I missed marking the birthday yesterday of the great Maria Montessori, an oversight of which a few folk forcefully reminded me.
Born just yesterday in 1870, she “developed an approach to education based on a deep respect for the child’s reasoning mind,” making the lives of countless children immeasurably better.
She was in every respect a revolutionary—inductively developing a whole pedagogical system created out of her direct and close observations of children in action.
Children in Montessori environments aren’t just educated for “college and career” – they are educated for life.
[Hat tip Maria Montessori Education Foundation]
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3 comments:
Children are not superior to others.
They are superior in some respects, inferior in others - not in rights, but in the possibilities open to them. If you want to nitpick I suppose the quote could be reworded for greater clarity: "superior to us in regards to their innocence and the greater possibilities of their future"
I like the idea of a lifetime of happiness but its a slogan - although it does not detract from the Montessori approach which I like. A lifetime of happiness has proved darned elusive so far and, looking back, the best character building parts in my life have been the hard parts.
3:16
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