Describe What Montessori Meant free essay sample

Describe what Montessori meant by’ New Education’ Dr. Maria Montessori is the creator for the Montessori Education Method for a new world who devoted her life to improve children’s education excellence. Her educational method is widely used in schools or at home for children 3 t0 6 years old. Maria Montessori lived through one of the traumatic time eras of the world history, which changed everybody’s lives including children. It was the time of anxiety, cruelty, death, family separation and children facing starvation. Maria Montessori felt the best solution to overcome endless, war, violence and poverty is education. Therefore, Maria Montessori believed educating the next generation will improve children’s live and future of the entire community. Maria Montessori felt through education every child could reach his or her potential and become a logical thinker and learn things like, tolerance, cooperation and communication. Thus, she reformed the education system by creating this whole new method of education for a brilliant next new generation. †Truly there is an urgent need today of reforming the methods of instruction and education and he who aims at such a renewal is struggling for the next generation of mankind† (The discovery of the child, Topic 1, p. 0) Montessori believed that education should be taught to children naturally and spontaneously. She felt the current education system is very teacher- centered approach rather than child-centered approach. If the education is to be reformed, it has to be child-centered approach meaning the education is focused on the child which gives importance to the child. She wanted children to have the freedom to explore their surroundings and to learn, make choices, connections and communicate. Therefore, she felt it’s time to introduce a new education system that will be focusing on the child. In order to reform the education system, there are changes that need to be done. The first step would be to make society not to underestimate children and change their perception towards them. The society have to trust children and give them freedom to learn because the society feels if children are given the freedom to do what they want they afraid children might go off the rails. She felt this was the major failure on the education system back in her era where adults failed to understand the child. † The adult has not understood the child or the adolescent and therefore is in continual strife with him. The remedy is not that the adult should learn something intellectually, or complete a deficient culture. He must find a different starting point. The adult must find himself the hitherto unknown error that prevents him from seeing the child as he is† (The discovery of the child, Topic 1, p. 11) Montessori felt parents and teachers should approach child should be passive and communicate in a passive manner in order for a child to thrive, grow and develop. They must know their role as a secondary one and approaching them with humility into knowing how and when to meet childrens needs and offering appropriate support at different times. Montessori said the new education will give the children as an active learner a chance to feel independent, happy, secure and organized within themselves. Therefore she wanted nurture the young’s to be peace loving and to create a non-violence and fearlessness next new generation. She felt that ‘child is not an empty vessel to which the adults can feed their knowledge and experiences to mold and shape them to be the next new generation. She said it is vital for the children gain knowledge naturally on their own experiences, make choices and give them the freedom to be an independent thinker. Montessori felt adults should realize that children develop and learn through their own pace. Every child has a natural process which he/she develops spontaneously. A child is so inquisitive, he or she explores the environment learning new things and having new experiences. They will work constantly to aim to improve themselves. Through work a child will achieve good work habit, concentration skills, fine motor skill, being self sufficient and boosting their self esteem. Furthermore a child will grow and develop in the same order that are extraordinary and the progress in their own natural rhythm. The education system back in her era focused on teaching the children to memorise word to word from books and posters and Children sat in rows at desks at the classroom learning from a blackboard and slates. This method of education wasn’t stimulating and exciting for children. Nevertheless through her experience Montessori discovered children want to learn, and they will do it in their own time frame and they shouldn’t be forced. The â€Å"new education† that she invented will make learning fun, spontaneous and challenging. She diminished the traditional method of teaching by starting her children with writing. She felt the traditional method of teaching was very teacher-oriented and it lacks the role of children in education. The teacher dominates the class and gives instructions to the whole class. The children’s role is to sit, listen and absorb the information from teacher’s traditional academic instruction. Teachers sets the Curriculum materials themselves at a rapid pace plus the materials are not catered for individual needs. They are treated in a same manner; therefore teachers are not being able to address each child’s individual academic strengths and needs. Maria Montessori believed because of children’s inquisitiveness and their individual creativity, they can teach both themselves and others. She said a child has the natural urge to learn through their own experiences and discoveries about their world and people in it. They will learn spontaneously by exploring their environment using their senses the just same way they taught themselves naturally to walk and talk. â€Å"Education is a natural process spontaneously carried out by the human individual and is acquired not by listening to words, but by experiences in the environment. , (Education for New World, Chapter 1, Pg. 2) Montessori discovered that the child has a creative intelligence that exists in his unconscious mental stage. There are different developmental changes children go through. They develop in the same order that are extraordinary and the progress in their own rhythm. These periods are from birth to six years of age. Through Maria Montessori’s observat ion she noticed that despite of the different period of a child’s development, the type of the mind is the same. She noticed that, at this stage, the child is naturally endowed with a different unique power. A child will be able to learn from birth, they can hear smell, taste, see and feel. By using their senses, the child explores and experiments the things going on around him that will guide his learning processes and shapes himself for the future. Maria Montessori felt parents and teachers should understand how a child’s mind works before educating him. There is no point forcing a child to study in the way that’s suitable to an adult mind because it won’t make any sense to the child. From Montessori’s observation she said he child’s understanding and the experience he gets from his environment, not only stimulates a childs mind, but they become incarnated since the child has the eagerness and the ability to learn naturally as well as spontaneously by absorbing knowledge from his/her/ environment. Maria Montessori called this type of mind â€Å"The Absorbent Mind†. Therefore through her curriculum method of ‘new education’ Maria Montessori aimed upon using children’s true constructive energy to create the new world of generation that will build a better world. Dr. Maria Montessori found every child is born with their different personality traits. By allowing children to make choices without restricting or controlling them they will learn themselves and develop a sense of independency with their own personality as well as interests. Maria Montessori observed every child has a â€Å"sensitive period† which is vital for a child’s development. For example, children will be really obsessed with routine. They will be delighted in telling us what’s going to happen next, and to tell us what we are supposed to do next. They will be interested to undress himself/herself, and wants no instruction from the adults. These significant sensitive periods are connected with the need for order in the environment, sense of language, social skills, cultural awareness, movement and coordination. Dr Montessori developed her famous teaching method and materials based on each childs stage of growth and development by understanding the unique aspects of each child. The Montessori method of education also focused children’s sensitive period at different phases of their development years. She focused each child as a whole by ensuring that each childs development is being closely monitored and tracked, helping them reach their highest potential. Montessoris new education method based on her scientific observation and experimentation of children’s behavior. She personally observed children with special needs each in the asylums and formed these principles on the very best way for a child to learn and help them to reach their true potential. â€Å"My method is scientific, both in its substance and in its aim†, (Dr. Montessori’s Own Handbook, Pg. 36). She believed that education should be child-centered, where children should be provided with plenty of space and time to explore and discover new things about the world around them and allow to gain knowledge through experience. She felt the children should be exploring an activity freely without any interruption. They should be engage with a wide range of free play activities indoor and outdoor according to their age and needs and have the freedom to choose, set their own pace, explore and play. These needs being based on each childs stage of growth and development. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the unique aspects of each child and allowing young children to learn, enjoy themselves and make progress rather than forcing a child to learn and make him feel as if learning is a punishment. This is what Dr Montessori meant by ‘new education’ and through her education method she made the world a better place for young children to gain knowledge, confidence plus success and to become the next great generation.