Relevance of Montessori education methods
Education is considered to have a strong correlation with social and economic development.
Advertisement
Education can help reduce poverty and social injustice by providing the underprivileged with resources and opportunities for upward social mobility and social inclusion.
The best education method for children is an important decision that has to be made with the proper information. A lot of different education methods are available and it would be good if parents were informed about what other alternatives there are for their children's education.
One of such education methods is the Montessori education which follows the philosophy of Dr Maria Montessori who was Italy's first female doctor who dedicated her life to discovering more about how children learn.
After graduating in medicine from the University of Rome, she became involved with the study of children with mental disabilities, and later helped to direct a school to train teachers to work with mentally disabled children. In 1907 she helped direct Casa dei Bambini, a school for children of San Lorenzo, as she developed many of the methods that became the core of her Montessori Method of education.
Montessori Theory:
Montessori education is driven by an aim- to aid the development of the child into a complete adult human being, comfortable with himself/ herself, with his/her society and with humanity as a whole. It focuses on the understanding that the role of the adult is to help unfold the child’s inherent developmental powers.
There are currently over 20,000 Montessori schools around the world, which educate children from birth to age 18, with most of them serving young children from about age two or 2.5 to age five or six.
The schools use the name "Montessori" as part of their own names to tell how strictly they adhere to Montessori methods. Montessori schools aim at fostering the creativity of their students by encouraging them to play independently, choosing what to play with, and interacting with Montessori materials rather than with traditional toys.
Montessori materials are often practical, including everything that is child-sized. Activities are laid out in an orderly way on easily accessible open shelves; and the design of the materials make it easy for the child to identify, and gradually correct any error. They are designed to help the children master skills over time through their own self-directed practice.
Freedom and discipline
Each child is given the freedom of time. He or she is free to work with an activity for as long as he/she chooses, to repeat it as many times as he/she needs, or simply take his/her time.
The traditional approach to discipline holds that children are inherently disorderly, and that their wilfulness and impulses must be inhibited by an external discipline. In contemporary education the balance has shifted from punishment to rewards but the problem remains the same.
Usually, Montessori classrooms have child-size furniture and children are usually taught in mixed-aged classrooms. The same teacher generally stays with children for their entire time in one grouping, to get to know the students very well and help guide their learning.
Method of education
In an interview with the Daily Graphic, the Chief Executive Officer of Mummy’s Day Care Centre, Mrs Linda B. Dzameshie, said the Montessori Method allowed children to learn in a gradual process through visualising and identifying sounds. Unlike the traditional system, children in Montessori schools learn in a more flexible atmosphere where each child gains understanding of what they study at their own pace.
She mentioned that any school could adopt the Montessori Method even without using the name.
Mrs Dzameshie explained further that, “My school is a Day Care which operates with the Montessori Method but I don’t use the name ‘Montessori’ because I established it purposely to take care of little children and offer some support to busy parents.
She added that the focus of Montessori education was not on the number of children trained but the best quality of education that even the few can receive.
Some Montessori schools in Ghana
The Gingerbread House is Accra's premier Montessori Nursery School, purpose- built and was accredited by The Montessori Centre International (MCI) in 2002.
Others Montessori schools include: Hillview Montessori, Startrite Montessori, Faith Montessori, ChristView Montessori, Golden Sunbeam Montessori, Beautiful Beginning Montessori, Thy Mercy Montessori, Tweenies Montessori, and Dayspring Montessori International.
By Ruby Efe Ani-Adjei