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Maria Montessori: Her Life and Work

by Wensdae Miller

Westminster College, Salt Lake City, Utah

Dr. Montessori did not usually work personally with the children. Instead, she observed the children, developed new activities and materials, and provided guidance for the teachers, whom she called 'directresses'.

School at Via Giusti, ca. 1912

Dr. Montessori also made materials to help children learn to write and read, understand grammar, and do mathematics. All the materials appealed to the children's senses and encouraged concentration.

1890, age 20: Maria enrolled at the University of Rome to begin studies in natural sciences, as a prerequisite to the study of medicine. Her ambition was a source of friction between her and her father, who wanted her to become a teacher.

Boy arranging cards for grammar exercise, placing articles before the noun.

Berlin, 1927

Music and art were an important part of the classroom. Above are specially-made musical bells, arranged similarly to a keyboard and used in a variety of activities. Here, a boy uses the bells in what may be a sound-matching activity, ca. 1910.

Her 17-year-old son, Mario, had accompanied her on the San Francisco trip and was a great emotional support for her in the face of her critics. In November 1915, Dr. Montessori's father died and she returned to Italy. Mario remained in the United States.

Over time, she developed a variety of materials that engaged the children's senses and enticed them to concentrate for longer periods. Without being consciously aware of their learning, the children joyfully engaged in 'play' with the materials.

Mario and Dr. Montessori about 1920

In spite of the positive publicity generated around the "Glass Classroom", Montessori's American critics (most notably John Dewey's student William H. Kilpatrick) gained influence with the press. In large part due to the critics' influence, the Montessori movement lost popularity in America, where it did not have a strong revival until after her death in 1952.

Each activity isolated a single sense or concept. This boy is learning to sort cylinders by their different heights and diameters. The girl is developing auditory acuity and awareness using sound cylinders.

Dr. Montessori closely monitored the children's use of the materials she designed, and noted which colors, textures, and weights were favored by the children. She regularly modified or replaced materials in response to these observations.

Learning to recognize shapes while blindfolded, Children’s House, Berlin, 1920

1915, age 45:  Dr. Montessori operated a glass-walled classroom at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, California. Visitors could watch the class and see young children concentrating deeply, engaged in their tasks in spite of hundreds of onlookers.

Child stacking the pink tower, ca. 1910

1907, age 37:  On January 6th, Dr. Montessori opened the "Casa dei Bambini" (Children's House) at San Lorenzo in a suburb of Rome. This poverty-stricken area had a large number of preschool children (aged 2-7 years) who were left unattended while their parents worked.

She replaced the furniture with child-sized items, which were easy for the children to use and light enough for the children to move about as needed.

1914, age 44: "Dr. Montessori's Own Handbook" was published.  It gave descriptions and illustrations of the materials and methods she had created.

She also placed materials on low shelves, so they were easily accessible to the children, who were encouraged to select their own activities as well as put them away.

This shelf from 1910 shows a cupboard with open doors. Later, the doors were left off, allowing children even easier access to materials.

1940-1946, age 70-76: For the next six years, Dr. Montessori and Mario continued their work with Indian children and adolescents, with particular interest in the development of infants. Insights from this time period shaped her theory of the Four Planes of Development described in her later work, "The Absorbent Mind" (1947).

Dr. Montessori and Mario led sixteen series of training courses during their time in India. Dr. Montessori lectured in Italian and Mario translated to English-- at times, Dr. Montessori would interrupt and correct his translations, as she also knew English. They trained more than a thousand Indian teachers in the Montessori Method.

A crowded Montessori lecture hall in India, about 1943

In 1946, after the conclusion of WWII, Mario and Dr. Montessori returned to the Netherlands. Their planned 'three-month' stay in India had lasted almost seven years.

Upon his return to the Netherlands in 1947, Mario married Ada Pierson, who had helped care for his children while he was in India (the youngest, Renilde was now about 14 years old). Ada had been a support to Mario and his family ever since 1936 when they were forced to flee Italy.

