There is an elegant
geometry inherent to our daily lives. This extends beyond the overt energy of
our physical surroundings, to that which is embedded within the act of living
itself. The systems we work within, the routines we perform, the emotional
ether we inhabit – each has a rhythm that is often repetitive and predictable.
Philosophy
Children of a
Montessori community, given the power and respect to learn to govern
themselves, recognize the circular symmetry of their school day experience.
From lessons, to self-directed work cycle, to specials the students chart an
arcing course through their time spent in school.
The scope and
sequence of lessons and co-curricular experiences that a Montessori teacher brings
to the classroom, if truly interdisciplinary, necessarily holds a similar
circular form. Students recognize the connections between subject areas as
avenues are opened to them that allow for self-directed inquiry and
exploration, as well as opportunities to demonstrate understanding. Knowledge
gained from one set of experiences serves as an asset as the children move to
explore parallel studies. Deliberate exposure to distinguishable works
connected to greater themes deepens the children’s integration of this holistic
perspective.
As such, both the
school day and academic studies take the form of integrated wholes; at times
divided into separate units, but always continuously connected through
carefully designed scheduling and themes.
It is the conscious
tying together of seemingly separate and linear studies, through holistic
academic partnerships, that provides a Montessori education with its most
precious gift: the child’s ultimate awareness of the ecology of her experience.
As educators for peace, this is our paramount responsibility.
Practice
In a Montessori
classroom, cycles naturally evolve as the culture of the community develops.
This is first rooted in the meaningful ways in which the children’s environment
is prepared. As the students become more comfortable with the dedicated areas
of the classroom and the patterns of traffic flow within it, they adopt this
physical blueprint and learn to navigate their immediate surroundings with
care, comfort and ease. Upon this foundation, and with practice, there grows
and innate awareness of the rhythms of the day: work cycle, lessons, specials,
recess, lunch, etc. This recognition of the looping circles present in our
daily lives connecting day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to-month, etc. is a critically
significant component of a successful Montessori classroom. From a child’s
perspective freedom, used wisely, requires a thoughtful awareness of the
dynamic parameters of one’s potential experience.
Within this primed
atmosphere, the choices that a Montessori teacher makes when designing the flow
of lessons can dramatically extend the students’ collected, holistic view of
their school day experience. The conscious use of lessons that emphasize a
circular completeness, both as individual works and as continuing themes,
further instills in children the interdependence of their studies.
The task of the
Montessori teacher is to frame individual lessons within the larger concepts
that revisit the idea of the unified wholeness of a circle. Our cultural studies
drive these thematic units, encompassing language and mathematics from this
foundation. While competency is a priority it is not the ultimate measure of
achievement. Beyond static academic assessment, the principle objective of this
work is for teachers to learn to authentically foster the children’s intimate
awareness of the cosmos and their place in it.
(Image source: www. ensomagazine.com)
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