Montessori Education

Parents are known decision-makers for the youth’s future.  Before kids learn to choose, acting on their behalf are their mommies or daddies.  And this role hasn’t really wavered; in fact, the resolve to get the best education institution for their children grew stronger.

And one often part of a selection of institution is the Montessori Education.  Innumerable number of parents has heard a lot about this institution.  It is lauded for its alignment of learning activities with students’ plane of development.  If not for such ‘teaching’ specifics, parents must have learned about famous and successful people rising out of Montessori’s learning approach, people like the creators of the search engine, Google.
And if not for those mentioned details, parents may simply edge their eyes on the tuition fees.  But because the emphasis here is on diligent parents, perhaps the focus must stick on parents who gather every bit of input about the Montessori Education.

The concern of these parents isn’t just bound by duty; apart from students, parents are receiving the pressure passed by the financial upshot in tuition fees, as well as the feeding of competitive students to the globalisation machine.  Parents were bear witness of the devastation of the mistakes of the past and even of today’s generation; they don’t want any repeat or similar suffering for their children.  Hence, they patiently inch only for the best institutions, those that can build more intellect, flexibility and resiliency for their children.  

That makes sense as to why early education is big deal, as to why they take into careful education the comprehensives, the Montessori Education, and any other institution.  Parents have become wary of teachers, schools, and the education system, as a whole.  And if the answer starts with something as radical as Montessori’s, off you go, little tod’!

There are a variety of ways for parents to choose their toddlers’ school.  They may pick it up from their experience or lack of it.  They may listen to word-of-mouth, or conduct for themselves a brief school-background check.

What does this decision-making implicate?  --That before the young students’ voice could be properly taken into account; parents/guardians do the selection first.  Suppose students were given the voice, which institution would appeal to them -- traditional, or Montessori education?

Of course, it’s possible to communicate such choice to a kid; however, there is no denying the fact that it could be very challenging.  But for parents to aid their young ones ability to decide and free-think, then, maybe they can opt for the following recourse:

• Young ones could be encouraged to explicitly come up with expectations of their prospective schools.  Say, if one wants a lot of play, then parents will have to cite instances by which they can play inside a traditional, or Montessori education.  Take note that this guardian-supplementation is not possible unless parents did their own research.

• If parents/guardians have the time to conduct a learning diagnosis (at home), then they might try it.  This way, they are able to obtain initial but, nevertheless, profound information as to how their young students learn, as well as their level of absorption.

• Parents/guardians must check on their little toddlers’ ability to focus.  Each type of institution, be it the traditional or Montessori education, has its own way of handling or managing its students’ attention span.  However, knowing how their students fare at home may provide tangible clues as to how it might work at (which) school. 

Montessori education is a formal learning approach developed in 1907 by educator and physician Dr. Maria Montessori. Montessori opened her first classroom in 1907, the Casa dei Bambini, or Children’s House, paving the way for the introduction of a method of education that concentrates on individual progress and development of each student. Montessori believed that children could learn better if they discover knowledge by themselves rather than direct instructions. But is this unconventional type of schooling better than traditional education?

In 2006, psychologists in the United States co-led by Angeline Lillard of University of Virginia conducted a study aimed at finding out whether Montessori education is better than the traditional way of schooling. For the study, researchers compared pupils aged three to 12 at a Montessori school in Milwaukee with students of the same age bracket studying at traditional schools in the same location. Researchers tested the children for mental performance, academic abilities, and social and behavioural skills. What did they found out?

According to Lillard, the study found out significant advantages for the Montessori students in these tests for both age groups. Lillard noted remarkable positive social effects of Montessori education on the children. Researchers observed that five-year-old Montessori pupils were better prepared for reading and maths than their counterparts, while 12-year-old Montessori students wrote "significantly more creative" essays than their traditional opposites. Researchers also observed big differences in social skills and behaviour.

In short, researchers found that on a certain range of abilities, children studying at Montessori schools essentially outperformed their traditional counterparts. Researchers also found out that Montessori schools produce more mature and socially adept children than traditional education institutions.

With these observations and findings, the researchers concluded that Montessori schooling nurtures academic and social skills that are equal or superior to those nurtured by traditional education.

The term “education” is derived from Latin word “educatio” which could mean “a bringing up” or “a breeding.” The modern-day meaning of the word education could seem well relate to its origin. The simplest meaning of education nowadays is that is it the process of imparting knowledge, skills and values from one person to another. If connected to the origin of the term, education could mean the process of breeding or bringing up an individual into a person that he ought to be.

There are currently two educational stages -- compulsory and non-compulsory education. Compulsory education is a period of formal learning wherein young individuals are required to undergo. In the United Kingdom, this period usually starts from age four and a half and ends at age 16. However, UK’s Education and Skills Act of 2008 raised the compulsory education age to 17 effective in 2013, and 18 effective in 2015. Traditional and Montessori education both belong to this stage.

The non-compulsory education, meanwhile, refers to a period of formal learning not necessarily required. Individuals are given the choice whether to proceed to this education stage. After finishing formal traditional and Montessori education, a person could proceed to study a vocational course or choose to pursue an undergraduate degree. Vocational courses offer students to learn and specialize in a certain practical skill, without much concern with theories. In contrast, college courses offer students to concentrate on a certain field of knowledge, and embroil them with theories.

The process of imparting knowledge and skills is not an easy one. Approaches differ, from traditional to Montessori education. It takes time, effort and resources before the academe could mould students into persons they ought to be. Education, however, has always been successful in bringing up individuals who could contribute to the society development.