Bright, inviting, warm, and beautiful. These are a few descriptive words that typify
the Montessori environment, fascinating both children and adults alike. One must ask, “How does a classroom become so
inviting, beautiful and conducive to learning?”
The answer emerges from one facet of the environment itself – the
Montessori teacher, or guide.
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| Our prepared environment. |
A Montessori classroom is commonly referred to as a
prepared environment. Here, a learning laboratory has been created
in which the child is encouraged to explore, discover, and be creative. A prepared environment is one where a
community of children learns social and academic skills while developing into
independent beings. Maria Montessori
realized the unique way in which children learn and understood the notion of a
child’s
absorbent mind. “Realizing the absorbent nature of the
child’s mind, she has prepared for him a special environment; and then, placing
the child within it, has given him freedom to live in it, absorbing what he
finds there” (Standing, 1998, p. 265).
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| Materials for Mathematics. |
Characteristic of the prepared environment is its abundance
of order, beauty, accessibility, and availability of real materials as opposed
to toys. A Montessori classroom is
filled with a vast array of sequential learning activities known as Montessori
materials. They are displayed on open
shelves, in order, without clutter, and each object has a purpose and special
location. Children gain independence
from the prepared environment as they move about choosing their own work and
making their own decisions. Standing
(1998) describes that the aim of the prepared environment is to “render the
growing child independent of the adult.
That is, it is a place where he can do things for himself – live his own
life – without immediate help of adults…
In doing so, [the child] becomes conscious of his own powers” (p. 267).
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| Sensorial shelves. |
The structure and order of the prepared environment plays a
significant role in children’s learning and development. Lillard (2007) states, “in addition to
carefully thought-out objects facilitating the child’s independence and
corresponding to the child’s…sense of order, the Montessori teacher organizes
the classroom in a logical way” (p. 309).
Furthermore, an Early Childhood classroom will have "areas for Practical Life,
Sensorial Materials, Math, Geography, Language, and so on. Within that order, each object has its place
on a shelf. Teachers rotate what is
available, based on where children in the class are in the sequences of
materials, and what interests them" (Lillard, 2007, p. 309).
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| Sequential order of the Practical Life polishing materials: Top shelf - Leather Polishing; Middle shelf - supplies for restocking; Bottom shelf - color coded materials for Metal Polishing (red), Glass Polishing (blue), and Wood Polishing (yellow). |
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Metal Polishing activity set up with left-to-right directionality in order of use. This type of order develops and trains eye movement with left-to-right directionality in preparation for reading and writing.
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The classroom, therefore, is not only spatially ordered but
also ordered in terms of where items are located. Additionally, each activity has its own
organization within itself. “Order means
that the child is assured the possibility of a completed cycle of activity in
using the materials. He will find all
the pieces needed for the exercise he chooses…
He will return the materials to the place – and the condition- in which
he found them… the child becomes an
integral partner in maintaining the order of the classroom” (Paula Polk Lillard
in Lillard, 2007, p. 309-310).
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| Materials for Sensorial lessons. |
Key to the success of the prepared environment and
children’s responses to it is the guide.
“Montessori
teachers are not servants of the child…to wash, dress and feed him – they know
that he must do these things for himself in developing independence. We must help the child act for himself, will
for himself, think for himself” (Montessori, 2007, p. 69). A teacher in the Montessori classroom setting
plays a remarkable role. It is one that
functions as a ‘dynamic link’ among the children, the environment, and her. Not
only does the teacher remain a vital element between the children and herself,
but she also holds a deep understanding of the specially prepared
environment. “Once the environment
exists the directress will become the link between it and the children…This
requires a great variety of qualities – knowledge, patience, observation,
discrimination, tact, sympathy – and above all, charity” (Standing, 1998, p.
305).
One of
the first duties the teacher has in her role as the ‘dynamic link’ is to
meticulously prepare the environment.
For example, all materials and apparatus should be in pristine
condition, complete, and in their proper places. The Montessori teacher constantly assures
that all items in the classroom are ready for use. Standing (1998) elaborates, “It is one of the
main duties of the directress to maintain order in the environment; and be ever
on the watch lest it be impaired in the smallest degree…everything must be
always and absolutely in its right place” (p. 271). Likewise, the teacher herself should appear
neat and orderly, for her presence in the environment impacts the core of the
classroom. She must study her own
actions and movement in order that a sense of calm and peace may permeate
throughout the environment. Montessori
believed, “care for one’s own person must form part of the environment in which
the child lives; the teacher herself is the most vital part of this world”
(Montessori, 1967, p. 271).
The
notion of the prepared environment and its high degree of order directly
correlates to the unique way in which children naturally learn and absorb
information. The guide plays a vital
role in the creation and maintenance of the specially prepared
environment. The influence of the
prepared environment in the Montessori setting is what allows for children to take
pride in their discoveries and forms the foundation for a lifetime love of
learning.
References
Lillard, A.S. (2007).
Montessori: The science behind the
genius. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, Inc.
Montessori. M. (1967). The
absorbent mind. New York, NY: Dell Publishing Company.
Montessori, M. (2007). Education
for a new world. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Montessori-Pierson
Publishing Company.
Standing, E.M. (1998). Maria
Montessori: Her life and work. New
York, NY: Penguin Putnam, Inc.
