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Montessori Myths

There are many misconceptions about Montessori philosophy and education, often born out of misunderstanding and sometimes grown to mythical proportions.

Jan Gaffney dispells some of the commonly held myths, providing you with a deeper understanding of what Montessori can offer your child. She has been involved in Montessori eduation for 22 years and is currently principal of New Zealand's largest Montessori school.

Montessori is only for Well Behaved Children

Many times I have heard people talking about how the children in Montessori are so calm and quiet, and how their child will never fit in, as they are loud and noisy and like to run around making lots of mess! Parents who come to observe for the first time in our school often comment to me afterward how kind the children are to each other, how helpful, how quiet and busy they are and then say that their boisterous son or daughter would never fit in. I have even been asked if we screen children for noise in order to get the calm atmosphere in the classroom!

Contrary to what I have heard people say, the calm and quiet atmosphere in the classroom does not come from the teacher expending a lot of effort in keeping control of the children’s behaviour, or from repeated exhortations to be quiet. Rather it comes from well trained and reflective teachers creating an environment that will attract and engage the children, so that by degrees, they become calmer and more in control of their bodies and their actions.

This is not a miracle, though often it can seem so, It is just what happens when children are in an environment that caters specifically for their needs. Everything in it is designed to engage and capture the interest of the child, and once caught, to extend that interest and concentration.. We all know that even the most boisterous of children are capable of periods of intense concentration when their attention is focused on something of interest. In a Montessori classroom, there is plenty to capture their attention, and careful observation and strategically planned lessons from the teacher enables the children’s attention to be well and truly caught.

In addition, many lessons in everyday living, or grace and courtesy lessons are given by the adults assisted by the older children. Grace for how a child learns to use their body to move through space and courtesy for how the child interacts with others in the environment. The Montessori teacher observes not only what each child does and how they do it, but the interactions the child makes with other children and adults. The teacher then makes a note of what grace and courtesy lessons might need to be given to make community living more pleasant. The teacher may give the children a lesson on how to blow their nose effectively, how to interrupt politely, how to ask to join a game, how to offer and or decline help. These lessons are reinforced by modelling from the teachers and older children, who are keen and eager to help new children adapt to their classroom.

With captivating activities, gentle, caring guides in both children and adults and lessons in community living, it is usually not very long before even the most boisterous new child has settled down. The boisterous child will soon become one of those amazing children parents exclaim over and wonder if their child could ever be like.
 

Jan Gaffney, Montessori NewZ December 2007

Montessori is Too Structured

I often hear people say Montessori is too structured and I just as often hear that Montessori is not structured enough. Some people even think there is no structure at all in a Montessori classroom.

Montessori education is well known for the concept of freedom, but what people often don’t realise is that it is freedom to move and choose the work that will help the child develop him or herself, rather than licence to be destructive (often what people think children will be if left to their own devices).

The freedom given to a child in a Montessori classroom is only possible when certain other things come into play. One of these is structure.
Structure in a Montessori classroom, indoors or out, comes from the way the environment works, rather than from the teacher. The shelves are set out in areas, with activities set out on the shelf in a particular way, usually from left to right, from easier to harder. The same kinds of activities are always there, even though the specific activities are frequently changed. A child knows that if they go to a particular shelf, they can always get a particular activity and engage with it for as long as they like before they put it back.

Structure comes in the way a child is presented with a lesson, slowly and clearly with a minimum of talking. Children know they are free to explore the materials possibilities, and with Montessori materials there are many possibilities. Structure also comes in the control of error in the material. The control of error allows the child to learn from interacting with the material, without an adult having to point out to them they have made a mistake. Children with time and space are often able to work it out for themselves.

Structure comes in the careful and methodical observations the teachers make of the children, so they know exactly where a child is, what they need and when to show them something new. It also comes in the careful training the teacher undergoes to be able to prepare exactly the right environment for a child at his or her developmental stage.

What happens when all of this structure is put together is an environment where it is possible to give children the freedom to interact in it as they wish – an usually they wish to interact in a positive  manner, engaging and exploring with the Montessori materials, excited to share their discoveries with their friends and teachers.
I have heard people say that it is too quiet in a Montessori classroom, proving that the children are obviously constrained in both their movements and interactions. That it is, in effect, too structured. If that were the case then the children would surely be unhappy, and it would be a chore to get them to  school, and at the first chance they would be running out the gate. Instead, in my experience, children love to come to school, even when they are sick. They look forward to the end of the holidays and do not want to go home at the end of the day. This is not only the little ones, but primary-aged children as well.

