Montessori: The Science behind the Genius
Montessori: The Science behind the Genius Books
- ISBN13: 9780195325263
- Shape up: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
Habitual schooling is in constant crisis because it is based on two poor models for children’s learning: the school as a factory and the child as a blank slate. School reforms repeatedly fail by not learning from the shortcomings of these models. One hundred years ago, Maria Montessori, the first female physician in Italy, devised a very different method of educating children, based on her observations of how they naturally learn. Does Montessori education provide a viable alternative to habitual schooling? Do Dr Montessori’s theories and practices stand up to the scrutiny of modern-day developmental psychology? Can developmental pscyhology tell us anything about how and why Montessori methods work? In Montessori, now with a foreword by Renilde Montessori, Angeline Stoll Lillard shows that science has finally caught up with Maria Montessori. Lillard presents the research supporting eight insights that are foundational to Montessori education and describes how each is applied in the Montessori classroom. In reading this book, parents and teachers alike will develop a clear understanding of what happens in a Montessori classroom and, more significantly, why it happens and why it works. Lillard, but, does much more than clarify the scientific basis for Montessori’s system: amid the clamour for evidence-based education, she presents the studies that show how children learn best, makes clear why many habitual practices come up small, and describes an ingenious alternative that works. Everyone interested in education, at all levels and in all forms, will take from this book a wealth of insights. Montessori is obligatory reading for anyone interested in what psychologists know about human learning and development, and how to use it to improve teaching effectiveness.
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I urge this book to anyone interested in ‘Montessori’ education with three caveats (this is the terrible stuff, the rest is excellent):
1. The author is certainly supporter and in favour of AMI. There are other interpretations of ‘Montessori’ (e.g. AMS, IMS) out there that should have received equal coverage in the text, but they didn’t because the author is an acolyte of AMI.
‘Montessori’ is a to some extent contested term (i.e. not ‘trademarked’), and this book may possibly have offered a more catholic representation of the Church of Montessori. Consequently, it’s certainly nowhere near being the ‘last word’ on what constitutes the method or the movement.
2. The research literature is sometimes dealt with in a to some extent Procrustean manner. Read the references carefully and do your own reading to make sure that you agree with the conclusions that have been reached. I realise that the selective quoting and interpretation of peer reviewed articles is part of the game when it comes to writing a book like this. But, when this reader chases up articles and finds that they don’t quite say what the author claims that they do, one starts to question the detachment of this appraisal of Montessori’s ‘genius’ .
3. Whether or not the fundamentals (which seem to lie in Theosophy) of ‘Montessori’ education are even a matter for “science” is open to question. In any case, the materials in a Montessori classroom are often treated as the sacrements of the faith, rather than experimental equipment. A large number of the ‘Montessori’ method’s practices are as yet ‘not proven’ by psychological science. So be prepared to read, “whether this is right has yet to be determined by empirical research’ more than a few times. Even if scientists don’t argue over just so what constitutes science, philosophers of science do, it may be that the concept of science has went on from Maria Montessori’s time, and that the claims to ’scientific pedagogy’ are anachronistic.
As the title suggests this work has hagiographic tendencies, yet on the whole it is mandatory reading for anyone interested in learning about ‘Montessori’. For an evenhanded historical perspective of the woman, the method and the movement (and their problematic inseparability) I’d urge Rita Kramer’s biography.
As an introduction to Montessori’s own writings, her “Handbook” is refreshingly concise (whatever you do, steer clear of her hazy, ghost-written, money-making-address-compilations).
If this all sounds too trying, why not support the Montessorian dynastic principle (cf. Mario Montessori) and pick up A. Lillard’s mum’s book “Montessori Today” instead?
edits for readability
Rating: 4 / 5
I have every other publication in all run published and so ‘needed’ to have this – nothing new but simple to read for a novice guide
Rating: 5 / 5
I bought this book by the side of with others for a semester project I was conducting on Montessori Education. Angeline Lillard’s book was most helpful because she used child development, statistics, and judgment with supported detail. If you are not fully sure of Montessori, this book is an brilliant starter. I would strongly urge!!!
Rating: 5 / 5
This is a really fantastic book for anyone interested in education, not limited just to Montessori. The book clarifies clearly several aspects of Montessori education and describes the research that supports or does not support the Montessori method. I didn’t know much about Montessori before reading this book, so I found it very enlightening to start to know this complete system for education.
Rating: 5 / 5
I would highly urge this book. Although a text book type publication, it is extremely fascinating, simple to read. Very well researched and packed with insight and explanation on the Montessori method. I have read several other books on Montessori and this is one of the best. Read it in conjunction with Maria Montessori’s own book “The Secret of Childhood.”
Rating: 5 / 5