Montessori: The World’s Most Effective School? (Image - Pixabay)
Now It’s been over a century since Dr. Maria Montessori developed the Montessori method of education, which emphasises nurturing children’s resourcefulness and natural abilities through practical, hands-on learning.
Maria’s idea was accepted by the entire world, and we can see Montessori schools almost everywhere.
Is Montessori really helpful for children?
The Montessori method of education is a type of educational system that involves children’s natural interests and activities rather than formal teaching methods. A Montessori classroom places an emphasis on hands-on learning and developing real-world skills rather than pushing children to work hard.
According to Montessori, “Education is the active help given to the normal expansion of the life of the child.” Each and every child has unique powers and potentials, and this individuality must not be suppressed through collective teaching.
Mahatma Gandhi, marveling at the Montessori method, described how “the children felt no burden of learning as they learnt everything as they played” and advised the ashram children to replicate Montessori’s silence game, where a group of children attempt to sustain silence for as long as possible, (Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, vol. 54).
Similarly, Nobel Prize-winning poet Rabindranath Tagore lauded the method and even established a network of Montessori schools to nurture children’s creative self-expression.
Tagore criticised the typical school as an “education factory, lifeless, colorless, dissociated from the context of the universe within bare white walls staring like eyeballs of the dead.” This misplaced emphasis on discipline “kills the sensitiveness of the child mind,” Tagore argued (A Tagore Reader).
In a 2023 BBC report, Solange Denervaud, a neuroscientist at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois in Switzerland and a former Montessori teacher, shared her positive view of the Montessori method. In a recent study, she found that children attending Montessori schools tend to display greater creativity, which appears to be linked to better academic outcomes. Although she couldn’t obtain a fully randomised sample, she carefully compared children of similar intelligence and socioeconomic backgrounds to minimise confounding factors.
In India, not all schools using the Montessori label are Indian Montessori Centre (IMC)-accredited, the Indian Montessori Centre says. The Montessori method requires trained teachers, a unique learning environment, and specific materials for IMC recognition. Montessori classrooms also include mixed-age groups, unlike traditional kindergarten settings referred to as “classroom courses.”
Ironically, many schools use the Montessori name without strictly following her methods, as the term isn’t trademarked. Schools can advertise as “Montessori” without meeting official standards, even though accredited institutions do offer proper training.
(Sana Zubair has produced this article as part of a Timeline Internship Programme)
