Introduction
The Montessori Method is among the best education methods applied in the learning system to ensure maximum benefit. The process provides the best opportunity for learners to acquire essential critical skills in their present and future academic lives. This method of education is specifically very significant since it gives the learners a chance to make their own independent decisions on activities to engage in while learning and with the aid of teachers who are fully available to collaborate with students to ensure they achieve their desired objectives in the learning process (Siaviki et al., 2021). In the same way, this method allows the learners to nature individual desires for knowledge, helps the teachers establish a conducive environment for effective learning, and finally, provides an opportunity for students to exercise their understanding through practical activity.
Description of The Topic
The Montessori Method is an education method that focuses on learners’ self-management and the use of collaborative play to instill ethical values in children. Through this teaching method, students use creativity in the decision-making that leads them to make appropriate choices suitable for learning practices. In contrast, the teachers provide relevant learning activities well-suited for the students based on their ages to guide them in the learning process (Kiran et al., 2021). The use of ages to classify students and provide the appropriate knowledge that is well-suited for their age groups, for example, children, adolescents, and the youth, makes this method of education very suitable and specific to the intended persons. Therefore, the Montessori Method is the best in its category compared to other education methods.
The Montessori Method of education serves the following critical and unique roles in the lives of children. To begin with, the technique works to nurture order among children at a tender age to enable them to become organized in every activity they conduct. Secondly, this method gives students a chance to improve their concentration levels for effective learning. Thirdly, the technique instills independence among children, giving them a chance to do many tasks in class on their own without the help of the teacher (Kusumawardani, Nani & Sulistiani, 2020). The values promoted by this method are significant for the child’s development, from the lowest levels of education in childhood to the stories of adolescence and youthfulness. This topic is therefore critical since it contributes to effective acquisition of knowledge.
In Montessori classrooms, children are provided with the opportunity to apply creativity in making decisions in the learning process. In this regard, the role of their experienced and knowledgeable teachers is entrusted with the duties provision of age-biased activities which guide the students in the learning process. The learners are encouraged to embrace teamwork and use focused groups to research and discover new things in the world, therefore contributing to their maximum attainment of knowledge. In the same way, students are allowed to participate in individual research and studies to enhance their full unique potential in education (Brcko, 2020). These classes are designed in an organized and orderly manner, with the environment adjusted effectively to provide for the specific requirements of students within a particular age range.
The founder of this method, Dr. Maria Montessori, based her reasons for supporting this method of education on the fact that learning through experimentation in the classroom made it easy to learn and understand concepts, language, music, science, and mathematics. Therefore, in this case, she upheld that Montessori classrooms should be secular, despite equally stating that the same method of education is not rigid and thus can be readjusted to make up a faith-based program. The Montessori Method holds onto the idea that every resource or tool found within the classroom environment must be functional and should support the children in development, hence matching the children’s interests with the available activities. This creates an opportunity for children to acquire knowledge from their surroundings and through their individual daily experiences that they encounter as they study (Siaviki et al., 2021). Students are also given a chance to directly participate in research concerning certain curiosities that have challenged people, providing knowledge on the specific interests, hence creating space for further study and learning concerning the various natural curiosities that exist in people’s lives.
The Montessori Method of education helps provide knowledge to children from birth to adolescence. This education method is crucial in ensuring that children receive education in a conducive environment meant to support learning from birth to toddler level. In the same way, the technique is essential in helping children develop trust in themselves and their surroundings, instilling confidence, developing fine motor, language skills, and coordination, and lastly, providing a chance for the infants to be independent while conducting daily tasks (Kiran et al., 2021). At the primary level of education, Montessori schools promote children’s social development using respectful communication, provide opportunities for creativity in everyday learning, promote independence among children, and provide resources necessary for the children’s beginner level of education.
In elementary schools, this method is essential in providing opportunities for children to explore their interests through providing critical support, fostering children’s knowledge of the expectations of society concerning them, and nurturing the habits of self-confidence, intellectual independence, imagination, and self-efficacy. The schools provide a working environment where learners can practice what they learn in class at the adolescent level. For example, the provision of a farm where learners participate in farm administration (Kiran et al., 2021). These schools give adolescents a chance to apply academic knowledge in real life and promote the development of independence and self-expression. Therefore, the general role of Montessori schools is to nurture the individual interests and strengths of children at each level of learning.
The Montessori Method of education application is based on five principles. They include respect for children during the learning process, quality learning environment, sensitive learning periods, a developing mind and automatic education. The primary principle of this method is respect for the child throughout the learning process, ensuring that there is minimal disruption of their concentration, freedom of choice for the activities they want to take part and to conduct independent learning. The absorbent mind principle focuses on the fact that children are generally open to learning and discovering new concepts within their environment (Catherine, Javier & Francisco, 2020). Children can think and make sense through learning from their environment, which is a trait human beings have. The principle of sensitive periods makes a general assumption that children are more capable and willing to learn new things at a certain specific period in their lives; therefore, teachers should focus on identifying such periods to ensure maximum gain for the student at that particular time.
