What is the Montessori Method: its importance in education and in children’s lives – Big Bang! News

By Sebastian Roda*

How do we prepare for life in a montessori environment? Without a doubt, from the initial levels, the school is a fundamental pillar that trains us to face the future challenges that, with some uncertainties, challenge educators on a daily basis. But just transmitting knowledge or concepts is no longer enough. In a context that is often competitive, it is necessary to educate the child in love towards himself and towards his peers. Incorporating “other” skills is essential for the modern world.

Many times we read or hear the phrase that “we have a 19th century school, 20th century teachers and 21st century students.” Well, therein lies the main objective; unify us all in the current and put into action educational strategies and proposals that give each student the possibility of preparing for the current context. We are all aware of the failure that the educational system has in this regard and it is up to the professionals in the area to start managing that change that the world is crying out for from the school. As an educator, I am convinced that the most significant learning is the one that takes place from heart to heart, because, after all, we are social beings. For this reason, I consider that all the members of an educational community are an active and key part of this process and, as in an ecosystem, each one has their role and complements the others in pursuit of the development of each and every one with the objective The main thing is to prepare young people for an uncertain future.

Under this premise, the most active learning is framed, with less focus on the teacher, more prominence on the students and focus on the learning processes. Today, educators should not be satisfied with transmitting content, but also help children and young people to apply it, question it and socialize it based on work projects and clear objectives that allow them to self-manage and optimize their potential. To achieve this, the development of soft skills is essential.

Also called 21st century skills, these aim to encourage collaborative teamwork, enhance creativity, encourage critical thinking and communication skills, among others. They are vital for the development of projects and joint work plans, the autonomy and the necessary reflection so that all those constructed learnings break the walls of the classroom.

To develop these skills, it is relevant to understand that a change of roles is necessary in which the students are the protagonists and the teachers are the mentors of those processes that will be carried out motivated by the interests of the students and a work environment that offers freedom and promote engagement. All processes must be formative and invite discovery. Observation, experience, active work and reflection will thus be some of the fundamental pillars of these tours in which new learning will be developed collaboratively in challenging projects for children and also for teachers. Undoubtedly, evaluation is also linked to these forms of work in the classroom since they cannot go through different paths, but perhaps it requires another particular reflection.

I will exemplify these concepts with a case that occurred at Noordwijk Montessori School, where we promote the development of these skills from the Montessori Method. A few days ago, secondary school students carried out research on health care, prevention and healthy habits that, in addition to its development, was aimed at being shared with children between 6 and 8 years of primary school. For this purpose, they not only investigated it, managed information and reached their own conclusions, but also had to apply creativity to make an entertaining piece and make themselves understood in front of their recipients, using the appropriate vocabulary and communication codes accessible to them. public. That is what the skills point to, to learn aware of why we do it, the context in which we find ourselves and our strengths to carry it out.

Debunking myths about skills development:

• Creative is born. FAKE. There is a myth that creativity is a gift that you have or you don’t have, but creativity is also developed and it is through the proposals we make and the environment we provide that we can do it. Creative is the one who creates…not just the one who has good ideas.
• Soft skills are job skills. FAKE. They are thought of as job skills because they involve working with others, being creative, having goals, and being self-managing. But in reality these tools will not only serve for the workplace, but also for life. So, we say that soft skills are life skills. This is how María Montessori thought when designing her method focused on learning and development of skills, responding to each stage of development with the aim of accompanying the training of adults who can be agents of change.

The development of skills has a social impact: TRUE when Maria Montessori refers in her method to “learning for peace”, she refers to coexisting and learning with others. to respect them as well as to respect himself and the environment. For a student to grow up aware of their environment, their strengths and weaknesses as well as their actions is precisely educating for life in a context in which being an empathic part of a society is essential.

The method alone already puts the student in a leadership position. Our training invites them to be exhibitors, critics and, from an early age, they can begin to make decisions that favor their performance as adults and plan their own life paths.

They are encouraged to develop jointly in all areas based on their interests and styles, while working on their confidence and tolerance. Some of today’s leaders who were trained with the Montessori methodology are Jeff Bezos (founder of Amazon), Larry Page and Sergey Brin (creators of Google) as well as the writer Gabriel García Márquez.

It should be added that it is difficult to carry out a learning process of this type if the student and the teachers do not feel comfortable, contained, comfortable, loved and respected. Taking care of these healthy emotions is a pillar because they will make the child choose to come to school and get down to work. Regarding teachers, it is key to understand as a team that if we want to lead the teaching and learning processes from this point of view, it is essential that we live the experience firsthand. In the pandemic we had to prioritize the mental health of our entire educational community and through knowing how to adapt and make decisions, we did not have “burned out” teachers or parents who demanded more zoom.

Learning for life paid off

Current times challenge us educators in an overwhelming way and invite us to move from place to transform ourselves and build a new educational system that dares to take risks and meets the needs of new generations in time. It is a matter of launching ourselves into this challenge, understanding that we can do it with our students, giving ourselves completely physically, mentally and emotionally.

*Sebastián Roda is Director of Primary Level and General Director of the Noordwijk Montessori School. Primary level prof. Degree in Administration and Educational Management. Diploma in special educational needs and inclusive practices, Dip. in creativity and innovation. Master in educational coaching. Montessori Assistant AMI 6-12 years. AMI certification for directors.