How Can We Serve Better in the Classroom?

The Prepared Environment of Maria Montessori

By Kim Yul

When Maria Montessori opened the original Montessori school in Rome in 1907, she observed what she called the “the absorbent mind” of children. She realized that children have a constant interest in absorbing knowledge and manipulating materials from their surroundings and that, given the right tools, they can learn through the tools by themselves more than anyone else.

The reason that children work or study right after they get into the classroom is that they have curiosity. Curiosity and wonder, so evident in the enthusiasm of young children and so much a part of their life, are expressions of the basic human emotion of interest. Interest is vital to emotional health in childhood, and it remains critical throughout life. Without interest, there is no curiosity, no exploration, and no real learning. Interest may be a child’s first emotion, and this first emotion always leads children to a new world.

Infants show intense interest in something, and that is why they kick inside their mothers’ wombs. They become interested in things that are colorful, moving, beautiful, rhythmic, or harmonious. Young children are also quick to indulge their curiosity and interest in their parents’ lives. Sometimes they copy the adults around them, using the tools they see in many different ways, in an effort to figure out how to use them. They use their memories to find out the right way to use the tools, and if it does not work, they pretend it does work. These behaviors are all about their interest. They are always willing to satisfy their curiosity, interest, and will. In the Montessori classroom, they are working to fulfill their needs, including their interest and curiosity.

Maria Montessori emphatically declared that “the prepared environment” is very important for a student’s development. She believed that “The environment must be rich in motives which lend interest to activity and invite the child to conduct his own experiences,” (Montessori, 1995). All students are natural learners, and they naturally know how to do something. A child is a complete human with incredible abilities and has been created with infinite potential. Children are working toward overall happiness, self-confidence, and discipline when they are allowed to follow their inborn needs. They enjoy repeating activities over and over until their inborn need is fulfilled, and they are excited and energized through the work they do. As teachers, we need to find and research their needs and develop effective ways to provide an appropriate environment for them.

Children exercise their ability to learn when their physical needs, psychological stability, and safety are fully met. The educational environment of young children should be different from that of adults. They cannot sit at a desk for a long time. More active and diverse activities should be offered to them. The various activities provide observation and movement for their learning, and when children accept them in the perfect space for their needs, they promote their own development.

The Author

Kim Yul is originally from Gwangju and has taught in Cincinnati, Ohio, for many years. He is a Montessori elementary school teacher who believes education can change the world.