The Montessorian in the Microprocessor
A Montessori crash course for digital designers.
The ideas of Maria Montessori are well known among early educators. It turns out they also map nicely onto the design of interactive media.
Early Life
Maria Montessori was born in August 1870 in Chiaravalle, Italy to well educated parents, Alessandro and Renilde Montessori.
During this time, Italy had strong conservative views about women’s roles which Maria consistently broke through her early life.
At age 14, Maria moved with her family to Rome, Italy, where she attended the Regio Istituto Tecnico Leonardo da Vinci, an all-boys technical institute with the initial intent of becoming an engineer. Her attendance at this secondary school was specifically exceptional, and while there, Maria developed a love for math and a deepened interest in the sciences, particularly in biology.
Upon her graduation, Maria’s parents encouraged her to pursue a career in education, one of the few jobs available for women in Italy during this time. However, Maria had other plans for herself, and was determined to attend medical school with hopes of one day becoming a doctor. In 1890, Maria Montessori enrolled at the University of Rome where she studied physics, mathematics, and the natural sciences. Six years later, Montessori graduated from medical school, becoming the first female doctor in Italy (“Maria Montessori”, 2020).
From Surgeon to Educator
In 1897, Montessori went to work as a surgical assistant at the Santo Spirito Hospital in Rome. While there, she was given jobs that segregated her from her male counterparts and was often assigned tasks that many found to be unpleasant. According to the Montessori Association Internationale (AMI), as part of her position, she was assigned to visit Rome’s asylums for the mentally disabled, or “idiot”, children. One of Montessori’s most notable observations was how the children played with crumbs of bread on the ground. By observing this, she realized that the children were not hungry but needed to touch and feel the bread for sensorial stimulation. This was a breakthrough for Montessori in understanding the early learning development of children. From this, she realized that all children have a naturally absorbent and curious mind. This notion would become a strong basis for a learning theory for human development that Montessori would later create.
In 1907, Montessori was given the opportunity to explore her theory further by the Italian government which placed her in charge of the Casa dei Bambini, a school for children in the slums of Rome. This would become the world’s first “Montessori School”, where Maria Montessori’s methods for learning development would be applied (“Biography of Maria Montessori”, 2020).
“Give nothing to the mind, until you first give it to the hand.” — Maria Montessori
The Montessori Method
The Montessori method is a child-centered, hands-on approach to education and childhood development. It is a learning theory that embraces the child’s natural desire to learn and their ability to do so in their everyday environment. Montessori believed that learning is intrinsically fun for children because they naturally possess a sense of curiosity. This can be “unleashed” through sensorial experiences, where the child has the freedom to touch, play and manipulate objects on their own.
Parents and educators can encourage this creativity through regular observation and the allowance for early experimentation and discovery in a prepared environment. This would be a space that is bright, safe, quiet, organized and easily accessible for all children. It should honor the work of the individual child by providing activities and objects commonly found in a natural setting. In doing so, the voice of the inner child, and the teacher within them, can be heard through the freedom of choice and unrestricted time.
Coincidingly, there is a lack of reinforcement involved with the Montessori method where the child is forced to comprehend ideas and solve problems for themselves, without the assistance of more capable others. This introduces the child to executive functioning skills like working memory, mental flexibility and self-control which will be critical in later stages of life. The early development of these abilities will ultimately make the child feel more accomplished and confident in their own individual intelligence. This will better equip them for understanding more complex concepts in the future.
The Montessori Method and Interactive Media
Maria Montessori died in 1952, and was therefore unable to witness the development of the technology that has so much changed our reality. However, many of the ideas behind the Montessori method can be applied to the interactive media that we use, especially tools created for the assistance in early childhood development.
Would it be Montessori approved?
This is a question we should ask ourselves when it comes to interactive media created to spark creativity and curiosity in a young mind. When considering toys that I used to play with as a child that would not be Montessori approved, I immediately thought of the VTech Alphabet Apple.
