Maria Montessori: The Woman, The Educator

Maria Montessori, born in 1870, was the first woman granted a medical degree by an Italian university. At the age of 28, she was engaged as a medical professional to asses the physical needs of “defective children”. Influenced by the work of Seguin and Itard in France, Montessori designed materials and techniques which allowed the children to work in areas previously thought to be beyond their capacity.

Montessori’s great triumph came when these children took State examinations along with “normal” children. Her “defectives” passed the exams. Montessori concluded that if retarded children could be brought to the same academic level as normal children, something must be drastically wrong with the education of normal children.

Montessori’s life work began with a group of slum children in 1907, when she opened her famous Casa Dei Bambini. Through her observations of, and work with the children, she discovered their remarkable, almost effortless, ability to absorb knowledge from their surroundings. Children can teach themselves!

This simple and profound truth inspired Montessori’s lifelong pursuit of educational reform,

curriculum development, methodology, psychology, teaching, and teacher training – all

based on her dedication to further the self-creating process of the child. Dr. Montessori died in 1952.

Today, after almost 75 years of international application, the Montessori method thrives in Canada and the United States, with more than 4000 schools established since 1957. Montessori schools are not only found in the private sector, but also are increasingly

implemented within public school systems and Federal daycare programs.

Montessori’s focus on the individual child, the peaceful unfolding of self, and the prepared classroom environment, offer opportunity for renewal in the appreciation of family life.

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