Despite marking its founder’s 150th anniversary last year, the Montessori method remains a relevant and pioneering approach to childcare and education today. With recent developments in training opportunities, funding and research, Montessori is undoubtedly making its mark in the 21st Century.
Leonor Stjepic, chief executive of the Montessori Group, explains, ‘The origins of the Montessori method were rooted in the global levelling up agenda of the early 20th Century, and as we look to build back better after the pandemic, the approach has never been more relevant.’
In June, the group launched a €90,000 fund to develop research into educational practice and the Montessori approach. The European Research Fund will help shape understanding of how the Montessori method can be applied in British and European education settings today, and how it can be used to ensure every child receives quality education and has the opportunity to achieve their full potential.
On an international level, a newly formed International Montessori Ambassadors group will support the Montessori Group’s focus of honouring Maria Montessori’s humanitarian legacy, helping them build partnerships and have a positive social impact.
Opportunities to train in the method also abound, with Montessori Centre International launching accredited training in partnership with Little Dukes Training Academy at Riverside Nursery Schools in south-west London, and a new early years training centre at Manchester Montessori Academy to meet Montessori Centre International’s (MCI) commitment to expand beyond London-centric provision.
Meanwhile, Anglia Ruskin University claims its launch of an MA Education with Montessori course in September will be the first Master’s programme of its kind in the UK.
ONGOING APPEAL
Louise Livingston, head of training at the Maria Montessori Institute, says Montessori is experiencing something of a moment.
‘Interest in Montessori is vibrant right now,’ she says. ‘People are realising that there are alternatives to the “teach and test” approach that characterises mainstream education, and are looking for something different. Mainstream approaches do not serve to prepare children for the kind of world that they live in now and the future world they will create. Children don’t need to be taught facts so much as they need to be able to understand how to use those facts.
‘In Montessori we focus on helping children to fulfil their individual potential by supporting them to draw on their natural developmental drives.’
Montessori, which was founded by scientist and educator Dr Maria Montessori in Italy, is based on the belief that every child can achieve their unique potential if offered an educational environment in which they are free to choose from a range of developmental activities that are appropriate to their age and stage of learning.
Everything in nursery is designed to allow children to do things independently, with activities laid out on low shelves that are easily accessible. Children are free to choose from these activities to develop their own rhythm and work pattern, with no fixed timetable.
Aimee Kimbell, principal of Riverside Nursery Schools and a Montessori practitioner, explains, ‘Getting those skills right at a very young age really sets the groundwork for later on. The only problem can be that when they go to mainstream school they’re quite often one of 30 and they have to sit and do maths at certain times, and if they’re not the best in the class they can be made to feel that they’re rubbish.
‘If you have the privilege of a Montessori education all the way through, you aren’t one of a mass, all learning the same maths skills at the same time. You are an individual. The teacher knows exactly where you left off and the next steps in your maths journey, and that’s really important in children’s journeys of learning. Even the youngest children are all going on different journeys.’
Ms Livingston agrees that the current climate is a particularly ripe one for parents and practitioners looking for a different approach.
‘The reality is that Covid has exposed the pitfalls of our education system with a one-size-fits-all approach, where children are rewarded or punished for meeting expected standards of behaviour or learning,’ she says.
‘From traffic-light behaviour charts at nursery and primary schools to coursework and exams at secondary, children are taught to conform and pass the test. This approach squeezes out creativity, leads to mental health issues for the conscientious, and disengages children who don’t meet arbitrary measures of success. This model seems at odds with a world where many children will go on to do jobs that don’t exist yet, few will have a “job for life” and many more will be self-employed than in previous generations. Young people will need creativity, confidence, adaptability and resilience. This is supported by Montessori.’
BRINGING IT UP TO DATE
Another way of keeping the Montessori method relevant today is to ensure it supports and is supported by modern technology. As a result, MCI now offers all learning and development opportunities through a ‘blended’ learning experience, combining online and face-to-face teaching.
‘The Montessori Group remains acutely aware of the ongoing need to train and support educators sufficiently so they feel confident to enact meaningful learning experiences for future generations,’ a spokesperson for the group explains.
‘As a result, we recognise that digital education is a central driver for the exploration of transferability of the Montessori pedagogy, particularly through the social and emotional learning tenets of the Montessori approach.
‘Online learning is facilitated within our own dedicated VLE [virtual learning environment] – the “Montessori HOME” site, and this is uniquely designed to reflect the scaffolding required to successfully engage in a sustainable and Montessori-inspired reflective learning environment. This commitment by MCI ensures that we review, adapt and respond to the needs of our learners.’
THREATS TO SURVIVAL
Keeping the approach relevant is vital at a time when all childcare businesses face precarious financial circumstances and appealing to parents and children is vital to survival. Ms Kimbell says Montessori nurseries were looking particularly at risk before some of these new initiatives launched.
‘In times gone by, we used to get students of Montessori doing their teaching practice in our settings. That dried up considerably a few years ago. Lots of Montessori nurseries were shutting. Many were part of the dying breed of nurseries that provided term-time-only, morning-only care. That was the traditional Montessori school, quite often pack-away-type settings in a church hall or similar.
