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• Nurturing the Spirit of the Teacher by Aline Wolf
• Montessori 101

Nurturing the Spirit of the Teacher by Aline Wolf

In order for the children in Montessori classes today to fulfill Maria Montessori's great desire to create a better world for the future, it is vital for them to be in the care of adults who live day to day in spiritual awareness. In other words, adults who know themselves well and are keenly aware of their own spiritual journey. How is this to be done?

"It is not primarily a question of studying psychology," Montessori tells us, "the first essential is that the teacher should go through an inner spiritual preparation-'This is the most difficult part of her training, without which all the rest is to no avail."

Montessori said many times that the best preparation for teaching is a study of one's self. In this study she urged us to root out any arrogance we might have that shows itself in anger and pride. This spiritual preparation she placed ahead of academic training. To follow her directives, therefore, we must create time and effective techniques for self-study and personal growth in our training programs, in in-service for the staff at our schools, and in our seminars.

Care of the spirit is not just an add-on to be covered in a few units on values education. It is not just a nice gloss on the real work of training professionals. It is fundamental to the whole enterprise. Your heightened spirituality is not merely to inspire you to give a few lessons on peace or care of the earth. It is an attitude that ideally will permeate all your interactions with children. Permeate; I like that word. It means to penetrate or imbue-as water penetrates sand. Each grain of sand is still there, but each grain has changed because the water has permeated it. In the same way, a spiritual attitude can permeate all the activities of your day.

How do you become more spiritually aware when you are constantly bombarded with more and more pressures on your time? First you must be convinced of the value of this endeavor and then give it precedence over other activities.

For this to happen, you have to create a time and a space in your own spiritual journey. Place is particularly important. It doesn't mean that you have to run out to the woods every day to meditate or add a meditation room to your home. It can be as simple as having a little corner or a shelf or a drawer with a few objects and books that call you to spirituality. At home I have a small table in a bay window where I keep my spiritual books and a few objects that remind me of my spiritual journey-a candle that is the symbol of the great gift of light, a beautiful blue-green paua shell from New Zealand that proclaims the gorgeous colors of nature, a string of beads arranged in a circle to remind me of the unity of all things. These beads are from Western Samoa, so the also remind me of the simple lifestyle that I once experienced there. I have a cross that is a symbol of my own Christian faith, and I also have a plaque with the Prayer of St. Francis that I say every morning, the one that begins, "Lord, make me an instrument of your peace." These are things that are meaningful to me. If you set up a little corner in your home, your books and objects will be different. They will be things that speak to you of spirituality. It is important to have them there where you will see them often and they will remind you of your spiritual journey.

Time is the other critical factor. I like to give time to my spiritual journey the first thing in the morning. If I read a passage from one of my spiritual books, meditate for 15 or 20 minutes, look out at the mountains that I can see from my window-it puts my whole day in perspective. I feel more centered, and more aware of my priorities. For many of you it may be impossible to do this in the morning. I could not have done it years ago when our children were young. You may have to find another time, perhaps at night or a few hours on the weekend when you can focus on your spiritual journey. Another opportunity for spiritual growth is attending a retreat at least once a year. A spiritual retreat for Montessori teachers would, in my opinion, be an important step in professional growth. I would also like to encourage you to keep a spiritual journal. You don't have to write 5 or 10 pages a day, just a few lines to encapsulate your feelings and any new spiritual insights you might have. This habit could be started in training courses, not like a formal album, but a personal record.

There is no doubt that you will enhance your interactions with children when you give renewed attention to your own journey. But you will benefit even more than the children because your life will gradually become more centered and meaningful.

Aline Wolf will deliver the keynote speech at our fall conference.

Montessori 101

Annette Haines, Director of Training at the St. Louis AMI Training Centre, and keynote speaker at our upcoming fall conference, has shared this GLOSSARY OF MONTESSORI TERMS with us to help us all get back “into gear” at the beginning of this new school year! [edited due to space constraints]

Absorbent Mind: A mind able to absorb knowledge quickly and effortlessly. Montessori said the child from birth to six years has an "absorbent mind."

Adaptation: related to the idea of an absorbent mind (Haines, l993) is a special power of the young child that can be called the power of adaptation. This power is a process whereby the young child uses the environment to develop and, in so doing, becomes a part of that environment. The young child absorbs the culture of her time and place, taking in all the spirit, the customs, the ambitions and attitudes of a society simply by living in that society.

