Dr Maria Montessori: The Benefits of The Theory of Prepared Environment

Introduction

This essay focuses on how the elements of Dr Maria Montessori’s prepared environment encourages and enables children to develop certain traits like curiosity, self-control, self-regulation and character. Hence it becomes more relevant to describe at this stage what is Montessori’s prepared environment and what are its key elements. At the very context when we say prepared environment, we are referring to an environment which is arranged/ readied / organized to enhance and stimulate certain abilities of an individual / person which enabled him to develop and sharpen his/her underlying qualities and behaviors.

Maria Montessori and Her Ideas of Prepared Environment

Extending the above explanation of prepared environment in terms of Montessori, when we refer Montessori’s prepared environment, Maria Montessori introduced an original educational instructing manner wherein apart from books she also introduced many objects and materials which would encourage a participant in the program to learn in a new way by engaging themselves with these material and objects wherein the objective was to develop the participant underlying qualities and traits thereby enhancing their communication and interpretive abilities and skills for future life competencies. This explanation of the Montessori prepared environment is supported by Matijević (2012)when they explored how the teaching scenarios have changed over a time period with advent of technology like TV, internet and latest social media developments and how these new medium are assisting in today’s participant learning.

As stated above, we can state, key essentials in any Montessori prepared environment will be dozens of material and objects / equipment’s and these materials were developed by Dr. Montessori and her collaboration with others during her time span which are an integral part of learning and imparting education in any Montessori setup or education training institute imparting Montessori education.

Education and learning are two different phenomena. Education is an activity that imparts knowledge and learning is the process of acquiring a skill and it is well supported by (Al, Sari and Kahya, 2012) that education has different aspects and it progresses under the effect of so many factors. On the other hand, learning is a multifaceted activity that tests students’ motivation and physical condition. However, resources provided to teachers and their skills as well as curriculum play a vital role in a child’s education. In addition, there is another important factor that the physical condition and design of the learning environment has an effect on teaching and learning process.

“Since it has been seen to be necessary to give so much to the child, let us give him a vision of the whole universe. The universe is an imposing reality, and an answer to all questions.”

As quoted by Maria Montessori teaching children is not about a subject or a core area, it is a holistic approach and as many experiences we provide a child the better would be his learning’s for life. And so was her approach to teaching children that provided a lot of independence to a child in developing skills. Montessori’s concept of prepared environment focused on a lot of aspects. Her ideology of teaching and education was to facilitate independence and discovery. She encouraged children should be free to choose and follow their own interests in a planned and prepared environment, rather than learning something that is inappropriate for their development. There are generally six main beliefs of a prepared environment that has been emphasized by Maria Montessori. They are:

• Freedom to move, explore and express.
• Structure and Order
• Beauty
• Nature and Reality
• Social Environment
• Intellectual Environment

Maria Montessori always believed that a child should have freedom of movement to explore and follow their own interests which will lead to development of interest and knowledge of the environment around them. She emphasized on freedom of movement and exploration as well as a prepared setup where a child can work without any interference from others. Further, we understand that freedom to movement have close connection with cognitive developments in children as proven scientifically and cognitive studies support a quick learning and grasping when movements are aligned with what is to be learned.(Edwards, 2006)The teacher acts as a guide wherein using all their effort they stimulate a child to act, want and think by themselves.

Though structure and order seem to be vice versa of the aforementioned freedom but a well-organized Montessori classroom setup reflects the way in which the universe functions in an organized pattern. Hence materials in a Montessori classroom are arranged neatly on the shelves. Children understand that they must return the material to the same place from where they picked. This sense of order and organization encourages self control and regulation and allows children to develop concentration and comprehend the environment around them.Also, the structure and order of material organized allows a child a generous choice and control with what they work thereby resulting in cohesive development of their abilities to learn and organize their actions, which brings us to generalize that it enables the trait development of self-regulation and self-control in children. Also it has scientific empirical evidence to support that structured and organized environment in Montessori classroom promotes and establishes mental order which is beneficial to a child.

