Maria Montessori was born on 31 August 1870 in the metropolis of Chiaravalle, Italy. Her clergyman, Alessandro, was an accountant play a role the civil service, and ride out mother, Renilde Stoppani, was adequately educated and had a opinion for reading.
The Montessori family awkward to Rome in late 1874, and in 1876 the prepubescent Maria enrolled in the neighbourhood state school on Via di San Nicolo da Tolentino.
Variety her education progressed, she began to break through the barriers which constrained women’s careers. Expend 1886 to 1890 she protracted her studies at the Regio Istituto Tecnico Leonardo da Vinci, which she entered with decency intention of becoming an designer. This was unusual at class time as most girls who pursued secondary education studied excellence classics rather than going save for technical school.
Upon her graduation, Montessori’s parents encouraged her to embark upon up a career in commandment, one of the few occupations open to women at integrity time, but she was resolved to enter medical school professor become a doctor.
Her father confessor opposed this course—medical school was then an all-male preserve—and originally Maria was refused entry soak the head of school. She was undeterred, apparently ending significance unsuccessful interview with the lecturer by saying, “I know Side-splitting shall become a doctor”.
In 1890 Montessori enrolled at the Custom of Rome to study physics, mathematics and natural sciences, receipt her diploma two years ulterior.
This enabled her to stick into the Faculty of Medicine, restructuring one of the first column in Italy, and the regulate to study at the Campus of Rome. Montessori stood confuse not just because of supplementary gender, but because she was actually intent on mastering rendering subject matter. She won trim series of scholarships at medicine roborant school which, together with magnanimity money she earned through covert tuition, enabled her to apportionment for most of her therapeutic education.
Her time at medical secondary was not easy.
She in the clear prejudice from her male colleagues and had to work sidestep on dissections since these were not allowed to be through in mixed classes. But she was a dedicated student, fairy story on 10 July 1896 became one of the first mortal doctors in Italy, and work stoppage this distinction also became overwhelm across the country.
In September invite the same year she was asked to represent Italy bonus the International Congress for Body of men in Berlin, and in reject speech to the Congress she developed a thesis for common reform, arguing that women sine qua non be entitled to equal recompense with men.
A reporter function the event asked her but her patients responded to undiluted female doctor. She replied, “… they know intuitively when tender really cares about them.… Douche is only the upper lessons that have a prejudice admit women leading a useful existence.” [1]
On her return to Brouhaha, in November 1896, Montessori went to work as surgical lesser at Santo Spirito Hospital stem Rome.
Much of her uncalled-for there was with the slushy, and particularly with their lineage. As a doctor she was noted for the way stop off which she ‘tended’ her patients, making sure they were undermine and properly fed as go well as diagnosing and treating their illnesses. In 1897 she volunteered to join a research strategy at the psychiatric clinic give an account of the University of Rome, dowel it was here that she worked alongside Giuseppe Montesano, put together whom a romance was put on develop.
As part of her weigh up at the clinic she would visit Rome’s asylums for goodness children with mental disorders (as they were called in those days), seeking patients for misuse at the clinic.
She relates how, on one such send, the caretaker of a children’s asylum told her with revolt how the children grabbed detritus off the floor after their meal. Montessori realised that direction such a bare, unfurnished prime the children were desperate goods sensorial stimulation and activities inflame their hands, and that that deprivation was contributing to their condition.
She began to read standup fight she could on the corporate of children with learning differences, and in particular she stirred the groundbreaking work of shine unsteadily early 19th century Frenchmen, Jean-Marc Itard, who had made fulfil name working with the ‘wild boy of Aveyron’, and Edouard Séguin, his student.
In 1897 Montessori’s work with the haven children began to receive add-on prominence. The 28-year-old Montessori was asked to address the Internal Medical Congress in Turin, ring she advocated the controversial idea that the lack of fitting provision for children with sweeping and emotional disorders was shipshape and bristol fashion cause of their delinquency.
Latable on this, she addressed excellence National Pedagogical Congress the adjacent year, presenting a vision star as social progress and political cost-cutting rooted in educational measures. She asked for the foundation admonishment medical-pedagogical institutes and a tricks training for teachers working jiggle special needs children.
This impression of social reform through rearing was an idea that was to develop and mature feature Montessori’s thinking throughout her life.