About 1943, observing children in India on the porch of the Olcott Bungalow

Dr. Montessori's time in India was supposed to have lasted only a few months. However, in 1940, Italy joined with Germany in World War II. Britain, colonial ruler of India, interred all Italians in its colonies as enemy aliens. Dr. Montessori was restricted to the property of the Theosophical Society. Mario was sent to an internment camp in Ahmednagar for two months before being permitted to rejoin his mother. He was released on August 31, 1940, her 70th birthday. The documents releasing him wished Dr. Montessori a happy birthday from the British government! It was the best gift they could have given her.

Dr. Montessori and Mario, 1940

1939, age 69: World War II broke out in Europe. Soon afterward, Dr. Montessori and Mario left the Netherlands to work in India, having been invited by the Theosophical Society to give a training course. The Theosophical Society's mission was to educate India's poor people. Dr. Montessori had been affiliated with the Theosophical Society since 1907.

Dr. Montessori and Mario with Dr. Arundale, president of the Theosophical Society and his wife Rukmini Devi

Originally wild and difficult to manage, the children gradually became calm and self-disciplined as they interacted with the materials and activities Dr. Montessori had developed. She recognized that the children were capable of deep concentration, and that they enjoyed an orderly environment and repetition of the same activities. The children were motivated from within and rejected offered rewards.

As Dr. Montessori carefully observed the children, she made changes in classroom materials and methods, which eventually revolutionized education for young children. First, she organized the classroom so children did not have to sit in rows of desks but were free to move around at will.

School at Tarrytown, New York, ca. 1912

On May 6, 1952, at age 81, Dr. Montessori suffered a cerebral hemorrhage while visiting a friend's garden at Noordwijk aan Zee in the Netherlands.  She was buried in the local cemetery in Noordwijk. 

In early 1951, Dr. Montessori conducted trainings in Austria.  She was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for the third time.

Dr. Maria Montessori had worn out her life serving the children she loved, always bolstering the goodness of humanity in which she believed. Her legacy of child-centered education and peace curriculum lives on in thousands of Montessori schools scattered across the globe, even more than half a century later.

Enjoying a visit with children, 1951.

Although she was now 80 years of age, Dr. Montessori continued lecturing throughout Europe in 1950, including visits to Norway and Sweden. She spoke to the United Nations education conference in Florence, Italy and was again nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. 

United Nations Education Conference, Italy, 1950

Dr. Montessori was not, of course, the only person interested in promoting peace. In October, 1931, Dr. Montessori met Mahatma Gandhi when Gandhi spoke at the Montessori Training College in London. During his speech, Gandhi told Dr. Montessori, "You have very truly remarked that if we are to reach real peace in this world and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with children... if they will grow up in their natural innocence, we won't have the struggle, we won't have to pass fruitless idle resolutions, but we shall go from love to love and peace to peace, until at last all the corners of the world are covered with that peace and love for which, consciously or unconsciously, the whole world is hungering. "

1896, July 10th, age 26: Montessori earned a degree as a doctor of medicine. She was one of the first female medical doctors in Italy (many people mistakenly believe she was THE first, but it is not true). Dr. Montessori's area of focus was psychiatry and pediatrics. She was especially interested in children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. By the time she graduated, her father's heart had softened and he showed pride in her accomplishments.

Eight years earlier, in 1931, Dr. Montessori met famous Indian peacemaker Mahatma Gandhi at the London Training College. At that time, Gandhi observed in the Montessori School at Birmingham. He said of the observation, "... as I was watching those movements of the children, my whole heart went out to the millions of the children of the semi-starved villages of India, and I asked myself as my heart went out to those children, 'Is it possible for me to give them those lessons and the training that are being given under your system, to those children'?" Now, Dr. Montessori was on her way to fulfill his dream.

1917, age 47: Dr. Montessori published a book whose title in Italian means "Self-Education in Elementary School". The English title is "The Advanced Montessori Method". Also in 1917, Dr. Montessori returned briefly to San Francisco to witness the marriage of her son Mario to an American, Helen Christy. Mario ran a Montessori school in Hollywood, serving the children of movie stars!

In response to the changing political climate in Germany, the Association Montessori Internationale moved from Berlin to Amsterdam in 1935. At the time, Amsterdam was safe from Hitler.