As expressed in the video above, this toy uses buttons to stimulate an early understanding for the alphabet. When pressed, each button sings a song related to the chosen letter. This toy would be dust in the eyes of Maria Montessori because of its use of cluttered noise. Each song is multiple seconds long and quickly changes once another button is pressed. Therefore, if many buttons are pressed, a child would be unable to gain any understanding for the pronunciation of specific letters. At the same time, the songs are so long that a child might have already forgotten what letter they pressed that corresponds with a specific sound.
Overall, this is a “show me” toy that complicates the connection between different letters and their corresponding pronunciations. The use of cluttered noise not only prevents children from recognizing pronunciations for themselves, but it also hinders their concentration in doing so.
Interactive Media Montessori Might Approve
Of course, Maria Montessori is not around today to approve toys and children’s applications. However, we can apply many of her method’s ideals to the educational tools that are currently available which encourage learning through hands-on activities and collaborative play.
For example, there are many Montessori apps for preschool through elementary-aged children across various subjects such as music, math, literacy, shapes, colors and more. One of the most notable would be the app, Montessori Preschool which is available for Android and iOS devices.
Montessori Preschool is a subscription-based application certified by Montessori teachers. Through this app, children ages three to seven can learn basic math and numbers, practice handwriting and spelling, and care for virtual fish. All elements of this app are inspired by games and educational tools commonly used in a Montessori classroom such as the “I Spy” game, card matching, and golden beads used for understanding mathematics. These simple, yet enriching, activities aim to help children with their concentration, attention and memory while leading them toward their own autonomy. Not only is this an app designed to educate young minds, but it also promotes the development of individual personalities and perceptions through empowerment.
Another application that would be magic in the eyes of Maria Montessori would be Busy Shapes, also by Edoki Academy. This interactive playground was designed to awaken the inner intelligence and reasoning skills of children ages two to five.
Busy Shapes employs simple matching exercises to form connections between shapes and colors found in the real world. The app allows children to drag brightly colored shapes to similarly shaped holes and drop them in. Each shape is representative of physical and identifiable objects like blocks, flowers, sponges, and buttons. These digital objects are placed on top of textured backgrounds mimicking natural, sensorial environments like grass, sand, wood, and tile. A correct match is accompanied by limited praise such as a harp-strum noise.
The app gets progressively more complex as the player moves up in levels, building upon sorting and problem-solving skills. For instance, higher levels of the game require sorting by color, shape, and size through the introduction of additional shapes and colors with corresponding holes. Some levels include obstacles that block certain movements such as bars and puddles of liquid which require players to first drop objects into the incorrect holes in exchange for correct pieces.
Overall, Busy Shapes is an intuitive app for preschoolers, providing children with an experience mimicking real-life play and exploration. The app provides children with a choice on what to focus on, whether it be colors, shapes, or a mix of both. Children can refine basic motor skills through the ability to drag and drop objects through unique challenges. In addition, problems can be solved in various ways by an individual player, giving them the room to think for themselves on how they want to experiment with the objects provided.
Conclusion
Montessori isn’t around today; but she left behind a good recipe that any designer of a children’s product should get to know.
Sources
5 Best Montessori Apps For Kids — Download Now. (2020, September 27). Retrieved from https://www.educationalappstore.com/best-apps/best-montessori-apps-for-kids
Biography of Maria Montessori. (2020). Retrieved from https://montessori-ami.org/resource-library/facts/biography-maria-montessori
Bircher, K. (2017, January 19). Busy Shapes app review. Retrieved from https://www.hbook.com/?detailStory=busy-shapes-app-review
Hargis, A., & Hargis, D. (2017, April 12). Montessori Education in the Internet Age — Child of the Redwoods: Aubrey Hargis. Retrieved from https://www.childoftheredwoods.com/articles/mont-tech-fit
Maria Montessori. (2020). Retrieved from https://www.biography.com/scholar/maria-montessori
