Dr. Maria Montessori
Maria Montessori was a truly remarkable woman. She felt that children teach themselves and this truth inspired her lifelong search at educational reform, psychology and teacher training which is based on her observations of how children learn.
The ‘prepared environments’ and the role of the adult in the classroom are the main features which distinguish Montessori from other approaches in education. Montessori observed that when children are given the freedom in an environment which is suited to their needs, they become responsible and self disciplined individuals.
The Montessori approach is the single-largest pedagogy in the world. There are Montessori schools in all six continents. In India too, there are Montessori schools in most major cities, and in numerous smaller centers. The popularity and success of Montessori schools can be attributed to the fact that the approach runs hand in hand with the natural developmental sequence in children – a fact that is being confirmed by research in child development, neurology and pediatrics.
Montessori schools have been in existence since Dr. Maria Montessori, educator par excellence and Italy’s first woman physician, started the first class in Rome in 1907. The effectiveness of the system, and the fact that it has become a part of the global educational landscape in the hundred plus years since its existence, can also be attributed to the fact that the methodology was developed by Dr. Montessori based on rigorous scientific observation and inference.
Today, all over the world, there is a growing need for trained, enthusiastic and competent teachers. With the increase in standards of living around the world, and with the increased integration of communities all around the world, there is a growing awareness on the need for quality education which could in turn build better citizens for a better tomorrow. It is our sincere intention at the RTI Montessori Training Course to aid in this critical process.
Enjoy this 5 minute YouTube video on one parent’s perspective of the core contrast between Montessori and conventional schools: