Work

"The work both of the child and of the adult has a definite relationship to the environment. We may say that the adult works to perfect his environment, whereas the child works to perfect himself, using the environment as the means.

The adult - just because he is an adult - is no longer developing; he has reached the norm of the species; but the child is a being in a constant state of transformation.

He is progressing, step by step, towards a more advanced state of being; and each new stage of development is marked by a new phase of this inwardly creative commerce with the environment, which we call work."
Maria Montessori: Her Life and Work, p 143, Chap VIII

Following her observation of the children's activities Montessori came to realize that the work of the child was profoundly different to that of the adult.

She was initially astonished to see that the children preferred to work with real activities rather than to spend their time playing in the traditional fantasy games of childhood. When she realized that this was happening she began to carefully prepare the environment in order to better help the children follow their natural choice of activities.

What she saw was that what children really wanted was the freedom to follow their own innate developmental needs and that these needs were different, and at a higher level, than anyone had predicted. By preparing the environment she was able to allow the children the maximum freedom to demonstrate their interests and abilities.

She always followed the child and built her educational philosophy upon her observations, rather than imposing her own theories upon practice. She saw that children were much more interested in processes rather than end results, that they would repeat a task endlessly until they had taken from it what they needed, that they were drawn to activities because of their innate needs, that concentration was the key to natural development, and that to interrupt a child when he was concentrating could upset the very delicate process that was going on.

The effects of giving children this freedom were so extraordinary that she realized that she had discovered something that could change the nature of education and ultimately society itself.

It was the revelation that the freedom to work produced changes in the behavior of all the children, that these changes consistently included the development of happiness, self-confidence, self-discipline and social co-operation and that they occurred no matter what the child's previous cultural background, that led her to make the study of the child her life's work.

"He lives in a sort of everlasting present. He does not hurry as we do towards the end of the action, because for him the end of the action is the action itself. His whole being is expressed in his work; he loves it, lives it, rejoices in it, perserveres in it, repeats it - because it is the means by which he is perfecting himself."
Ibid p 145 Quotations quot;It follows that the child can only develop fully be means of experience on his environment. We call such experience 'work'."
The Absorbent Mind, p 81, Chap 8 "The environment must be rich in motives which lend interest to activity and invite the child to conduct his own experiences."
Ibid p 84, Chap 8 "From inertia to work! This is the path of cure, just as from inertia to work is the path of development for the normal child. For a new education this must be the basis. Nature herself indicates and establishes it."
Ibid p 84, Chap 8 "The most important discovery is that a child returns to a normal state through work."
The Secret of Childhood p 185, Chap 26 "A child's desire to work represents a vital instinct since he cannot organize his personality without working: a man builds himself through working. There can be no substitute for work, neither affection nor physical well-being can replace it.
Ibid p 186, Chap 26 "A child's instinct for work is a proof that work is instinctive to man and characteristic of the species."
Ibid p 186, Chap 26 "Why then has work, which should be a source of great satisfaction and a principle of health and regeneration (as it is for children), been rejected by adults who simply regard it as a harsh necessity? It may be due to the fact that society has lost the proper motives for work."
Ibid p 186, Chap 26 "...men have a natural instinct for work, and it is through work that their environment is perfected. Work is characteristic of men, and progress in civilization is directly linked with their manifold ability to create an environment that will make life more easy and comfortable."
Ibid p 187, Chap 26 quot;The perfection of man's works is not to be measured by man's own personal needs but by the mysterious designs of his instinct to work. By a fatal deviation man has been separated from his goal in life. If a child is to become the kind of man that he should, his development must be intimately united with his own guiding instinct. The normal education of a child should thus lead to man's transcendence."
Ibid p 189, Chap 26 "A child is also a worker and a producer. Although he cannot share in the work of adults, he has his own difficult and important task to perform, that of producing a man."
Ibid p 193, Chap 26 "A child's labour is far different from, and, we might say, even opposed to that of an adult. It is an unconscious labour brought about by a spiritual energy in the process of developing."
Ibid p 194, Chap 26 quot;What makes a child a real worker is the fact that he does not develop into a man by rest and reflection. Rather he is engaged in active work. He creates by constant labour."
Ibid p 194, Chap 26 "When a child works, he does not do so to attain some further goal. His objective in working is the work itself, and when he has repeated an exercise and brought his own activities to an end, this end is independent of external factors."
Ibid p 196, Chap 26 "As far as the child's personal reactions are concerned, his cessation from work is not connected with weariness since it is characteristic of a child to leave his work completely refreshed and full of energy."
Ibid p 196, Chap 26 "Another obvious difference between the work of an adult and that of a child lies in the fact that a child does not look for gain or assistance. A child must carry out his work by himself and he must bring it to completion."
Ibid p 197, Chap 26 "An adult must assist a child in such a way that he can act and carry out his own work in the world. This reveals not only the childs need but also the fact that he should be surrounded by a vital environment... This environment must obviously be prepared by an adult who knows a child's inner needs."
Ibid p 198, Chap 26 "The work both of the child and of the adult has a definite relationship to the environment. We may say that the adult works to perfect his environment, whereas the child works to perfect himself, using the environment as the means."
Maria, Montessori: Her Life and Work p 143, Chap VIII "Our modern industrialized society, according to Montessori, has lost all true sense of the value and meaning of work."
Ibid p 146, Chap VIII "Montessori believes that if the child... at each stage of development - was given the opportunity of doing the special kind of work for which his nature craves, it would lead to a more harmonious humanity, a humanity largely delivered from the love of possession and the love of power."
Ibid p 147, Chap VIII "Because the child's work springs from this 'internal fount of energy' it is no burden to him - any more than we feel the beating of the heart to be a burden. They are both vital functions."
Ibid p 148, Chap VIII quot;Work is for him a necessary form of life, a vital instinct without which his personality cannot organize itself."
Ibid p 148, Chap VIII "The adult stops working when he has reached the end for which he set out - i.e., when his job is finished; or when he is too tired to go on. But, as we have seen, the child does not stop when the external end has been reached; he very often goes back to the beginning and repeats it, many times. But he does stop in the end - and that quite suddenly. Why does he stop at that moment? It is because, quite unconsciously, he feels within himself that he has obtained what he needs from that particular activity... A need has been satisfied; and he stops because the 'cycle of work' has been completed."
Ibid p 150, Chap VIII

Study guide

The Secret of Childhood - Chapter 26

The Absorbent Mind - Chapter 8

Maria Montessori: Her Life and Work - Chapter VIII

Journal articles

Bruce, T (1984) 'A Froebelian Looks at Montessori's Work', Early Childhood Development and Care; v14, n1-2, p75-83, February

Devries, R, Goncu, A (1988) 'Interpersonal Relations in Four-year-old Dyads from Constructivist and Montessori Programs', Early Childhood Development and Care, v33, n1-4, p11-27, April 1988

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

Gobbi, G (1999) 'The Relation between the Child's Work and Cosmic Work', NAMTA Journal, v24, n2, p77-83, Spring

Montessori, Maria (1995) 'The Organization of Intellectual Life in School', NAMTA Journal, v20, n3, p21-28, Summer

Conference papers

AMI/USA (1997) The Relevance of Montessori Today: Meeting Human Needs-Principles to Practice. Proceedings of the National Conference, Bellevue, Washington, July 25-28

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.