Montessori Essay

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DISCUSSION PAPER Maria Montessori: The Woman and The Method Many schools and teachers from around the world claim to follow the "Montessori Method," an 'auto-education' method conceptualized by Maria Montessori for young children, primarily from the ages of three to six (although, in more recent years, the Method been expanded in some places to accommodate both older children as well as adults). The Method focuses on "the pupil’s liberty as the basis for developing independence, his freedom to work when and for as long as he wants to on a given task and to progress at his own rate" (Kramer, 1976:295-6). Not only did Montessori alter the way schools viewed children’s learning, she also transformed the role of the teacher to that of an observing facilitator at the back of the classroom. She spent many years traveling around the world, including India, and received many eager students who wanted to learn the Montessori Method and establish their own schools. Her ideas were not influenced much by her interactions with many different people, nor by the major economic, political and societal changes of the first half of the 20th century. Indeed the Montessori Method changed little during her lifetime. The first part of this paper highlights the basic ideas and principles of the Montessori Method. The second part of the paper analyzes a questionnaire distributed to teachers and parents at a function held in honor of Maria Montessori’s birthday at Vidya Bhawan, Udaipur, Rajasthan, on 31 August 1999. Although many said that they were not officially Montessori trained or did not know much about Montessori, 20 questionnaires were completed. Lastly, a framework for looking at early childhood education programs in general will be used to critically analyze the Montessori Method and its approach to learning and development. At one level, this paper seeks to clarify the basic
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