Would Maria Montessori approve?

Maria Montessori focused more on the individual child than the group itself.  Montessori believes that the classroom should be child sized.  She believes that everything in that classroom should child accessible. We commonly take her work for granted as teachers sit in child size chairs daily. “She believed caring for the environment and keeping it bright and orderly should be viewed as a teaching skill.” (Mooney, 27) She believes that teachers need to be aware of what they are providing for the environment. Montessori “believed that adults spend too much time ‘serving’ children.” (Mooney, 28) She thinks that the more we do for children the harder it will be for us. The most important, “Montessori believed that children should be able to do everything they are capable of.” (Mooney, 29-30) Montessori wanted everything hands on and the children to have the real tools to encourage a better learning experience.
-Mooney, C.G. (2000). Theories of Childhood: An Introduction to Dewey, Montessori, Erickson, Piaget, and Vygotsky.

The banking concept put children down and did not see their full potential by having the teacher be so aggressive and on top of the students. The banking concept was the complete opposite from the Montessori philosophy and I do not believe she would have approved of it what so ever. Since the banking concept was about the teacher being the dominant and the student being the submissive with the teacher doing everything in the classroom, this goes against the entire hands on approach of Montessori. She wants the children engaged in their learning not sitting in chairs having information forced down their throats.

As a teacher I include Montessori in my everyday lessons. Children need to have a hands on learning approach at an early education level. They do not have the attention span to have information thrown at them all day. Instead they need a teacher who is going to give them the materials they need and let them work. A teacher needs to be the one to guide the children not do everything for them. It will not help the children in your class if you solve everything for them, they need to figure it out for themselves and grow from it.