When you sit in a well running Montessori classroom; whether 3-6, 6-9 or 9-12, it is indeed quieter than people normally expect for children of that age. When children are working on their various activities with concentration, enjoying their work, sharing their accomplishments, sharing their friends, welcoming visitors and offering refreshment and conversation, what happens is a busy hum and a gentle and calm atmosphere.

Jan Gaffney, Montessori NewZ June 2007

Going to Montessori Every Day is Too Much for My Child

Many parents feel that going to Montessori every day is ‘too much’ for their young child.

Babies begin constructing their personality even before they are born.  After birth babies develop alongside the parent who does most of the caring and feeding,; often the mother. As the baby grows they form relationships with more people – the father, siblings, grandparents and extended family and friends. Every relationship in the baby’s life helps develop their brain, construct their personality and provides a map for them to negotiate the world.

The child soon wants to experiment on their own. Initially this within sight or sound of their Mum or Dad, but gradually they are willing to venture further and further away. At around the age of three, sometimes before, sometimes a little after, most children are ready to part with the parents more formally. This often coincides with toilet training, a basic ability to dress, a desire to do things for him or herself.

While the child may be ready to try out a different environment, they still have a real need for this environment to feel very safe. There needs to be familiar adults, children who are known, and routines that are established and predictable.

When all this is in place, a child will settle into a new environment quite quickly. Of course, it is still a wrench parting from Mum or Dad, but once the child knows the routines and gets to know the new people, they quickly settle in. In fact, it is usually the parents who have a harder time separating than the children!

Many Montessori centres provide a learning community that comes together five days a week. Ideally children attend their Montessori learning community every day and interact with the same group of children. Children either come five mornings or full days. This regular attendance is one feature of Montessori that enables the child to build secure relationships and feel safe. When all the children come five days, the group develops a real community feel. The children learn together, the older children help the younger ones and the teachers have a deep knowledge of each child’s interests and needs. The children quickly learn to know the names of the children in their class, they start to make friends, learn the routines and the structure of the day. This is because every day the same children come and the same adults are present. For the young child it is safe and known. This predictability is very important to young children.

When children attend Montessori every day, the community develops together. Children notice when someone is away and enquire after them. They are happy to see them again when they are back. There is no anxiety because of who is or is not going to be there today – children as well as adults.

All of this combines to make an environment where children feel safe and secure, able to explore, expand their sense of selves, test out theories about the world around them, and learn step by step, supported by dependable, loving adults. More Montessori may not be ‘too much’ for your child after all.

Jan Gaffney Montessori Voices April 2008
 

High Teacher:Child Ratios Work Best for Children

Before I became a Montessori teacher I thought that it was better for children to have more adults in the classroom and high adult:child ratios. But in Montessori the opposite is true. This was one of the hardest concepts for me to accept when I became a Montessori teacher. It didn’t seem natural to me. I didn’t think the younger children were capable enough to not have lots of adults to direct and help them. And then there were the safety issues – even young children used sharp knives, glass and china in a Montessori classroom. All other educational research I knew about said that for older children, small class sizes are best. Like many other teachers and parents I thought that if there were more teachers, the children would get more individual attention.
 
In mainstream classes it is probably true that low adult:child rations work best, but in Montessori the combination of the prepared environment, the mix of ages in the class and the approach to learning results in less adults being the optimum. As I became familiar with how Montessori learning environment worked I soon realised that what was important to one style of teaching could be a barrier to learning in another.
 
Today I believe Montessori was right when she said ‘The greatest sign of success for a Montessori teacher...is to be able to say ''The children are now working as if I did not exist,'’ because I have seen for myself the difference.
 
When there are too many adults around, the children refer to them often; some to save time and get things done (children are nothing if not pragmatic), others because it means they don’t need to think to hard and sometimes because they just want to hang out and chat. Now, there is nothing wrong with any of these things happening, but what happens when the child relies on the adult to think for them, make decisions and be there to make sure they don’t make too many mistakes is that the child does not learn all the things we hope for them when we choose Montessori for them – independence, motivation, self-awareness, self-discipline etc.
 
Adults may choose Montessori as a profession because they love children and want to make a difference. But a Montessori teacher needs to be very aware of their different role in the Montessori learning environment. The adult needs to appreciate that they can make a difference even when they are NOT interacting with the child continuously; that sometimes simply being inactive is what works best for the learning community. Standing back and observing is one of the most important things a Montessori teacher can do each day.
 