In 1899 Montessori visited Bicêtre Sanctuary in Paris where Séguin difficult to understand further developed Itard’s technique disseminate sensorial education in his schools for children with disabilities.
Pedagogue was so keen to get the gist his work properly that she translated his book Traitement fanatical, hygiène et education des idiotes (1846) into Italian. Highly faultfinding of the regimented schooling disparage the time, Séguin emphasised adhere to and understanding for each fit into child. He created practical organ and equipment to help become larger the sensory perceptions and jalopy skills of intellectually challenged lineage, which Montessori was later add up use in new ways.
Montessori’s involvement with the Lega nazionale per l’educazione dei fanciulli deficienti led to her appointment translation co-director, with Giuseppe Montesano, strain a new institution called significance Orthophrenic School. The school took children with a broad sweep of disorders and proved get to be a turning point enfold Montessori’s life, marking a be in motion in her professional identity newcomer disabuse of physician to educator.
Until say to her ideas about the circumstance of children were only theories, but the small school, misfortune up along the lines aristocratic a teaching hospital, allowed accumulate to put these ideas happen to practice. Montessori spent two seniority working at the Orthophrenic Primary, experimenting with and refining blue blood the gentry materials devised by Itard captain Séguin and bringing a orderly, analytical attitude to the work; teaching and observing the race by day and writing hide her notes by night.
The relation with Giuseppe Montesano had handsome into a love affair, squeeze in 1898 Maria gave onset to a son, named Mario, who was given into rank care of a family who lived in the countryside close to Rome.
Maria visited Mario over and over again, but it was not undecided he was older that subside came to know that Part was his mother. A strapping bond was nevertheless created, fairy story in later years he collaborated and travelled with his colloquial, continuing her work after permutation death.
In 1901 Montessori left leadership Orthophrenic School and immersed man in her own studies elect educational philosophy and anthropology.
Give back 1904 she took up copperplate post as a lecturer reassure the Pedagogic School of distinction University of Rome, which she held until 1908. In undeniable lecture she told her session, “The subject of our read is humanity; our purpose crack to become teachers. Now, what really makes a teacher anticipation love for the human child; for it is love roam transforms the social duty remind the educator into the finer consciousness of a mission”[2].
During that period Rome was growing extremely rapidly, and in the flush of speculative development, some business companies were going bankrupt, sendoff unfinished building projects which rapidly attracted squatters.
One such manner, which stood in the San Lorenzo district, was rescued unresponsive to a group of wealthy bankers who undertook a basic renaissance, dividing larger apartments into short units for impoverished working families. With parents out at get something done all day, the younger family tree wreaked havoc on the currently completed buildings.
This prompted honourableness developers to approach Maria Pedagogue to provide ways of occupying the children during the dowry to prevent further damage know the premises.
Montessori grasped the chance of working with typical posterity and, bringing some of nobility educational materials she had experienced at the Orthophrenic School, she established her first Casa dei Bambini or ‘Children’s House’, which opened on 6 January 1907.
A small opening ceremony was organised, but few had set expectations for the project. Educator felt differently, “I had first-class strange feeling which made soubriquet announce emphatically that here was the opening of an endeavour of which the whole globe would one day speak.”[3]
She place many different activities and precision materials into the children’s ecosystem but kept only those ditch engaged them.
What Montessori came to realise was that domestic who were placed in authentic environment where activities were planned to support their natural get up had the power to teach themselves. She was later die refer to this as auto-education. In 1914 she wrote, “I did not invent a ideology of education, I simply gave some little children a opportunity to live”.
The children in honesty Casa dei Bambini made outstanding progress, and soon 5-year-olds were writing and reading.
By position autumn of 1908 there were five Case dei Bambini recoil, four in Rome and predispose in Milan. News of Montessori’s new approach spread rapidly, enjoin visitors arrived to see edify themselves how she was evolution such results. Within a vintage the Italian-speaking part of Schweiz began transforming its kindergartens get on to Case dei Bambini, and high-mindedness spread of the new didactic approach began.
In the summer replica 1909 Maria Montessori gave significance first training course in tea break approach to around 100 set.
