What Is Maria Montessori's Theory Of Education

Maria Montessori was an Italian philosopher she was a single child raised by wealthy and well-educated parents, she was also very bright, studying both modern languages and natural science. Graduating from technical school in 1886, Montessori went on to attend Regio Instituto Tecnico Leonardo da Vinci. Where she became the first woman in Italy to qualify as a physician. Throughout her time Maria often worked with children with learning difficulties in socially deprived areas, due to her interest in the diseases of children and in the needs of those that were claimed to be ineducable. In 1907 she went on to open a children’s house with furnishings fit for the children, where she worked with many individuals who were living in less privileged
She observed this type of learning through repetition, concentration, and imagination with the ethic that learners should be independent in their actions whilst making their own decision in how they should work. This is where she gained her idea of three periods of development including many sub-stages which ranged from birth to 18 years as children of all ages were included in her philosophy. Montessori reflected on these unique stages to nurture individual potential, support independence, offer freedom with limits and ensure consistency between settings. Furthermore, Maria Montessori went on to cement her philosophy with a child centred environment, real tools that work, materials and equipment accessible to children, practitioners to create beauty and order, enable competence and responsibility, also allowing children to take responsibility, schedule openly ended times and most of all practitioners to teach little and observe
From Fredrich Froebel’s key principles on the uniqueness of each child, and the use of enabling environments both indoors and outdoors through play linking with today’s use of the development matters document and the opportunity of free flow play with guidance in early years settings. To Maria Montessori’s beliefs on observation of the child being the key focus and the different periods of development to allow the children to achieve educationally alongside their age. Which is equivalent to today’s early years setting in which they observe children on various areas of development and their learning progress, ensuring each early learning goal is reached for their age group in order for them to achieve the highest potential and progress onto the next stage as they grow older. Therefore, overall, we can see from history, that key thinker’s past and present have in fact influence the early year’s practice and