On 12.10.2009, at 10:55, Martin Langhoff wrote: > On Mon, Oct 12, 2009 at 10:18 AM, Sameer Verma <[email protected]> > wrote: >> I've been reading "Montessori Madness" for a few hours now, and I >> find > > Another good one is "Montessori Today" > http://www.amazon.com/Montessori-Today-Comprehensive-Education-Adulthood/dp/080521061X > > The funny thing is that since I've been exposed to Bryan Berry's > poignant "theory" of education, I can't help looking at Montessori and > thinking that it is excellent, but not
[insert "just" here] > because Montessori's approach > and materials are inherently better. > > It is excellent because > > - Montessori teachers are teachers who are clearly smart and > passionate about education, and the school environment (principals, > etc) share the smarts and the passion. > > - Parents sending kids to a Montessori school are smart and > passionate about education. > > - The group of kids is small and manageable, so the smart and > passionate teachers can work their magic. > > And that wins. They could teach with computers, or abacuses or post it > notes or books written in Esperanto. It's all a catalyst that brings > the 3 (purely human!) elements above together. Indirection. A social > mind trick. > > Of course, I like most of Montessori's approach. But remove the human > elements and... poof! it's effects will be gone. Montessori strategies > in a crowded group with an unenthusiastic teacher have very slim > chances. While this rings true the Montessori materials *are* definitely helpful to let kids explore a wide range of topics on their own (after an introduction by the teachers or older children of course). You don't find these materials in a regular school. - Bert (Montessori parent) - _______________________________________________ Olpc-open mailing list [email protected] http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/olpc-open
