Montessori schools

List of Montessori schools.

Maria Montessori (1869 - 1952) was a doctor who first worked in a psychiatric clinic where her interest was mainly in children identified as mentally or socially handicapped. She set up her first 'Children's House' in 1907 for three to six year olds with a curriculum based on self-motivated activities within a highly structured environment. She went on to become governess to Mussolini's children and worked in India, Shi Lanka and England. She set up a training college in England which still operates. Several other colleges - all independent further education (FE) colleges - also exist, mainly in London. Inspectors may also find 'teachers' trained in Ireland, Holland and Scandinavia as well the USA and possibly some other countries.

Whilst Montessori training in this country is National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) level, overseas-trained staff are often trained to at least graduate level. Inspectors may find 'teachers' trained in Eire, Holland and Scandinavia as well the USA and possibly some other countries Training can be full time, part time or by correspondence. Inspectors may find that a school principal (the 'Directrice') is also running training sessions for would be teachers in the evenings and at weekends: an issue with the training is that it can be repeating the training received by the Directrice only a few years before.

Montessori workers is have often trained, worked and then tutored only within the specific world of Montessori: issues about staff graduate and post-graduate qualifications have posed problems when some colleges sought to link their work with mainstream degree work, for example with Brunel University.

A major caveat about Montessori schools is that there is no means of obtaining a kitemark or recognition. Proprietors may feel that the name appeals to a certain educational market. Schools will not necessarily have Montessori trained staff, although nearly all have at least one such. The high cost of the equipment, mainly obtainable from either the training colleges or overseas suppliers, means that schools may have little specifically Montessorian equipment.

Most Montessori schools began as nurseries offering both sessional and full day care. Like many former nurseries, problems may be experienced in retaining compulsory school age children and becoming a viable school. Those that do become a school usually go up to either age eight or 11. However, there are one or two which have gone up to GCSE, albeit with small numbers: these may raise doubts about their viability and academic standards.

Initially Montessori teachers train for 2 years to work with all ages from birth to six years old. There is no formal entry requirement: some trainees are graduates, others may have a few GCSEs. A second course trains them to work with 6 - 12 year olds. Much of the training uses worksheets and these are often used to plan and assess work in schools. The curriculum areas are: sensorial work - such as use of the Montessori apparatus for sorting and ordering - language, cultural learning, mathematics and practical life, including botany, biology and gardening. They are supported by detailed assessments, produced by the colleges, which identify small steps in individual children's learning in these areas.

Inspectors may encourage the school to plan by the foundation stage areas of learning, rather than by the Montessori curriculum. The colleges have sought to ensure that the Montessori curriculum can be matched to these areas, apart from ICT, but this means that a school can be planning under these areas of learning but assessing by a different curriculum structure, potentially leading to confusion. A further complication is that the 'Children's House' class can contain under three year olds up to six year olds, that is, pre-Foundation Stage, Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1. Here problems of planning for the whole group but assessing individuals can lead to inadequate challenge for the oldest children.

It is a principle of Montessori work that the planned environment should provide a tranquil setting where the adults are not dominant - they are often known to the children and parents as, for example, 'Miss Jane' or 'Miss Elizabeth', and schools may wish to use similar modes of address for inspectors. Many Montessori schools still believe that the adult should not interact with the children unless necessary, so that concentration and independent activity are not interrupted. Montessori believed that adults can inhibit children's discoveries and that the structure of the activities and equipment enables children to learn almost regardless of the quality of the teacher. This can lead to some children spending time 'wandering' from one activity to another or watching others play. Montessori suggested that this does not last, but that the child will gradually be drawn into playing with the equipment.

Montessori only provided play opportunities to promote specific skills and concepts, considering that there was no value in imaginative play. Whilst practices vary, and outdoor activities can involve exploration and imagination, schools may not have dressing up areas or 'shop' activities. They may have boards with 'shirt fronts' for buttoning, lace tying, threading, or zipping. Talk and discussion encouraging reflection was not used by Montessori, but most schools have not continued this approach. Geographical ideas, particularly physical geography, are introduced from an early age. Thus models of a delta, an isthmus and other features will appear along with jigsaws and other visual aids about the continents, and will be used by children from age four upwards.

Frequent inspection issues are children's progress in their self-motivated learning and the pace of 'teaching'. Arranging cubes in a tower of decreasing size - the 'pink tower' - may take a three year old five minutes, whereas a six year old can do it in under a minute but it is still the same activity, generally done without adult input. Other equipment is more complex - such as the 'golden beads' which link to form groups of ten, 100 and other mathematical base numbers - and is used to teach number bonds and mathematical processes. This requires more direct teaching, generally one-to-one. Some staff find this a difficult change from the non-interventionist approach.

The more successful schools have developed Montessori's ideas, especially in the last 20 years. Their long term viability has required them to adapt the original approach and they offer potentially outstanding education. Common features are independence in learning, coupled with an emphasis on social development, sharing equipment and cooperating. Children often follow their own themes or topics. Formal testing and assessments are not used, instead teacher observation is the basis for future work. Dependent on the likely destinations of the children, Key Stage 2 SATs may be used, or children are prepared for examination entry into senior independent schools. Often a foreign language may be taught from the Foundation Stage and simple design technology may be developed, especially in Key Stage 2, where homework is often set. The schools also aim to develop very close links with the parents, via social events, creating a sense of the wider school community.

Lillard A, Else-Quest N. "The early years. Evaluating Montessori education." Science. 2006 Sep 29; 313 (5795): 1893-4.

Lillard, Angeline: Montessori: The Science behind the Genius ISBN 0-19-516868-2

Loeffler, Margaret Howard: Montessori in Contemporary American Culture ISBN 0-435-08709-6

Montessori, Maria: The Discovery of the Child ISBN 0-345-33656-9

Montessori, Maria: The Montessori Method ISBN 0-8052-0922-0

Montessori, Maria: The Secret of Childhood ISBN 0-345-30583-3