Beauty in Maria Montessori’s terms was not glittery and a highly decorated classroom, but rather she meant an environment which is neat and well maintained. She emphasized on an uncluttered setup which would help in maintaining peace and develop self-regulation. Beauty of a Montessori’s prepared environment is even the physical features considered while arranging the setup.Everything in the surroundings is child sized material with accessible shelf size to offer independence which is the most integral part in development of self-confidence, thus limiting interference from teachers and allowing freedom of choice as well as movement. Nevertheless, Maria Montessori even endorsed the importance of a setup which is close to nature and reality where children can stimulate and channelize their intrinsic curiosity to discover the beauty of their surroundings and the world, they live in. This beauty of uncluttered space and environment assists in emotional development of children wherein they are able to be in more harmony with the environment around them. It is more of learning in the systematic and meaningful context with the use of materials and objects rather than learning in abstract form. It is even supported by(Edwards, 2006) that children are able to learn more progressively in a sequential pattern wherein even when their mind which at times may waiver in realm of fantasy world but with the very presence of ordered and organized natural surrounding they would themselves engage and participate well thereby capturing their curiosity and attention. Equipment or Montessori Material as we say, developed by Maria Montessori are a true depiction of nature and reality as they are developed using glass, wood, steel, fiber, cloth and other natural elements from our surrounding, wherein giving true sense of real world. Activities that encourage silence are performed and learning to carry material with care, all adds to the beauty of the Montessori’s Prepared Environment.

The foremost consideration is given to the fact that while attending an early childhood setup a child will develop the most of his/her social skills. Peer to peer interaction or in other words social environment also is an important element and has a pivotal role in Montessori Method of child learning and development. Thus, “Grace and Courtesy” lessons are a perfect example and play an integral part in a Montessori Classroom. It is about guiding children to the tools they need to interact with kindness and confidence.And as children get older, they are more inclined in learning collaboratively. The Montessori method respects their natural inclinations and children can choose to work on their own as well as a group and help one another.

Montessori environment is considered to be a teacher in itself.Most of the Montessori Materials are autodidactic in nature wherein children can easily identify and correct their own mistakes. The importance of didactic material in successful teaching has even been supported by (Bloju and Stan, 2013) in their research saying it is required to achieve certain objectives and Maria Montessori always stated of teaching children to adapt changes and prepare them for the future challenges that may be different from present days.Each activity provides a definite learning experience and then gradually moves on to more complicated tasks, enhancing intellectual growth and preparing children for decision making in life ahead.It is acknowledged by (White, Yussen and Docherty, 1976) that Montessori exercises deal with the critical concepts that lie behind it and each child finds inner peace and satisfaction that emerges from his/her own work.

From the aforementioned elements of a Montessori prepared environment we can infer that Montessori system is a holistic system assisting in developing traits like curiosity, self-control, good character and helps in self-regulation. It provides children with opportunities to explore and develops respect for others and self. The thought that Montessori method helps encourage imagination and children generally show higher creativity is well supported by Besançon (2008).

Paul Tough in his book How Children Succeedn (2012) argues that success is not only about intelligence as it is always said but it has to do with certain traits like curiosity, perseverance, optimism and grit. As reviewed by Shukla, Sarita Y. (2015) they refer Tough’s book as an outstanding analysis of cognitive hypothesis. He contemplates what skills leads to success in children and builds on his theory by using primary resources such as case studies and personal observations.

Conclusion

It is evident that Montessori Method of teaching is in every way helping children succeed. It helps us create opportunities for children to develop character and strength to fight the world and endorse for a better future. Thus, Montessori’s prepared environment encourages and enables children develop characteristics that are important for achievement. With the absorbent mind, the child develops all of his personality and intellect from what he/she finds in his/her surroundings. A child may grow and develop in any circumstances but our aim should be to provide a favorable environment for optimum development of cognitive skills and learning for life. A Montessori’s prepared environment allows children freedom to follow the natural laws of development with a gentle adult guidance in adapting the world around them.

References

1. Matijević, M. (2012). Contemporary Educational Technologies and Teacher Education. Journal of Information Technology Education: Research, 11, 187-201.

2. Al, Sari, A., & Kahya, N. S. (2012). Education and Learning Process and Factors Affecting Education Process. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 31, 7-12.

3. Edwards, L. (2006). The Effects of Movement on Cognitive Development. The Irish Journal of Education/Iris Eireannach an Oideachais, 35, 61-70.

4. Besançon, M. (2008). The Transition from Formal to Symbolic Writing: Cognitive Development or Cultural Acquisition?. In Writing Development in Children with Hearing Loss, Dyslexia, or Oral Language Problems (pp. 29-54). Brill.

5. White, R. E., Yussen, S. R., & Docherty, G. M. (1976). Montessori and Piaget: Associations and Interactions. Child Development, 47(4), 1107-1111.

6. Bloju, C., & Stan, C. (2013). Using Didactic Materials in Mathematics Lessons. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 76, 216-220.

7. Shukla, S. Y. (2015). The Curious Case of Non-cognitive Skills: Implications for Education. Psychological Studies, 60(4), 359-369.

8. Tough, P. (2012). How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character. Mariner Books.

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9. Montessori, M. (2007). The Absorbent Mind. Simon and Schuster.