DR. MARIA MONTESSORI

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1509, 3 August 1912, Page 11

DR. MARIA MONTESSORI

RENOWNED CHILD'S -TEACHER. Dr. Montcssori's influence-upon educational methods promises to bo more- fundamental and lar-ieaching than that of any other educator'since Frocbel. this new and very ett'ectivo method of teaching young boys and girls proceeds by stimulating learning tnrough natural appeal to tho five senses of Uie individual. An account of tho methods used in the training of the childrcu is given .by Anne h. George, a student of Maria Montessori s achievements, in an American magazine. it was in tho convent of tho Franciscan nuns, Missionaries of St. Mary in \ m Guisti, Romo, that tho Montessori classes for children of from threo to seven years wero formed. When ono visits these schools tho lite of tho children teems so normal, so natural, and their activities at first glance so undirected, that it is easy to overlook the fact that behind all this, making it possible, lio years of preparation, of scientific training, of extensive experimentation, deep and earnest thought, reverent, unprejudiced observation. Perhaps no educator has ever approached a pedagogical experiment through such broad and remarkable training. It is characteristic of Maria Montessori's peculiar genius that her gifts as,a scientist, a physician, and a psvchologist havo always been but means through which sho might help more vitally the lives of those about her. It is the human being, the individual,-that interests her, and to be interested means to help. Her Work With Defectives. This interest in life showed itself from the outset or her medical course. She was always active iu the work of the clinics and soon turned her attention to tho ureases of children. Visiting the insane asvlums of Romo in connection with her work at" the Psychiatric Clinic, she became deeply interested in the problem of deficient and idiotic children, and entered into tho idea then becoming prevalent of a medical-pedagogical cure for such forms of diseaso as deafness, paralysis, and idiocy. . With the instinct which makes her above all other. things a "born teacher" she went farther than her colleagues, feeling that nny such treatment to be efficacious must "be mainly pedagogical. In other words she felt the medical treatment of such cases, the presentation of nil stimuli, must bo directed toward one end, tho awakening of the life, or force, which makes each of us an individual. To call

to this force, feoblo and shut in, and to lead it forth* to lay hold upon life, that must be, she felt, the task of one whoso wish was to better the condition of such unfortunate children. It was in pursuing this idea that she became familiar with the work of Edward Seguin, tho great French physician and educator. Seguin's method was to train the senses and through them lead the child to moral and intellectual 'development. In the State Orthophrenio School which grew out of her work, Maria Montessori .made use of the sense-training materials developed by Itard and Seguin, modifying and adding to them. Her remarkable results showed how true was her statement that in tho hands of a teacher who knew how reverently to observe, and patiently, unobtrusively, to direct and help the "man" that lies dormant within the soul of tho child,, these various, sense stim.uK would provo valuable pedagogical material. Stimulated. A number of her deficient boys thus taught, were . sent to take, with normal children, the public school examinations. To the amazement of everyone, the Dottoressa's pupils success-full passed the examinations! But while all her friends cried, "A miracle! A miracle!" she herself was moved in quite another way. "I felt sure that the boys from tho asylum had equalled, the normal children only because they had followed a different course. They had been helped in their psychic development, while the normal children had been suffocated and depressed." In vo other way could tho gulf 'between tho deficient . and the normal child havo been bridged. She could not help thinking what might be done by normal children could they but be allowed to grow in a system 'of education based upon tho liberty of the individual. So entirely did this thought possess her that she left everything else in order to deepen and broaden her theories. .Maria Montessori holds that no individual can be free until he is independent; that lie who is served is limited physically and spiritually. So her first step in tho education of children is toward rendering them independent of tho services of older persons. Thev arc taught how to wash their faces and hands, how to comb and brush their hair, how to care for their teeth ami nails. The sense-training materials as developed through years of observation and experiment, i'onii a series nf games, something for the child to do in and by ; himself. Tl\cy offer him certain exercises in attention.' in conum-ison. in judgment. Working independently with these toys ho establishes a certain fundamental order in his world of sensations. Ilis senses are not, through such exercises, rendered supernatural!? acute, but their natural development is aided—mado possible. His senses thus trained become easily and naturally the interpreters of his-environ-ment and he more easily understands the world about him. Tho Ideals Aimed At. "Sense education," says the Dotlorps'ii, "has a valuo which, consists in multiplying pleasures along with activities. To bo" susceptible to few stimuli means to live in a narrow enjoyment; to appreciate the finer stimuli means a broadening outlook. When we- see one who limits his enjoyment to grosser pleasures, to

showy, tilings, we may know that he suffers from a poverty of the senses. If from this limited view evidenced by gross tastes we wish to lead man to the enjoyment of finer things, it is not enough to propose- it as desirable, it is necessary to prepare him to enjoy tho finer things— and this is a long work. How can we expect him to enjoy that which is fine when ho has not the capacity? "Through exercises educating tho senses wo lead tho children in tho Casa dci Bambini to higher ideals, to a finer joy. They loarn to enjoy the silence, tho delicato sounds, tho dclicato colours; they como to distinguish between such lino stimuli, and to enjoy this very quality of refinement in them. "The greatest help which can come to man in live conquering of his grosser tastes, whatever his social rank, must como from himself, from his own development."