The Essential Guide to Montessori in India

Published in

First Crayon

10 min readJan 2, 2017

Over 30% of the 1,500 preschools in Mumbai use Montessori as one of their teaching methods. It is one of the most known terms attached to preschooling in India. But beyond the jargons, this is as much a teaching philosophy as it is a parenting philosophy.

You might have seen or heard the name on a preschool website, Facebook/Whatsapp chat groups, interactions with a principal or another parent, branding on furniture or toys, or in the name of an institute. But what does Montessori really stand for? We answer this and other important questions over the next 10 minutes.

What is Montessori?

Montessori is a structured approach to imparting education that stretches from birth to 12 years. At its core, it is also a parenting philosophy. That is where it becomes challenging to define and the primary source of confusion. Since it is meant to be a guide, different practitioners of the Montessori method over the years have interpreted the approach to suit their principles. Therefore, there is no widely accepted definition.

Reputed institutions like Association Montessori Internationale and American Montessori Society have outlined the 5 key characteristics that are essential to Montessori:

Multi age classrooms: This is the most important characteristic that distinguishes Montessori from other philosophies. In Montessori led preschools, children from 0–6 years old study together in the same physical environment. Multi-age groupings enable younger children to learn from older children and experience new challenges through observation; older children reinforce their learning by teaching concepts they have already mastered, develop leadership skills, and serve as role models. This arrangement mirrors the real world, in which individuals work and socialize with people of all ages and dispositions (sic).
Montessori authorized materials: Montessori students work with specially designed learning materials, manipulating and investigating until they master the lesson inside. A hallmark of Montessori education is its hands-on approach to learning and the use of scientifically designed didactic materials. Montessori’s distinctive learning materials teach a single skill or concept. Each learning material includes built-in mechanisms that allow a student to assess his/her progress and correct mistakes, independent of the teacher. The materials introduce increasingly complex concepts such as abstraction. The AMS School Accreditation Commission and Teacher Education Action Commission offer these lists of suggested learning materials for each Montessori program level (sic).
Child-led learning: The Montessori method assumes that a child is capable of directing his/her learning, irrespective of age. There is an acute focus on discovery of concepts through interaction with a carefully prepared physical environment. Rather than open ended questions, the child is presented with a set of alternatives to choose from.
A guide rather than an instructor, a Montessori teacher can often be hard to spot in the classroom. She may be sitting with a preschooler next to a floor mat, arranging colored rectangles from darkest to lightest, or quietly observing as a handful of elementary students dissect a leaf.
Uninterrupted work period: The uninterrupted work period recognizes and respects individual variations in the learning process. During the work period, children are given time to explore various tasks and responsibilities at their own pace without interruption. A child’s work cycle involves selecting an activity, performing the activity for as long as s/he is interested in it, cleaning up the activity and returning it to the shelf, then selecting another activity. During the work period, teachers support and monitor the students’ work and provide individual and small-group lessons. The uninterrupted work period facilitates the development of coordination, concentration, independence and order, and the assimilation of information (sic). The suggested work period is 2–3 hours for 4 days a week.
Trained Montessori teachers: To do all of the above and more, teachers should be certified in the methodology. AMI and AMS have laid down structured courses that need to be completed before teaching in a Montessori classroom. These courses (given as diplomas) are usually split into 3 year age groups: 0–3 years, 3–6 years, 6–9 years, and 9–12 years. Montessori teachers are educated as “generalists,” qualified to teach all sections of the curriculum. But many schools choose to also employ specialists in certain subjects, including art, music, foreign language, physical education, and science. Properly trained Montessori teachers understand the importance of allowing the child to develop naturally. They are able to observe children within a specific age range and introduce them to challenging and developmentally appropriate lessons and materials based on observations of each child’s unique interests, abilities, and development (social, emotional, cognitive, and physical).

All the above characteristics present a snippet of the overall approach. But these 5 characteristics should be sufficient for a parent to distinguish between a school that truly follows Montessori versus one that uses it as a marketing gimmick.

Who is Maria Montessori?

“Education should no longer be mostly imparting of knowledge, but must take a new path, seeking the release of human potentialities.” — Dr. Maria Montessori

The reason to include this section in our guide is to help our readers understand the person behind the approach, what she stood for, and how she conducted herself in practice.

Dr. Maria Montessori, physician, anthropologist and pedagogue, studied children of all racial, cultural and socio-economic backgrounds for over 50 years. Her scientific observation of the human being from birth to maturity allowed her to distill a body of philosophical, psychological and pedagogical principles. These, together with a vast range of auto-didactic materials, came to be known as the Montessori Method of Education.

Maria was born on August 31, 1870 in Chiaravalle, Italy to an upper middle class family. She graduated from the University of Rome in 1896 as a doctor of medicine (against gender bias and her father’s wishes). She gave birth to a child name Mario Montessori in 1898 as a result of a love affair. After the father of her child married someone else, Maria placed her son into foster care. She would later be reunited with him in his teenage years, where he proved to be a great assistant in her research.

