Work Models

  1. Flow Model
  2. Sequence Model
  3. Artifact Model
  4. Cultural Model
  5. Physical Model
  6. Metaphors

Research

  1. Design Problem
  2. Literature Review
  3. Work Models
  4. Design Patterns
  5. Design Experiments
  6. Lesson Ideas
  7. Montessori Computes
  8. Thinking About Circles

Related Links

Patterns and Design

Montessori

Roles

The following roles suggested by Neubert (1992) were rated at least fifth by teachers in her survey: observer, teacher (director), preparer of the environment, facilitator (encourager), affirmer of the individual, model.  Each of these roles can be further fleshed out through more reading and ethnography.  Ethnography may also suggest other roles.

The quotes about the child suggest that there is a particular way the child molds the man of the future.  One of the child's roles is to seek out and pursue experiences that command his full concentration.  Montessori refers to this a "polarization of the senses".  Csikszentmihalyi (1991) uses the word "flow" to describe these experiences.  The child has other roles.  For example, the child models good manners and use of materials to other children.  Children help and support each other in various ways.

Here are quotes related to the role of the child:

the work of the child, the auto-correction, the auto-education which acts, for the teacher must not interfere in the slightest way. No teacher can furnish the child with the agility which he acquires through gymnastic exercises: it is necessary that the pupil perfect himself through his own efforts. It is very much the same with the education of the senses. (Montessori, 1964, p. 172).

It is the child who absorbs material from the world about him; he who moulds it into the man of the future.  To recognize this great work of the child does not mean to diminish the parents' authority. (Montessori, 1995, p. 16).

Here are quotes related to the role of the teacher:

The following quotes were found at http://www.moteaco.com/quotes.html.  I haven't confirmed them yet.

"In brief, the teacher's principle duty in the school may be described as follows: She should explain the use of the material. She is the main connecting link between the material, that is the objects, and the child. This is a simple, modest duty, and yet it is much more delicate than that found in the older schools, where the material simply helps the children to understand the mind of the teacher, who must pass on her own ideas to a child, who must in turn receive them."
- Discovery of the Child :: Clio Press, 1988 (reprinted 1996 edition) :: p. 151

"Our goal is not so much the imparting of knowledge as the unveiling and developing of spiritual energy."
- The Child in the Family :: The Clio Montessori Series, 1996 :: p. 63

"We must help the child to act for himself, will for himself, think for himself; this is the art of those who aspire to serve the spirit."
- Education for a New World :: Clio Press, 1988 :: p. 69

Another quote related to the teacher's role: "We must, therefore, check in the child whatever offends or annoys others, or whatever tends toward rough or ill-bred acts.  But all the rest... must not only be permitted, but must be observed by the teacher." (Montessori, 1964, p. 87).

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