Analysis of movement: A technique used by Montessori teachers. The adult, when showing a complex action to a child, breaks it down into its parts and shows one step at a time, executing each movement slowly and exactly. The action thus becomes a sequence of simple movements and the child has a greater chance of success when "given the liberty to make use of them" (Montessori, 1966, p. 108)
Children's House: The English name for Montessori's Casa dei Bambini [Italian]. A place for children from 3 - 6 years to live and grow. Everything necessary for optimal human development is included in a safe and secure environment

Classification: Sorting. Allocating or distributing according to common characteristics. The young child engages in classification activities because the process is essential for the construction of the intellect. The Montessori classroom offers many opportunities for classification.

Concentration: Recognizing that "the longer one does attend to a topic the more mastery of it one has," the great American psychologist William James remarked, "An education which should improve this faculty would be the education par excellence." (1892/l985, p. 95.) Montessori, who knew of James, set out to do just that. She believed that if environments could be prepared with "objects which correspond to...formative tendencies" (l949/l967, p. 169) the child's energy and interest would become focused on that aspect of the environment which corresponded to the developmental need.

Concrete to Abstract: A progression both logical and developmentally appropriate. The child is introduced first to a concrete material that embodies an abstract idea such as size or color. Given hands-on experience, the child's mind grasps the idea inherent in the material and forms an abstraction. Only as the child develops, is she gradually able to comprehend the same idea in symbolic form.

Control of Error: A way of providing instant feedback. Every Montessori activity provides the child with some way of assessing his own progress. This puts the control in the hands of the learner and protects the young child's self-esteem and self-motivation. Control of error is an essential aspect of auto-education.

Coordination of Movement: One of the major accomplishments of early childhood. Through the child's own effort, she wills herself to refine her muscular coordination and consequently acquires increasingly higher levels of independent functioning. Because of this developmental need, children are drawn to activities that involve movement and especially to pastimes which demand a certain level of exactitude and precision.

Creativity/Imagination: Imagination involves the forming of a mental concept of what is not actually present to the senses. Creativity is a product of the imagination and results from the mental recombining of imagined ideas in new and inventive ways. Both are dependent on mental imagery formed through sensorial experience.

Cycle of Activity: Little children, when engaged in an activity which interests them, will repeat it many times and for no apparent reason, stopping suddenly only when the inner need which compelled the child to activity has been satisfied. To allow for the possibility of long and concentrated work cycles, Montessori advocates a 3-hour uninterrupted work period.

Development of the Will: The ability to will, or choose to do something with conscious intent, develops gradually during the first phase of life and is strengthened through practice. The Montessori environment offers many opportunities for the child to choose. Willpower, or self-control, results from the many little choices of daily life in a Montessori school.

Deviations: Behavior commonly seen in children that is the result of some obstacle to normal development. Such behavior may be commonly understood as negative (a timid child, a destructive child, etc.) or positive (a passive, quiet child). Both positive and negative deviations disappear once the child begins to concentrate on a piece of work freely chosen.

Discipline from Within: Self discipline. The discipline in a well-run Montessori classroom is not a result of the teacher's control or of rewards or punishments. It's source comes from within each individual child, who can control his or her own actions and make positive choices regarding personal behavior. Self-discipline is directly related to development of the will.

Exercises of Practical Life: One for the four areas of the Montessori prepared environment. The exercises of Practical Life resemble the simple work of life in the home: sweeping, dusting, washing dishes, etc. These purposeful activities help the child adapt to his new community, learn self-control and begin to see himself as a contributing party of the social unit. His intellect grows as he works with his hands; his personality becomes integrated as body and mind function as a unit.

False Fatigue: A phenomenon observed in Children's Houses around the world--often at approximately 10 a.m. The children seem to lose interest in work, their behavior becomes disorderly and the noise level rises. It may appear as if the children are tired. However, if the directress understands this is simply false fatigue, they will return to work on their own and their work will be at an even higher level than before.

Grace and Courtesy: An aspect of Practical Life. Little lessons which demonstrate positive social behavior help the young child adapt to life in a group and arm her with knowledge of socially acceptable behavior: practical information, useful both in and out of school.

