Components of a Montessori Classroom | Freedom
/“To let the child do as he likes when he has not yet developed any powers of control, is to betray the idea of freedom .... Real freedom, instead, is a consequence of development; it is the development of latent guides, aided by education.”
Students have the freedom to choose their own works, their own space, their own timing, and more. They feel respected when they are given freedom. Their confidence grows with their independence.
This post is part of a series originally introduced here.
A Child-Centered Classroom
Walking into a Montessori classroom should feel very different than walking into a traditional classroom. It can be an alarming feeling. After all, if you are an adult, you could very well feel like an outsider in a Montessori classroom.
The Montessori classroom isn’t made for adults. It’s made for its students.
Children choose the works they do and the time they do them.
Children learn to read their body cues to tell them when they’re hungry or need a rest.
The teacher observes the child and lets him determine the moment-to-moment direction of his education.
Tables and chairs are all at child height.
You won’t find a teacher desk.
A kitchen is all within reach for a child; an adult will have to bend and crouch.
Shelving is all quite likely below the waist height of an adult.
Tools, dishes, utensils, cleaning supplies, and more are all child-sized.
Children know, the moment they walk into a Montessori classroom, that they belong in this environment...it’s made for them.
Independence
Why spend so much time and money making a classroom environment so solely geared toward the child?
A valid question. It’s true: children are always growing and changing. Making an environment suited to children means the adult will spend a significant amount of time changing that environment to grow with the child.
Not to mention the inconvenience the adult will feel trying to fit into a classroom made for children.
But this model puts the power in the child’s hands. Positive Parenting Solutions suggests that children have two “buckets” to fill each day: attention and power.
When a child can manipulate and work within his environment, he feels the power that only independence can bring. This power is different from the power of “power struggles.” This power is the joy and freedom found when a child is able to do things for himself.
Freedom Within Limits
It’s important to remember that a Montessori approach, while set up for the child’s independence and freedom, also puts clear and consistent limits on these freedoms and within the classroom environment.
Obviously, a child cannot be completely left to himself. A teacher sets parameters for the child and guides him as he works within these limits. This allows the child freedom while not encroaching on the freedom and rights of other children.
Sounds a lot like the goals of our adult society, doesn’t it?
These limits also involve the bigger picture of a child’s education. A teacher, through observation, will be able to recognize if a child is maintaining progress in all subject areas. The teacher keeps careful records and observations for each child, guiding them through topics and subjects that are necessary for each child to learn.
The teacher is in charge of keeping the big picture of education and growth in mind. The child has the freedom to direct the day-to-day progress toward these larger goals.
Growth Happens when Mistakes Happen
With freedom comes the likelihood that students will make mistakes. True learning is messy.
“Growth mindset” has become something of a buzzword lately. A Montessori approach lives this idea out.
A child with independence in the classroom has the freedom to do things the wrong way. Natural consequences and control-of-error materials require the child to identify his mistakes and correct them.
Corrected mistakes and messy learning are what engage the child in the complete problem-solving process. This is the type of experience that leads to authentic learning.
This problem-solving process itself is quite natural for the child to carry out. The trick is for the adult or teacher to allow the mistakes to happen. It could look a lot like spilled milk; an entire lesson done wrong by the child until he realizes it at the very end; a broken dish; mismatched flashcards. But this is all part of the child being the one more engaged in his own learning than the teacher.
This is the Montessori model for learning.
Specific Choices Students have the Freedom to Make Daily
Wondering what this all looks like in an actual Montessori classroom?
Each student chooses what material he uses.
Students decide if they want to work alone or together.
Self-served snacks are enjoyed when the child feels hungry.
Children use and fill their own water glasses (usually enjoyed in real glass).
Work time is blocked into “work cycles” - usually 2-4 hour periods in which the child is free to choose whatever lessons interest him that day. Traditional school schedules are not used.
A child decides when he moves on to the next work.
Children can choose where in the classroom they work.
Breaks between work are self-initiated as needed.
Topics of interest can be pursued further when desired.
Much, much more
The freedom allowed to Montessori children communicates respect. With freedom and independence, children are no longer a burden to their adults, rather, they are young members of a community that works together and cares for each other.