Dr. Maria Montessori .... a Lady ahead of her time

Dr. Maria Montessori was one of the strongest women in the world of modern education.

EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION:

She was born in Ancona, Italy in 31^st August 1870 to a middle class family, her father was a civil servant and former soldier and her mother was unusually well educated, and Maria herself proved remarkably talented. She was a confident and strong-minded lady who excelled in school by the role of leader in different games and conversations. At the age of thirteen she got admission in a technical school, a thing considered off-limits to females at that time. She scored high marks that when she graduated, in 1886; she was able to enter in the Regio Istituto Tecnico Leonardo da Vinci. Here she studied math, natural sciences, and languages, again excelling beyond all expectations. It was here too that she became fascinated with the biological sciences, and began to dream of pursuing a career in medicine. Despite her gender, she was allowed to study medicine. When she presented her thesis in 1896, her absolute brilliance so impressed the all-male board of review that they awarded her a medical degree, making her Italy's first woman doctor. After this accomplishment she was promoted to surgical assistant at Santo Spirito, where she had worked previously as medical assistant. As a physician, Montessori specialized in pediatrics and the new field of psychiatry. She continued research at the University of Rome, joining the university staff in 1897. She became interested in psychology and human behavior, and in 1904 accepted a professorship in anthropology at the University of Rome.

WORKED WITH DISABLED CHILDREN:

In Rome during this time, children who were considered mentally deficient were sending in asylums. Montessori’s early observations of these asylum children formed a crucial element of her theory that would later influence many people. She observed children who use to crawl on the floor to grab crumbs of bread after mealtime and realized that “not all children developed through phases of life in the same way." Her initial focus was to rehabilitate mentally retarded children, with behavioral problems, orphans, and the desperately poor. Montessori's early efforts were so surprisingly successful that she soon had a large following, not only of parents desperate for her help, but of teachers desperate to learn her methods.

INFLUENCED BY THE WORK OF TWO SCIENTIST:

Montessori was much influenced by the earlier work on child development and psychology, in particular research conducted by Jean-Marc-Gaspard Itard and Edouard Seguin. Both worked with children who had some physical or mental disability. However, both attempted to teach basic skills, such as reading and writing, using alternative methods from those being employed in the formal school settings. These experiments were a source of inspiration for Montessori who believed that "mental deficiency presented chiefly a pedagogical, rather than mainly a medical problem”. Satisfied with the fact that so-called "mentally deficient" children could learn the same things as normal children, sometimes at a faster pace or by attaining a higher mastery level, Montessori began to focus on working directly with normal children in the field of education.

FIRST SCHOOL CASA DEI BAMBINI (HOUSE OF CHILDREN):

The first school that she opened was called Casa dei Bambini, or House of Children in 1907. It was set up in a ground-floor room of a low-cost apartment building in a slum area of Rome. Its purpose was to provide a space for pre-school age children who were damaging and destroying the houses while their parents were at work. Montessori believed in taking the time to learn from the children, as she herself learned through her observations of the children in the asylums. She found that children of all ages flourished when they were given the opportunity to experience mastery of real life skills and knowledge that was appropriate to their age and stage. Given them furniture, equipment, and supplies that they could access and work all by themselves, they feel self-motivated to explore, experiment, and reach new understandings. She found self-correcting, puzzles and other equipment to be an essential component of independent learning in a child-friendly environment. As Montessori herself wrote, "I merely wanted to study the children’s reactions. I asked not to interfere with them in any way as otherwise I would not be able to observe them." Montessori surprised when she saw children’s lack of interest in the toys or the drawing materials and their keen interest in the educational materials. Each educational material had some carefully planned objective that was pre-determined by Montessori. “Liberty of the pupil" was fundamental method according to her.

HER WORK FAMOUS IN WHOLE WORLD:

Dr. Maria Montessori wrote many books like “The Absorbent Mind”, “The Discovery of the Child” and many more. Montessori’s Casa dei Bambini was such a success and soon it became famous in whole world. People, who visit this school, were surprised and amazed that how little kids do their work on their own. Montessori started her second, third school and this process goes on. She visited America on the request of Alexander Graham Bell. Her model center (House of Children) was copied everywhere. Many political leaders and educationist found that this is the right way to change old fashioned school in Europe. Her students became hard worker, peace lover and disciplined.

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION:

Montessori truly deserved and referred to as a lady much ahead of her time. She was a true pioneer of a modern education system. Her methods were not derived from any existent pedagogical wisdom. She had in fact sidestepped the more traditional education path for women, teacher’s training. As a smart scientist and quick-minded observer, she had soon discovered some important and, for the period, revolutionary principles about children and the process of learning. She was honored by many countries with royal, civic and academic awards and was nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1949, 1950 and 1951. Regarding her work and efforts in educational sector her picture was on Italian 200 lire coin and in 1990 on the 1000 lire bill.

MONTESSORI’S DEATH: Maria Montessori died in the Netherlands on May 6, 1952 aged 81.Her name always lives through the method of teaching that she introduced.