Who was Maria Montessori?
Curious about the creator of the Montessori method?
Maria Montessori had a varied and interesting life with so many of her life experiences directly influencing the Montessori method.
Let’s start at the beginning…
Maria Montessori was born in Italy and from a very young age, showed a keen interest in science and maths. She was the very first woman to enrol in university, which was met with a lot of hostility, even from her own father.
Despite the challenges and harassment from fellow students and teachers alike, Maria was able to complete her studies and graduated in 1896 as a doctor of medicine.
Her specialism was in paediatric care and psychiatry and she worked in the University hospital, predominately with children who were regarded to have disabilities or illnesses.
Maria went on to have her own child, in 1898, a son named Mario, born out of wedlock with a secret lover, a fellow doctor at the hospital.
Due to the social pressures of the time, she was forced to choose between marrying and raising a child or continuing her work.
She chose the latter of these, and was eventually reunited with Mario later in life.
Maria expanded her studies and volunteered in asylums for children with physical and emotional difficulties around Rome. She spent time travelling, learning further languages, publishing her work and fighting for women’s and disabled children’s educational rights. It was also during this time that she also began developing what was to become the Montessori method.
The biggest impact on her professional life was an invitation to help oversee the running of one of the first children’s homes - Casa dei Bambini - for around 50 children aged between 2 and 7 years old.
At the home, the children were provided with appropriately sized chairs and tables for their needs, were given jobs and responsibilities around the classroom and garden space and were shown how to care for themselves. Maria also took this opportunity to show the children different materials that she had been developing in order to test them practically.
“Joy, feeling one’s own value, being appreciated and loved by others, feeling useful and capable of production are all factors of enormous value for the human soul.” - Maria Montessori
"Avoiding war is the work politics, establishing peace is the work of education”
- Maria Montessori
Maria noted that when given this freedom, the children were capable of deep attention and concentration, often repeating activities many times, particularly practical activities like flower arranging and cooking.
She also encouraged the children to spend time outside and to come and go as they pleased, which resulted in a huge increase in both their independence and academic achievements.
As Maria began sharing what she learned, her work began to gain an International following and several more children’s homes opened across Europe, all embracing the same child centred approach that was developed.
She began to run teacher training courses and devoted all her time and energy on developing her methods. Her work began to gain global recognition, and she was regularly invited to speak and share her thoughts on education across the world.
During Maria’s life, she was nominated six times for a Nobel Peace Prize, and she was hugely enthusiastic about the link between peace and education as well as fighting for the rights of the child.
She worked right up until her death in 1952, aged 81.