A Montessori teacher must be full of faith. “She must have a kind of faith that the child will reveal himself through work”. (The Absorbent Mind, Chapter 27, Pg. 252). She must have faith in the child as well as in the Montessori Method of education. “The teacher must believe that this child before her now will show his true nature when he finds a piece of work that attracts him”. (The Absorbent Mind, chapter 27, Pg. 252). She must be patient with the child thinking positively and enthusiastically about him and what he is capable of becoming; a normalized child that will grow into a responsible adult to contribute positively to his society.
“Everyone knows that a lively teacher attracts more than a dull one”. (The Absorbent Mind, Chapter 27, Pg. 254). The Montessori teacher must be lively. “For one thing, she must keep her imagination alive”. (The Absorbent Mind, Chapter 27, Pg. 252). She must be skilled at motivating and engaging students. She must be able to run, jump, sing, dance and even roll on the floor with the children. She should be innovative, knowing when and how to improve the environment. She must also know how to take the tension out of tight situations using humor spontaneously in a tasteful manner. “The teacher who has a gift for charming the children can have them do various exercises which, even if they have no great value educationally, are useful in calling them” (The Absorbent Mind, Chapter 27, Pg. 254). She must be able to change with lightening swiftness from profundity to wit. She must confront the children with heart and mind fired with enthusiasm for the material she is about to present to them.
“The most important attribute of a directress is the love and respect she holds for each child's total being”. When you look at the truly effective teacher, you will find a caring, warm, lovable person. She shows genuine love to the children in her care. “It is a level of love which is no longer personal or material”. (The Absorbent Mind, Chapter 27, Pg. 258). This love however is “subjected to discipline and used with discernment” (The Absorbent Mind, Chapter 27, Pg. 256). Not only must the teacher love his pupils, he must make himself worthy of being reverenced and loved.
Despite possessing these attributes and even more, Montessori teachers are not the center of attention in the classroom. Their role centers on the preparation and organization of learning materials to meet the needs and interests of the children.
Her first role is to build a nourishing and a loving prepared environment. “”She is the keeper and custodian of the environment”. (The Absorbent Mind, Chapter 27, Pg.252). Just like a wife tries to make her home as attractive as possible for her family, she prepares an environment where children are free to respond to their natural tendency to work with an aim to facilitating their independence. The prepared environment offers the essential elements for optimal development. It is difficult to provide a proper prepared environment at home, therefore the Montessori Classroom offers the basic elements within the prepared environment; Freedom, Structure and order, Reality and Nature, beauty with child-sized furnishings, carefully structured and ordered activities to gain independence and prepare the child for future learning. The Montessori materials serve a definite purpose; it challenges the child but offers auto education, which stimulates his thinking abilities to be more independent. “...realising the peculiarly absorbent nature of the child’s mind, she has prepared for him a special environment; and then placing the child within it, has given him the freedom to live in it, absorbing what he finds there.”(Maria Montessori-Her Life and Work, Chapter 16, Pg. 265). “Once the environment exists the directress will become the link between it and the children”. (Maria Montessori: Her Life and Work, Chapter 18, Pg.305).
The Montessori teacher is a programmer, preparing the environment and keeping it in perfect condition, selecting activities that will appeal to the children’s interests, adding to it and removing materials as needed. She is the link between the children and the prepared environment. Her primary role is not to merely transmit information from a prepared curriculum, but rather to help children in all their efforts; to act and think for themselves, creating an atmosphere of calm, order and joy in the classroom to develop self-confidence and inner discipline. “The duty of the teacher is only to present new things when she knows that a child has exhausted all the possibilities of those he was using before”. (The Absorbent Mind, Chapter 27, Pg. 256)
She is a demonstrator, presenting clear, interesting and relevant lessons to the children. Her role is to seduce the child into spontaneous fascination with the materials through her demonstrations. “The teacher must be seductive, she must entice the children”. (The Absorbent Mind, chapter 27, Pg.253).With the younger students at each level, the teacher is more active, demonstrating the use of materials and presenting activities based on an assessment of the child's requirements.
She is an experimenter, giving variations of work, modifying the environment to meet their perceptions of each child's needs and interests, and objectively noting the result. She carefully evaluates the effectiveness of the child’s work and the design of the environment every day. She exercises herself with the Montessori Materials trying to “evaluate through her own experience the difficulties of, or the interests inherent in, each piece of material that can be given to a child, trying to interpret, although imperfectly, the impressions which a child himself can get from it”. (The Discovery of The Child, Chapter 10, Pg. 152).
“In the psychological realm of relationship between the teacher and the child, the teacher’s part and it’s techniques are analogous to those of the valet; they are to serve, and to serve well: to serve the spirit”. (The Absorbent Mind, Chapter 27, Pg. 256). There are three elements involved in the training of the spirit. The first is that the teacher must have an intimate relationship with the children. She must not see herself as someone whose duty is to mould but to guide the children to unfold their potentials. Next she must see the children as individuals, unique and unlike any other and must treat them as such. She must realize that each child has his own potential for life. Finally, she must have faith that that every child in her class will reveal himself and based on this faith she must keep on working.
