Montessori is a child-centered educational philosophy where teachers serve as guides to each child’s educational progress. While students are exposed to an academic element at Montessori schools the distinguishing feature is children are able to learn at a pace that they set on their own. In Montessori programs the teacher’s job is to assist students in navigating materials and kids work at whatever level they are working at without judgment or corrective actions. This includes preschools, elementary, middle, and high school. That focus in Montessori schools to let children learn at their own pace works in conjunction with how classrooms are arranged: children are groups of three ages (six to nine, nine to 12, for example). The older children use their experience to help mentor and act as role models for the younger children and each group of students generally keep the same teacher for that three-year period to allow for teacher-student relationships to develop. This student dynamic allows for both younger and older students to build self-esteem.
Love of learning: Students have a lot of freedom to choose their work. This can lead to a long-term love of learning, both in and outside of school. Social skills: The structure of the class and the guidance of the teacher allow students to develop key social skills. These include communication, respect, cooperation, and sharing. Such skills are also modelled and reinforced by older peers. Independence and responsibility: Students are taught at a young age to take care of the classroom, clean up after themselves, and practical skills, such as cooking. This promotes independence, confidence, and responsibility Moral education: Students are morally educated by the teacher (through short lessons and guidance) and peers (through interaction and modelling). There’s also focus on contributing to society and becoming better citizens of the world
The Montessori philosophy is unique. It also has progressive classroom policies that contrast with those of conventional schools. The Montessori classroom reflects its unusual philosophy, and provides the basis for its classroom policies. Below, we look at three features of this classroom: the classroom setup, learning materials, and role of the teacher
The Montessori classroom has an unusual setup. Unlike most schools, no desk is at the front. And, the teacher is often found in some part of the room with a small group of children, discussing their work or giving a lesson. Classrooms are usually large, open spaces, with low shelves, different sizes of tables that seat one to four children, and child-sized chairs. They have different areas, divided by low shelving. Each area has learning material for subjects such as language, music, science, math, and culture. Material is also grouped by area of interest and in order of increasing difficulty.