Maria Montessori
Dr. Maria Montessori was an Italian physician who developed ground-breaking methods for teaching children. For ten years she was a guest at the headquarters of the Theosophical Society based in Adyar, India, along with her son Mario. During that period she conducted courses for teachers all over South Asia, which has had a lasting impact on education there.
Life
Teaching method
The first Casa dei Bambini (House of Children} was opened in Rome in 1907, after a group of bankers asked Dr. Montessori to find a way to occupy the children of poor families in a San Lorenzo tenement. Her acclaimed success led to the rapid expansion of the Montessori Method throughout the world.
These are features of her educational approach:
- Fantasy is postponed until the child is grounded in reality.
- Tasks and activities are reality oriented.
- Manipulative materials are designed to be aesthetically pleasing, and to support very specific educational goals.
- The intellect or "absorbent mind" is engaged early, and is challenged more over time.
- Children are free to choose their own activities in the classroom, and individual choices are respected.
- The atmosphere is calm and productive.
- Teacher is a facilitator of independent learning.
- Multi-age groups in classrooms simulate the reality of families.
- Socialization begins with respecting the independence and space of other children.
- Older children voluntarily assist each other in learning.
- Children are grounded in the realities of the formed world before delving into the spiritual realm.
Involvement with Theosophists
Dr. Montessori "went to hear Annie Besant speak in London in 1907 after Montessori had established her first Casa dei Bambini (Children’s House). Annie Besant spoke in praise of Montessori’s work in education which pleased Montessori, and thus sealed their friendship."[1] They "formed a friendly relationship that was renewed whenever Dr. Besant came to Rome in the years before World War I ."[2] Theosophists paid attention to the Montessori educational system, and were writing articles about her methods in 1913. Society members established many schools in India and Sri Lanka, and experimented with various methods to find what would work best under local conditions. Examples are night schools and elementary classes taught by college students. National Hindu Girls’ School in Madras, had a Montessori class operating by 1918, as shown in the photograph at right. At that point the school was under the supervision of the Society for the Promotion of National Education.
Teaching in India, 1939-1949
The international President of the Theosophical Society based in Adyar, India, Dr. George S. Arundale, and his wife, the famous Indian dancer Rukmini Devi Arundale, spent time in The Netherlands, visiting the International Theosophical Centre at Naarden. Both Arundales were intensely interested in children and in education. They met Dr. Montessori and invited her to come to Society headquarters in Adyar, Chennai (then called Madras) to conduct a teaching course. She flew to India in 1939 and was warmly received. About 300 teachers from all over India attended.
Due to her Italian citizenship, in the early days of World War II Dr. Montessori was interned by the British authorities, restricted by house arrest to the Adyar headquarters estate. She and her son Mario were released from detention, and conducted teachers' courses in Ahmedamad, Kodaikanal, Adyar, and Kashmir in India, and also in Ceylon. Adyar remained her base of operation until 1946. Then she traveled to England and Scotland, and to Italy, but returned to India late in 1947 to teach in Poona, Gwalior, and Adyar. "With Mrs. Arundale, she established a Montessori training center at Kalakshetra as a memorial to Dr. Arundale, who had died in 1945.[3] In 1949, she also taught in Pakistan at the invitation of the new government. After that she re-established her base of operation in The Netherlands. [4]
Theosophical publications
Both Dr. Montessori and her son Maria wrote articles for The Theosophist, the Society’s journal. For a list of articles by and about Dr. Montessori in Theosophical periodicals, see this list.
Additional resources
- Montessori and the Theosophical Society by Winifred Wylie
Notes
- ↑ Winifred Wylie, "Montessori and the Theosophical Society" Quest 96.2 (March-April 2008): 53-55.
- ↑ Rita Kramer. Maria Montessori: A Biography (Da Capo Press, 1988), 342.
- ↑ Rita Kramer. Maria Montessori: A Biography (Da Capo Press, 1988), 355.
- ↑ E. M. Standing, Maria Montessori: Her Life and Work (Fresno, CA: Academy Library Guild, 1959), 50-51.