Maria Montessori and Success
Educator and Creator of Her Own Method uses Grit, Meaningful Work and Lucky Breaks to Become Known
By: Sydney Blandin | Elementary Education Major
Maria Montessori could feel all the tension as she walked into the psychiatric ward. Montessori could just see all the “crazy” children and didn’t know if she knew in her heart that she got this. She took this job because it was a part of the University of Rome and it could become an amazing opportunity. She thought it would be to her advantage to work with kids. As she approached the room, she felt as though she didn’t belong. She knew that she was strong as a doctor, that she could help these children intellectually. Montessori noticed all the children who were mentally ‘deficient’ and felt excited that she might be onto something. She then decided to do some experiments on the children where she watched them and realized that they could read, write, and pass public standardized tests. Maybe they weren’t so “crazy” after all. Maybe they were just struggling kids who needed the little extra push to have to get the education. Gaining this knowledge, she took advantage of the opportunity. She didn’t realize at that moment, that she started what would turn into the Montessori Method, a nation-wide method used by educators today (Dettmer).
Montessori had the honor of being nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, she opened her own school, and created her own method for how children learn. She has overcome so many troubles in life like all the times her method didn’t succeed, but she kept going and that made her a strong, successful woman. Her dream wasn’t to become an educator at first, her dream was to be a doctor. She succeeded as a doctor but thrived even more as an educator with her own method (Maria Montessori’s Biography).
Malcolm Gladwell said in Outliers: The Story of Success, “Success is not a random act. It arises out of a predictable and powerful set of circumstances and opportunities.” (Gladwell 155) Maria Montessori’s story follows this quote because her success arose out of an amazing opportunity. Her own personal success can be shown through Malcolm Gladwell’s ideas on meaningful work, lucky breaks, and grit.
Montessori felt stuck as a doctor, she knew something needed to change. It was a tough decision for her, but it hit her in the heart and she knew it would be the right one. She knew what she was giving up, all the awards and honors. When she took the job at the psychiatric ward, she began her life of meaningful work. Montessori decided to stay and work with children. She gave up being a doctor so that she could be an educator and help children reach their full potential in life (Maria Montessori’s Biography). She might have not known this yet but when she created the Montessori Method, that its known as her most meaningful work. This is because it still used to this day and it was the most important thing to her, so it got all her attention. Her meaningful work began when that spark went off in her brain with the experiments. She knew she could change lives and she was passionate about that. “She enjoyed tremendous success in teaching the children herself, while refining and applying her innovative methods to work with children.” (“Maria Montessori”)
The way Montessori came up with her curriculum was watching children learn and seeing that a learning environment based on both the student’s interests and that it was rigorously structured (Barone 1). This exceeded her own expectations because she didn’t realize she created her own method when coming to the psychiatric ward. She just thought was going to help them medically. Her destiny was to be an educator (Baughman 2). Her method may have been changed a little throughout years but for the most part, it has the same principles as it did before.
Malcolm Gladwell, author of Outliers: The Story of Success, writes, “Work that fulfills those criteria is meaningful. Being a teacher is meaningful” (Gladwell 150). Malcolm tells us the story of a poor family, the Borgenicht’s, who had to work for their money. The couple was desperate for money and they needed to care for each other. They created aprons and made a lot of money. That was meaningful to them. They ended up becoming very successful (Gladwell 142). A similar thing happened to Montessori with her meaningful work. She had to come up with the idea and all the experiments. But she stuck with it and kept trying even when no one was interested at first. It was the best thing that happened to her. It was meaningful to her and that is all that matters. Her method was created in 1912, and it spread like wildfire all over the world.
Montessori used her own ideas to make the work she did become meaningful. She took all the opportunities given to her and used them to her advantage. She knew she wanted to help kids and she did just that. She proved to herself and the rest of the world that what she was trying to do mattered and everyone should be aware of that.
