| Vol. 24, No. 1 Winter 1999
Montessori Past, Present, and
Possible: A Global Reality
Moateaorl Ed■adoa: Put, Prae■t, ■ad… |
| WHATls NAMTA?
The North American Montessori Teachers' Associa-
tion provides a medium of study, interpretation, and… |
| THENAMTA JOURNAL
VoL. 24, No. 1 • WINTER 1999
MONTESSORI PAST, PRESENT, AND
POSSIBLE: A GLOBAL REALITY
8
In affiliation… |
| MONTESSORI PAST, PRESENT, AND POSSIBLE:
A GLOBAL REALITY
MONTESSORI EDUCATION: PAST, PRESENT, AND POSSIBLE… |
| MARIA MONTESSORI: A LEARNER TAUGHT BY CHILDREN .................... 244
by Robert G. Buckenmeyer
NAMTA NEWS… |
| /J~
----------------------
MONTESSORI EDUCATION:
p AST, PRESENT, AND POSSIBLE
by David Kahn
In 1998, Renilde Montessori… |
| Allen in the use of storytelling inspire the practitioner to help children
imagine without imposing preconceived notions.… |
| The NAMTA Journal
3 |
| Renilde Montessori
4
The NAMTA Journal • Vol. 24, No. 1 • Winter 1999 |
| WORLD ODYSSEY:
REVELATIONS OF THE POSSIBLE
by Renilde Montessori
In eloquent style, RenildeMontessori speaks of restoring… |
| It has been said that change is of the
essence-in our courses, in our
schools, in ourselves. Perhaps it is
not so much… |
| Since the death of Mario Montessori in 1982, the expansion of
Montessori endeavors has grown to a frenzy of inchoate… |
| The influence and success of Montessori education far exceeds
even the worldwide recognition of the ideas of John Dewey.
How… |
| Dr. Montessori
was a scientist of a
competence akin to
genius. It was not
her desire that her
pedagogy be fol-
lowed… |
| step to make the movement operational, AMI has opened a new chapter,
under the name Educateurs sans Frontieres.
Definition… |
| of incalculable help to parents, social workers, child-care workers,
family counselors-in short, to any person involved with… |
| THE INTERNATIONAL STUDY CENTRE
Since Maria Montessori inaugurated the first Casa dei Bambini in
1907, Montessori schools have… |
| Montessori. As a first step, every document kept at the AMI has been
photocopied. This task has now been completed and the… |
| Muriel Dwyer
14
The NAMTA Journal • Vol. 24, No. 1 • Winter 1999 |
| PAST, PRESENT, AND POSSIBLE:
A MONTESSORI GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE
by Muriel Dwyer
Muriel Dwyer, whose sense of mission and single… |
| Mario Montessori was unique in a
very special way. He was highly intel-
ligent, wise, naughty, and great fun.
He was… |
| The simplicity of his early years and his life with Dr. Montessori
gave him a rare quality: the ability to mix and be"… |
| He was almost alone in supporting us, and although it was never
possible for him to visit the various training centers, he… |
| So let us tum to our second cause for celebration: the coming of the
third millennium. Maybe we should first listen to just a… |
| • Some areas of the world are suffering from obesity and have
children who are eating too many proteins for good health,… |
| evening to see if anyone has written, and I really look forward to the time
when all my friends are online. I keep on urging… |
| in which they find themselves. They alone have the possibility to move
from age to age in one lifetime.
May I suggest that… |
| Another important point comes to my mind. A very eminent man,
Dr. John Thompson, a friend of both Mario and Dr. Montessori-who… |
| If we are raising a generation that finds violence normal, what kind
of society are we building? Certainly not one that will… |
| • Children as young as ten or eleven being involved in rape
• Ten-or eleven-year-olds taking heroin and other drugs.
Another… |
| Montessori is first about the whole
development of the person-the
spiritual, intellectual, and physical
human being. Our… |
| "normal" education and that "normal" children desperately needed
help. If Dr. Montessori… |
| One could go on, but, without a doubt, we must go back to basics.
Montessori is first about the whole development of the… |
| Therefore, my challenge, my invitation to all Montessorians, young
and not so young, is please join us all in a reawakening, a… |
| Remember no one can do it all alone.
It is necessary to have fellow workers
to help and to carry on in the future.
However,… |
| us listen to the words of Maria Montessori, for she is reminding us that
if we can do what we have just been saying,
We find… |
| Pearce,Joseph Chilton. Evolution's End: Claiming the Potential of
Our Intelligence. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco,… |
| The NAMTA Journal
33 |
| Winfried Bohm
34
The NAMTA Journal • Vol. 24, No. I • Winter 1999 |
| THE INTEGRATION OF CULTURES:
THE MONTESSORI CONTRIBUTION
by Winfried Bohm
translated by Devan Barker
In this masterful… |
| .. . by talking about Montessori edu-
cation in terms of its theoretical roots,
we are not talking about something
which is… |
| natural science and the humanities, of experimental research and
speculative philosophy, of realistic description of facts and… |
| 1. A GLOBAL ANO COMPREHENSIVE EDUCATIONAL CONCEPT
If we agree that Maria Montessori developed a global and compre-
hensive… |
| gathered from throughout the world were more than just a little shocked
to hear her begin her speech with the honest admission… |
| understanding of the Child and promoting a new concept of education.
