Montessori †Purpose of Education Essay

In the above mentioned lines Dr. Maria Montessori wants to convey that purpose of education is not just transfer the knowledge from person to person or teacher to students but to help students release their full human potential. It is not just that teachers give and students take either way they get understood or not. â€Å"Education is a natural process carried out by the child and is not acquired by listening to words but by experiences in the environment† (The Absorbent mind, p-24, chapter-3). Education is a natural process which carried out by the human individually, no one can teach them. Education should take a new way of seeking and improving the human potential and human life. From the Montessori philosophy point of view potential is only develop if proper environment is there, with environment child also need freedom. Education is a observe child potential during a child development period. Child is very receptive to new learning experiences on their sensitive periods. So we have to carefully observe the child potential and interest and develop them. Every child is born with potential, adult only can developed that potential though right guidance and with right environment. Education helps the child in developing a love of learning. Education is not only done by listening to the words, child also needs practical exposure also. Through practical exposure they will learn easily and get understand in a better way, which also helps them in future also. If we want to teach etiquette to child or how to behave with their younger and elders then we would have to follow the practice first so that children may imitate and follow us. Montessori felt that adult should not assume that the child is empty and filled with our knowledge and experience. It is important to standard that the child has his own potential for life. For revealing that potential they only need proper environment. Potential + environment = development of potential. Environment, potential, freedom all are interrelated with each other. Children like to work as well as play. Dr. Montessori believe that potential is develop by their own ability. Small children are able to have good mental concentration. Child want mastery in an activity for this they repeat that activity again and again and they love that repetition. Child wants to know the activity in detail. Children also love for order. They want their material in proper order. Adult should teach that order properly. After using material teaches them put it back. When child choose the material then they enjoy that material and do that activity deeply with full concentration and capability. Children want to have choice so adult give them freedom of right to choice. Children love to work, they can’t sit idle. They want to do some constructive work. They want material which can help them to grow. For children no need of rewards and punishments. It’s adult responsibility to give them proper guidelines. Children’s have their sense of personal dignity. They also feel bad. They also love to clean themselves. Child get understand everything so don’t take them as granted. Children like silence, they only need environment. Teacher should start teaching from sounds of the letters n then from small letters. Children are able to write and read. If a child gets the material he/she is going to discipline. There are no competition, child get attach with material or with their friends. Teacher should know how she has to maintain discipline with material. Man is born in a civil environment and animal is born in a natural environment. That’s why child take more time for walk and talk as compare to animal’s child. Man move by using their mental ability which he has by birth but it’s not visible and we take as granted. Same way child have their own personality, they only need to develop. Personality consist of 4 developments- physical development by provide them specious space so he can move their finger’s movement etc, intellectual development by giving them freedom of choice though which they can use their mental ability and by giving full information as per as possible, social development and emotional development. They all development is also called unified personality. Child unified personality is revealed by self realisation or self construction. Spiritual embryo means self realisation. A child is in pure form when he is born. Self construction only develops if â€Å"will† is there. A lot of will is developing man’s intelligence, so we have to extra care to child. Mind, body, actions and will is interrelated with each other. â€Å"There is interchange between the individual, the spiritual embryo, and its environment. It is though the environment that the individual is moulded and brought to perfection† (the secret of childhood, p-35, ch-6). Spiritual embryo is a place where mental development is takes place. PDPP (pre determine psychic pattern) is a decided pattern which he is born with it, but it invisible or hidden inside. And for developing PDPP proper environment is required. It is also called NEBULAE. Whatever pattern with they born, they will become that, no one can change that pattern. It is unique potential. E. g- twins also have different finger prints. Same as MNEME, is a super power or through which we remember everything. Its create urge to achieve the particular skill. PDPP is only developed if prepared environment is available. Living and non living things is in environment. Environment should be by prepaid by knowledgeable adult who know the needs of child and according to the child nature not to the adult mood. Teacher