Maria Montessori

Maria Montessori was born in 1870. Though her parents wanted Maria to peruse the career path of a teacher, she was determined to become a doctor. But her father Alessandro was against it due to the fact it was an all male profession, and of course on her appliance for this particular course the head of the university declined her. 

Eventually Pope Leo XIII intervened on Montessori's behalf. In 1890 Montessori enrolled to University of Rome to study maths, physics and natural sciences, after two years she received her diploma. Later she entered the Faculty of Medicine thus becoming the first woman to qualify as a physician. 

In 1897 she volunteered to join a research programme at the psychiatric clinic of the University of Rome, due to her work she would visit the asylum for the insane. The caretaker told her in how the children picked crumbs off the floor after they finished their meal, Maria realised because of the unfurnished room the children were desperate for sensorial stimulation and activities for their hands. She began to read books on special needs children especially by Jean Itard and Eduard Seguin, their work consisted of experiments using manipulatives to educate  children who were deaf and mentally challenged. Montessori tried the same matters out with the asylum children and found it to be successful. The achievement of the children were considered to be average on a test which was designed for normal children. 

On January 6th of 1907 Montessori opened her first ever Casa dei Bambini or ‘Children’s House'. In this place she started an experiment consisting of combination between educational and childhood development with the slums of Rome. Montessori worked with children from age three to six years old, she used scientific approach of observation and diagnosis.  Her results concluded by saying that children compose their own personality when they connect with nature, and development of transformation appears when the children followed their own path. As a result all the negative emotions such as fear, aggression and tantrums disappeared; positive behaviour emerged in place
such as respect for others, sympathy and the desire to help. The children could reach their full potential by following the children's inborn needs, interests and tendencies. In this present age, advanced research in brain development, psychology, and anthropology support Montessori methods. 

In 1909 Montessori gave her first training course to around 100 students. Her notes became her first book, it was published in the same year, which was translated in the United States in 1912 called The Montessori Method. Soon if was translated into 20 different languages and became an epic influence in the field of education. 

So overall Montessoris philosophy is based on two important development needs of children: 

- freedom within limits 

- an environment which exposes the children to experiences and materials

The main hypothesis of Montessori education are:

- children are different from adults and need to be respected.

- unlike adults children have usual sensitivity and intellectual ability to absorb and learn. 

- the most important years of children's are the first six years when unconscious learning is brought
into conscious level.