A year of global celebrations marking the centenary of Montessori education will begin on the 6th January 2007, the 100th anniversary of the opening of the first Montessori school. On that day in 1907 Dr Maria Montessori started a school in the slums of Rome and began what rapidly became a global education and social movement. There are now more than 22,000 Montessori schools around the world spread across more than 100 countries making it the world’s largest pedagogy.
In the UK, the Montessori movement continues to grow, providing developmental education for children from birth until 12 years through more that 750 schools. An estimated 50,000 children currently attend UK Montessori schools. The effectiveness of the Montessori Method in aiding children’s social and academic development is once again gaining the interest of policy makers. Two grant-maintained primary schools are currently piloting Montessori principles and practice.
Recent research, published in the journal Science, found “significant advantages” for children in a Montessori school. 5 year olds were better prepared in reading and mathematics and showed better abilities in social and emotional tests than children in non-Montessori schools. The work of Montessori 12-year olds was rated and more creative, their grammar significantly more sophisticated, and their social behaviour more mature.
Louise Livingston, Chair of the UK Montessori Centenary Committee, said:
“Over the last 100 years Montessori education has helped millions of children around the world on their journey into adulthood. Montessori worked 100 years ago in the slums of Rome and is still working today. Montessori works because it is driven by the developmental needs of children, rather than the ever-changing educational policies of government.”
“The UK’s education system is struggling to find ways to achieve even basic levels of reading, writing and maths among our children. But the Montessori approach offers a tried and tested solution that is working now in primary and nursery schools. The Government must roll out, not roll back, the choice of Montessori education.”
However some current Government policies are threatening the diversity of educational provision in early-years settings. Government changes to the Nursery Education Grant are set to prevent all independent nursery providers from charging ‘top up’ fees over and above the grant. Montessori schools will now be forced to drastically compromise the quality of education, reducing costs by up to 60%, or end their partnerships with Local Authorities and seek to go completely private – increasing fees for parents.
Livingston went on to say:
“As we enter a new century of Montessori education, the Government may force the closure of hundreds of successful Montessori nursery schools across the UK. Planned changes to the nursery grant will put many schools out of business and force others to go completely private – pushing up costs for parents.”
Notes to editors:
1. The UK Montessori Centenary Committee is made up of the largest Montessori organisations in the UK including The Maria Montessori Institute AMI, Bournemouth Montessori Centre, Montessori Centre International, Montessori College Wimbledon, Montessori Partnership, Montessori St. Nicholas, Montessori Society AMI UK, Montessori Education UK, Montessori Early Years Forum, Montessori Schools Association and is supported by the publishers of Montessori Review, Montessori Direction, Montessori International and Triangle ….
2. In September 2006 the US journal Science published research by Prof Angeline Lillard which found that Montessori children’s behavioural and academic skills were better than those of a control group of children in mainstream education.
3. The changes to the Nursery Education Grant are being introduced under the Governments ten-year strategy for childcare. Pilot Local Authorities introduced the new code of practice in April 2006, all others will have to introduce it in April 2007. The implementation of the code of practice is varying widely across different Local Authorities. The grant is set locally, generally at around £8 per session, which, depending on a term’s length will equal approximately £450 per child per term, for 12.5 hours a week.
4. Famous Montessori students include: Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon; Sergey Brin and Larry Page, co-founders of Google; Anne Frank, Dutch diarist; Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia; Katherine Graham, owner-editor of The Washington Post; Sean Combs, Musician; George Clooney, Academy Award-winning actor; and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, recipient, Nobel Prize for Literature – to name just a few.
5. Some key differences between Montessori and mainstream education include:
· Montessori: Based on helping the natural development of the human being
· Traditional: Based on the transfer of a fixed stock of knowledge
· Montessori: Children follow their own individual interest in deciding what to learn
· Traditional: Children learn according to a set curriculum which is the same for everyone
· Montessori: Children teach themselves using materials specially prepared for the purpose
· Traditional: Children are taught everything by the teacher
· Montessori: Understanding comes through the manipulation of materials and the promotion of children’s ability to find things out for themselves
· Traditional: Learning is based on the memorisation of facts and is limited to what is given
· Montessori: Based on the fact that moving and cognition are linked
· Traditional: Children sit at desks and learn from a chalkboard or screen
· Montessori: The child’s individual development brings its own reward and therefore motivation
· Traditional: Motivation is achieved by a system of reward and punishment
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