should be good observer; she should know the necessary changes in environment. There is a link between environment and child. Child is born with potential, if potential is not there than how they use environment? Only when a child is free to use environment then he show his creativity and potential. Freedom helps the child to improve their potential. Freedom of movement is most important for children. Adult should give them to move from one place to other place. Through this freedom physical development is taking place. But child have to careful they do not violin the rules and should not disturb the others, adult should make some limitations and rule. With physical development, mental development is also takes place. Freedom of movement is also help in developing â€Å"will† in children. Will is involved on their freedom of choice. They perform constructive work with their choosy material. Intellectual development is also developing. Teacher or adult make sure they give them right choice. Adult should try to attract child’s attention towards material. To express their feelings child need to speak. We should allow the child to speak or talk to everybody without scaring from anybody. Teacher should give them freedom of speech so they easily develop their communication skills, expressing thoughts, vocabulary. But teacher should observe that child does not use abusive language and harsh words. Teacher should be good role model. Every child is born with their different personality, don’t force them for anything. Children should have competition with them self. Give them freedom from competition. Order will help in self esteem. Order of his proper environment is very important for children. It should be grouped. It should be arrange in concrete to abstract. If concrete method we used to teach they will learn easily and fast. Adult should provide them practical exposure. Without order very different to learn. He feels safer and also feels familiar. Adult should be a good role model. Teacher can use curriculum also and should be prepare organised. Always show real picture to child. Don’t give fantasy world otherwise they will live in fantasy. Always present real material through which they develop sense of responsibility. Children love to work with real materials. The internal aim of child is developing their infrastructure and mental development. With the help of real material they learn concentration. Every material should be meaningful and purposeful for the child. Real material is helping in developing their senses on their sensitive periods. â€Å"It is in the environment of the maternal guiding instincts with the sensitive periods of the newly born that conscious love develops between parent and child. † (Secret of childhood, ch-8, page- 216) Sensitive period is starting when child born. Parents have big hand on developing child senses. During sensitive periods child life are like windows of opportunity a child get to learn different skills. The child is extra sensitive to the stimuli it gets to learn a particular skill at those periods. Adult should give right guide during this period so they develop their sensitivities easily and faster. In between developing senses child get close with their adult or parent. Main motive of sensitive period is to develop child ability and goal of development as called SENSOTIAL EXPLORE. Child born with their personality so they are ready to learn by birth. Children’s have five senses- touch and organ is skin, taste and organ is tongue, sight and organ is eyes, smell and organ is nose and last sound/ hearing and organ is ear. Child have 6 sensitive periods in which they develop their senses and first is sensitivity to order in between 1-2 year. Child want stability in environment and for that order should be there. So adult should keep the environment orderly so children can develop their confidence level and self esteem. Second is sensitivity to learning though the five senses- senses are active by birth in child. Though senses they easily differentiate between objects. Example- sounds of different animals. They only need practical exposure and freedom for using their senses. Third is sensitivity to small objects- child always loved to choose small objects which they carry easily and can’t able to see big object properly. Adult should provide them small objects. Fourth is sensitivity to co-ordination of movement- children have reason to move. Their co-ordination of movement is only develop if will is there and will is only develop if adult give them of movement. Movement is also helping them in developing physical development. Fifth is sensitivity to language- if child is not exposing himself in language then he can’t able to express his feelings and his language is get spoil. Adult should give them freedom of language so he develops his vocal cod and vocabulary. Last or sixth is sensitivity to social aspects- learning in the play group is the best way of learning and children love to work with their friends. Adult should motivate them for interact with other child and being social. So adult should provide them that type environment through which they will develop their sensitive periods. Sensitive periods show the pattern which chid follows in gaining knowledge of his environment. On the other side absorbent mind is the way child absorb from the environment. Impressions do not merely enter his mind, they form it. They incarnate themselves in him. The child creates his own â€Å"mental muscles† using for this what he finds in the world around him. We have named this type of mentality (The absorbent mind, ch-3, page- 25). Child