I am Maria Montessori and I want to Start a School

I am Maria Montessori; I was born in a very small town in Italy named Chiaravalle. This was in the 1870’s, my family was well educated and wealthy, but because I was a girl I could only follow certain traditional expectations for a woman. The most appropriate in my era for a woman, was to become a teacher. However, I have a lot of interest in science and I really want to go to medical school and become a doctor even if I have to break tradition to pursue my dreams. I am very persistent and I know what I want from my future, who I want to be, what I want to do, but because of the status of the woman I need more powerful help. I appealed to Pope Leo XIII to help me get admitted to medical school. My dreams were ambitious and very big for my era, and because I am a woman then everything was harder. Finally I was in medical school, and I should be happy, and I was, because I was pursuing my dreams, but on the other hand I have to constantly struggle with the resentment of the male medical students and my father’s disapproval.

As time goes by, my school classmates saw my passion in everything that I was doing and how much appreciation I had for chance to have access to education. Finally I had earned respect from my classmates and everything got a little easier. I discovered an interest in pediatrics during my last two years, and in 1896 I graduated from medical school. I became the first woman in Italy to earn a medical degree and become a doctor. My first job was at the University of Rome, Psychiatric Clinic where I observed children with retardation. (Puckett & Duffy 2004) Therefore, I discovered something interesting. Because I love to observe, analyze, deduct, and see what is happening. Problems do not exist in childr...

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...ow where everything belongs and with low shelves everything is accessible for them. Anytime they can use anything if they are inspired to do something, they can use materials, and in orderly way put everything back where it belongs. I want to teach the children to be bright and orderly. I don’t mean orderly as a very clean, perfect, and untouchable and this is not child friendly. Children are unique as they are from birth. As we as adults try to put them box as we think is appropriate, we do not respect what the child feels or needs and using our power of authority we try to decide what is the best which is not always the best for the child.

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(for example, arranging classrooms with low opening shelves, and under create beauty and order in the classroom, select fine children’s books for the library). (Absorbent Minds, Maria Montessori, London, Clio Press 1949)