Maria Montessori 1870-1952

“The goal of early childhood education should be to activate the child’s own natural desire to learn.”

I was recently talking to a friend who wants to become a primary school teacher. One lady came instantly to mind. “Have you heard of Maria Montessori?”, I asked. “She might prove to be a great inspiration to you,” I added. We then proceeded to send some beautiful quotes back and forth, like the one mentioned in the opening of this article.

Maria Tecla Artemisia Montessori was born in August of 1870 into a middle-class family in Chiaravalle, a commune in the Province of Ancona, Italy. Her father, Alessandro Montessori, was an accountant in the civil service. Her mother, Renilde Stoppani, was an unconventional woman for her time. She was well-read and had a love of books. In 1886, Maria, against her father’s wishes and going against the social standards of the time, enrolled in an all-boys school to study engineering.

After graduating, her parents wanted her to become a teacher, but she was set on becoming a doctor. This would prove to be difficult, as it was a heavily male-dominated profession during this time. Nevertheless, Montessori would ignore these social mores and applied to a medical school but was rejected. Not at all dissuaded, she applied at the University of Rome, where she studied physics, mathematics and the social sciences. After two years, Maria graduated and then entered the Faculty of Medicine at the university, becoming the first woman in Italy to do so.

She was also the first woman to study at the university, too. She graduated from the medical school in July 1896. After spending a brief amount of time in Berlin advocating for the equal pay of women at the International Congress for Women, she began working as a surgical assistant in Rome. She was noted for the kindness and compassion she showed to her patients. Later, she began work at the psychiatric clinic at the University of Rome.

As part of her work at the clinic, she would visit Rome's asylums for children with mental disorders (as they were known back then), looking for patients to treat at the clinic. She describes how, during one such visit, the caretaker of a children's asylum told her with disgust that the children had grabbed crumbs from the floor after their meal. Maria realised that in such a bare, unfurnished room, the children were desperate for sensory stimulation and hand activities, and that this deprivation was exacerbating their condition.

She began to read everything she could about children with learning disabilities, focusing on the pioneering work of two early nineteenth-century Frenchmen, Jean-Marc Itard, who had made his name working with the 'wild boy of Aveyron,' and his student, Edouard Séguin. In 1897, Montessori's work with asylum children gained traction. The 28-year-old Montessori was invited to speak at the National Medical Congress in Turin, where she advocated the contentious theory that inadequate provision for children with mental and emotional disorders was a contributing factor to delinquency.

She expanded on this by speaking at the National Pedagogical Congress the following year, presenting a vision of social progress and political economy based on educational measures. She requested the establishment of medical-pedagogical institutes and specialised training for teachers working with special needs children. This concept of social reform through education grew and matured in Montessori's thinking throughout her life.

After some experience working with typical children too, Montessori opened a Casa dei Bambini, or a ‘Children’s House’, in January 1906. Deep within herself, she knew that this project was going to be groundbreaking in some way. She later wrote: “I had a strange feeling which made me announce emphatically that here was the opening of an undertaking of which the whole world would one day speak.” The opening gained some publicity, but many were doubtful it would achieve much.  She introduced a variety of activities and items into the children's environment, but only those that piqued their interest remained.

Montessori realised that children who were placed in environments with activities meant to assist their natural development had the ability to educate themselves. She eventually referred to this as auto-education. In 1914 she would write, “I did not invent a method of education; I simply gave some little children a chance to live. “The Casa dei Bambini's youngsters made amazing progress, and by the age of five, they were writing and reading. By the autumn of 1908, there were five Casa dei Bambini’s, four in Rome and one in Milan.

The news of Montessori's innovative approach travelled quickly, and guests arrived to see for themselves how she was accomplishing such success. Within a year, the Italian-speaking region of Switzerland began transforming its kindergartens into Casa dei Bambini, and the new teaching model expanded. Montessori taught her approach to approximately 100 students for the first time in the summer of 1909. Her notes from this period became her first book, which was published in Italy the same year and was translated into the United States in 1912 as The Montessori Method, attaining second place on the non-fiction bestseller list. Soon after, it was translated into twenty different languages.

The book has exerted significant influence in the sphere of education. A period of significant expansion in the Montessori approach ensued. Montessori clubs, training programmes, and schools arose all over the world, and Maria’s life became committed to propagating the educational method she had devised by offering courses and talks in a variety of nations. She visited America three times before and during World War One, where her unique approach to schooling sparked widespread interest. After a period of restraint in her successes and developments due to the rise of fascism and World War Two, Montessori travelled to England in the summer months of 1936. In 1939 she travelled to India, along with her son Mario, and would not return for seven years for a trip that was only supposed to last for three months. She was to give a training course and a lecture tour in Madras.

Their time in India proved to be extremely beneficial for Montessori, as it allowed her to expand her philosophy and approach to education. She met Gandhi, Nehru, and Tagore and was impressed by the spirituality of the Indians, as well as their generosity and kindness to her. Later, in 1949, she got the first of three nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize. One of her final major public appearances was in London in 1951, where she attended the 9th International Montessori Congress.

She died on May 6, 1952, at the family holiday home of her daughter-in-law in the Netherlands, with her son Mario by her side, to whom she left the legacy of her work.  The life of Maria Montessori is one of tenacity, courage and resilience. She was truly a fascinating woman. She left a legacy that is still so incredibly important and relevant today. This brief look at her work does not even do her incredible life and contribution to early education justice, but I hope it has inspired and educated you, dear reader.

“The child is both a hope and a promise for mankind.” ~Maria Montessori, Education and Peace, 1949