She never wanted to marry or have children-the accepted destiny for all women of her milieu in late nineteenth-century bourgeois Rome-and when she became pregnant by a colleague of hers, she gave up her son to continue pursuing her career.Īt around age thirty, Montessori was struck by the condition of children in the slums of Rome’s San Lorenzo neighborhood, and realized what she wanted to do with her life: change the school, and therefore the world, through a new approach to the child’s mind. She studied until she became a doctor at a time when female graduates in Italy provoked outright scandal. She was self-confident, strong-willed, and had a fiery temper at a time when women were supposed to be soft and pliable. Montessori’s own dramatic life through archival visuals and will be challenged to think about what they think are the components of exemplary educational practice.By Cristina De Stefano Translated by Gregory ContiĪ fresh, comprehensive biography of the pioneering educator and activist who changed the way we look at children’s minds, from the author of Oriana Fallaci.īorn in 1870 in Chiaravalle, Italy, Maria Montessori would grow up to embody almost every trait men of her era detested in the fairer sex.

Montessori's conception of the changing roles the classroom environment and teacher should play for students of various ages is presented with carefully shot film of toddler, preschool, elementary school and secondary classes at work in accredited Montessori schools. She realized the tremendous power of intrinsic motivation and sought to capitalize upon it, especially for children between the ages of three and six.

As she observed children building their understanding of the world, she developed materials and approaches to education that are now used, in part, in most early childhood classrooms across the world. Born more than 25 years before Piaget or Vygotsky, Maria Montessori understood the constructivistic nature of all learning.

The life of maria montessori