The principle of a prepared environment holds onto the belief that children are more capable of acquiring maximum knowledge in an environment that has already been fully prepared for them to provide an avenue for them to carry out tasks on their own without the guidance of the teachers. Therefore, this principle advises teachers to prepare the learning environment by ensuring the availability of the required materials and adequately organizing the background to give students a chance to learn independently without seeking external support. The principle of auto-education states that students should take part in self-education. This means that the students should study by themselves and acquire knowledge independently. The teachers only provide a conducive environment for learning and provide encouragement and guidance aiming at helping the students study by themselves (Catherine, Javier & Francisco, 2020). Through this, the students can research on their own, experiment with ideas and concepts, and develop solutions to problems with little intervention from teachers; acquiring knowledge is a natural process.
Teachers play notable roles in this method of education. The primary function is to guide the children in learning while ensuring they do not become obstacles to the natural learning process. In this case, the teacher mainly plays the role of facilitation and supervision. They regard children as the center of the learning process and avail all learning materials and resources in the specific environments they partake in their studies. Provision of learning materials is made through thorough observation and evaluation of the learning environment to establish precisely what the children need to provide them with necessary materials for specific purposes. In addition, teachers demonstrate learning procedures to the children, which gives students an idea of how to carry out their activities independently without the teacher’s intervention and enables them to explore their operations to establish new concepts (Brcko, 2020). Teachers practice effective management of Montessori classrooms by ensuring respect for everyone in the class and discouraging inappropriate behavior by providing alternatives to the children to keep them from misbehavior.
Suggestions For Further Studies on The Topic
Montessori Method of education, despite having provided an obvious direction of how to conduct children’s learning process, lacks essential information that needs to be added to improve efficiency. One of the information lacking is details of the adolescent level of education in Montessori schools (Siaviki et al., 2021). Detailed information concerning this level of learning is missing because the founder of the schooling method died before completing approaches to the adolescence level of education in Montessori schools. In the same way, the Association Montessori International (AMI) lacks significant programs for the training of teachers concerning the best ways to facilitate the equipment of teachers on the appropriate skills to teach learners effectively according to the guidelines of Montessori schools.
The existing programs of AMI only cover the education levels of children between birth and elementary schools, leaving aside the adolescent level of learning, creating a gap in research. The organization lacks expertise that would otherwise have conducted extensive research on improving the efficiency of the method of education to the adolescence level to promote effective learning across all levels of education in a child’s life (Siaviki et al., 2021). Therefore, extensive research should be facilitated by AMI to provide findings and recommendations that will be used in the institution of the Montessori Method of education, especially at the adolescent level.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Montessori Method of education is a prominent, precise, and influential teaching method to ensure that students are equipped with the best practical skills in the learning process. The practical skills are mainly critical for maximum acquisition of knowledge about the specific area of specialization of the learners at particular ages. The principles of this method of education include respect for the children while conducting the education process, a prepared environment for the learners to find it easy to learn, an absorbent mind which holds onto the fact that children can learn independently, and finally, self-education and sensitive periods which all guide the conduct of the teachers towards improving the levels of acquisition of knowledge among learners. The education method also bases its ideology on the collaboration of learners among themselves in groups to explore inside and discover discoveries that will create a foundation for enhanced research in the future.
Despite the method being very effective in the transmission of practical skills to learners, there still lacks extensive knowledge since additional information on the adolescence level is not available. Therefore, it is essential to encourage more research on the Montessori Method of education to establish an effective learning process for children to ensure they possess the best skills throughout the learning process. Even though the majority of the authors have the positive opinion that Montessori Education Method provides quality education regarding ethics, behavior, and skills, several other authors in their articles have questioned the lack of standardized testing in Montessori schools. Testing and grading make it easier to evaluate the effectiveness of this method. In conclusion, most of the authors favor this method, and with the use of standardized testing, the Montessori Method can have an increased number of schools in the future.
References
Brcko, M. (2020). The Montessori Method in Pre-Primary Education-An Overview of Research Written in English.
Catherine, L. E., Javier, B., & Francisco, G. (2020). Four Pillars of the Montessori Method and Their Support by Current Neuroscience. Mind, Brain, and Education, 14(4), 322-334.
Kiran, I., Macun, B., Argin, Y., & ULUTAĹž, Ä°. (2021). Montessori Method in Early Childhood Education: A Systematic Review. Cukurova University Faculty of Education Journal, 50(2), 1154-1183.
Kusumawardani, L., Nani, D., & Sulistiani, S. (2020). Improving gross motor skill development through the Montessori method in children aged 3-5 years. Sri Lanka Journal of Child Health, 49(4), 347-352.
Siaviki, A., Tympa, E., Karavida, V., Fykaris, I., & Grammatikou, D. (2021). The Functionality of the Montessori Method: Preschool and Primary Greek School Teacher’s Attitudes. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 11(6), 115-124.