Thursday, August 8, 2013

Who And What Is Montessori

By Andrea Davidson


Dr. Maria Montessori, an Italian physician and an educator, developed an instructional approach which takes a big emphasis on natural development and for freedom with limits. In her methods, the natural development is given much importance particularly in social, psychological, and physical development. Montessori Mississauga is applied in a lot of schools around the world, either public or private schools.

She developed her methods and her philosophy in 1897 and attending courses in pedagogy at the University of Rome and studying educational theories from previous educators. Pedagogy is the science and art of education and, specifically, instructional theory. She based her work on her observations of children and experimented with the materials, environment, and teachings available to them.

Her approach to education is basically modeled after the natural human development and has two main elements. The first element outlines that the child, and even developing adults, who constantly interacts with the environment develops psychological self construction. Young children, particularly those below the age of six, have an innate psychological development.

She believes that those kids who have liberty in choosing what they want to do and acts freely in the prepared environment does their tasks instinctively for maximum development. This was devised to take complete advantage of their eagerness to learn new things and their aptitude to discover and develop unique capabilities. Still, adults are very much needed to help expose them to different possibilities, in which the children themselves must determine their answers to these possibilities.

The main premises of this method is that children should be respected as different beings from adults and they are also individuals who are different from each other. They usually possess an unusual intellectual ability and sensitivity to learn and absorbed from their environment that are different from an adult in terms of quality and capacity. The most important time of their growing years are the first six years where unconscious learning is gradually bought to the conscious level.

Children like doing purposeful work and unlike adults, like it for the activity itself rather than just completing it. This helps them fulfill the most essential goal, which is developing their mental, psychological, and physical selves. However, there are pros and cons to this method especially when changing to normal school system.

First issue is in the management of students in which most students in this system are accustomed to doing things in their ways. Asking permission not so customary to them, but it is normal in traditional schools like asking permission for bathroom breaks, the sharpening pencils, the completion of school work and others. They are also accustomed in working together and in helping each other out.

They use conflict resolution skills to work on their problems and the teachers respect their opinions and their inputs and encourage them on it. They are also used to respect the needs of other students and having their needs respected too. This can cause problems when children are now in a situation where are given limits and are not allowed to come up with their own solution.

They also have the freedom pick the pace of their learning and will only move on to new lessons whenever they want. Adjusting to a new environment will take time especially with a preconceived program. Those are some of the benefits and disadvantages of the Montessori Mississauga education system.




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