What first drew you to Montessori?
Most Montessorians I have known initially followed a child, experiencing the Method first through the eyes of a significant young person in their lives. That is certainly my story. My son was in a wonderful Montessori toddler program. I was amazed by what he was able to do at such a tender age – so much so that I felt compelled to leave my job as a geophysical engineer to enter Montessori teacher training. Initially, it was a leap of faith. But by the second week of training, I knew that I had found my calling.
Although I was first drawn to Montessori by what it brought out in my son, what keeps me coming back after lo-these-many-years is so much richer: a philosophy that deeply resonates with me, stemming from the fundamental belief in the interconnectedness of all things in the Universe – a perfect symbiotic and interdependent Creation. Flowing from that belief, the desire to be of humble service to the child rather than to dominate him, initially a foreign concept to me, has become a dominant theme in my relationships with children and adults alike. What began as my amazement at my son’s growth in knowledge, self-confidence, and social awareness has exploded as I witnessed similar gains in hundreds of children in my classes over the years, and in scores of adults at the Montessori training program where I teach. What a blessing this life’s work is!
My current fascination is the correlation between emerging research on the neuroscience of learning and the Montessori Method. More and more we are hearing that various attributes of what Maria Montessori discovered and captured over 100 years ago are uniquely consistent with the way the brain functions – far more than the drill-and-grill methods of traditional education. Each “new” discovery reinforces my belief in the Method, and simultaneously makes me yearn for greater national/international awareness of what really works for kids. But building that awareness, even among our local community of Montessori families, is tricky!
The paradigms on which the Montessori Method is founded are vastly different from the factory-model of education that most of us grew up in. For this reason, and because the Method is so multi-faceted, there is no single thing that we can share with someone unfamiliar with the method to say, “There, in a nutshell, is Montessori.” A quick YouTube search for Montessori Elevator Speech reveals that there are as many different ways to try to describe Montessori as there are people trying to describe it. While each entry accurately describes one or more aspects of the Method, it is a bit like the story about the three blind men describing an elephant: one said it was like a thick snake (the trunk); one said it was smooth and sharp like a spear (tusk): one said it was a pillar like a tree trunk (leg). All three were correct without any of them seeing the whole elephant. As tricky as it is to articulate what is true and important about Montessori education, we Montessorians must take every opportunity to explain what we know and believe, even if we are describing only one part of the “elephant”. Every perspective helps build knowledge of the whole.
When we work within a system that poorly understands the tenets that inform our practice, or a system that operates under a radically different set of paradigms, there will be things that tend to pull us off center. This is true whether the system we work within is a huge public entity like the Department of Education or a small but passionate group of parents who know what they want for their children. Even well-intentioned people can make what seems to them to be wholly reasonable and well-supported requests that ultimately diminish our effectiveness. When we get these requests for change from our constituents, we can find ourselves by necessily adapting the Method in an effort to serve “2 masters” – the one that we believe and the one that we answer to.
What is the answer? Can we strike a balance? I believe we can.
If you have been following these blog posts for the past 3 weeks, it will come as no surprise when I say that the first step is to recognize which forces are within your Circles of Control or Influence and which are only in your Circle of Concern. Remember, spending time and energy on things that are in this outer circle, no matter how deeply you care about them, has only 2 likely outcomes: shrinking your Circle of Influence and making you so exhausted and frustrated that you have less energy for things that are within your control or influence.
Secondly, it is important to acknowledge that adaptations will happen; some we have latitude to choose how or if to implement them, and some are beyond our control or influence. We need to give ourselves “permission” to be wherever we are today on the broad spectrum of adaptations. Wherever we are, we arrived here because of a combination of our training (the best and the worst of whatever we received), well-intentioned mentors, our own life experiences and paradigms, and a variety of forces at work over time. If we can lovingly accept wherever we are now and simultaneously commit to making small changes that present themselves over time, we will find ourselves increasingly better aligned with Montessori philosophy. If we are observant, we will see these changes bear fruit in the work of the children and possibly in the joy in the classroom.
I believe that the best defense against the “slippery slope”, and one that is completely within our Circle of Control, is to stay connected to Montessori Philosophy. If we lose our anchor, we will fail to realize when something being requested is an adaptation and adopt it without considering how to tailor it to best fit with the Method. On the other hand, if we use Montessori philosophy and best practices as a lens through which we view both our own practices and any that are requested of us, we will know where our efforts will bear most fruit. We will be empowered to “tweak” requests or to have well-reasoned conversations with others about how to satisfy the positive intent of the request in a “Montessori way.”
One way to reconnect with the philosophy is to share your story. Have you told your children what first attracted you to Montessori and what you most value about it as an adult? What do you most value for the children? Is it Cosmic Education? Is it the ability to make complex concepts reveal themselves through materials? (That conversation might also help disavow some children’s belief that “materials are for babies”.) Is it the fundamental goal of fostering independence and interdependence? Is it the attitude that children are unique individuals, capable of knowing themselves and their unique needs? What about our practice makes you giddy for the children in your school, and makes you yearn for greater national/international awareness of what really works for kids. Sharing your story will not only help you reconnect with what you value most about the Montessori method and philosophy but it will also help the children think about their learning at more of a metacognitive level.
Reflection for Adults: Today’s reflection has several parts. You may choose to spend time with just one set of questions or with all 3 parts.
What have you done lately to reconnect with Montessori Philosophy? What can you plan to do this week / month / summer?
Make a list of forces that you are aware of that are applying some influence or pressure to deviate from the Montessori Method or philosophy? Which of these are within your Circles of Control and Influence to modify? What can you do to honor the intent of those adaptations without allowing the new program, process, or procedure to impact the fidelity of the Method? When will you revisit this adapation to see if it is still needed?
If we truly yearn for greater national/international awareness of what really works for kids, what can you do this month to educate others about the true meaning of Montessori? Is your target audience the children in your class, their parents, school administration, or the community at large?
Reflection for Children: If a child visited our classroom who had no idea what Montessori was all about, what would you share about the way we learn and the way we are with one another? What would you most want this visitor to experience? What would you tell him or her about the lessons, materials, and activities?
The force of the cosmos is infinite. Eternal. If human beings give up their ego. they come back to cosmic action in the here and now becoming energy.
– Master Taisen Deshimaru