Maria Montessori (1870-1952) is a famous Italian educationalist whose method of teaching has influenced people all over the world.
Born in Italy in 1870, Montessori became the first female (女性的) doctor in her country after she graduated from medical school in 1896. Later, working with deprived (缺乏足够教育的) children, she set up a “Children's House” in Rome. This was the place where she developed the Montessori Method, an educational system that encourages an informal style of teaching. Children learn from dealing with everyday materials and they develop at their own pace. The Montessori philosophy is simple. Children are individuals (个体) who must be free to learn without being criticized (批评) or limited. It's the child that controls the pace, topic and lessons, not the rest of the class or the teacher. As a result, children enjoy learning and this gives them confidence and makes them happy.
The Montessori Method also teaches children skills to help them become independent. Very young children learn to dress themselves, to cook and to put their toys and clothes away. Children are encouraged to repeat activities as often as they wish, and they develop their observation skills by doing different activities.
A Montessori teacher observes children closely in order to provide them with individual learning programmes. The teacher is a guide, not a leader of the classroom, helping to open students' eyes to the wonders around them.
Montessori wanted to free children's minds so that they could learn through self-teaching and self-correction. It's an approach to teaching which encourages children to learn by doing and experimenting.
A typical room in a Montessori school has many things children can use, for example, books, objects and games. The furniture is light so they can arrange it as they wish, and the cabinets (橱柜) are low, so the children can reach them. Because the environment offers a range of activities, children like to work together and they develop a social life based on cooperation rather than competition.
Maria Montessori travelled all over the world, training teachers to use her method. She wrote The Montessori Method in 1912 and The Secret of Childhood in 1936.