Cultural Reporter Blog #2 - Montessori Education

To clearly understand the culture of Prairie Hill Learning Center, we need to be familiar with Montessori education and the teachings of Dr. Maria Montessori.

According to "The International Montessori Index" (2011),

 “Montessori is a revolutionary method of observing and supporting the natural development of children. Montessori educational practice helps children develop creativity, problem solving, critical thinking and time-management skills, to contribute to society and the environment, and to become fulfilled persons in their particular time and place on Earth. The basis of Montessori practice in the classroom is mixed age group (3 ages - 6 ages in one class), individual choice of research and work, and uninterrupted concentration. Group lessons are seldom found in a Montessori classroom, but learning abounds” (www.montessori.edu).

Dr. Maria Montessori. (2010). Retrieved December 19, 2011, from:
www.wakeforestmontessori.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/maria-montessori.jpg

"The International Montessori Index" (2011) describes Dr. Maria Montessori's education in anthropology, education and psychiatric. However, Dr. Montessori primarily focused her energy on the following three areas: natural development of children, child observation and establishing an environment in which was adaptable to each child's potential. Dr. Montessori's focus of study is what led her to developing the concept of Montessori educational methods (www.montessori.edu/maria.html). 

Dr. Montessori stated, as referred to in "The International Montessori Index" (2011),

“Supposing I said there was a planet without schools or teachers, study was unknown, and yet the inhabitants - doing nothing but living and walking about - came to know all things, to carry in their minds the whole of learning: would you not think I was romancing? Well, just this, which seems so fanciful as to be nothing but the invention of a fertile imagination, is a reality. It is the child's way of learning. This is the path he follows. He learns everything without knowing he is learning it, and in doing so passes little from the unconscious to the conscious, treading always in the paths of joy and love” (www.montessori.edu/maria.html).

As Montessori education has spread throughout the world, it has been proven successful for years with children of all different learning abilities. Learning variations may include the following: blind, gifted, wealthy, poor, learning disabilities...just to name a few. In layman’s terms, I summarize Dr. Montessori's teachings based on my research, as an education that fosters natural development of children, as it is self-intiatied without interruption. Additionally, there is a focus on child observation, encouraged care/respect for one another and environmental learning (www.montessori.edu).

Right in our own backyard, Lincoln and surrounding area families have the opportunity to provide their children with a Montessori education. Prairie Hill Learning Center creates a “cultural space” for children to learn based on Montessori educational methods. As we discussed in chapter 7, cultural space not only has to do with our individual histories and a particular location with cultural meaning, but also with the way in which we communicate (Martin  & Nakayama, 2009).

As I conduct my observation at PHLC in the near future, I will be looking for cultural meaning within the environment and paying special attention to communication. I am interested to see how children who attend Prairie Hill identify and if the school's teaching methods are reflected in their identity. Additionally, over the course of the semester, I've recognized the important influence cultural contexts have on our identities, so i'll be looking for other linked identity factors as well. 


Until I share these findings with you in my final blog, here’s another great video clip explaining the teachings and cultural space at PHLC. This video was retrieved from Prairie Hill School's youtube channel. It was uploaded on September 15, 2009. 

http://www.youtube.com/user/prairiehillschool#p/u/2/q9K7qv7H1XU

As I've studied Dr. Montessori’s teachings, I've gained an understanding of the free communication instilled within this education. Now that we have examined the culture and teachings of Montessori education founded by Dr. Maria Montessori, I believe engaging and observing within this cultural space will provide me with a good insight to PHLC culture, student identity and intercultural communication concepts reflected at Prairie Hill -- This will be discussed in my final blog. 

PH-cooks. (2010) Retrieved December 19, 2011, from: 

www.prairiehill.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/ph-cooks.jpg

References

About PRAIRIE HILL Montessori School | PRAIRIE HILL Learning Center. (n.d.). About PRAIRIE HILL Montessori School | PRAIRIE HILL Learning Center. Retrieved September 24, 2011, from http://prairiehill.com/

Martin, J. N., & Nakayama, T.K. (2009). Intercultural communication in contexts (5th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill.

Prairie Hill School. (2009, September 15). Prairie Hill - intro and conclusion. YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Retrieved December 19, 2011, from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9K7qv7H1XU&feature=related

Stephenson, S. (2011). MONTESSORI, The International Montessori Index. Retrieved December 19, 2011, from http://www.montessori.edu/

Stephenson, S. (2011). Dr. Montessori, Ages 0-3+. MONTESSORI, The International Montessori Index. Retrieved October 24, 2011, from http://www.montessori.edu/maria.html.

Wake Forest Montessori. (2011). Montessori classroom. Retrieved December 19, 2011, from http://www.wakeforestmontessori.com/classroom/