does not have impressions of environment, they form in his mind. Child develop their mental muscles by own and use in the world. They only want environment for store more and more things in their brain. And they use that collection in differentiating between 2 objects. There are2 types of period. One is unconscious mind period is between 0-3 yr. n which they absorb everything from environment. Second is conscious mind is between 3-6 yr. in which he is in embryonic stage or self construction period. PDPP and mneme is developing in conscious period. PDPP is a natural law of nature. There are 8 natural laws of development. First is law of work is taking place in both physically and mentally. Mind and physical energy called work. Adult should provide them purposeful work, through which child learn about peace, relaxing. Mental stage of child will be seen. Second is law of independence in this law child want to doing anything without any help is called independence. It is very important for child to be independent otherwise he relay every time on others. Adult should give freedom to do it. Third is power of attention. Pay extra attention is called power of attention. Adult should provide them small objects so they concentrate easily in an object. Fourth is development of will- decision make + action taken= will. there are 3 stages of will – one is spontaneously repeat action, second is he take decisions and then he take action and sense of responsibility is develop. Third is they doing work by their own, he discipline himself. Fifth is development of intelligence- intelligence is the ability make judgement an orderly manner and as soon as fast. Respond the stimuli very quickly and very sharply is called intelligence. Adult should provide them sensorial material so they develop their intelligence. sixth is development of child imagination and creativity- dr. Montessori believe that adult should provide real material to child not fantasy or imaginative otherwise child also start believing in fantasy. Creativity and imagination is only developing if real material should be available. Seventh is development of emotional and spiritual life- attachment of child and mother called emotional and spiritual life? Adult should help the child in developing social, emotional and spiritual life by loving and warm. Eighth is stages of growth and development- there are 4 stages first is 0-3-6 yr. is self construction in this period , second is 6-9-12 in this stage child is very comfortable, calm, cool stage, third is 12-15-18 in this period lots of disturbance is taking place is also called teenage for both male and female. Physical disturbance and hormones changes is also taking place, fourth is 18-21-24 children become settle down. They become mature, calm, understandable person. In whole philosophy adult have big role. Teacher should give directions to children. Child’s lead and teacher’s follow. Teacher should plan out the thing or she can make curriculum. Children have to develop himself in peace without any disturbance so its teacher responsibility to provide them that type of environment. Environment is the most important in releasing child potential so teacher showing herself as a growing person, she can’t be stagnant. She has 2 fold roles one is prepaid environment – she should keep such material through which child develop holistically. It should be interesting for child and force to work with material, it encourage to child. Material should be purposeful, aim for it. It will be help in discipline, obedience, mental development will takes place. Teacher should be place right material in the classroom. It will not heart him emotionally. Teacher should be neat and clean. Everything will be changing on the daily bases. Keep material changes otherwise they feel bore. Changes motivate the child and make them enjoyable. Place material according the child age. Teacher should make sure child should follow rules or limitations. Teacher should guide them in a orm manner. New material should be bring for children so become they learn more things. Teacher should give freedom of choice, freedom of speak, freedom of movement etc. adult prepare the environment and express to the child. Teacher need to give freedom of work with the environment. Teacher should be actively passive which means don’t do work for them; let them work to do ourselves. Teacher should have unified personality. Teacher should have active, creative, energetic, pleasing appearance etc. She needs to be knowledgeable or child psychology and child development knowledge should she have. She should be scientific observer. She should have faith in the child or believe in the child potential. She should not have judgemental. She should assist the child to developed his will and towards self discipline. She helps the child towards independence. She should good observer- she observe that how child use material, his behaviour towards material. Conclusion From the proceeding sections one can infer that education is not mere flow or exchange of information but provision of holistic environment such as the child may undergo all round development and his full potential is realised to the child, teacher, parents and the society. Free the child’s potential, and you will transform him into the world† (Dr. Maria Montessori, website-www. montessori. org). The essential purpose of Montessori is that give environment and freedom both are equally important for child development. If any of them is absent child get spoil badly. It is adult responsibility to give them that environment with freedom to use tha t environment carefully and orderly.