{"id":798,"date":"2018-01-16T19:04:15","date_gmt":"2018-01-17T02:04:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yycmontessori.ca\/?p=798"},"modified":"2018-01-16T19:04:49","modified_gmt":"2018-01-17T02:04:49","slug":"maria-montessori-what-you-may-not-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yycmontessori.ca\/maria-montessori-what-you-may-not-know\/","title":{"rendered":"Maria Montessori: What You May Not Know"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a>Welcomed by European royal families, entertained in the White House, and introduced to Mahatma Gandhi, Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, Erik Ericson, and the world as the “great educator,” Maria Montessori transformed the education of young children. She developed her theories while working as a doctor in a hospital for special-needs children, and opened her first school for normal children in Rome in 1907. Her approach, teaching materials, and observations were groundbreaking and innovative, and have made a lasting impact on our educational systems.<\/p>\n You might be surprised by the following information about this remarkable woman. Montessori’s dedication to her research and to the development of the whole child was far from simple or easy:<\/p>\n \u2022 Before she graduated from medical school in 1896, Montessori considered quitting due to the prejudice she faced as a woman in a man’s world. She found it difficult being alone in the dimly-lit laboratory at night dissecting her cadaver since it was considered improper for a woman to be exposed to naked bodies in mixed company. But, she persevered, and before long won the respect of many of her classmates, though her father maintained his objection to her non-traditional ways despite her eventual success.<\/p>\n \u2022 Representing Italy at the International Women’s Conference in Berlin just two months after graduation, Dr. Montessori lectured on the rights of working women and proposed equal pay for equal work. In the late 1890’s, she represented the National League for the Education of Retarded Children, and spoke throughout Europe about the ability of all children to learn.<\/p>\n \u2022 With a private practice as a pediatrician and as director of the State Orthophrenic School for the retarded, Montessori continued her research and created the first learning materials for “deficient” children. She studied the philosophy of education and was appointed as a lecturer at the women’s teacher-training college. In 1899 she began a second degree in anthropology, experimental psychology, and education at the University of Rome. She became a lecturer of science and medicine at the University of Rome in 1904.<\/p>\n \u2022 Montessori had a love affair with a medical colleague, Dr. Montesano, in the late 1890s and became pregnant. Knowing this would end her career, they agreed to keep their son’s birth secret from all but close family and a few friends. Her son Mario was raised in a foster home, with infrequent visits from his mother who identified herself as his aunt. When he came to live with her around the age of 13, he was identified as her nephew, but with his name now Montessori rather than Montesano. Official public acknowledgement that he was indeed her son came after her death when her will was read.<\/p>\n \u2022 By 1911, the Montessori system had spread around the world. The first American Montessori school opened in Tarrytown, New York that year.<\/p>\n \u2022 Montessori traveled to the United States in 1913 after the popular magazine\u00a0McClure’s<\/i>\u00a0ran a lengthy article featuring her new method of education. Supported by many influential people including Alexander Graham Bell and President Wilson’s daughter Margaret, she gave lectures in many large cities.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0<\/a>A gifted speaker who never used notes, Montessori was described by the\u00a0New York Tribune<\/i>\u00a0during her first visit to the United States in 1913 as “a woman who revolutionized the educational system of the world.” In 1915, she returned to oversee her “glass classroom” exhibit at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco where attendees could watch the children at work. She also gave training courses for teachers.<\/p>\n \u2022 In spite of some prominent educator’s criticisms of her theory, her enthusiastic followers were ready to help her continue her research and spread the Montessori system of education throughout the United States. With a strong belief in her methods, which she feared would be exploited and misinterpreted, Montessori decided she was the only person qualified to train teachers. She chose to continue to develop her methods by herself outside the educational community. Unfortunately, this led to the failure of the American expansion of her schools.<\/p>\n