Amsterdam was already the home of young Anne Frank, who herself had fled Germany in 1933 with her family. Anne Frank was a student at Amsterdam's 6th Montessori School from about 1935 until September 1941, when Jewish children were no longer allowed to attend any school other than the Jewish Lyceum. Anne and her family went into hiding in 1942, but were later captured by the Nazis. Only Anne's father survived the concentration camps. He ensured the publication of Anne's diary, written while in hiding, which would later become an international call for peace.

Anne Frank with teacher and two classmates at Amsterdam's 6th Montessori School, about 1940.

1909, age 39:  Dr. Montessori's observations and methods were published in a book called "The Method of Scientific Pedagogy Applied to the Education of Children in the Children's Houses". Her efforts gained international attention.

Children learning to button and tie, about 1915.

Hitler Youth burning "anti-German" books, May 1933, Berlin.

Unfortunately, the world was not quickly moving toward peace. At the same time as opposition from the Fascists in Italy, the Montessori philosophy was not finding favor with Nazi German politicians. Among other things, Montessori's beliefs about the universality of human intelligence contradicted pro-Aryan sentiments. In January 1933, Hitler rose to high command in Germany. Shortly thereafter, the Nazi party demanded the closure of all German Montessori schools, and effigies of Maria Montessori were burned along with her books in multiple cities.

While in the Netherlands, Dr. Montessori and Mario established a model school and teacher training center on the grounds of the Groenendaal estate in Laren, Netherlands. They also created many Montessori materials still in use today, including the grammar symbols and knobless cylinders.

1948, age 78:  "What You Should Know About Your Child" and "The Discovery of the Child" were published.

November, 1947

In 1949, at age 79, Dr. Montessori visited several European countries and Pakistan.  The first training courses for teachers of children birth to three years of age began. Prior to this, Montessori training was relevant primarily for teachers of children ages 3 and older.

Also in 1949, Dr. Montessori was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

1936 would prove to be an eventful year for Dr. Montessori. In 1936, Dr. Montessori's book "The Secret of Childhood" was published; this book detailed her understanding of the young child as a 'spiritual embryo', and its capacity for especially rapid development during specified 'sensitive periods'.

Also around 1936, Mario and Helen were divorced, and Helen took their youngest child, 7-year-old Renilde, with her to the United States.

1896 As she searched for information about how to help the disabled children she met, Dr. Montessori studied the work of Jean Itard, who attempted to socialize a feral child (the "Wild Boy of Aveyron") and teach him to speak. Itard used the scientific method in his work, and hypothesized that human growth has specific developmental phases in which certain skills were more easily developed.

Dr. Montessori, 1936

In July 1936, the Spanish Civil War began with sudden, bloody violence. In Barcelona, 12,000 rebel soldiers engaged police and citizens in a ferocious streetfight lasting two full days. Within weeks, Italy, Germany, France, and Great Britain were involved; the war would ultimately last almost three years.

Dr. Montessori hastily left Barcelona to go to a congress in London, where Mario was waiting for her. Because of military action on the coast, boat travel was severely restricted. Dr. Montessori was only able to find passage to London on a British warship. Unfortunately, the warship refused to carry Dr. Montessori's teenaged grandsons (it is unclear where her oldest grandchild, 20-year-old Marilena, lived at this time). After some time, and creative trip-routing, Mario, Jr., and Rolando eventually found safe passage to London.

Itard

Seguin

Dr. Montessori also studied the work of Edouard Seguin. Contrary to prevailing opinions, Seguin believed that people with mental disabilities could learn many skills to care for themselves and perform simple jobs. He successfully used sensory training and physical activity to improve cognitive function in people with disabilities.

Both Seguin and Itard had strong influences on Dr. Montessori's work with children.

1912, age 42: The first English translation of "The Montessori Method" was published; six editions were rapidly sold out. Montessori schools were planned or already operating in over thirteen countries.

On December 20, 1912 Dr. Montessori's mother died at the age of 72. This was a difficult challenge for Maria, who had always enjoyed her mother's enthusiastic support.

After the London congress, the Montessori family could not return to Barcelona because of the war, but could not stay in England due to the difficulty of getting residence permits. An assistant from the congress, Ada Pierson, invited the family to stay in her parents' home, a villa called ‘Intimis’ in Baarn, the Netherlands.

1912, Frontispiece of "The Montessori Method".

