[Olpc-open] [IAEP] Montessori madness...

[Martin Langhoff]

On Mon, Oct 12, 2009 at 10:18 AM, Sameer Verma <sverma at sfsu.edu> 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 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.

Bryan, you need to postulate your theory more formally :-)

cheers,



m
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