Montessori ch 17

Maria Montessori Her Life and Work by E. Mortimer Standing
Chapter 17 - Liberty in Education

The idea that Montessori means 'freedom in a prepared environment' is only partially true. Montessori didn't believe in letting children do whatever they wanted with no discipline. Montessori has definite principles (as Charlotte Mason does) and those principles include order. Freedom doesn't mean doing what you want, but being able to choose what's right. That requires the ability to reason and make choices, and the ability to physically do whatever choice you make.

But you can't be free if you have to rely on others, so the Montessori method emphasizes independent skills. An informed choice requires knowledge, so the Montessori method strives to help children acquire knowledge and experience to base choices on.

The goal is to get children to do the right thing (such as their schoolwork) because they choose to, not because someone is making them. And they need to build confidence in doing for themselves and choosing for themselves, rather than being 'in slavery' to an adult who tells them what to do, when to do it, and how.

The teacher/directress provides guidance. She might reprimand a child for not using materials properly, suggest a better activity for a child (children are never allowed to use what they haven't learned to use yet), separate two children who would be better served in different partnerships. She takes an active role in getting rid of any evil, and maintaining harmony in the classroom.

Curiosity is often cited as what makes a child learn. In reality, children may pick up an item and study it out of curiosity (like an unfamiliar Montessori resource) but it's only when they understand the activity and choose to practice and master it that they truly learn from it. That's not the same as curiosity. (The book goes into a child's 'inner light' in repeating and internalizing as the activity is mastered.)

Children in a Montessori setting are required to use the learning resources only for their intended purpose--they aren't allowed, for example, to use the cylinders for building blocks, or to pretend they're trains. The materials are designed for the child's maximum development, and using them as toys wastes the children's time and wastes the resources. Montessori likened the requirement to use materials properly to a large family where the child was not allowed to wear just any shoes in the name of freedom. Shoes are designed to help walking, and the child must only wear his own because that's how he'll walk most efficiently. Using things for their correct purpose isn't a denial of liberty, it's just efficient. And improper use - such as allowng scribbling instead of insisting on using color shapes to fill in colors neatly - becomes boring, so the child loses interest quickly. Yet, within these limits, we need to trust the child's 'inner light' to sense what he needs, and to know which activity his development requires. Their sensitivities to their 'inner lights' haven't been spoiled with brights lights and sounds and stimulus like ours have. We can't know what his inner light is saying, but we can present Montessori materials to make his options clearer. We can let children work as long as they need to without interrupting them for 'rest breaks' that we think they need.

The fruits of freedom: children retain their individuality. The flip side of freedom's coin, discipline, isn't neglected. Freedom enables children to concentrate and develop better. It encourages them to obey by choice - willing obedience.

Will liberty make children avoid hard tasks in their Montessori schools? No, because they like the challenge and satisfaction of mastering hard things. The liberty of a Montessori school allows children to learn how to socialize (because there are other children there that he's allowed to socialize with if he wants, and because lots of visitors tour the schools - not sure how this relates to liberty, exactly.)

Read the next part of this series, or start at the beginning.
CM's Letter to the Editor regarding Montessori