Monday, September 26, 2011

On María Montessori


   There are so many things I have learned from María Montessori... In the first place, she was an extraordinary woman. She was definitely ahead of her time, a true pioneer... She was the first woman physician in Italy! Go figure! She devoted herself to special children, those who were labelled as mentally retarded or handicapped just because they could not adapt to the so called "traditional way of learning"... Having started as a physician, she then turned to psychiatry and finally to education. That encouraged me, because it is never too late to find your own path in life. 
   In the second place, she was also an amazing educator. She never gave up on anyone, concentrating on helping every single child´s development by all means possible. María soon found out that this "impossible cases" only required a different method to acquire knowledge and skills. And she made that happen. She created special material to stimulate kids´ senses in order to facilitate their learning process. Listen to your students, get to know them... Do not give up, there is always a way. You just need to find it. Try to create a friendly and suitable environment for them, and they will react accordingly. They will even surprise you!
   If you ever have a little time to spare, my advise to you is that you learn more about this outstanding pioneer and her fascinating method and remarkable life... You will not regret it!


1 comment:

fabicu said...

Maria Montessory is an example for society, and especially for women, about the role of educators and the importance education must have.In those times it was not easy for women to develop such an amount of new experiences as she did. She was the first educator who thought about giving through education contents that connected learners to reality, creating the proper enviroment for pupils and activities they would later perform in their lives. I relly admire her.