Montessori: The world’s most influential school?

Soon after graduating, in 1896, Montessori began work as a voluntary assistant in a psychiatric clinic at the University of Rome, where she cared for children with learning difficulties. The rooms were bare, with just a few pieces of furniture. One day, she found that the children were enthusiastically playing with breadcrumbs that had dropped on the floor, says Catherine L’Ecuyer, a researcher in psychology and education at the University of Navarra in Spain and author of The Wonder Approach. “It then occurred to her that the origin of some intellectual disabilities could be related with impoverishment.” With the right learning materials, these and other young minds could be nurtured, Montessori concluded.

The observation would lead Montessori to develop a new method of education that focused on providing the optimum stimulation during the sensitive periods of childhood.

At its centre was the principle that all the learning materials should be child-sized and designed to appeal to all the senses. In addition, each child should also be allowed to move and act freely, and use their creativity and problem-solving skills. Teachers took the role of guides, supporting the children without coercion or control.

Montessori opened her first “Casa dei Bambini” – “Children’s House” – in 1907, and it soon spawned many others. Over time, she also forged connections with visionaries around the world, including Gandhi. Perhaps surprisingly, when the Fascists first came into power in Italy in 1922, they initially embraced her movement. But they soon came to oppose the emphasis on the children’s freedom of expression. According to Taviani, Montessori’s values had always been about human respect, and “the rights of children and women. But the Fascists wanted to exploit her work and her fame.”

Things reached a breaking point when the Fascist regime tried to influence the schools’ educational content, and in 1934 Montessori and her son decided leave Italy. She would only return to her homeland in 1947, and she continued to write about and develop her method until her death in 1952, at the age of 81.

Children in charge

Today there are many different kinds of Montessori schools, not all of which are recognised by Opera Montessori, but certain fundamental principles have remained intact. One is the idea of teachers as gentle guides, encouraging the children to complete the activities with as little adult interference as possible.

“Our children learn to self-manage,” says Miriam Ferro, the headteacher of the Ecoscuola Montessori in Palermo, Sicily, which welcomes children from their first few months up to the age of six.

Some subjects at Ecoscuola are similar to those taught in other pre-schools and schools, such as mathematics and music. But there is also a segment called “practical life” that goes right back to Montessori’s original vision of children’s autonomy. It involves real-life practical tasks, such as serving drinks to their classmates. For safety, teachers would take charge of boiling the water, but the children would play active roles in cleaning the work surface and then presenting the drinks to others. “And during breakfast and lunch they are also self-directed, taking it in turn to lay the table and serve their classmates,” says Ferro.