Why Montessori Teachers are More Effective Than Ever

The evolution of the role of the teacher in education is yet another way that Montessorians have been ahead of the curve by generations. The traditional teacher-centered “sage on the stage” model was challenged as the pendulum swung toward encouraging child exploration…and back again when it was established that most children could not be expected to discover all they needed to know–for example, specific reading or numeracy skills–entirely on their own.  The current research-validated best practice model is something that Montessori-trained teachers have known all along.

Led by our well-developed and articulated pedagogy, Montessori teachers have long been trained and understand that it is an observation-based–and artful–combination of both direct and indirect teaching that cultivates the lifelong learner in each child.  In a Montessori environment, the essential elements of each fundamental process are directly taught in the (first period) lesson, then the child practices in a variety of ways (the second period) until mastery is achieved (the third period), at which point the child can use this new knowledge to extend, adapt, innovate and otherwise make it their own.  Guiding the learning process through preparation, presentation, practice, and mastery grounds Montessori instructional practice.

The dynamic quality of engaging with students in this way is one of the advantages of a Montessori education, which is designed by its very nature to be differentiated.  There is no one size fits all in our classrooms, though sometimes, ironically, this leads to misguided descriptions of Montessori classrooms as both too lax and too rigid.  Instead, where a child is in the process of absorption may govern a wide range of appropriate actions, from strictly prescribed to creative and exploratory, as the child works toward independent ownership.