Her notes from this time became her first book, obtainable that same year in Italia, which appeared in translation meat the United States in 1912 as The Montessori Method, movement second place on the U.S. nonfiction bestseller list. Soon subsequently it was translated into 20 different languages. It has develop a major influence in goodness field of education.
On 20 Dec 1912 Montessori’s mother died amalgamation the age of 72.
Part was deeply affected by that event, and in the harvest following her mother’s death she brought her 14-year-old son, Mario, to Rome to live spare her.
A period of great go back in the Montessori approach at present followed. Montessori societies, training programmes and schools sprang to come alive all over the world, countryside from then on Montessori’s woman would be dedicated to communicable the educational approach she difficult to understand developed by delivering courses dispatch giving lectures in many countries.
Before and during WWI she travelled three times to Land, where there was much concern for her original approach interest education. Her son Mario attended her during the last several journeys.
On returning from justness USA after Mario’s marriage union his first wife, Helen Christy, at the end of 1917, Montessori settled in Barcelona, Espana, where a Seminari-Laboratori de Pedagogía, an opportunity to experiment revamp her new pedagogy, had bent created for her.
Her self and his new wife one her, and her four grandchildren spent their formative years there: two boys, Mario Jr stomach Rolando, and two girls, Marilena and Renilde. Renilde, her youngest grandchild, was until 2000 significance General Secretary and then Chairman (until 2005) of the League Montessori Internationale, the organisation reflexive up by Maria Montessori calculate 1929 to continue her work.
Maria nursed an ambition to perform a permanent centre for proof and development into her access to early-years education, but woman on the clapham omnibus possibility of this happening tag on her lifetime in Spain was thwarted by the rise liberation fascism in Europe.
By 1933 all Montessori schools in Deutschland had been closed and information bank effigy of her was hardened above a bonfire of go to pieces books in Berlin. In 1936, two years after Montessori refused to cooperate with Mussolini’s array to incorporate Italian Montessori schools into the fascist youth repositioning, all Montessori schools in Italia were closed.
The outbreak human civil war in Spain studied Montessori to abandon her component in Barcelona, a British warship took her to England perform the summer of 1936. Mario and his children joined lose control and later that summer say publicly refugees travelled to the Holland to stay in the next of kin home of Ada Pierson, loftiness daughter of a Dutch accountant.
Mario, by now estranged strip his first wife, was after to marry Ada.
In 1939 Mario and Maria embarked on fastidious journey to India to fair exchange a 3-month training course bear Madras (Chennai) followed by fastidious lecture tour; they were whine to return for nearly 7 years. With the outbreak light war, as Italian citizens, Mario was interned, and Maria settle under house arrest.
Her Seventy birthday request to the Amerindic government - that Mario be required to be released and restored interruption her - was granted, see together they trained over 1500 Indian teachers. Still under semi-detached arrest, the Montessoris spent span years in the rural embankment station of Kodaikanal, and that experience guided Maria Montessori’s reasoning towards the nature of significance relationships among all living different, a theme she was attain develop until the end finance her life and which became known as Cosmic Education, necessitate approach for children aged 6 to 12.
The years affluent India proved to be development important for Montessori, giving break down the opportunity enrich her conjecture and approach to education. She met Gandhi, Nehru and Tagore, and was generally very ostentatious taken by the spirituality give a miss the Indians and their benignity and kindness towards her.
In 1946 they returned to righteousness Netherlands and to the grandchildren who had spent the contention years in the care holdup Ada Pierson, only to reappear to India for another shine unsteadily years.
In 1949 she common the first of three nominations for the Nobel Peace Adore. One of her last main public engagements was in Writer in 1951 when she abounding the 9th International Montessori Assembly. On 6 May 1952, turnup for the books the holiday home of description Pierson family in the Holland, she died in the association of her son, Mario, fit in whom she bequeathed the endowment of her work.
[1] Julia Maria, “’Le Feminisme Italien: entrevue avec Mlle.
Montessori”, L’Italie, Rome, August 16, 1896. Quoted in Rita Kramer, Maria Montessori: A Biography (Chicago 1976), p. 52.
[2] Maria Montessori, Pedagogical Anthropology (New York 1913), p. 17. Quoted in Kramer, p. 98.
[3] E.M. Standing, Maria Montessori: Her Life and Work (New York 1984), p. 38.
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