This she did consistently and tirelessly for fifty years… |
| If you take the time to study the publications of Maria Montessori
thoroughly and carefully, you will find confirmed on every… |
| Here is where we come to the core
of Montessori's thought. For if a per-
son, that is every individual person,
could… |
| Susanne Gunkel, one of my former doctoral students, wrote a
master's thesis wherein she identified four basic principles… |
| theories of a few other great educational philosophers of a similar
caliber. Please note, I am speaking of a comparison… |
| programmed computer can be called up and printed out. This theory
might seem modern to you; in reality, however, it is over… |
| Froebel, it was in the concept of "play" that he recognized human
activity which brought the outer world in… |
| Here ismy answer, per-
haps somewhat
unex-
pected. You should choose
none of them, but should
choose rather your own… |
| With that vision, however, Maria Montessori joins the ranks of the
great educational philosophers of all time and gains the… |
| Montessori, Maria. "Gott und das Kind." Trans. Helene Helm-
ing. Mitteilungen der Deutschen Montessori-… |
| Margot Waltuch, Ada Montessori, and Mario Montessori
Baarn, Holland, 1963
50
The NAMTA Journal • Vol. 24, No. I • Winter 1999 |
| THE MONTESSORI FAMILY AND ME
by Margot W altuch
This beautiful vignette of Margot Waltuch' s connection to the… |
| La Dottoressa wanted to find out more
about me: the how and the why and
the who and the what. Her approach
to people was to… |
| to someone. People had a context for her, and this was the first educa-
tional principle I learned from her.
Since my family… |
| She was a teacher, a leader, and a charismatic personality, but she
was full of humanity and fun. She felt you could not live… |
| space surrounding our school and research center in Laren had nothing
spectacular to show-just grass, a few beautiful trees, a… |
| ing fourteen leaf-shaped insets with wooden frames. The study of leaves
launched the children into a detailed and particular… |
| returning to India again we got married. We are very happy to
be all together here now .... Dr. Montessori is much better than… |
| It was a delight to watch Mario with
children of any age, in any country,
immersed in any situation. Mario
could speak with… |
| several languages. His genuine kindness attracted them all. He under-
stood the immense importance of their inner power, their… |
| we are all dedicated to continues on, for the children of this world. I
quote Maria Montessori:
Education must no longer be… |
| MONTESSORI IN SOUTH AFRICA:
THE CHALLENGE, THE DREAM,
AND THE PROMISE
by Orcillia Oppenheimer
The African challenge is… |
| South Africa is the southern tip of the African continent. A country
of contrasts-from the trees of the dinosaurs to the… |
| = ,,, -
,, -
Montessori Schools in Southern Africa
Children in Montessori Programs Approximately 30,000
"'… |
| It became apparent that to
be successful, one had to have
beautiful and extended envi-
ronments-and not just to do
with the… |
| Marina Gafoor also has been involved with training at her center
and has made a great impact in the child welfare world. I… |
| Telperion Montessori School
most some potted plants, but many of these are now made of plastic or
synthetic, non-fading, non-… |
| Prepare teachers through prolonged practice with observation
of nature .... (Discovery 66-77)
And when I talk about freedom… |
| REFERENCES
Bly, Robert. The Sibling Society. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesely,
1996.
Montessori, Maria. The Absorbent Mind. 1949… |
| The NAMTA Journal
69 |
| Lynne Lawrence
70
The NAMTA Journal • Vol. 24, No. I • Winter 1999 |
| PREPARING OURSELVES TO SEE THE
TRUE NATURE OF THE CHILD
by Lynne Lawrence
Lynne 1..Awrence describes the fundamental… |
| How should we begin? Who will
educate the educator? Who will
give us direction? Who will guide us
in our quest? There is… |
| I remember one mother, who knew that she was no beauty, recalling
how her child, on discovering that there was to be a beauty… |
| 1. To learn more about what naturally motivates and guides the
child.
2. To learn more about the tools we have at our… |
| ability, the capacity to observe, can only be developed one way-
through practice. When you begin to observe, your… |
| This single fact should guide the edu-
cator. What is known excites expec-
tation and thereby opens the door to
the unknown… |
| This single fact should guide the educator. What is known excites
expectation and thereby opens the door to the unknown. It is… |
| ready to eat it, which was long after the other children had eaten and
gone outside to the garden. Michael sewed on until the… |
| But nevertheless, as a consequence of this capacity to wonder, new
questions have formulated within us, questions that set us… |
| 1. Take out the cylinders and put them back. (This presentation
simply shows the child what, being an intelligent human, he or… |
| What do we know of the child's inner world? How present is this
knowledge in the everyday hustle and bustle of our work?… |
| Think back to what you did when you first checked into your hotel
room. You checked out the bed, the bathroom, the television… |
| Let us look at the tendency for Work or Activity: All that has been
achieved in both personal and world terms is the result of… |
| What are these important sensitive periods? When did you last
observe the sensitive period for order or language or sensory… |
| It is important for us not to change the vision of Dr. Montessori by
creating a reductive attitude to what we do, by focusing… |
| Rita Schaefer Zener, PhD
86
The NAMTA Journal • Vol. 24, No. 1 • Winter 1999 |
| REVISITING THE PROCESS
OF NORMALIZATION
by Rita Schaefer Zener
Rita Zener' s description of normalization is from the… |
| Why is that? Why is that-especially in the face of the importance
that Dr. Montessori gave to normalization? Is it that we… |
| NORMALIZATION AS OUR PRIMARY WORK
Perhaps this conference marks the next step in our development of
Montessori's ideas.… |
| focus attention or to concentrate, clinging to an adult, and/ or extrava-
gant fantasies.
Normalization on Three Different… |
| streets in Washington DC! One can hardly go anywhere without being
moved into a new traffic pattern. We get there, but it… |