1898-1901, age 28-31: Sometime during these years, Dr. Montessori became pregnant as a result of a romance with the co-director of the Orthophrenic School, Giuseppe Montesano. She bore a son, Mario. His exact birth date is uncertain, but is often referenced as March 31, 1898.

The couple decided not to marry. To avoid social scandal, Mario was sent to the countryside to be raised by a farmer's family. Montesano eventually claimed Mario as his son in 1903, and financed his education and vacations. Meanwhile, Maria Montessori visited her son occasionally without revealing herself as his mother. Within a year or two after Mario's birth, Giuseppe Montesano married another woman. Likely feeling betrayed because Montesano had vowed he would never marry, Dr. Montessori left the Orthophrenic School in 1901.

1892, age 22: Having finished her preliminary studies, Montessori began classes in pursuit of a medical degree. The medical school was not ordinarily open to women, so she had to obtain special permission from administrators to begin her work. Montessori was not allowed to study cadavers with her male classmates; she had to study the cadavers alone, after class. She was often teased and humiliated by both peers and professors. However, she persisted in her studies.

1883, age 13: Maria showed great promise in school, and her parents often disagreed about the best kinds of activities and education for Maria. Maria and her father had a loving relationship, but he seemed to want Maria to be more docile and traditional. In contrast, her mother supported Maria's enthusiasm and ambitions, even when they challenged social norms. Unlike most girls of her time, Maria was fascinated with math and science.

When Maria was about 13 years old, her father reluctantly permitted her to enroll in a technical school to study math and physics. Maria wanted to become an engineer; at that time, the only professional occupations open to women in Italy were teacher or nun. There was only one other girl in the school, and the girls were not allowed to go to recess with the boys.

As a child, Maria's intelligence and self-confidence often made her a leader in games. She had many friends, including a 'hunch-backed' neighbor girl, with whom she enjoyed going for walks. Perhaps this early friendship with a person with a physical disability influenced her later work.

Maria, about age 10.

1913, age 43: Around 1913, Dr. Montessori reunited with her estranged adolescent son, Mario. Due to societal taboos on unwed mothers, she always referred to him as her 'nephew' or her 'adopted son'. The two were rarely apart after this.

1898-1900, age 28-30:  Dr. Montessori became co-director of the Orthophrenic School of Rome, a school for mentally disabled children. The school also trained teachers in educating these children. Dr. Montessori designed activities to help the children become more independent, and to teach them academic skills. Some of the children made so much progress that they were able to pass the government examinations administered to 'normal' children.

Her efforts attracted the attention of the minister of public education, who invited her to present lectures about educating disabled children. Dr. Montessori spoke in Paris and London, and was even introduced to Queen Victoria. 

1910, age 40: An American magazine, McClure's, published a series of articles about Dr. Montessori. The first American Montessori school opened in 1912 in Tarrytown, New York. In 1912, the first Canadian Montessori school opened in the Nova Scotia home of Alexander Graham Bell and his wife.

Also in 1913, Dr. Montessori visited the United States for the first time. She gave lectures for three weeks, and observed in American Montessori classrooms.

Montessori's childhood home

1913, Dr. Montessori with Samuel McClure of McClure's Magazine

1896: Following her graduation, Dr. Montessori was appointed as a surgical assistant at the Santo Spirito Hospital in Rome, and also operated a private practice. She worked in the hospital psychiatric clinic, and visited many asylums for the mentally ill and disabled. She witnessed many children with disabilities kept in barren environments with no mental or social stimulation, and minimal physical care.

Maria Montessori was born on August 31, 1870, in Chiaraville, Ancona, Italy, to Alessandro Montessori and Renilde Stoppani. Both of her parents were well-educated, and the family was considered upper-middle-class. Maria was an only child.

This image is from an Italian insane asylum in the 1970's, showing how little conditions had improved in nearly 80 years.

Children at the Schonbrunn Psychiatric Hospital, Germany, 1934. A few years later, Hitler's regime would murder over 20,000 'mentally defective' persons, mostly children.

Photos from 1935-1937

1920

Fascist youth organizations trained children ages six and older in military drill, including the use of real weapons for those ages eight and up. In 1937, enlistment was compulsory, though never more than 50% of Italian children were enrolled.

