Discipline

"Most teachers think that it is their main business to be always criticizing, and they do this just as much in the field of learning as they do in moral matters.

The child's training has, they think, to be guided by two reins: prizes and punishments. But if a child has to be rewarded or punished, it means he lacks the capacity to guide himself; so this has to be supplied by the teacher.

But supposing he sets himself to work; then the addition of prizes and punishments is superfluous; they only offend the freedom of the spirit.

Hence, in schools like ours which are dedicated to the defence of spontaneity and which aim at setting children free, prizes and punishments obviously have no place. Moreover, the child who freely finds his work shows to him they are completely unimportant."
The Absorbent Mind p 224 Chap 24

Through her observations of children Montessori realized that true discipline was that created from inside, rather than imposed from outside.

She saw that by freeing the child to follow his own spontaneous interests he would begin to guide himself to right behaviour: choosing appropriate tasks, mastering his own impulses when needed and respecting the needs of others. The freedom to choose was, in fact, a vital component in the child's development of self-will.

"The discipline we are looking for is active. We do not believe that one is self disciplined only when he is artificially made as silent as a mute and as motionless as a paralytic. Such a one is not disciplined but annihilated. We claim that an individual is disciplined when he is a master of himself and when he can, as a consequence, control himself when he must follow a rule of life." (The Absorbent Mind ).

It was by giving freedom that discipline arose naturally and it was this discovery that so fascinated Montessori and spurred her on to further investigation.

"...when the attractions of the new environment exert their spell, offering motives for constructive activity, then all these energies combine and the deviations can be dispersed. A unique type of child appears. A 'new child', but really it is the child's true 'personality' allowed to construct itself normally." (The Absorbent Mind p 185, Chap 19).

Quotations

"Discipline in freedom seemed to solve a problem which had hitherto seemed insoluble. The answer lay in obtaining discipline by giving freedom."
The Absorbent Mind p.184, Chap 19

"The children in our schools are free, but that does not mean there is no organization. Organisation, in fact, is necessary, and if the children are to be free to work, it must be even more thorough than in the ordinary schools."
Ibid p.223, Chap 24

"All the crosses made by the teacher on the child's written work, all her scoldings, only have a lowering effect on his energies and interests. To tell a child that he is naughty or stupid just humiliates him; it offends and insults, but does not improve him."
Ibid p.224, Chap 24

"The undisciplined child enters into discipline by working in the company of others; not by being told that he is naughty."
Id p.224, Chap 24

"From all this awareness of mistakes, there springs up a kind of brotherhood. Errors divide men, but their correction is a means of union. It becomes a matter of general interest to correct errors wherever they may be found. The error itself becomes interesting. It becomes a link, and is certainly a bond of fellowship between human beings. It helps especially to bring harmony between children and adults. To detect some small error in a grown-up person does not produce lack of respect in the child or lack of dignity in the grown-up. The error becomes impersonal and is then amenable to control. In this way, small things lead to great."
Ibid p. 229, Chap 24

"Conscious will is a power which develops with use and activity. We must aim at cultivating the will, not at breaking it."
Ibid p.231, Chap 25

"Will and obedience then go hand in hand, inasmuch as the will is a prior foundation in the order of development, and obedience is a later stage resting on this foundation."
Ibid p.234, Chap 25

"It is easy, in fact, to identify obedience as a natural phenomenon of human life; it is a normal human characteristic. In our children we may watch its development as a kind of unfolding. It shows itself spontaneously and unexpectedly at the end of a long process of maturation."
Ibid p.234, Chap 25

"If the human soul did not possess this quality, if men had never acquired, by some form of evolutionary process, this capacity for obedience, social life would be impossible."
Ibid p.234, Chap 25

"What we have been able to observe in children under conditions of life designed to help them in their natural development, has shown us very clearly the growth of obedience as one of the most striking features of the human character."
Ibid p.234, Chap 25

"Obedience is seen as something which develops in the child in much the same way as other aspects of his character. At first it is dictated purely by the hormic impulse, then it rises to the level of consciousness, and thereafter it goes on developing, stage by stage, till it comes under the control of the conscious will."
Ibid p.235, Chap 25

"Let us always remember that inner discipline is something to come and not something already present. Our task is to show the way to discipline. Discipline is born when the child concentrates his attention on some object that attracts him and which provides him not only with a useful exercise but with a control of error. Thanks to these exercises, a wonderful integration takes place in the infant soul, as a result of which the child becomes calm, radiantly happy, busy, forgetful of himself and, in consequence, indifferent to prizes or material rewards."
Ibid p.241, Chap 26

"The first glimmerings of discipline have their origin in work."
The Discovery of the Child p.304, Chap 23

"External works are at once the means of attaining internal growth and an indication of it. The two factors are woven together. Work perfects a child interiorly, but a child who is thus perfected also works better, and is fascinated by his progress. He therefore continues to perfect his inner self... Discipline is not, therefore, a fact, but a way. It enables a child to acquire with an almost scientific exactness the concept of goodness."
Ibid p.307, Chap23

Study guide

The Absorbent Mind - Chapters 19, 24, 25, 26

The Discovery of the Child - Chapter 23 Gitter, Lena (1966)

The Montessori Approach to Discipline, Mafex Assoc, Penn USA.

Journal articles

Bryan, Lillian (1998) 'Self-Discipline and the Arts', NAMTA Journal; v23, n1, p110-20, Winter

Henderson, A (1999) 'A Discipline Approach for Montessori Families' (Book Review) Montessori Life, v11, n2, p15-16, Spring

Kohn, A (1998) 'Beyond Bribes and Threats: How Not to Get Control of the Classroom', NAMTA Journal, v23, n1, p60-61, Winter

Montessori, Maria (1924) 'On Discipline - Reflections and Advice', The Call of Education, n1, n3 & 4.

O'Shaughnessy, M (1998) 'Cultivating Spontaneous Self-Discipline', NAMTA Journal, v23, n1, p62-99, Winter

Schwab, N (1994) 'Discipline. Reflections on Parenting', Montessori Life, v6, n2, p11, Spring

Archive resources

Boyd, W (1917) From Locke to Montessori, George Harrap & Co London.

Culverwell, E (1913) The Montessori Principles and Practice, G.Bell & Sons, London.

Kilpatrick, W (1915) Montessori Examined, Constable, London.

Montessori, Maria (1924) 'On Discipline - Reflections and Advice', The Call of Education, v1, n3&4.