Why Montessori Education is Better

Why Montessori Education is Better

Originally posted by me on FB, May 11, 2009 at 12:39am

Some years ago, I read a newspaper article about the life story of a child prodigy. Apparently as a young teenager, he was attending a nearby university. The accompanying photo showed his mother standing behind him, putting books into the backpack he was wearing. The article went on to explain how well this teen was doing in college and how his mother would wait in the hall during classes and support him in his studies.

It made me wonder how we define success and intelligence. Was this child really successful academically if he depended extensively on his mother to organize himself? I remembered my first year in college, after struggling through high school. I watched other students, who arrived with better grades than me, drop out or lose their scholarships because they were not able to independently schedule their time to do homework, housework, and attend classes.

Learning that encompasses all aspects of growth
In Montessori, our main goal is not academic intelligence, but educating the whole child. This means we expect a lot more than a typical Elementary school. We expect your child to take initiative in learning. We expect the children to clean up after themselves and keep their classroom environment clean and orderly. We expect the children to set goals and reflect on their progress. This makes a lot more work for the teacher, who must monitor every child’s individual plan and give lessons and guidance as needed to support each child for success, but the work pays off later as the child takes control of those things and learns those life skills through personal experience.

As a teacher, I never cease to be amazed by the power of the child on a daily basis. Yesterday, some children were interested in counting and sorting marbles and turned this activity into works in fractions, graphing and area. Last week a child independently figured out how the algebraic patterns built into the materials can be used to solve calculations involving reducing fractions to their lowest terms. She later learned even more as she taught other children her discoveries.

Freedom and responsibility
This year, I have had the satisfaction of watching students make plans and learn further lessons as they carried them out, like a scientist testing her hypothesis. Whether a child has a plan to earn money, present literature, or establish order, all children learn most deeply when given a structure for success within a safe learning environment that allows choice and accountability. Higher level thinking skills mix with basic skills as children follow their ideas to fruition. Over the years I have watched students make plans for trips, meeting with adults or calling businesses on their own, creating lesson plans to teach other students, making product or business plans and other types of student-initiated work that becomes the child's own cherished possession.

Cooperative and collaborative improvement vs. coercion
No child is perfect, not even in a Montessori system. Perfection is a process we continue to refine even as adults. Borrowing a line from my voice teacher, I tell my students that “practice makes permanent,” meaning that the habits we have now will stay unless we make corrections. As problems arise, we strive to help each child find his own way to solve them. We encourage cooperative learning and collaborative conflict resolution. It is our goal that our children will be prepared to handle greater challenges that will come later . This happens through all the lessons we teach not only in the content areas, but also the social areas in our daily interactions.

Cooperative learning takes guidance in the beginning to become successful. Lessons are given initially in simpler settings that we hope will transfer into the larger world; we will never know until we step back and let the children practice. Sometimes it is hard to do this when we see children doing things incorrectly. Will they figure it out on there own, or do I as a teacher need to provide further guidance? As adults, it seems easier to correct children's mistakes as they are happening rather than approaching them as an opportunity to empower and enlighten. 

I am still learning the difference between correction and empowerment everyday in how I choose to respond to such opportunities for improvement. For example, after sitting at lunch with my upper elementary children, I discovered their table manners fell far short. My first response would have been to “constructively” criticize at each wrong turn, but instead I turned it into a lesson. At the end of the lesson, the children were so proud of knowing things like how to properly butter a roll, that they continued supporting each other in this, even when were not given butter knives at future meals! 

Failure can foster growth
A favorite line from the secret garden musical, says, “getting lost, is how you learn” That is exactly what happened when during our class trip as I watched 2 children having a disagreement that seemed impassable because one child would not budge. At one point, I stepped in, which only made things worse. The next day, this child didn't follow directions and her camera fell into the rocks of the jetty and completely disappeared. That was a lesson in and of itself! But it got better as the other girl she saw as her enemy came to her aid; burying her hands in the grimy rocks until she found it for her. A conflict resolved, and the bonds of friendship and respect tightened. This group cohesiveness would never have come about if I had enforced all the rules strictly to prevent any such mishaps.

Creating a climate for the child's will to grow beyond our expectations
Future habits are built from the lessons and experiences unfolding today, within the learning community and beyond. A child who understands the importance of setting realistic goals and accomplishing them as he uses his planner to record, reflect and readjust, will find college life a joyful journey of further learning. A child who learns through positive experiences to respect other children and refuses to take part in gossip, will not find himself losing friendships or job opportunities in the future. A child who has come to appreciate diversity and work with children of a variety of ages and learning styles, will not feel the need to demean those who are different to feel better about herself. Children who practice and utilize grace and courtesy as it is modeled on a daily basis will possess skills that are valuable in all aspects of healthy and happy living. Of course all children are different in how they learn, how they work, and how they respond to their environment, but these differences are a strength when all members of the classroom community learn to come together to discover, create, and enhance their environment.

As parents, the most valuable lessons at home are things that prepare your child for success in daily living. This could mean allowing your child to carefully make her own lunch, even if it takes an hour. This could also mean stepping back as your child makes a less than ideal choice and allowing him to deal with the consequences of his decision. Sometimes one of the hardest things is to let go, when our child is in the midst of finding a solution to a problem. 

But we can be patient. Through practice and personal experience each child will grow stronger. As a parent and a teacher, I understand that we all try our best and that one good way to learn is to evaluate the past in order to improve the future. By allowing our children to become reflective learners, we are empowering them early on as they learn from their choices for themselves. 

Standards aligned with the child's agenda
Each year the majority of children in the US demonstrate their mastery of language, math and science by participating in high stakes testing. Few people seem to question the validity of such tests and even fewer realize that the tests cover such a narrow range of thinking skills. Testing is a reality and test-taking and important skill, but hopefully more people will realize that true success results from mastery in a variety of areas, only one part of which is academic. Ironically, colleges are starting to notice that today's successful children are not as prepared as those from previous generations.

How often we forget that many of the leaders and innovators of society did not do well in schools that adhered to the factory model of education, with its strict scope and sequence; check marks along every step. History is replete with stories of leaders who succeeded in spite of a less than ideal education. The power of the child cannot be held back. 

While many parents worry about tests, what I discovered this year was that the children who had low test scores improved only after the adults stepped back in such a way that the children were able to take charge of their learning. The children did not need more drills and forcefulness, but works that connected with their sense of purpose. In the case of two children, their ability to retain information increased after they started taking better care of choosing works, planning their time, setting goals, and organizing themselves on their own. 

In Montessori, learning is a natural state of being. We strive to give lessons at that crucial time when the child is ready to learn more. Since the vast majority of traditionally delivered group instruction is neither fully retained, nor appropriate for every student's current understanding, we find that individualized instruction is far more effective. And when students teach each other, the learning continues to increase exponentially. 

These techniques are slowly being implemented by progressive educators nationwide, but have been part of the Montessori method of education for one hundred years. Just as Maria Montessori did when she opened her first children's house, I try to watch and see what the children need. Building on their interest, my job is to create an atmosphere where learning happens joyously and spontaneously, where lessons are given to enhance and guide rather than to complete my checklist within a predetermined time frame. 

I have often wondered about the genius who needed his mother to pack his backpack. Was he able to clean his room, record goals and follow them in his own planner, or write a thank you note spontaneously? If he were a Montessori child, I wouldn't worry about his preparation for real life. In my classroom I see children willing to take risks, ask questions and try new things, not afraid to fix their mistakes; children not only prepared for real life and taking part in it, but more able to make the world a brighter place along the way. This is why being a Montessori teacher is one of the most satisfying jobs on earth.