The most important role of the Montessori teacher is that of an observer whose ultimate goal is to intervene less and less as the child develops. Maria Montessori said, “One who follows my method teaches little, observes a great deal, but rather directs the psychic activities of the children and their psychological development. This is why I have changed her name from teacher to that of directress”. (The Discovery of The Child, Chapter 11, Pg. 163). For this the teacher must prepare the environment with the child’s interest in mind. The teacher is constantly alert to the direction in which the child is going, and actively works to help the child achieve their goals. Knowing how to observe constructively and when, and how much, to intervene is one of the most important talents the Montessori teacher acquires during a rigorous course of training. “The teacher nevertheless has many difficult functions to perform. Her cooperation is not all excluded, but it becomes prudent, delicate, and manifold. She does not have need of words or energy, or severity; but she must be able to make prudent observations , to assist a child by going up to, or withdrawing from him, and by speaking or keeping silence in accordance with his needs ”. (The Discovery of The Child, Chapter 10, Pg.150). She must observe the children unobtrusively yet carefully monitoring each child's development, recognizing and interpreting each child's needs. By observing the child, the teacher understands what motivates the child, his emotions and where his interests lie. She is physically passive but mentally active during her observation. The teacher observes the children with continuity to know when they are undergoing sensitive periods, to know their concentration level and to know those that have normalised. She must do this without objectivity or pre-determined ideas.
Children pass through various sensitive periods from birth till age six. This is a time when the child is attracted to an aspect of his environment to the exclusion of others. It is an overpowering force or interest which directs the child to particular qualities and elements in the environment. A child’s different inner sensibilities enable him to choose from his complex environment what is suitable and necessary for his growth. They make the child sensitive to some things, but leave him indifferent to others. For instance, if he is experiencing sensitivity to language, it is likely for him to listen, talk, sing or recite nursery rhymes over and over again. So, during this period, the child learns language in a focused and efficient manner by himself. “When a particular sensibility is aroused in a child, it is like a light that shines on some objects but not on others, making of them his whole world.” (Secret of Childhood, Chapter 5, Pg. 42). It is derived from the unconscious and leads the child to conscious and creative activities. The sensitive period is also a time when the child is attracted to one material for a period of time. “They are an aid for the child who chooses them himself, takes possession of them, uses them and employs himself with them according to his own tendencies and needs and just as long as he is interested in them. In this way the objects become means of development”. (Discovery of the Child,Chapter 11 , Pg. 161). Sensitive periods involve periods of intense and prolonged activity, which does not lead to fatigue or boredom but instead leads to persistent energy and interest. During this period, the child learns a skill effortlessly. “He makes numerous acquisitions during the sensitive periods, which put him in relation to the other world in an exceptionally intense manner”. (The Secret of Childhood, Chapter 3, Pg 33). It is a transitory state, once realized the sensitive period disappears. The sensitive periods are those for order (1-2yrs): Characterised by a desire for consistency and repetition with a passionate love for established routines. It is deeply disturbed by disorder. The environment must be carefully ordered with a place for everything and with carefully established ground-rules. Small objects (1-2yrs): A fixation on small objects and tiny detail. Co-ordination of movement (2&1/2-4yrs): Random movements become coordinated and controlled; grasping, touching, turning, balancing, crawling, and walking. Social aspect of life (2-5yrs): Paying attention to other children while developing affection and friendship. Refinement of the five senses (2-5yrs): Fascination with sensorial experiences (taste, sound, touch, weight, and smell) results with the child learning to observe and making increasingly refined sensorial discriminations. Finally Language (0-6yrs): Use of words to communicate. There is a progression from babble to words, then phrases and finally to sentences. There is a continuously expanding vocabulary and comprehension. Each is a specific kind of compulsion motivating a young child to seek objects and relationships in his environment with which to fulfil his special and unique inner potentials. The Montessori teacher’s role during this time is to observe the children, recognise the sensitive periods in individual children and re-prepare the classroom environment so that the children will always satisfy their inner sensitive periods by being with appropriate materials.
"The first essential for the child's development is concentration. It lays the whole basis for his character and social behavior. He must find out how to concentrate, and for this he needs things to concentrate upon. This shows the importance of his surroundings, for no one acting on the child from outside can cause him to concentrate. Only he can organize his psychic life.” (Absorbent Mind, Chapter 22, Pg. 202.) ”. Concentration develops when an activity is freely chosen by the child. “To help such development, it is not enough to provide objects chosen at random, but we [teachers] have to organize a world of progressive interest”. (The Absorbent Mind, Pg. 206).
Learning, by itself, cannot happen without concentration. Whether we are learning to tie our shoes, write our name, wash a car or solve complex algebraic equations, there is intense concentration specific to the task at hand. Dr. Maria Montessori understood the power of concentration, and her methodology is designed to nurture this power. She observed that the formative stage of concentration occurs from birth to about the age of three. I visited a friend and noticed her daughter who was about ten months old. She discovered a piece of adhesive tape. As she tried to pull it off the fingers of one hand, it stuck to the fingers of the other. As she alternated between hands, her inquisitiveness and delight was apparent. Wisely, we did not rush to take it away from her and watched her until the adhesive strength lessened, thus ending her concentration. She spent about 15 minutes in intense concentration.