A similar opportunity came into Montessori’s life in 1906 to work with children. The feelings she had were the same as when she first walked into a psychiatric ward, but this time it seemed to be a little different because it was a slum school. She noticed all the children were different. They were more “normal” (Concannon 1). She got the lucky break of running a school with 50–60 children who were extremely poor and dirty. This is considered a lucky break because it came out of nowhere. The Italian government set her up for this. The place where she did her work was called “House of Children.” She gave the children an atmosphere for learning and gave the children the freedom of behavior. She did not feel as nervous about this experiment. She felt more prepared and excited about this. Once Montessori started doing the same experiments on the “normal” children she began to realize that they preferred work to play. Her role in this was to stay in the background and let the children learn on their own. A spark went off in her brain and she concluded that children want to read and write by using sensory objects (Dettmer).
Montessori felt so honored that once people heard about her and what she had accomplished with the students, they came from everywhere to have their child be seen by Montessori. In the article “Montessori’s Theory,” she said, “It bothers me how these normal children in ordinary schools could have been equaled in intelligence by her ill students.” She created this method to her the students needed more help than the normal students. Montessori was given the lucky break of running that slum school and it turned her life around. She turned nothing into something, and she was very proud of herself. She explains her work in a little more detail when she says, “Children go through a series of “sensitive periods” with “creative moments” when they show spontaneous interest in learning.” (“Maria Montessori”) Maria would have not come to this conclusion without the lucky break she received.
If this didn’t happen to her, she might have never gotten the opportunity to create her method. Malcolm Gladwell in Outliers, writes, “Lucky breaks don’t seem like the exception … they seem like the rule.” (Gladwell 56) He is saying that to be successful a lucky break at some point in a lifetime would be necessary.
Jesse Henderson explained her story and how she got her lucky break in an interview, she got an interview to be a professor at a young age because the other professor got cancer. It is a sad lucky break, but it is how she became successful. Jesse took advantage of the opportunity and it is arguably one of the best decisions she could have made. She said, “this is a result of doing the best I could at the time.” (Henderson) Henderson worked so hard to be at the position that she is at today and that goes for Montessori as well.
This can be related to Maria Montessori and her story because of her lucky break. Henderson became successful with an unexpected interview, whereas Montessori became successful with the lucky break to be in charge of the slum school. It allowed her to become the best at what she did. She was given opportunities that she wouldn’t have expected to get, but by receiving them it worked out to her advantage.
The Montessori Method was not initially successful. The growth of the method was slow, and people were not as interested as they were before. This made Montessori feel discouraged, but that did not stop her from continuing to try everything. She noticed how well her method was doing in Italy but trying to get it to spread across the nation was frustrating to her. Finally, in the early 1960s, her method became reborn again in the United States over the media outlets. People were starting to realize how well The Montessori Method was really working. It was influencing teachers all over the nation and this made Montessori so extremely happy (“Maria Montessori’s Biography”).
Maria Montessori spent most of her life as an educator. That means she has had many ups and downs throughout her research. Montessori worked hard on this method for years and she failed almost every time before the right idea fell into her lap. All the struggles of failing put a toll on Montessori’s life, but she kept striving for success. She never gave up even when times were tough and that shows grit.
Billy Beane showed us about grit in the movie Moneyball. His team was in the last place and struggling very much. He said, “I believe in what we are doing.” This shows that he knew that they were struggling but never gave up on his idea and plan. He knew that they were going to come out strong on the other end and that is just what they did (Moneyball). Billy Beane showed us all the power of grit and Maria Montessori’s story connects well with this also.
In the book Outliers: The Story of Success, written by Malcolm Gladwell, he writes, “Buried in that setback was a golden opportunity” (124). This shows that even during all the struggles, there is an amazing opportunity for the best potential to come out of it. It just shows that the ones with the most grit will have the most success in life. Montessori was given an amazing opportunity by being able to work in the psychiatric ward and working in the slums.
Montessori devoted her entire life to her method after switching from being a doctor. She faced many challenges, but she showed a massive amount of grit by staying strong and pushing through everything. She believed each individual child had their own full potential they needed to reach and with this method, they could achieve success (“Montessori Theory”). Her method falling short a couple of times and not growing as much as she expected right away, is the main reason for her method being around today. She never gave up when creating her method. If she did students who need that extra help wouldn’t be able to because her method is used in 7,000 schools around the nation (“Maria Montessori”). All the students and teachers using it today owe her a huge thank you. Maria Montessori had true grit and it helped her in the long run.
