit at the front. Same for ‘naughty’ and overly talkative children, thus becoming easier to supervise, frown upon and punished for their moving feet.
On the opposite, a Montessori classroom should be built with the ‘lilliputan’ concept in mind, where the teacher, Gulliver, builds a miniature wonderland for his student, Alice, after she will have drunk the magic shrinking potion from her miniature cup.
The child sized moveable furniture, the low cupboards, the miniature sinks and toilets are meant to recreate the adults’ world at child’s level. Paying attention to safety and hygiene to meet the child sensitivity to order, the children’s house (quite ad literam in Montessori’s view) also prides natural light and access to a garden.
Having the freedom to choose whether to sit a table or on a floor mat, the Montessori child is already won on the cooperation side. The natural sun light and the miniature world, the simplicity of the minimalist furniture style, all create a cosy, warm feeling of the child being at ‘casa’ (it. at home) rather than in a building where education is imposed as an obligation and not a choice.
In order to strengthen the sense of security whilst being in this home, the environment needs to provide predictability supported by order and the rule of maintaining this order: the Montessori child will soon learn that the main rule is to place everything back on the shelf after s/he has finished playing with it. Not only does s/he feel safe in a predictable environment, but both his/her mental and physical development are better organised.
In standard education the segregation of classrooms on precise age groups does not leave room for creating the family environment which a Montessori mixed class of 3 to 6 year olds nurtures. Take my daughter pediatrician’s family in Romania for example: he has 11 children, the oldest being 14 and the youngest 2 years old. One visit in their home will leave you with a sense of magic that will follow you forever: they co- sleep, eat together, greet the visitors together and look after each other. The older children grow an inner sense of responsibility, whilst the younger children thrive on the feeling of being cared for by their role models.
Whilst to an untrained eye the Montessori education seems to be this children’s wonderland with no rules and no discipline, where children have too much freedom and independence as the teacher does not get involved in the process of educating, the truth is that for once, the education no longer has the teacher as the central piece dictating the knowledge, but the child dictating knowledge himself to himself.
So, how does the Montessori teacher manage to teach these children anything? Will the children not remain “behind” if they do not study and tick the average development criteria boxes?
The Montessori teacher would carry a lot of inner analysis and personal growth work all the time. S/he will constantly need to remind herself of her/his importance in the process of teaching children: any remains of the ‘genetic’ traits of the universal teacher, authoritarian, loud, angry and impatient, must be scrutinized and replaced with a more humble and observing as well as serving attitude. Trusting the child and following her/him in the process of ‘normalisation’, the Montessori teacher is like a silent ice skater slowly gliding from one child to another, from a corner of the classroom to another, to assist where required, to observe where not required, to invite and to subtly monitor the classroom. Not only does this respectful observation require a lot of patience, it also requires a lot of energy and concentration to be in the right place at the right time.
I believe that the biggest challenge for any person who desires to become a Montessori teacher is learning to observe and not intervene. Finding the patience to wait before you act is of a crucial importance. If a teacher sees him/herself as a tool to serve the child’s independence, then s/he will not interrupt a child if s/he is concentrating on work, but would observe, take notes and move to a child that does need the teacher.
Whilst we looked heavily on the positive aspects of the Montessori education, I believe that the main concern remains preparing the Montessori children for ‘real’ life. From my personal experience of a mother who has seen her daughter severely struggle to cope and adapt to the state schooling after having been a Montessori child for 18 months, my main worry is that there is not enough confidence and support in the Montessori education, hence the lack of strength, exposure and affordability to the larger groups of people.
This therefore creates a ‘bubble’ environment where children are taught empathy, are treated with respect, are given the freedom to choose, are not manipulated through rewards and punishment, but the moment they step out into the world outside the bubble, they are met with the hostility of the ‘it’s a jungle out there’ type of world: bullying, mean children, competition, lack of job security etc.
The Montessori education becomes thus available to families who can afford the financial costs of placing their children in an alternative method of education, families who can also afford to secure a future to their children later in time.
However, I am a true believer that the more of us learn to become Montessori teachers or learn to use the Montessori philosophy, the more we spread the ‘movement’ and touch the lives of children in a beautiful way.
Creating a positive learning environment for the children will nurture their ‘horme’, Montessori making this a central point of her thinking, stressing that the behaviour of the child is driven by an inner urge to self construct, to become the adult they were destined to be.
“If you can’t be a highway then just be a trail,
If you can’t be the sun be a star;
It isn’t by size that you win or you fail–Be the best of whatever you are!”
(Douglas Malloch)
