Montessori Philosophy for Teaching Culture to Young Children
Introduction
Montessori philosophy is an education technique that initiates thorough self-motivation in growth for children especially starting from the age of three years to six years. The technique advances children’s abilities in all areas of their developments, with an aim of nurturing their natural desire for knowledge, understanding and respect. Culture curriculum involves the study of botany, zoology, physical sciences, geography, and history. This paper analyzes the Montessori approaches such as, a prepared environment, and multi-age grouping used in teaching culture to young learners.
A Prepared Environment in Montessori Teaching of Culture.
A prepared environment in Montessori teaching refers to the creation of tools that the young learners use that maximize their independence and facilitate their exploration during learning hours (Markant, Ruggeri, Gureckis & Xu, 2016). The calm and well-organized environment relaxes the learners, as they move freely and choose what items they will use to learn. The freedom of learning enables the learners to follow their natural instincts hence developing their knowledge and the world around them (Hiles, 2018a). Learning environments are prepared to reflect how the entire universe looks like hence enabling young learners grasp knowledge about the ideal world scenarios. Therefore, learners are able to apply the classroom ideas into the real world. The Montessori classrooms are designed to be beautiful and peaceful (Islamoglu, 2017). The calmness in the classrooms enable learners to feel welcome to classes to study. The Montessori approach uses natural materials from different parts of the world such as woods, plants, cotton as well as glasses to enable learners understand how the materials are used in real world scenarios, therefore, enabling them to understand nature well. Since young learners are curious about the world, a prepared environment enables them answer questions such as ‘why’ and ‘how’, therefore, understanding culture and the universe (Markant et al., 2016a).
Multi-age Grouping in Montessori Teaching of Culture.
Students are grouped according to their ages in Montessori philosophy of teaching culture (Moghal & Aziz, 2018). The lower elementary curriculum is for learners below six years while the upper elementary curriculum is for students above six years. The lower elementary students are taught through stories to enable them develop curiosity and interest in learning, therefore, facilitating their understanding of their cultural curriculum (Markant et al., 2016b). The upper elementary students’ cultural curriculum focuses more on the idea that the learners are members of a global community. The students are taught to connect ideas and knowledge learned in classroom and apply it in the world (Pound, 2017). For example, if history students seek to know how the electoral process was initiated in the world, teachers can teach them about the history of human beings and their migration, then how human beings organized themselves and through civilization, electoral process was initiated. The learning procedure enables learners to develop into global citizens, who are open to new and different ideas, therefore, understanding the diversity in culture around the world (Hiles, 2018b).
Conclusion.
In conclusion, it is evident that the Montessori philosophy used in teaching culture to children, aims to enhance the learners sense of joy and wonder. Schools are created and designed to enable children delight in their childhood, therefore, increasing their curiosity and willingness to seek knowledge, hence understanding their cultural curriculum.
References
Hiles, E. (2018). Parents’ reasons for sending their child to Montessori schools. Journal of Montessori Research, 4(1), 1-13.
İslamoğlu, Ö. (2017). Interaction between educational approach and space: The case of Montessori. EURASIA Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 14(1), 265-274.
Markant, D. B., Ruggeri, A., Gureckis, T. M., & Xu, F. (2016). Enhanced memory as a common effect of active learning. Mind, Brain, and Education, 10(3), 142-152.
Moghal, A. S. K. S., & Aziz, F. (2018). Mixed-Age Group Teaching in Second Language Learning: An Observational Study of a Montessori Classroom in Pakistan. Journal of Early Childhood Care and Education, 2.
Pound, L. (2017). How Children Learn-Book 1: From Montessori to Vygosky-Educational Theories and Approaches Made Easy (Vol. 1). Andrews UK Limited.