Basic Tenets of Montessori as Applied to the Elementary Level

Abstract

This paper explores Dr. Montessori’s often-used word, “help” as the foundation of the Montessori philosophy. The implementation of other tenets of the Montessori philosophy rests on the true understanding of help. I will explore the many ways in which she instructs and illustrates what help looks like in a Montessori elementary classroom. It is through this exploration too that supporting tenets are revealed.

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Dr. Montessori Eliminates the ‘Method’ – The First and Fundamental Principle

Almost immediately in her book The Formation of Man, Dr. Montessori asks the reader to dismiss the Montessori Method as a specific recipe to be followed or set of steps to be implemented. She says, “If we were to eliminate not only the name ‘Method’ but also its common conception, things would become much clearer. We must consider the human personality and not a method of education. For the word ‘Method’ we should substitute something like this: ‘Help given in order that the human personality may achieve its independence,’ or ‘means offered to deliver the human personality from the oppression of age-old prejudices regarding education” (2007b, p. 6).

In working with children at the Elementary level then, we can approach the work less dogmatically and more developmentally. We know from Dr. Montessori’s and our observations that the Elementary child’s personality has entered a new plane of development and we consider the psychological characteristics of this plane. We consider the ways in which the Human Tendencies are operative in this plane of development and how the psychological characteristics express themselves. We are keenly aware of the power of the reasoning mind paired with the imagination that will allow the Elementary child to bring the world into her awareness and to ask how she may be an active and grateful member of that world. 

To the question of education’s role in a child’s life, Dr. Montessori answers, “To help life: this is the first and fundamental principle” (2007b, p. 16). It is then, through the remainder of her work and life that she observes, reports, and instructs the practice of helping life. Her practice defines ‘help’ so that education is brought from a place of ignorance of self-construction or forced, arbitrary instruction to a place that allows for natural, psychic development in the right conditions (2007b, p. 16). Mario Montessori gives a two-pronged explanation that allows us to dig into what it is that defines help: “…The essence of that [Montessori] method is: ‘to help the development of the child and help the child to adapt himself to the conditions of the present’” (1956, p. 14).

Development of the Child

“To care for, and keep awake, the guide within every child is therefore a matter of first importance” (1995, p. 101). In the Elementary, the teacher will help the child by remembering that the child is still in the process of self-construction and that she has been indirectly prepared to do the work of mind and character from her time in the Casa. We especially keep awake the guide in every child by acknowledging that her psychological characteristics have changed as she enters the second plane of development. We keep the guide awake by stoking her imagination, by telling an awesome story of the universe, and by offering freedom to undertake big work with peer interaction. “We do not want complacent pupils, but eager ones; we seek to sow life in the child rather than theories, to help him in his growth, mental, emotional, as well as physical…” (2007c, p. 11). 

In consideration of how a teacher might help a child in the Elementary, it is clear that observation plays the most crucial role in understanding the development. With our knowledge of the human tendencies and changing psychological characteristics of the second plane child, we watch to see how these take hold of a child’s work and how the reasoning mind and imagination propel the child forward on her journey. It is only through observation first that we can synthesize what the child is showing and turn it into a well-timed presentation, suggestion for follow-up, conference opportunity, or teachable moment.

We must ask how our role is honoring the child’s tendencies and characteristics. With a group of children for whom communication is not only their tendency but way of working in groups, solving problems of justice, and creating connections within a peer group, we must help the children’s communication by giving them as much opportunity to communicate as possible. With the tendency to order and classify, our help in planting seeds about classification in biology and language, will allow the children to gather details and mentally organize them. The child’s need for independence within a social group and away from her core family unit is helped with the Elementary Going Out program.

Adaptation to the Environment

Mario Montessori recounts his mother’s words: “We must give the children not only the world, but also a clear picture of mankind in the world. So a) How the world functions and b) How mankind is affected by the functions of this world are the two basic factors” (1956, p. 2-3). In the Elementary, we give the children a picture of the universe first, in our telling of the Great Stories. The essence of Cosmic Education lies in the presentation of the whole and the integration of the individual in context. We also ask the children to consider the fundamental needs of humans across time and geography. By framing lessons in the context of the connection and affects between and of mankind, we as teachers help the elementary child to adapt to her cosmic environment. 

As the child before six absorbs the immediate environment to adapt to the environment, group, and present time she is born into, the child after six incarnates the world (1956, p. 2). The prepared environment of the Elementary classroom must not then be the only environment offered to the elementary child. While the classroom is prepared to allow for movement, outfitted with sensorial materials and raw materials for the children’s use, and dressed with hints of the information and wonder the world has to offer, it is not the end. The Elementary classroom is just the beginning for a six to twelve year old. For a child to incarnate the world, he must go out into the world and adapt there too. 

Dr. Montessori, in her book Education For a New World, tells a story about how the explosion into writing in the first Casa dei Bambini was the catalyst to commit to greater observation and develop the science based on direct perception rather than intuition (2007a, p. 56). She notes that the writing came after the indirect preparation of the organs of writing and then adds “It is essential to [indirectly] prepare the environment for children, and to give them that freedom wherein the soul can expand its powers” (2007a, p. 56). It is integral then for the Elementary to help the child not only by preparing the physical environment but also to offer the freedom that will indirectly prepare them for adventures in the world they share with other human beings.

In her book The Formation of Man Dr. Montessori instructs about help that it is, “…given in order that the human personality may achieve its independence” (2007b, p. 6). The Elementary child seeks independence in movement and more complex personal tasks, independence from family attachment, and independence granted within the child’s social arrangement. We can help the Elementary child in her quest for independence by allowing her to pursue the work she finds most interesting while also holding her accountable for the work that society asks her to have comprehended. We offer opportunities for group work for the child to find her independence within and among her peer and work groups. It is through the interaction with her peers that she exercises the new psychological characteristics of her development – an intense penchant for loyalty and serving justice, the herd instinct that directs the child to form bonds with the new group, and an evolving sense of what is right.

To touch the imagination of the child, we present the Great Stories. Then, in isolation, we also give keys to the world. Whether these keys given are through the use of impressionistic charts, actual timelines, grace and courtesy reenactments, or exposure to classic art, literature, or philosophy, it is the work of the teacher to help the children adapt to the world they live in.

Conclusion

While it is possible to identify many themes in her body of work, Dr. Montessori rejects that she has created a method and insists that her work is based on observation. It is through the observation of the child’s unhindered development and society’s respect for the child’s self-construction that we as educators begin to see how our involvement or non-involvement can help the Elementary child in her pursuit of independence in the world.

References

Montessori, Maria (2007a). Education for a new world. Amsterdam, Netherlands:  Montessori-Pierson Publishing Company. (Original work published in 1946).

Montessori, Maria (1995). The absorbent mind. New York, New York: Henry Holt and Company. 

Montessori, Maria (2007b). The formation of man. Amsterdam, Netherlands:  Montessori-Pierson Publishing Company. (Original work published in 1955).

Montessori, Maria (2007c). To educate the human potential. Amsterdam, Netherlands:  Montessori-Pierson Publishing Company. (Original work published in 1948).

Montessori, Mario (1956). The human tendencies and Montessori education. Amsterdam,  Netherlands: Association Montessori Internationale.