Joséphine Vigouroux
Montessori education was developed by Maria Montessori, an Italian doctor, in the early 20th century.
Her close observation of children from a wide range of social backgrounds has enabled her to identify the conditions that promote the proper development of children into confident and fulfilled adults.
The foundation of Montessori pedagogy is that the child is born with all the keys to success. The role of the adult is to create an environment that allows the child to express his natural willingness to learn and thus acquire skills.
We propose here a definition of this pedagogy in 3 points.
In active pedagogy, the term "active" refers to the fact that the child takes the initiative in learning. The English terminology " active learning" is more evocative, as it indicates that it is the learning that is active, not the way of teaching.
Montessori pedagogy is an active pedagogy because it places the child in a situation of autonomy where he/she must, thanks to an adapted environment and the support of adults, construct his/her own knowledge. While demonstrating a natural self-discipline, the child is free in the choice of activities: he or she is then much more receptive and integrates new knowledge more easily. The child evolves with the support of the educator who, once he or she has presented the material and its use, takes a back seat as much as possible to let the child learn from the experience.
One of the main principles of Maria Montessori's pedagogy is respect for sensitive periods, i.e. the natural rhythm of each child. As they grow up, children forge their personalities and go through different phases during which they develop a specific curiosity for certain things (order, bright colors...) and acquire specific skills. So it's important that learning takes place step by step, and that children are free to choose their activities so that their sensitive periods are respected.
Maria Montessori considered that the child must experiment in order to learn. She advocated the manipulation of objects to stimulate the child's senses during the learning process. Montessori material is therefore made up of very colourful, noisy objects of various weights and sizes.
This material must be made available to the child at a height that allows him or her to grasp it. The environment in which the child evolves must be adapted to his or her size and needs, always with the aim of encouraging freedom and autonomy. If the objects in the classroom are within reach and easy to handle, the child will be better able to exercise self-discipline and will naturally put them away.
The learning that Montessori materials allow is very important because it is by making mistakes in their experiments and manipulations that children become familiar with the world around them and, as they grow up, will be able to approach abstract notions.
