Montessori Method

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Recommended: Theory and philosophy of Maria Montessori

method appears in action and the process of skill acquisition taking place within the student.
The Montessori Method of Education
This method was developed by Dr. Maria Montessori in the early 1900’s and evolved over time to become known worldwide. It was revolutionary for its time and continues to hold a unique position in the arena of education.
The Origins
The Montessori Australia website reports that Maria Montessori was born August 31st, 1870 in Chiaravalle, Italy (Montessori Australia [MA], 2013). She attended and graduated from the Regio Instituto Technico Leonardo da Vinci where she had intended to study engineering. Upon graduation she, at the resistance of her parents, pursued the study of medicine. This difficult task of admission into the all-male arena of study was accomplished by the intersession of Pope Leo XIII. Montessori was the first woman to enter medical school in Italy. Her national notoriety began when she graduated and qualified as the first Italian woman doctor in the year 1896. As part of her work in 1897 she volunteered to join a research program at the University of Rome psychiatric clinic. It was during this period that she became aware of the desperate condition of children in the asylum and the deprivation in which they were existing. It was this deprivation that led to her initial investigation into mental retardation and sensory stimulation. She became interested in the works of two Frenchmen, Jean-Marc Itard and Edouard Seguin, a student of his. Itard had developed a system of education through the senses and Seguin had adapted this for mainstream education of children. Their work with sensory stimulation, respect for the child, apparatus and equipment to help the development of se...

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...environment for it. While we see approximately 20,000 Montessori schools around the world today (AMS, 2013), the number of classrooms that use her techniques in some form are too numerous to know. This legacy of respect and trust in children as naturally curious and motivated learners is one of great importance and worthy of study for anyone working with young children.

Works Cited

Montessori Australia web site (2013). Retrieved 12:55 September 23, 2013 from http://montessori.org.au/montessori/biography.htm

American Montessori Society web site (2013). Retrieved 9/23/2013 https://www.amshq.org/Montessori-Education/History-of-Montessori-Education.aspx Montessori, M. (1912), by Fredrick A Stokes Company. The Montessori Method Scientific Pedagogy as Applied to Child Education in “The Children’s Houses” [Kindle HD version]. Retrieved from Amazon.com

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