The process of concentration begins through the curriculums introduced in a Montessori classroom where children first explore with the materials. The curriculums engage both the child's mental and physical energies thus, contributing to intellectual growth since the performance of any new activity works on the mind as well as the body. Among the curriculums, the practical life section is first introduced to a child that steps into the Montessori classroom, regardless of age. Practical life helps children to orient and adapt himself to his environment, refines motor coordination and gain independence, dignity and confidence. An area for practical life contains many attractive displayed objects familiar to every child, including variety of items commonly seen outside the classroom, that make up the tasks of everyday living such as buttoning a shirt, tying shoelaces, carrying plates from kitchen counter to the table and pouring water from a pitcher to a glass. These activities inspire children to act and develop concentration, work habits, social skills and control that laid the foundation for work in other areas of activities in the classroom.
Practical life exercises in the classroom are designed in such a way that the child focuses on the exactness of the action, and does so with great fascination, in immense and unceasing concentration. For example, tying shoelaces for the first time requires intense concentration to recall and integrate the various steps previously practiced; either in isolation or presented in a group. It also involves the coordination of the hand and eye movement in acting out the steps in sequence. Hence, normally regarded as a simple task by adults, shoelace tying exercise actually requires the power of the mind to focus, especially for children. The result of concentration is an awakening of the social sense, and the teacher must be ready to follow this. She will be a person to whom the hearts of these children will turn directly when they are awakened.
Children go through different levels of concentration in a prepared environment and the Montessori teacher must have faith that the children in her classroom will attain the highest level of concentration. Concentration level 3 is the highest level of concentration where the child is at his deepest concentration and nothing will distract him. He is totally engrossed in his work and cannot be distracted by any external activity. The teacher at this time must not interfere. A Montessori teacher often stands back while the child is working, allowing them to gain satisfaction in their own discoveries. It is during constructive work that the child, if not interrupted, is able to reach this concentration level. A child in deep concentration must not be disrupted. If a child is concentrating on a task and is not bothering others or using the materials inappropriately, the teacher should not intervene. “The great principle which brings success to the teacher is this: as soon as concentration has begun, act as if the child does not exist”. (The Absorbent Mind, chapter 27, Pg. 255). If however the teacher observes incidents which are dangerous, disrespectful or destructive she must intervene at once. Undoubtedly this will facilitate our single most important task as Montessori educators-the emergence of a normalised child
Normalisation of the child is the aim of the teacher in a Montessori environment. “Normalisation is the most important single result of our whole work”. (The Absorbent Mind, Chapter 19, Pg.204). Normalization is the unique process of psychic integration, which Dr. Maria Montessori discovered in children at Casa Dei Bambini, who achieved it by integrating their self through their work. It refers to the focus, concentration, and independence of the children, by their own choice. It means they have acquired the internal freedom to initiate work, be independent, and adhere (by choice) to the rules of the environment. The child who accomplishes normalization moves into complete harmony with his entire environment. When children are normalized it is possible to give them the perfect freedom in a class and yet have the perfect discipline from them. Montessori referred to this group as the “society of cohesion”. “This unity born among the children, which is produced by a spontaneous need, directed by an unconscious power, and vitalised by a social spirit, is a phenomenon needing a name, and I call it cohesion in the social unit” Normalization appears when children follow the cycle of work. Firstly the child should prepare for an activity, which involves gathering the material necessary to do the activity. The movement and the thought involved in the preparation serves to call the attention of the mind and begin to focus on the activity. Secondly the activity which holds the attention of the child helps him to reach a deep level of concentration. Lastly, it is the feeling of satisfaction and well-being when the activity is completed. Even the materials kept back in its right place or perhaps talking with friend’s exhibits the aura of satisfaction with himself and the world.The appearance of normalization is explosive. It must be protected. It happens in a single moment. In that moment the deviations are gone. The Montessori teacher must learn to see, protect, and guide those moment.
The unfolding of the child under the guide of a sensitive teacher is a natural phenomenon. All she needs to do is prepare the environment, offering purposeful activity and much freedom that stimulates and aids the self-construction of the child. She needs only “to watch with humble reverence, day by day, the spontaneous unfolding of the children’s lives; seeking always to remove obstacles, both internal and external from their path whilst she guides with science and sympathy the irrepressible energies of life”. (Maria Montessori- Her Life her Work, Chapter 18, Pg. 318).
Bibliography
Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind, Montessori Pierson, The Netherlands, 2009
Maria Montessori, The Discovery of The Child, Montessori Pierson publishing Company. Amsterdam, the Netherlands. 2009
Montessori Maria, The Secret of Childhood, Fides publishers, Switzerland, 1966
Standing, E. M Maria Montessori-Her Life and Work, New York, New American Library