As Dr. Montessori's ideas gained influence in Europe, governments took notice. More than one government provided funding to Montessori schools. However, when political agendas threatened to interfere with Dr. Montessori's work, she was willing to go her own way.

1918, age 48: Dr. Montessori's son Mario and his wife Helen joined Dr. Montessori in Barcelona, where their first child, Marilena, was born in 1919. Their second child, Mario, Jr., was born in 1921. The family moved to Italy shortly after his birth. Children numbers three and four, Rolando (1925) and Renilde (1929), eventually completed the family circle.

Dr. Montessori and her son's family shared a single household for most of his children's developing years, even traveling together several times. She had great influence on her grandchildren. As adults, Mario Jr. and Renilde played strong roles in supporting the growth of the Montessori Method, as did several of Dr. Montessori's great-grandchildren.

1901 - 1906, age 31-36 Dr. Montessori returned to the University of Rome, studying education and psychology. She was interested in applying the scientific method to the education of typically-developing children. She presented many lectures, which were eventually published in 1910 as the book "Pedagogical Anthropology".

However, Dr. Montessori refused to publicly support Catalonia's bids for independence. This refusal and the rise of Primo de Rivera's military dictatorship in Spain eventually led to the closing of many Spanish Montessori schools between 1924 and 1930. By 1933, politics had shifted once again, and the Montessori method was reinstated in many schools. Meanwhile, Dr. Montessori was busy in Italy.

1916, age 46: Dr. Montessori relocated to Barcelona, Spain. The Catalan government sponsored many Montessori schools and multiple teacher training programs. Montessori manuals were translated to Spanish, and the Montessori method became the prime pedagogical approach in grade schools. New training courses demonstrated materials and methods for teaching grammar, arithmetic, and geometry to children ages 6-12.

Benito Mussolini

Dr. Montessori demonstrating a grammar activity.

In 1922, Benito Mussolini's Fascist government had come to rule in Italy.  In 1924, Mussolini personally invited Montessori to establish schools with the government's support. She accepted the support, but with reservations. Between 1924 and 1930, a Montessori teacher training college and numerous Montessori schools were established. In 1926, Mussolini was even made the honorary president of the Montessori Society.

Primo de Rivera

1929

1927

However, as the government increased its support, it also demanded increasing control. By 1930, Montessori and Mussolini were at odds, and financial support for Montessori programs was in jeopardy. Her international lecture series "Peace and Education", and her refusal to encourage her students to enlist in the Fascist children's organizations were particularly thorny issues.

"Establishing a lasting peace is the work of education; all politics can do is to keep us out of war."

(Education and Peace, p viii, Foreward).

Of course, Dr. Montessori had a very different vision of educating Italy's children.

By 1932, Dr. Montessori and her son Mario were on government surveillance lists. In 1934 she was exiled from Italy, and again returned to Spain. The Italian government closed all Montessori schools in the country by 1936.

About 1939

Children’s House Berlin, around 1920

She also encouraged the presence of animals in the classrooms. She observed that caring for pets teaches children responsibility and empathy.

Dr. Montessori recognized that the children could use the materials properly if taught to do so. Being entrusted with fragile or dangerous objects gave the children special satisfaction and feelings of independence and responsibility.

Children preparing a meal, about 1910.

Dr. Montessori had spoken on "Peace and Education" at the Second International Montessori Congress in France in 1932. In spite of opposition and persecution from the Italian government, she spoke at several peace conferences from 1932 to 1939 in various European countries. These lectures were published later with an English title of "Education and Peace". Peace education continues to be an important element of Montessori education.

Arriving in London, 1938

Children Tending Plants, Bauhaus Archive, Berlin

Over time, Dr. Montessori's goal came to be to encourage independence in the children, to promote positive psychological growth. More Children's Houses were soon established, and Dr. Montessori methods were introduced in many orphan homes and kindergartens.

Peeling potatoes in a Children’s House, Berlin, 1920

When Dr. Montessori observed the children regularly choosing practical activities over traditional toys, she provided opportunities to practice life skills, such as cooking, washing hands, caring for animals, and flower arranging. This required the children to use objects generally kept out of reach of children, including sharp knives and glass vases.

Giuseppe Montesano

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