Montessori education has been praised by tech geniuses, nation builders, and famous artists, but does it hold up to scientific scrutiny? David Robson and Alessia Franco look into it.
It’s always tempting to look for the secrets of the rich and famous’s success when studying their lives. So here’s a thought experiment: what do Julia Child, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Taylor Swift, and Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin all have in common?
The answer is that they all went to Montessori schools when they were young. The schools’ influence in the art and technology worlds has long been recognised in the United States. However, the educational method’s reach extends far beyond that. Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi was a fan, and described how children taught with it “felt no burden of learning as they learnt everything as they played”. The Nobel Prize-winning poet Rabindranath Tagore To encourage children’s creative self-expression, a network of Montessori schools should be established.
Is the method, however, effective?
It has been more than a century since the famous principles of Italian doctor and educator Maria Montessori, who encouraged children to develop autonomy from a young age. Her story is one of an early feminist who dared to defy the Fascist regime in pursuit of her dream. According to some estimates, the Montessori method is now used in at least 60,000 schools worldwide.
Surprisingly, the benefits of a Montessori education are still being debated. This is due in part to the inherent difficulties of conducting scientific research in the classroom, which means that existing studies have been heavily criticised by sceptics. Researchers have only recently been able to resolve some of these issues, and their findings make for fascinating reading for teachers, parents, students, and anyone else who is fascinated by the malleability of the infant mind.
Playing with breadcrumbs
Montessori was born in 1870 in the small Italian town of Chiaravalle to progressive parents who frequently socialised with the country’s leading thinkers and scholars. Montessori had many advantages over other young girls at the time because of her enlightened family environment.
“Her mother’s support was critical for some important decisions, such as her enrollment in a technical school after her elementary education,” says Elide Taviani, a member of the board of directors of the Opera Nazionale Montessori in Rome, Italy – the organisation Montessori founded to research and promote her educational methods. Her parents’ support was also critical in her decision to study medicine, a field dominated by men.
Taviani adds, “Maria Montessori’s family was always extremely sensitive to social issues.” such as the fight for female emancipation, which Montessori would carry on into adulthood. “She served as an important model for other women of the time.”
Montessori began working as a volunteer assistant in a psychiatric clinic at the University of Rome shortly after graduating, in 1896, where she cared for children with learning disabilities. The rooms were sparsely furnished, with only a few pieces of furniture. According to Catherine L’Ecuyer, a researcher in psychology and education at the University of Navarra in Spain and author of The Wonder Approach, she discovered the children enthusiastically playing with breadcrumbs that had fallen on the floor one day. “It then occurred to her that the cause of some intellectual disabilities could be linked to poverty.” Montessori concluded that with the right learning materials, these and other young minds could be nurtured. The observation inspired Montessori to create a new educational method centred on providing optimal stimulation during the sensitive periods of childhood.
The principle at its heart was that all learning materials should be child-sized and designed to appeal to all senses. Furthermore, each child should be free to move and act, as well as use their creativity and problem-solving skills. Teachers acted as guides, guiding the children without coercion or control.
Montessori’s first “Casa dei Bambini” – “Children’s House” – opened in 1907, and it quickly spawned many more. She also developed friendships with visionaries from all over the world, including Gandhi. Surprisingly, when the Fascists took power in Italy in 1922, they initially supported her movement. However, they quickly came to oppose the emphasis on children’s freedom of expression. Montessori’s values had always been about human respect and “the rights of children and women,” according to Taviani, “but the Fascists wanted to exploit her work and her fame.”
When the Fascist regime attempted to influence the educational content of the schools, Montessori and her son decided to leave Italy in 1934. Only in 1947 did she return to her homeland, and she continued to write about and develop her method until her death in 1952, at the age of 81.
Children in charge
There are many different types of Montessori schools today, not all of which are recognised by Opera Montessori, but certain fundamental principles have not changed. One concept is that teachers should act as gentle guides, encouraging children to complete activities with as little adult interference as possible.
“Our children learn to self-manage,” says Miriam Ferro, headteacher of the Ecoscuola Montessori in Palermo, Sicily, which accepts children as young as six months old.
Math and music are two subjects taught at Ecoscuola that are similar to those taught in other pre-schools and schools. However, there is a section called “practical life” that harkens back to Montessori’s original vision of children’s autonomy. It includes real-world practical tasks like serving drinks to their classmates. Teachers would be in charge of boiling the water for safety reasons, but the children would take active roles in cleaning the work surface and presenting the drinks to others. “They are also self-directed during breakfast and lunch, taking turns laying the table and serving their classmates,” Ferro says.
The method promotes both independence and collaboration. Children of various ages are taught together in the same classroom, so that six-year-olds, for example, can assist three-year-olds. To avoid competition among students, there are no tests or grades. Each session lasts three hours in order for the children to fully immerse themselves in what they are doing. The learning materials are designed to be handled and explored with all of the senses, such as sandpaper letters and numbers that the child can trace with their finger.