Normalisation

"The process of normalisation is always the same... It does not matter with what deviation a child may start... But as each child - individually and in his own time and place - achieves this experience of spontaneous concentration, until it has become a habit, each and all will arrive at the same place."
Standing, E.M. Maria Montessori: Her Life and Work, Chapter 10

It was a revelation to Montessori when she saw that, through concentration, all children settled into a typical pattern of behavior, and that this pattern was the same no matter what their culture or country of birth. Once she had experienced the nature of this transition and had recognised that it applied to all children everywhere, she decided to call it 'normalisation'. It was the 'normal' child that she wanted to release from its restrictions, the child that could then be free to develop to its full potential, rather than be bound by the constraints of the society in which it lived.

There were certain elements in this transition that she recognised as important. These were:

- the activity should be freely chosen by the child

- there should be physical activity (especially through the use of the hands)

- the activity should be grounded in reality

- the activity should engage the complete concentration of the child

- the child should be allowed to work without interruptions

- the child should be allowed to repeat the activity as many times as he wants

- the child should be allowed to work according to his own timescale

She saw that normalisation was something that could happen suddenly, but only after the child began to demonstrate concentration. Certain characteristics became increasingly evident in the child and these included: a love of order, a love of work for work's sake, profound spontaneous concentration, attachment to reality, a love of silence and working alone, a lack of possessiveness, natural self-initiated obedience, independence, initiative, self-discipline and joy.

"It was thus, through experience, that Montessori discovered - one might say stumbled upon - the characteristics of the normal child. She was not looking for them; she was not expecting them; she was not even thinking about them. It was a genuine and unforseen revelation."
Ibid p 174, Chap X

Quotations

"I saw in my first school, and in all those which have followed it, that these traits vanish as soon as the children become absorbed in a piece of work that attracts them. The so-called bad qualities, together with the good and the superior, all vanish and there remains only one kind of child."
The Absorbent Mind p.183, Chap 19

"The children in our schools have proved to us that their real wish is to be always at work - a thing never before suspected, just as no one had ever before noticed the child's power of choosing his work spontaneously. Following an inner guide, the children busied themselves with something (different for each) which gave them serenity and joy."
Ibid p.184, Chap 19

"Then another thing happened never before seen in a group of children. It was the arrival of 'discipline', which sprang up spontaneously... Discipline in freedom seemed to solve a problem which had hitherto seemed insoluble."
Ibid p.184, Chap 19

"This change, which creates almost a uniformity of type, does not occur gradually, but appears all of a sudden. In any given child, it follows invariably upon a spell of deep concentration on some activity."
Ibid p.184, Chap 19

"No sooner has he found his work than his defects disappear. It does not help to reason with the children. Something within them seems to break out and fasten itself to an external activity. This attracts the child's energy which thus becomes held in a constant piece of work actively repeated."
Ibid p.184, Chap 19

"The human being is a united whole, but this unity has to be built up and formed by active experiences in the real world, to which it is led by the laws of nature."
Ibid p. 184, Chap 19

"If outer conditions prevent this integration from occurring, then the same energies go on urging each of the partial formations to continue their activities apart from the others. This results in unequal development, divorced from its proper ends."
Ibid p.185, Chap 19

"But 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."
Ibid p.185, Chap 19

"We find this phenomenon repeated unfailingly in all our schools, with children belonging to different social classes, races and civilizations. It is the most important single result of our whole work."
Ibid p. 185, Chap 19

"The transition from one state to the other always follows a piece of work done by the hands with real things, work accompanied by mental concentration."
Ibid p.186, Chap 19

"The essential thing is for the task to arouse such an interest that it engages the child's whole personality."
Ibid p.188, Chap 19

"Only 'normalized' children, aided by their environment, show in their subsequent development those wonderful powers that we describe: spontaneous discipline, continuous and happy work, social sentiments of help and sympathy for others."
Ibid p.188, Chap 19

"Its principal feature never changes. It is 'application to work'. An interesting piece of work, freely chosen, which has the virtue of inducing concentration rather than fatigue, adds to the child's energies and mental capacities, and leads him to self-mastery."
Ibid p. 188, Chap 19

"...the normal child is one who is precociously intelligent, who has learned to overcome himself, and to live in peace, and who prefers a disciplined task to futile idleness."
The Secret of Childhood p.148, Chap 21

"Man's true nature lies hidden within himself. And this nature, which was given to him at conception, must be recognized and allowed to grow."
Ibid p.148, Chap 21

"In a child the normal psychic traits can flourish easily. Then all those traits that deviated from the norm disappear, just as with the return of health all the symptoms of a disease vanish."
Ibid p. 148, Chap 21

"From the depths of his nature, the child repeatedly pardons the adult and strives to flourish despite the latter's repressions. He is engaged in a constant struggle against forces that would submerge his normal development."
Ibid p. 148, Chap 21

"From the very beginning, striking characteristics appeared in the children of our schools. At that time, however, attention was not focussed upon these, but rather upon the furthering of a more perfect technique for imparting culture. But for us, these peculiar characteristics were almost the most important fact, and it was because of this that the method has spread in the world, as it has done... These have an enormous importance, as giving us the key to human normality."
The Spiritual Regeneration of Man. Address to the International Montessori Society, 1934 pp171-176

"If the directress has done her duty properly, if she has treated him with a mixture of firmness and respect, if she has been tireless in presenting him with occupations (however indifferent he may seem), if she has encouraged him without coercion, and left him free to wander round at will - provided he disturbs no one - and if she has let him choose his occupations... then one day will come the great event."
Maria Montessori: Her Life and Work p 173, Chap X

Study guide

The Absorbent Mind - Chap 19

The Secret of Childhood - Chapter 21

Montessori: Her Life and Work - Chap 10

Journal articles

Cuevas, Eduardo (1997) 'Normalization', NAMTA Journal, v22, n2, p103-106, Spring

Futrell, K (1997) 'The Normalized Child', NAMTA Journa,l v22, n2, p138-156, Spring

Kahn, D (1997) 'Normalization and Normality across the Planes of Development', NAMTA Journal, v22, n2, p122-136, Spring

Zeman, M (1996) 'The Normalized School: Montessori as a Way of Life', NAMTA Journal, v21, n2, p164-176, Spring

Zener, R (1999) 'Revisiting the Process of Normalization', NAMTA Journal, v24, n1, p87-105, Winter

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.