‘Those sorts of places can’t really survive any more in lots of places, especially in less affluent areas. So, as the owners were nearing retirement age, they were selling them off, and the settings either closed or became daycares. Luckily, most Montessori teachers stay on for a long time, so we weren’t short of staff, but we really wanted to keep the Montessori movement going.’
LINKS TO THE EYFS
As early years practitioners prepare for the introduction of the revised EYFS in September, many of those qualified in Montessori feel the approach is more relevant than ever. ‘There is nothing in the EYFS that is not fulfilled by the Montessori approach,’ says Ms Livingston.
‘We believe that children are unique and need to be treated as individuals in an enabling environment specifically prepared for their needs, which is infused with supportive relationships with adults and children. When we focus on this and our pedagogy, the goals of the EYFS are naturally fulfilled.’
The new focuses on fine and gross motor control and executive function are especially welcome. ‘Montessori is a “pedagogy of movement”, where helping children to have the physical skills to interact well with their environment is key to their learning and adaptation to the world,’ she says. ‘Montessori has always given great emphasis to this in the early years.
‘We were particularly happy to see Development Matters refer to executive function, since research shows that this is well supported in a Montessori environment.’
The continued use of phonics is also closely associated with the Montessori movement. Ms Kimbell explains, ‘Although unfortunately there aren’t any state Montessori nurseries in this country, quite a lot are heavily influenced by our practice. Maria Montessori was one of the first to use phonics to teach young children to read, and every single early years provision in this country now uses the system to word-build.’
INTO THE FUTURE
As the sector and indeed the country wrestles with shifting towards its ‘new normal’ this year, Montessori is no exception, with further changes and developments afoot. ‘There is a movement among the more hardcore Montessori practitioners at the moment pushing for the early years to be from birth to seven, like in Scandinavian countries. The theory is that it is a more natural break for children to go to school at seven than at Reception age,’ says Ms Kimbell.
‘Whether that happens or not, there definitely needs to be a real shake-up, and now is the time to do it.’
Whatever happens, the Montessori method continues to develop and thrive, and with good reason, according to Ms Livingston. ‘Montessori will always be relevant because it is not curriculum-based, it is focused on supporting the natural laws of human development,’ she says. ‘As long as humans are relevant, it will be relevant.’
NURSERY WORLD LINKED NEWS STORIES
CASE STUDY: St Margaret’s Montessori, south-west London
St Margaret’s has been a Montessori school for nearly 50 years. It is set in a Victorian house across four floors and has a large outdoor space.
Principal Aimee Kimbell explains, ‘You can see Montessori in all its glory.’ The nursery has a room for two-year-olds on the ground floor, while three- and four-year-olds are on the upper floors.
‘We know in Montessori that two-year-olds are very different developmentally to three- and four-year-olds,’ Ms Kimbell says. ‘Our two-year-olds need lots of physical development opportunities and the freedom to run in and out when they want to, as well as toilets nearby.
‘Meanwhile, our two classrooms for three- and four-year-olds have two Montessori teachers in each, referred to as “guides” or “directoresses”. They set the environment up beautifully every day and then they are there to really get to know and nurture the children.
‘They have very small groups so they can follow their children totally, and they always know exactly what has come before and what the next steps are in their learning journeys.’
The ’work cycle’, or time period in which children spend on activities, begins at 9am and resources are available for them to take from shelves. They can help themselves to snacks or drinks throughout the day, sit and read quietly, or play with toys.
At 11am they go out to the playground and all the children join together for an hour of outdoor play regardless of weather.
Lunch begins at 12.30pm, and children set the tables for themselves, wash their hands, eat communally and serve each other. In the afternoon they do more Montessori activities, cooking, language learning or Forest School. The day finishes at 3.15pm.
Montessori activities include maths resources such as a spindle box. Ms Kimball explains, ‘Every single piece of Montessori material has got a built-in “control of error”, which means children do not need much adult supervision.
‘After children have learned numbers are numerals, which we teach using sandpaper numbers so they’ve got a sensory connection between the fingertip and the brain, we link that numeral with a quantity using the spindle box – a wooden box with a series of compartments, from zero to nine. The child starts by putting one spindle in the “one” compartment, then fills the compartments up to nine.
‘Control of error means there are exactly the right number of spindles in the box for them to be able to do that successfully, and if they get to number nine but they haven’t got enough in there, they can go back and self-correct.’
She adds, ‘We’re not about reaching goals, we’re about following the child and letting them go wherever they need to. And there’s no reason why a four-year-old shouldn’t be doing a nine-year-old’s maths, if that’s where they are at.’
MORE INFORMATION
- Montessori Centre International: https://bit.ly/3gctOaw
- Montessori Group: https://bit.ly/37TVsVq
- Maria Montessori Institute: https://bit.ly/3m7gZCi
- Modern Montessori International: https://bit.ly/3xTSsml
- Little Dukes Training Academy: https://bit.ly/3iSTIC6
BOOKS
- Montessori from the Start: The Child at Home, from Birth to Age Three, by Paula Polk Lillard and Lynn Lillard Jessen, and Montessori: A Modern Approach, by Paula Polk Lillard (Schocken Books)
- The Absorbent Mind (BN Publishing), The Montessori Method (Wilder Publications) and The Discovery of the Child (Random House), by Maria Montessori
