How Montessori Prepared Me For College

I told them I went to a Montessori school. You would think people would just say “okay” and move on, but that rarely occurred. No, this question always launched a number of others.

“Isn’t that just for preschoolers?”

“Isn’t that for super smart people?”

“You really went to a Montessori school?”

“Is that a real place?”

Six years later, as I go through college, I have come to the realization that the Montessori education I received in elementary and middle school did more than just prepare me for high school- It prepared me for college, too.


In what ways? Read on.

"my child is more special than other children"

Overindulgent parents may breed narcissistic children.  Kids who were told they were better than others came to believe it.  More fall-out from the self-esteem movement. Check out the research reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Stay a little

College’s Priceless Value
By Frank Bruni, The New York Times (from February 11, 2015)
What’s the most transformative educational experience you’ve had?  I was asked this question recently, and for a few seconds it stumped me, mainly because I’ve never viewed learning as a collection of eureka moments. It’s a continuum, a lifelong awakening to the complexity of the world.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/11/opinion/frank-bruni-higher-education-liberal-arts-and-shakespeare.html

Business the Montessori Way

Montessori principles change schools in profound ways.  Montessori principles can also change adult institutions.  Dr. Montessori's aspirations were to change the world.  From the Harvard Business Review:  "Develop leaders the Montessori way."

micro-communities of sameness

In the op-ed piece "A Pox upon Campus Life," Frank Bruni writes about college fraternities:  "They contrive micro-communities of sameness in a world of difference. They favor contact with like-minded individuals over communication with a spectrum of individuals. There’s an understandable draw to these enclaves. People are tribal, ineluctably so....But ... such comfort strangles curiosity and binds a person to a single crowd, a blinkered viewpoint. Not letting that kind of tribalism get out of hand is one of the central obligations of a country like ours."


Bruni opines that our nation has an obligation to oppose tribalism, the urge to associate with like-minded people.  But why? Does the Statue of Liberty whisper, "It's the right thing to do?" 


Scott Page has a more pragmatic perspective on the matter.  Page is a professor of complex systems, political science and economics at the University of Michigan. 


In his book, The Difference, Page "reveals that progress and innovation may depend less on lone thinkers with enormous IQs than on diverse people working together and capitalizing on their individuality. Page shows how groups that display a range of perspectives outperform groups of like-minded experts. Diversity yields superior outcomes, and Page proves it using his own cutting-edge research. Moving beyond the politics that cloud standard debates about diversity, he explains why difference beats out homogeneity, whether you're talking about citizens in a democracy or scientists in the laboratory."

I heard Scott Page speak to the heads and board chairs of the Independent Schools Association of the Southwest (ISAS) two years ago. What are the implications of his work for private schools?  Too many private schools are enclaves of tribalism. Page presents a compelling case for diversity of background and of thinking in our schools -- if we want to prepare students to contribute to progress and innovation in the 21st century.

Not my best parenting moment

Here's a blog posting by Scott Dannemiller, "The one question every parent should stop asking."


He goes on to say, "As parents, we focus 100 percent of our energy asking the wrong question...Bottom line: we parents need to chill out and change our questions. Here are two (questions) that can help us all gain some perspective and start finding more genuine joy in our lives."

Want to know the two questions Dannemiller suggests we ask?  Follow the link.  It's a good read.

"Anyone? Anyone?"

Is teaching a performance art?


That question is at the heart of NPR's education story, "Channeling Springsteen: teachers as performers," that aired Monday.


Check out the You Tube clip of Ben Stein droning on in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. or his polar opposite, Robin Williams in Dead Poets' Society.


But is teaching really performing? 


"Maybe not, says Bruce Lenthall, who runs the Center for Teaching and Learning at the University of Pennsylvania.  He has seen some teachers bristly at the idea that successful teachers have to also be performers...Lenthall says teachers tell him, 'I'm here to convey my ideas, I don't need to get into this stuff that seems ephemeral.'"


Teaching is not entertainment, though it certainly helps to have some performance skills in your pocket.  What's more important is that students know that you know them, that you care for them, and want the very best for them.


And I'm not here to 'convey my ideas' either.  I am here to help students find their own inner voice, to discover their interests, to develop their talents, and to learn the basic skills required to pursue them.


Is that all?


No, but it's a good start.