MARIA MONTESSORI
Education and standardization
- WHO IS MARIA MONTESSORI?
Maria Montessori is a famous italian woman doctor, teacher and inventor who has been very successful for her pedagogical method allowing children to build themselves naturally. She opened the first Children's House, Casa dei Bambini, in Rome on January 6, 1907. Subsequently, she travelled the world and wrote extensively about her approach to education, attracting many followers and accompanying the creation of many schools. There are now nearly 30,000 Montessori schools in about 110 countries.
Maria Montessori laid the foundations for a new education. She wants the child to be assured of love, justice, harmony and respect in all circumstances. She believes that education is the only way to achieve peace and to build a new world.
- STANDARDIZATION
The word standardization is a word that can be misinterpreted in today's world. We have all kinds of standards and a person is called "normal" if he corresponds to those standards. For Maria Montessori, the word standardization does not correspond to standards set by society but by nature.
Standardization according to Maria Montessori
In Montessori pedagogy, the word standardization has a very specific meaning: normalization is the possibility to develop all the potential of the human being without obstacles. Maria Montessori believed that every human being is born with the potential necessary for his physical and mental development. If the child's natural development can take its course without hindrance, normalization will be possible and he will become a balanced and peaceful adult.
Unfortunately, too often, human beings encounter obstacles during their development (physical or psychological obstacles) and what Maria Montessori called deviation ensues. If this deviation lasts only a little while, it can quickly be brought back to its normal course. On the other hand, the further this force takes the child away from his normal course of development, the longer the journey back to normalization. As adults, we must ensure that we remove any barriers to standardization. The environment must be designed and designed for the child, he must be able to act freely and find the necessary tools to meet his inner needs. The adult must also make this environment alive and attractive to the child; the child must feel the urge to come into contact with his environment, which remains the key to normalization.
The signs of normalization according to Maria Montessori
The child is calm, happy and happy
The child is engaged in all kinds of constructive activities
The child is able to choose his activities
The child can motivate himself to repeat his activities
The child achieves a high level of concentration in his work
The child can collaborate
The child is helpful
The child finds joy in everything around him
The child does not need us to tell him what to do
The child is in control of himself
The child is aware of his environment
The child is responsible for his actions
- ADULTE IN AUTOCONSTRUCTION PROCESS
The adult offers his services:
The adult is not the cause of development: the child builds himself and the adult is at his service.
The adult acts on the periphery: it should not be the child's focus. On the contrary, it must be like a shadow and intervene only at the request of the child.
Adult homework:
Prepare the environment.
Putting the child in contact with his environment.
Take care of the environment and make it attractive and alive (example: add or remove activities).
Remove any obstacles.
To know how to observe and draw well-founded conclusions.
Adult preparation:
Know the child's development and the conditions for it to go well.
Know the teaching materials and the presentations that come from them.
To know how to question yourself.