> Photo 4.3 Children in today’s Montessori schools use specially designed didactic materials in an environment prepared to encourage learning.
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Montessori: The Prepared Environment
school setting, stocking it with learning apparatus that children can easily access, but does not interfere with their choice of and working with the items they have selected. Neither does she correct the child’s work because the apparatus itself is self-correcting. Children tend to persist with an activity until they have mastered it.
4-9c Influence on Educational Practices Today FOCUS Why was the child’s independence in performing practical life skills a priority for Montessori? Do you think the term “directress” is an appropriate designation for a teacher? In your educational experience, were there teachers who used the Montessori method? Do you plan to include elements of the Montessori method in your teaching?
Montessori made a pioneering contribution to education when she emphasized that early childhood education has a highly formative power over a person’s adult development. Her significant educational contributions include her (1) concept of sensitive periods, or phases of development, when children are ready to work with materials that are especially useful in sensory, motor, and cognitive learning; (2) belief that children are capable of sustained self-directed work in learning a particular skill; and (3) emphasis on the school as part of the community and the need for parent participation and support (Photo 4.3). She anticipated the current movement to provide earlier enrichment opportunities for young children.44 Gerald L. Gutek, “Maria Montessori: Contributions to Educational Psychology,” in Barry J. Zimmerman and Dale H. Schunk, Educational Psychology: A Century of Contributions (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2003), pp. 171–186.
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1955 Publishes Growth of Logical Thinking 1963 Publishes The Psychology of Intelligence 1970 Publishes Genetic Epistemology 1980 Death
1945 1960 1975 1990 2005
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