Dr. Montessori: Learning (Actively) Through Independence
While her life mainly revolved around educating the young “idiots” of tomorrow, Maria Montessori believed that education should prepare ALL people for ALL aspects of life — beginning with self-reliance.
Early Life
Born on August 31, 1870 in the provincial town of Chiaravalle, Italy, Montessori was exposed to conservative values and constantly broke out of gender limitations. After moving to Rome at the age of 16, she ended up attending classes at a boy’s technical institute, where she found her love for math and in the sciences — particularly biology.
Battling her father’s defiance but equipped with her mother’s support, Montessori continued onward and graduated with high honors from the medical school of the University of Rome in 1896. With the upmost faith in herself and her own abilities, she became the first female doctor in Italy.
Childhood Education Research
As a doctor, Montessori decided to specialize in pediatrics and psychiatry. While paying homage to her University as a teacher, she treated many poor and working class-children who attended the free clinics there. Through various interactions, she came to the conclusion that intrinsic intelligence was present in every child of every socio-economic background.
It was just a matter of time before such inner potential was unlocked…
In order to crack the code of learning, Montessori began to extensively research early childhood and development. Holding to the belief that anyone can be smart, she took a specific interest in the developmentally disabled and even became the director of a school that centered its program around the topic. After studying 18th and 19th century French physicians, who had experimented with the capabilities of disabled children, she was able to conceptualize her own method by applying their educational theories.
Independence as the Method to Her Madness
So what did independence mean to Montessori? In her eyes, it was the most important ingredient within her recipe of Active Learning. Defined as any instructional approach that entices students in the learning process, Active Learning not only requires students to do meaningful exercises, but to actually think about what they are doing and why they are doing it. While it certainly can include traditional activities such as homework, in practice, it refers to activities that are introduced into the classroom through interactive experiences such as small group discussions, posing questions to the class, debate, and short written exercises.
And what better way to effectively get things done than relying on yourself, YOUR thoughts and YOUR actions.
Independence meant opportunity. She wanted children to feel empowered by every element of their environment. So rather than implementing information drills, boring lectures, and memorization to understand ideas, she reinforced children to choose what it is they wanted to learn through their OWN personal interests. If they would like to share something they have learned with a friend, they would simply be encouraged to go to that friend.
Montessori and Interactive Design
Corresponding the mind with physical interaction, Montessori wanted students to have fun while making use of their surroundings. Furthermore, she heavily proclaimed that a suitable educational environment should not be distracting or cluttered. It should be a place that is conducive to learning that makes use of available technology.
In today’s modern world, this technology could possibly equate to the utilization of interactive screens such as tablets. Montessori would most likely favor such machinery, not merely because of its quick access to information, but because of its potential towards becoming a useful tool along side the learning process. Although tablets are known for feeding news and ideas, they also promote her system of Active Learning by implementing independent strategies full of self-correcting, multi challenging, and present, educational material.
While tablets are certainly a well designed product that fosters Montessori’s method of Active Learning, there are also apps that do the same. More specifically, the building-block, adventure game known as Minecraft.
From Montessori’s perspective, good design meant “following the child”. In other words, they will show you what THEY need to do, what THEY need to develop in themselves, and what area THEY need to be challenged in. Moreover, it is the teacher’s job to observe from the actions of the children, and follow them in whatever it is they desire to do.
Whether it is because there is always something to find, build or conquer, Minecraft induces an environment that fulfills that want of being in the driver’s seat. To put it simply… children are drawn to the aim of pursuing their work by the needs of their inner life, something that encourages progression and allows them to explore lessons they are genuinely interested in. Not only does Minecraft serve this purpose, but it successfully does so by placing people in a world where nothing matters besides themselves and their own goals — a notion Montessori would easily get behind.
Although a reality that supports creative freedom does exist, so does a cluttered one that distracts from the learning experience.
In a YouTube video, “What Would Montessori Really Say?” Valerie Tauze demonstrates how such muddle can be troubling for students through her example that simultaneously depicts both different colors and shapes.
She proposes the question: “what are we trying to teach them, colors or shapes”? This puzzling diagram attempts to teach more than one concept at a time, going against Montessori’s ideas of how learning should be. Viewers were left with the impression that simple is better.
But why?
The answer is simple (get it?), such clarity allows one to be confident in their own work. Furthermore, if one feels independent in their own ideas, they will inevitably feel better about the learning process and potentially maximize Active Learning.
Any passionate artist can be taken for example.
With someone such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, one of the most exquisite musicians of all time, he looked at music as an art rather than a complex talent. Of course learning such compositions were difficult… there is no denying that. However, by breaking down step-by-step what it is he wanted to learn, he was able to use simplicity to his advantage and create work like no other through genuine curiosity.
It all trails back to Montessori’s idea of independence. Wanting the best for her students, she believed that such “imagination does not become great until human beings, given the courage and strength, use it to create.”
So, in order to maximize her concept of Active Learning, Montessori supposed that things should not unnecessarily be made more difficult or even “dumbed down” to get one’s point across. Rather, lessons should be seen through a lens that INITIALLY looks at the objective in the least complicated way possible… so one can feel confident in their own capabilities and spark that fuse of wonderful creativity.
Her understanding of independence and simplicity have undoubtedly contributed to the world of design and will continue to inspire many until the end of time. Because Montessori managed to successfully cast her umbrella of Active Learning over such concepts, her name will forever be engraved as one of the most influential practitioners to ever exist.
While conditions may have shifted, the interactive designer can still (actively) learn a lot from her legacy and ideas.