Help from Periphery: The periphery is that part of the child that comes into contact with external reality. The child takes in impressions through the senses and through movement. Help from the periphery means presenting objects and activities in such a way so as to evoke purposeful movement on the part of the child. "We never give to the eye more than we give to the hand." (Standing, 1957, p. 237)

Human Tendencies: A central tenet of Montessori philosophy is that human beings exhibit certain predispositions that are universal, spanning age, cultural and racial barriers; they have existed since the dawn of the species and are probably evolutionary in origin. "Montessori stresses the need to serve those special traits that have proved to be tendencies of Man throughout his history." (Mario Montessori, 1966, p. 21)

Independence: Not depending on another--"with various shades of meaning" (OED, p. 836). Normal developmental milestones such as weaning, walking, talking, etc. can be seen as a series of events which enable the child to achieve increased individuation, autonomy and self-regulation. Throughout the four planes of development, the child and young adult continuously seeks to become more independent. Its as if the child says, Help me to help myself.

Indirect Preparation: The way nature has of preparing the intelligence. In every action, there is a conscious interest. Through this interest, the mind is being prepared for something in the future. For example, a young child will enjoy the putting together various triangular shapes, totally unaware that because of this work his mind will later be more accepting of geometry. Also called remote preparation, the deeper educational purpose of many Montessori activities is remote in time.

Indirect Presentation: Because of the absorbent nature of the young child's mind, every action or event can be seen as a lesson. It is understood that children learn by watching other children work or by overseeing a lesson given to another. In the same way, they quickly absorb the behavior patterns and the language used by the family, the neighborhood children and even TV.

Isolation of a Difficulty: Before giving a presentation, the Montessori teacher analyzes the activity she wants to show to the child. Procedures or movements that might prove troublesome are isolated and taught to the child separately. For example, holding and snipping with scissors, a simple movement, is shown before cutting curved or zigzag lines; folding cloths are shown before table washing, an activity requiring folding. A task should neither be so hard that it is overwhelming, nor so easy that it is boring.

Language Appreciation: From the very first days in the Montessori classroom, children are given the opportunity to listen to true stories about known subjects, told with great expression. Songs, poems and rhymes are a part of the daily life of the class. The teacher models the art of conversation and respectfully listens to her young students. Looking at beautiful books with lovely, realistic pictures is also a part of language appreciation.

Learning Explosions: Human development is often not slow and steady; acquisitions seem to arrive suddenly, almost overnight, and with explosive impact. Such learning explosions are the sudden outward manifestation of a long process of internal growth. For example, the explosion of spoken language around two years of age is the result of many months of inner preparation and mental development.

Mathematical Mind: All babies are born with mathematical minds, that is, they have a propensity to learn things which enhance their ability to be exact and orderly, to observe, compare, and classify. Humans naturally tend to calculate, measure, reason, abstract, imagine and create. But this vital part of intelligence must be given help and direction for it to develop and function. If mathematics is not part of the young child's experience, his subconscious mind will not be accepting of it at a later date.

Maximum Effort: Children seem to enjoy difficult work, work which tests their abilities and provides a sense of their growing power. They exult in giving their maximum effort. For example, a tiny child will struggle to carry a tray with juice glasses or push a heavy wheelbarrow whereas school-age children, if allowed to make up their own problems will prefer to sink their teeth into a challenging equation (1 + 2 + 3 + 4 ...+ 10)2 rather than drill on 3 + 5 =___ and 6 + 2 = ___.

Mixed Ages: One of the hallmarks of the Montessori method is that children of mixed ages work together in the same class. Age-groupings are based on developmental planes. Children from 3 - 6 years of age are together in the Children's House; 6 - 9 year-olds share the lower elementary and the upper elementary is made up of 9 - 12 year-olds. Because the work is individual, children progress at their own pace; there is cooperation rather than competition between the ages.

Normalization: If young children are repeatedly able to experience periods of spontaneous concentration on a piece of work freely chosen, they will begin to display the characteristics of normal development: a love of work, an attachment to reality, and a love of silence and working alone. Normalized children are happier children: enthusiastic, generous, and helpful to others. They make constructive work choices and their work reflects their level of development.

Obedience: Obedience is an act of will and develops gradually, showing itself "unexpectedly at the end of a long process of maturation." (Montessori, 1967, p. 257). While this inner development is going on, little children may obey occasionally, but be completely unable to obey consistently. As their will develops through the exercise of free choice, children begin to have the self-discipline or self-control necessary for obedience.

Points of Interest: Montessori realized that if children spent too long a time on a complex task or failed to master the necessary details, the exercise would cease to interest them. Therefore she suggested that points of interest be interspersed throughout each activity. These points guide the child toward his or her goal and stimulate repetition and interest by offering immediate feedback, or what Montessori called “control of error.” The child’s performance becomes refined through trial and error.