What About This is Revolutionary?
What about this is revolutionary?
This question rang through my mind while observing in a three to six year old Montessori classroom last week.
As a silent onlooker, I witnessed the classic hallmarks of a Montessori education which would have wowed me early in my career.
I witnessed students directing their own education, meeting their needs, and collaborating meaningfully. They negotiated who would prepare snack, where to work, and what to work on, all without the intervention of an adult.
The adults in the room allowed the children to lead. They took time to observe and ask questions to empower students to come to their own conclusions. They worked to support skill building and emotional resilience. Their students clearly trusted them.
So why could I not stop asking myself: What about this is revolutionary?
I couldn't shake the feeling that simply following human development simply isn't revolutionary enough for our times.
This question is not intended to undermine the significant impact of Montessori education. I have seen the power of this method first hand, as a student and later a practitioner.
Montessori education fundamentally transformed my life in ways that I could not have predicted. However, I believe that it is because I was a Montessori student that I am driven to push the method forward.
My provocation to Montessori educators and leaders (and myself) is this: How can we enhance our environments to not only foster positive development but also empower young people to lead us into a sustainable future? What does this look like in the context of our current state of chaos and systems collapse?
In our current world, where systems built on colonialism and extractive capitalism are failing, the urgency for change is beyond necessary.
The climate crisis looms large, and the three to six year old students I observed will face the climate crisis in life altering ways if we do not act.
Montessorians understand the importance of guiding young people toward a future of equitable interdependence with both the human and more-than-human world. However, without radical action, this vision remains unfulfilled.
I must admit that no school I have ever worked at is fully following this path. It’s not a critique of the intentions of the intentions of those in the institution, rather a recognition of how much courage is truly needed to take this radical stance. It is crucial to ask these difficult questions, even if they make us uncomfortable.
Montessori herself was a radical. People were so shocked by what she wrote and said about children and childhood. It was not popular or trendy to advocate for what she advocated for. We must likewise stand in this radical space.
If our programs make everyone comfortable, we’re doing something wrong.
I invite you to reflect on this provocation:
How can we enhance our environments to not only foster positive development but also empower young people to lead us into a sustainable future? What does this look like in the context of our current state of chaos and systems collapse?
If this resonated with you, or you have examples to share, please do so!
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“My provocation to Montessori educators and leaders (and myself) is this: How can we enhance our environments to not only foster positive development but also empower young people to lead us into a sustainable future? What does this look like in the context of our current state of chaos and systems collapse?”
I think we have enhanced the method and diluted it and like you say tried to make everyone happy. For a sustainable future, we need to have the courage to have faith in Montessori’s scientific observation in prepated environments, use limited resources, have limited adults (especially for 0-6) and let children show us the way as they did for Montessori. The focus of education must be development according to the personality of the child and bring to the awareness of a social interdependence. As we try to enhance, we end up forgetting the main focus is the child and not the enhancement.