 ‘Adults look upon a child as something empty that is to be filled through their own efforts, as something inert and helpless for which they must do everything, as something lacking an inner guide and in constant need of inner direction. . . . An adult who acts in this way, even though he may be convinced that he is filled with zeal, love, and a spirit of sacrifice on behalf of his child, unconsciously suppresses the development of the child's own personality.’ Dr Montessori
 
When there are fewer adults children learn to be self-reliant. They learn to turn to children older than them for help. Primary children know who is good at spelling or who knows a lot about ancient Egypt. Younger children discover which friend can reach the paper on the shelf and who knows how to feed the fish. The children try harder to solve their own problems, knowing that an adult is not poised to swoop in and do it for them. They know they have the time to work on a problem for themselves, but also are secure in the knowledge that the teacher is available to support and guide when needed.
When we stand back and give children time and space, they show us just how much they can do without our help! That doesn’t mean to say the adults abandon them; far from it. While the teachers are standing back and stopping themselves from intervening, they are closely observing the children so that when help is needed they are able to offer it, when a new lesson is needed it can be given, when a new interest appears, it can be included, or when a special sensitivity for learning a particular concept is there, it can be presented.
Just enough help and no more or no less is what allows the children to develop in such a normal, relaxed and beautiful manner into the wonderful people we all want our children to be.The teacher communicates trust in the children’s ability to be self-directed learners. A trusting teacher, a mix of children of different ages and a prepared learning environment gives the children the freedom to become a community of self motivated, curious, lateral thinking, creative, independent learners.
 
So in Montessori high teacher:child ratios are not the best. More children and fewer adults enable the Montessori learning community to develop successfully for the benefit of all the children.
 
Jan Gaffney Montessori Voices June 2008

The Older Children are Too Big and Scary

When your child enters a Montessori class as the youngest, he or she may look so much smaller than the older children in the class. The mixed age grouping of Montessori classes means the age range of the class should be around three years; so to you the difference in height, bulk and even facial expressions between your child and the oldest children may seem marked.

You may be comparing the ages in the Montessori class to your own schooling, because that is what you know. You probably experienced classes where the majority of the children were similar in age to you and this was the group from whom you selected your friends.

You may be concerned that the older children are too big and that they may scare or intimidate your young one, or even worse, teach him or her all kinds of inappropriate ways to behave. Or you may be worried that if there are different age groups, there won’t be enough children of the same age or gender for your child to make friends with. You may also wonder how the teacher is going to be able to cater for the educational needs of the class with such a wide range of ages in the class. You are not alone; these are common concerns of Montessori parents, particularly when children are of primary school age.

While it can be true that older children may behave differently and try things that younger and more innocent children wouldn’t think of; for example experimentation with the use of ‘interesting’ language. The focus of the community is on enabling all the wonderful things inherent in multi-age groups. Children are taught the skills of harmoniously living together in a community as a regular part of the curriculum through grace and courtesy lessons, or lessons in social living. The teacher uses her skills of observation and sees what skills the community of children need to learn and practise with each other.

In reality, even in a class of children all of the same age group, the ability and interests of vary widely and the introduction to ‘interesting’ language is still occurs. Having a class of children with a range of  ages does not affect the ability of the teacher to effectively teach them. The Montessori-trained adult understands your child’s developmental needs and will develop individual plans so that your child can learn at his or her own pace, not having to rush to keep up with someone else or wait for others to catch up.

Your younger child has role models for how to act in the classroom and older children with varying interests and abilities to work with. Your child can be stretched or helped as necessary and will have many peer teachers willing and able to work with him or her. And, let’s face it, children pay far more attention to each other and their older heroes than to us adults. The older children have the chance to learn the value of helping others and consolidate their learning through becoming ‘the teacher’ themselves. As for friends the same age; I’m sure your own friends today are a range of ages with personality and interests being a more important factor in friendship than age. Having friends from different age groups is a great preparation for the rest of your child’s life.

When your child enters the class as the youngest and newest he or she is the observer, the person who looks to others to see how they should be, the child who asks for help and enjoys being taken care of. Your child is the social beginner at the bottom of the ladder when he or she starts in the class. By the end of the three years your child will have climbed to the top of the ladder and will now be one of the leaders and role models of the classroom. Your child develops empathy and has some time in the limelight as the leaders of the classroom, honing and developing these skills as he or she becomes the oldest in the class.

Watching a new child come into the class and be welcomed by the older ones is magical. Watching an older child blossom and take their place as the leader is just as amazing!

Jan Gaffney Montessori Voices September 2008