May 05, 2007

This year all over the world centennial celebrations are taking place to commemorate the opening of the first Montessori School in Rome, Italy. Many people have heard about Montessori, however few people know much about its method or founder. Keeping in mind the basic tendencies and characteristics of childhood like activity and movement, children in Montessori schools are provided with prepared environment with materials to work on. These give the child controlled will, concentration and independence; hence the confidence. Various concepts are presented through concrete materials which make it easier for a child to understand them. Apart from helping the child to develop his/her full intellectual capacity, physical, emotional and social aspect are given as much importance.

Maria Montessori was born on August 31, 1870 in Chiaravalle, Italy. She attended a local school there. Later her family moved to Rome in order to give their only child better educational opportunities. Her parents suggested to her to take up teaching — the only real profession open to educated young women at that time — but she categorically refused even to consider this.

Maria decided to study medicine. For a girl to attend medical college was something which was unheard of at that time. When the head of the Education Board told her in definite terms that she cannot adopt medicine as a career, Maria retorted that, “One day I know I shall become a doctor.” This sentence reflected her resolve. She battled against the social prejudice of the late nineteenth century towards women and managed to gain entrance to the medical college in 1890.

The male students resented her presence and subjected her to a series of harassment but soon realised that she was not to be frightened away. There were some other difficulties at the college which were of more terrifying nature than the hostility of male students. It was not considered proper at that time for a girl to do dissection on the bodies in the presence of men. For this purpose she had to stay back after college hours. This meant spending many hours alone amongst the corpses very often in the evening after darkness had set in. It needed a good deal of fortitude and determination to carry on in such a dreadful and macabre setting. She eventually graduated to become the first female doctor of medicine in Italy in 1896.

She became a voluntary assistant at psychiatric clinic of the University of Rome and worked with children who were mentally handicapped. Montessori had special interest in paediatrics so she was particularly sensitive to the plight of these helpless children and was convinced that they would benefit if given sufficient stimulation. It was through her interest in these children that Montessori came in contact with the works of French doctors Jean Itard and Edouard Seguin who had specialised in treating handicapped children. Montessori was influenced by their work and this gave her a new direction. While working with deficient children her interest was drawn towards education. She studied all the works of educational reformers which evolved in her mind along with the ideas of Itard and Seguin and so Montessori method began to take shape. She brought together the knowledge from the disciplines of education and medicine. Montessori worked with the children using different materials and methods applying the ideas she had learned from her studies.

Some of the children under her tutelage did very well in the state primary examinations. These events along with many public lectures given in other cities of Europe brought her fame and recognition. Montessori attended courses on educational philosophy, psychology and anthropology at the Rome University. It was during this period that she met the love of her life, Dr Montessana.

While studying and preparing herself for a career in education, she visited many schools and was dismayed by what she saw, this further reinforced her belief in the ideas of educational thinkers of progressive movements especially anthropologist Guiseppe Sergi to whom Montessori attributes the turning of her attention towards school’s environment and the role it could play in changing a child’s behaviour.

Montessori contemplated applying her method to normal children but could not get an opportunity at the time because of the policy which required children to attend state school at the age of six. However, her hopes were realised when she was asked to organise an infant school in the slum district near Rome. Under her care these children began to learn successfully and did so well that many such schools were founded which proved the superiority of Montessori’s method to conventional teaching. When word spread about the success of her schools, along came the recognition and international fame. People were inspired by her method and soon her ideas took root in different parts of the world.

Montessori now spent all her time training teachers. She travelled extensively visiting newly founded Montessori schools. Her ideas particularly gained acclaim in the US. When fascist rule became dominant in Italy she could not continue as for her, education had its aim for the development of a strong and free personality could not thrive under totalitarian atmosphere. She moved to Holland and continued her work there.

At 70, when most people have already retired for some years, began one of the most prolific phases of her already remarkable life. She was invited to India to give a training course in Madras. By this time war broke out in Europe and Montessori could not return. During her long stay in the subcontinent she conducted many training courses in different cities. This developed a movement of sorts which as a result is a great Montessori Centre.

After the war she returned to Holland and founded the Association Montessori International which conducts Montessori teacher training courses the world over to this day. Despite advancing age, she continued her work. In all her endeavours she was ably assisted by her only son Mario. In 1948, she went back to India to train more teachers. In 1949, she visited Karachi to train the first batch of Montessori course.

The last few days of Montessori’s long life was characterised by the same activity and zeal which she had shown throughout her life. She died on May 1952 in Holland. Montessori was honoured by many countries for her life long work. It is ironic that as an adolescent she adamantly refused to become a teacher but was destined to become the most revered and celebrated teacher the world had ever known.

Montessori never saw education only for utilitarian purpose; her appeal was always to the spirit. She emphasised “It is the duty of a teacher to help rather than judge.” One of her students remarked: “Everything she said had the warmth of life, her lectures make us want to be good, and we all find in it a spiritual stimulus.” This observation is shared by all those who have studied her work. Her medical background along with her experience in psychiatric field has made her work on education of the child so profound. Montessori could have continued being a doctor but she was a visionary, a genius who forsook her lucrative medical practice for her cause, which was also the cause of the child.

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