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Maria Montessori:

"Our goal is not so much the imparting of knowledge as the unveiling and developing of spiritual energy."

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Traditional Education vs. Montessori Education

Traditional

  • emphasis on social development
  • teacher is center of classroom as ‘controller’
  • teacher acts as primary enforcer of discipline
  • mainly group instruction; same age grouping
  • most teaching done by teacher
  • curriculum structured for child
  • child is guided to concepts by teacher
  • child generally allotted specific time for work
  • instruction pace usually set by group norm
  • if work is corrected, errors usually pointed out by teacher
  • learning is reinforced externally by repetition, rewards and punishment
  • few materials for sensory development
  • no organized program for self-care instruction – left primarily to parents
  • child usually assigned own chair; required to participate, sit still and listen during group lessons

Montessori

  • emphasis on cognitive development
  • teacher has unobtrusive role in classroom
  • environment and method encourage self-discipline
  • mainly individual instruction based on age grouping
  • grouping encourages children to teach and help each other
  • child chooses own work
  • child discovers own concepts from self-teaching materials
  • child works as long as he wishes on chosen project
  • child sets own learning pace
  • child spots own errors from feedback of material
  • child reinforces own learning by repetition of work and internal feelings of success
  • multi-sensory materials for physical exploration
  • organized program for learning care of self and environment (polish shoes; wash dishes)
  • child works where he chooses, moves around and talks at will (not disturbing others); group work is voluntary

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