“Maria Montessori laid out the foundation for her followers to help the movement grow into what it is today. It is growing slowly but more and more supporters of the movement continue to raise awareness” (Bragdon 1). It is evident in the world today that Maria Montessori’s method is still alive and well. This is evident in the number of schools around the world that use her method in the classroom. All her lucky breaks, meaningful work, and grit pushed her to be the best and she did just that. Montessori worked so hard at creating her method and she would be proud of how it is now. She created this many years ago and for it to still be talked about in the 21st century is something to be proud of.
Malcolm Gladwell in Outliers: The Story of Success, writes, “If you work hard enough and assert yourself, and use your mind and imagination, you can shape the world to your desires” (151). Montessori applied this quote to her life and look how she turned out. If she would have given up at any point in her life, she wouldn’t have been as successful as she was. She would not have given the children who need her method to learn the chance that others get. She believed in the potential of every child and by her creating her method she did just that.
Works Cited
Baughman, Judith S. and Victor Bondi. “Montessori Schools.” American Decades, vol. 7, 2001, pp. 1960–1969. Gale Virtual Reference Library, https://link.galegroup.com/apps/docCX3468302248/GVRL. Accessed 28 Oct. 2018.
Barone, Tom, and Barone. “Montessori Curriculum.” Encyclopedia of Curriculum Studies, no. 1, 2010. Credo Reference, http://search.credorefererence.com/content/entry/sagecurriculum/montessori_curriculum/0 Accessed 16 Oct. 2018
Bragdon, Julie. It’s Not About Discovering What to Teach. It Is About Discovering How Kids Learn. Montessori School of Denver, 2018.
Concannon, J. “Maria Montessori.” New Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 9, no. 2, 2003, pp. 836–837. Gale Virtual Reference Library, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CX3407707688/GVRl Accessed 24 Oct. 2018.
Dettmer, Jane. “Montessori Maria.” Encyclopedia of Educational Leadership and Administration, vol. 2, 2006, pp. 671–672. Gale Virtual Reference Library, https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CX349600397/GVRL. Accessed 25 Oct. 2018.
Gladwell, Malcolm. Outliers: The Story of Success. New York: Little Brown and Company. 2008. Print.
Henderson, Jesse. Personal Interview. 09 November, 2018.
Moneyball. Directed by Bennett Miller, Columbia Pictures, 2011.
“Montessori, Maria.” Gale Biographies: Popular People, no. 1, 2018. Credo Reference, http://search.credoreference.com/content/galegbpp/montessori_maria/0 Accessed 14 Oct. 2018.
Montessori Theory. Daily Montessori, Elegant Themes.
About the author: SYDNEY BLANDIN
Sydney Blandin, a freshman elementary education major from Farmington, Minnesota, hopes to become the best 2nd-grade teacher in the Twin Cities at an elementary school. Blandin likes playing basketball in a crowded gym, being around people who are funny, and her miniature golden doodle dog named Tucker.
What I’ve Learned:
Drop readers in a moment and they will want to keep reading the paper. It will make them interested in what you have to say.
Research takes time, don’t wait until the last minute to find good sources for your paper. This will cause unwanted stress.
Everyone in the room has hopes and dreams and we want everyone to achieve that through their success. We can help them achieve that because we can’t be successful on our own.
Giving speeches is scary, but be brave and confident when presenting to the audience. We care about what the speaker is saying that way.
We are all in the covenant now with this class and can never escape. We are all “sisters.”
Success. Everyone strives for it and wants to achieve it. With Malcolm Gladwell’s ideas on success, we can all get there one day.
Write your work like its the most important thing to you. If you care about what you are writing then others will too.
Name the dogs in your writing. The more specific and detail in the work, the better it will be.
Malcolm Gladwell’s books are very interesting and kept the readers engaged the whole time, 100% recommend them.
The door is always open, don’t be a stranger, go see Scott if you need help writing a paper in the future.
Guest speakers provide a new outlook on life. Jesse Henderson did that for me when she spoke to us about her success story. She explained the idea of meaningful work. I thought a lot about what she said after she spoke, and realized I didn’t know what my meaningful work was. After thinking about it for a while I became aware of the work that would be the most meaningful to me is being a teacher. Henderson helped me lock in my decision of becoming a 2nd-grade teacher.