Maria’s initial professional years were spent working with mentally challenged (Divyang) children as a medical researcher. In 1902, she enrolled in the Philosophy degree course at the University of Rome (Philosophy at the time included much of what we now consider psychology). In 1906, she was invited to oversee the care and education of a group of children of low-income families in the San Lorenzo district in Rome. Maria was interested in applying her work and methods to mentally normal children, and she accepted. The name Casa dei Bambini, or Children’s House, was suggested to her, and the first Casa opened on January 6, 1907. ~60 children enrolled between the ages of two and seven. This was the start of the first Montessori school in the world and the rest as they say, is history.

What is the history of Montessori in India?

The use of the word ‘Montessori’ in popular culture can be traced back to 1907.

But what is the connection between Italy and India?

Maria Montessori got associated with Theosophical Society — Adyar in India around 1907. The Theosophical movement promoted Montessori method as a solution to the lack of education in poorer Indian masses. But the real encouragement came when Rabindranath Tagore backed the pedagogy and established ‘Tagore Montessori’ schools across the country in the 1920s. During world war II, Maria stayed in India for 7 years until 1946 and further contributed to the growth of Montessori education in India.

What is the current state of Montessori in India?

Fast forward to 2016. We interviewed over 500 preschools in Mumbai. Only 7 of them (~1%) identified themselves as following only the Montessori method. Over 30% of the preschools followed Montessori as part of a mix along with one, two, or three other approaches. While you might think that you are sending your child to a Montessori, you are most likely not. Well, not at least in Mumbai. We assume that the story for rest of India will be the same.

How does Montessori make a difference to the child?

There is a small but growing body of well-designed research comparing Montessori students to those in traditional schools. These suggest that in academic subjects, Montessori students perform as well as or better than their non-Montessori peers.

In one study, for example, children who had attended Montessori schools at the preschool and elementary levels earned higher scores in high school on standardized math and science tests. Another study found that the essays of 12-year-old Montessori students were more creative and used more complex sentence structures than those produced by the non-Montessori group.

The research also shows Montessori students to have greater social and behavioral skills. They demonstrate a greater sense of fairness and justice, for example, and are more likely to choose positive responses for dealing with social dilemmas.

By less stringent measures, too, Montessori students seem to do quite well. Most Montessori schools report that their students are typically accepted into the high schools and colleges of their choice. And many successful grads cite their years at Montessori when reflecting on important influences in their life.

What are the criticisms of Montessori?

Like with most things to do with parenting, Montessori has to achieve a fine balance. Sometimes it is difficult. We have highlighted below some of the popular criticisms of the methodology:

Out of sync with modern times: When choosing this method you should keep in mind that it was invented a hundred years ago and some of its principles are now considered outdated. For example, Maria wrote about weaning the child off the breast at the age of 6 months to encourage independence. Now all global health organizations speak for extended breastfeeding.
Lack of teacher-led learning: Some children need discipline and might benefit from extrinsic motivation to learn. Such children will function better in a more structured and guided environment where a teacher is in the driver’s seat.
Lack of social interaction: The Montessori Method suggests that a child work at his/her own pace. This might lead to restricted social interaction for children who might fall at two extreme ends of the learning spectrum.
Difficulty in transitioning to a traditional classroom setting: While Montessori was developed to teach from 0 to 12 years, one will hardly find any primary schools that follow the Montessori teaching method. Therefore, most children who study in a Montessori preschool will have to transition to an instructor-led, single-age classroom. Some children will find it difficult to adapt to the new setting.
Subjective interpretation of Montessori: While organizations like AMI and AMS have laid down the principles that govern a Montessori, any school is free to call itself a Montessori. And this is primarily their own fault. In 1967, a trademark dispute arose over the use of the term “Montessori” between AMS and AMI. This conflict was finally settled by the US Patent and Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. It refused to grant exclusive use of the term “Montessori” to any one particular “Montessori” organization, holding that “the term ‘Montessori’ has a generic and/or descriptive significance”. This made it easier for ‘Montessories’ to open around the world but without any quality control (Tip: Check the google timeline graph to see the peak around late 1960s). The interpretation remains subjective till date and hence, parents need to carefully check the credentials of a preschool that claims to be a Montessori.

How is Montessori different from other teaching methods?

Montessori is not the only pedagogy available to parents of preschoolers. Over 100 pedagogies exist with the popular ones being Playway, Reggio-Emilia and Waldorf-Steiner.

Since this is a subject that requires special attention, we will publish a dedicated article soon. Subscribe to blog.firstcrayon.com to stay updated.

Are there any Montessori training institutes in India?

While there are many institutes that claim to impart Montessori education, there are very few which are affiliated to the formal bodies. We have listed below 3 officially affiliated institutions that anyone wishing to learn Montessori can choose from:

1 - Navadisha Montessori Foundation in Chennai, +91 98846-69104, course@navadisha.org