Teachers need to incorporate the Montessori method in their classroom because it benefits students socially, emotionally, and cognitively
Cognitively
Socially
Emotionally
“Embodied cognition”: they learn through their minds and bodies. By using their hands to sort and work with objects, they engage many of their senses. They thus learn faster and more efficiently.
Uninterrupted work time, studies show that uninterrupted work time can boost students’ focus, concentration, and discipline.
Improved test scores
Improves soft “social” functions, such as self-control and regulation.
Student-to-student teaching, can pay huge dividends. It’s often most useful for students playing the role of learner. Students playing the role of teacher, though, benefit as well.
Teaches the importance of team work and sharing
“Deep concentration is core to both Montessori pedagogy and mindfulness practice. Just as consistent practice of meditation enables a person to become more calm, aware, and generally self-regulated when not meditating, Dr. Montessori discovered that children who engage in deep concentration on purposeful work emerge from that state more calm, self-regulated, and with higher social competencies.(Hiles, 2018; Murray, 2012; O'Carroll, 2012; Seldin, 2002).
“There is abundant research showing that movement and cognition are closely intertwined. People represent spaces and objects more accurately, make judgements faster and more accurately, remember information better, and show superior social cognition when their movements are aligned with what they are thinking about or learning. Traditional classrooms are not set up to capitalize on the relationship between movement and cognition. In contrast, Montessori has movement at its core.” (Lillard, 2005).
According to Angeline Stoll Lillard in Montessori: The Science Behind the Genius (2005), "Situations in which children learn from their peers via specific, structured tutoring are clearly beneficial. Tutees are particularly apt to benefit when they are more involved in the task, as they tend to be with peers who are closer in age. Moreover, peer tutoring episodes benefit both tutor and tutee. Peer tutoring programs can be incorporated into traditional methods of schooling, and they are being used increasingly to the benefit of children in such programs. In Montessori education, they are integral"
Self-correction and self-assessment are an integral part of the Montessori classroom approach.
"As they mature, students learn to look critically at their work, and become adept at recognizing, correcting, and learning from their errors"(Rose, 2004)
Able to recognize their own success
Each child is valued as a unique individual.
"Montessori education recognizes that children learn in different ways, and accommodates all learning styles. Students are also free to learn at their own pace, each advancing through the curriculum as he is ready, guided by the teacher and an individualized learning plan"
(American Montessori Society, 2018)
Children derive so much joy from constructive activities that satisfy their inner needs, that it seems to onlookers as if they are playing. When they have the opportunity to realize their own development, they become, as Dr. Montessori describe, “supremely happy.” Acquiring new skills and new knowledge changes children; they are no longer discontented(Hiles, 2018; Murray, 2012; O'Carroll, 2012; Seldin, 2002).
According to Angeline Lillard, from the University of Virginia not only were five-year-old primary school children better prepared for the "three Rs" at primary level, they also had higher scores in tests of "executive function". This is the ability to adapt to changing and complex problems, and is seen as an indicator of future school and life success. From the researchers, who reported their findings in the journal Science, compared children aged three to 12 at a Montessori school in Milwaukee with those at other schools in the same area.
Beneficial because they learn to listen to their own inner voice instead of external influences. Children who are taught to self-regulate have higher academic success, better physical health, lower divorce rates, and are less likely to suffer addictions as adults.(Hiles, 2018; Murray, 2012; O'Carroll, 2012; Seldin, 2002).
“Our schools show that children of different ages help one another. The younger one sees what the older ones are doing and asks for explanations. There is a communication and harmony between the two that one seldom finds between the adult and the small child.” (Montessori, The Absorbent Mind).
click to edit