Who was Maria Montessori?

You may have heard the name “Montessori” thrown around. Perhaps you’ve heard of Montessori education, of the Montessori method or other terms of the sort. But unlike what you may think, Montessori isn’t just about expensive wooden materials or expensive elitist schools. It all started with an extraordinary woman who was very much ahead of her time. With a lot of patience and trial and error she has scientifically developed a whole entire pedagogy. But let’s start with the beginning: who was Maria Montessori?

 There have been many works written by Maria Montessori herself, her son, and other professionals on her work and her life. What I’m aiming to do here is to give you an overview of some of the main aspects that shaped the life of this fascinating woman and how she got into education (which was not at all the path she had envisioned for herself).

This was revolutionary for the time and her father opposed this decision as it was too much for him to accept. But Montessori kept to her goals, even if it put a strain on their relationship. Montessori’s mother, on the other hand, supported and respected her choice.

Montessori attempted to begin her studies at the University of Rome on multiple occasions, but was refused. Montessori was insistent: she wouldn’t take no for an answer.

Her persistence bore fruit. Eventually the university gave in, and Maria Montessori became one of the first women in Italy to study medicine at the time, and the first woman to do so in the University of Rome.

Montessori was someone who was very direct in what she wanted to say. She also defended women’s rights from an early age. This could be noted when she was invited to the International Women’s Congress in Berlin to represent Italy, where she talked about women being entitled to equal wages to those men received.

Around the same time, Montessori worked on a research program at the psychiatric clinic of the University of Rome. The children there were considered idiots and backwards and were therefore hidden away. Montessori related that on her first visit, the caretaker was so disgusted by these children because they would be picking up crumbs off the floor to play with. Montessori, on the other hand, noticed that the rooms were bare. She observed that the children were desperate for something to do, to touch, and for stimulation. As they had nothing but the bread crumbs available, that is what they played with. She also noted that the deprivation of material was further contributing to their condition. They were completely abandoned and this didn’t help them.

When Maria Montessori started working at the psychiatric clinic, she worked closely with Dr. Giuseppe Montesano, with whom she developed a romance. Due to the expectations of the time, they never married so that Maria Montessori could maintain her career.

In 1898 Montessori gave birth to her only child, a son, Mario. At the time, not being married and also being Catholic, it was out of the question for her to have a child. Her pregnancy had been kept a secret and, when he was born, Mario was taken away from her to be raised by another family. Both Maria and Giuseppe visited Mario often and developed a strong bond with him. But it wasn’t until Mario was a teenager that he was told of their true relation. When he did, Mario went to live with Maria and he actively took part in developing Montessori’s work.

In 1906, Maria Montessori was invited to take care of, and educate, a group of children of low-income families that were spending their days on the streets while their parents worked, in San Lorenzo, Rome, Italy. As she had been wanting to try her methods with children that had no learning disability, Montessori accepted.

The first Casa dei Bambini (Children’s House) opened on the 6th of January 1907. She welcomed between 50 and 60 children aged 2 to 6.

In her Children’s House, Montessori invited the children to focus on practical life activities, like learning to get dressed, washing their hands, dusting, gardening, etc. They were also introduced to some of the materials she had developed over the years. Montessori mainly observed the children and took note of what she saw rather than directly teaching them. Her insights during this time, were crucial to developing the main principles and practices of her education method. They also informed her on how to adapt or change the materials she brought in so that they were developmentally appropriate to the child.

It was really during this time that the foundations of what we know today as the “Montessori Method” developed and evolved.

The first International Montessori Congress was held in Denmark in 1929. At this event, Maria Montessori and her son Mario founded the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI). It’s aim was to oversee global Montessori activities, supervise the training of Montessori teachers, control the publication rights of Montessori’s work and the production of authorized didactic materials.

In 1939, Maria Montessori and her son traveled to India, after receiving an invitation. While their trip was meant to last just three months, they ended up staying seven years. Four of these were spent under house arrest due to the Italians joining WWII and siding with the Germans (India was under British rule at the time).

During her time in India, Montessori continued her work. She continued to develop her method and started developing the basis of the 6 to 12 (elementary) program, with her son, around “cosmic education”.

It was also during this time that Montessori’s attention was drawn to babies and toddlers, as young mothers would follow her teacher training with their little ones in tow.