Story of Maria Montessori, The Founder of Montessori Methodology

I'm going to talk to you about the Maria Montessori's educational method. I'm sure that most of you have heard of her philosophy because it's widely accepted and implemented in Western countries and in the u.s. I've been always interested in different educational systems and now specifically interested in Montessori since my daughter is tending a nursery which Montessori based here in London.

Maria Montessori

The idea of this article came because of one of my posting Instagram and many of you commented that you would want me to do about the activities different Montessori activities that you can implement in home settings. I'm going to do that in my next articles. I just want to introduce you to the Montessori philosophy, so you have the background and you know what are the key fundamentals of her educational system so before I dive into that I want to introduce you to Mary Montessori herself because she's an extraordinary woman.

Read: All About Montessori Methodology And Philosophy

She's been three times nominated for the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1949, 1950 and 1951. She considered herself a citizen of the world her own belief was that kids who are creative who are free, independent and who are led to listen to their inner voice would become free independent and creative adults. Then, there won't be any Wars there will be an only kindness and society will be reformed.

Maria was born in 80 70 in Italy and she was a child on accountant and really educated for these times. Her mom was one of her mentors who made her believe that although she was a woman at a time when women were not taken seriously. She could her dreams and work in whatever endeavor she wants to work so when she was five years old they moved to Rome. She attended private school there. 

She was really interested in literacy, mathematics, engineering, and biology. When she was 20 years old, she ceded to study for a medical doctor. At that time there was no any woman who'd be accepted in the medical school in Italy. She was among the first women doctors in Europe itself and it was very, very hard journey for her because she did not have much support. 

Some rumors say that the Pope at the time. Pope Leo the 13th he was helping her to be accepted in the school because there was so much opposition from the current academics at the time even including her father. She finished her studies in six years with the honors. She started her private medical practice, but at the same time she worked as a researcher in the psychiatry department in the university.

She became really interested in working with children who had mental illness. She devised specific tools for them so that they can accelerate learning and in the side, she studied anthropology educational psychology and philosophy as well.

In 1907 she opened her nursery she was given the opportunity to take care of kids and take them out from the street in a very poor area in Italy. It puts the beginnings of her educational philosophy she observed the child she observed things that she not expect for example. She saw that many children are ready to learn how to write and read much earlier than it was expected at a time. If they left on their own the kids would fold their inner desire to learn and their inner drive to learn

Because they had the internal motivation to learn without being pushed. 

Maria Montessori

In 9011 some articles were published spreading out her work and she became increasingly popular in the u.s. Edison Thunder Bell were fond of her teachings and lots of schools were opened in the u.s. At the time in 1920 the Netherlands the government accepted her teachings in the public schools and lots of schools were opened in Italy in, Spain, where she lived briefly up until 1933 when Hitler and Mussolini closed most of her schools. I think all of her schools, during the fascism Mussolini asked Montessori to teach kids to become soldiers to which she refused and she was expelled from the country. 

She lived in the Netherlands briefings and during the Second World War she had to go and run away from the war. In India, where she talked about 10,000 teachers to become Montessori teachers. She died when she was 83 years of age. She died in the Netherland that's where her grave is because she said I always consider myself a citizen of the world. I'm not a citizen of only one country so you know it's really really amazing human being, amazing person. 

She did so much to revolutionize the educational system and even now a hundred then more than a hundred hundred. Ten years later lots of schools are influenced by her teachings her materials the way she devised, they are still up to date even in the current environment regardless the technology around us. Regardless how much we are advanced in many other ways so I'm going to share some of the key fundamentals of Montessori philosophy.

Share this post