To my way of seeing it, "Montessori" has become a universalized descriptor, signifying a loose collection of progressive educational principles. In fact, Dr. Maria Montessori developed and documented a thoroughly articulated and richly integrated classroom practice for assisting the healthy and natural development of pre-school and elementary age children. She accomplished this through the systematic … Continue reading Return to Scientific Pedagogy (or: why I’m a feral Montessorian)
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Scientific Pedagogy, Part III: formulating a new discipline
The embedded illustration is an attempt to clarify and – believe it or not (see previous post) – simplify (for my own understanding), the streams of thought that appear to have influenced Dr. Maria Montessori in her work of formulating what she referred to as a Scientific Pedagogy. Importantly, the fields of Ethnography and Ethology … Continue reading Scientific Pedagogy, Part III: formulating a new discipline
Scientific Pedagogy, Part II: the intellectual ingredients
Maria Montessori synthesized the principles and practices of four sciences and put them to work in a large room full of small children to develop a framework for the discipline she came to call Scientific Pedagogy. Having herself been educated as a medical doctor, with enough coursework in anthropology to warrant her employment as a … Continue reading Scientific Pedagogy, Part II: the intellectual ingredients
Scientific Pedagogy, Part I: a summary in 100 words
It's hard to talk about Scientific Pedagogy succinctly. This week, I put before myself the challenge of encapsulating my understanding of this discipline using only 100 words (… and a quote, whose words I don't feel obligated to count). In the two or so posts that will follow this one, I'll flesh out my summary … Continue reading Scientific Pedagogy, Part I: a summary in 100 words
Let me be Zero – teacher as aspiring space holder
I delivered this poem in Amsterdam, at the Annual General Meeting of the Association Montessori Internationale, on April 17, 2016. I wrote it in response to the Executive Director's request that I offer a poetic interlude to celebrate the intersection of the Mathematical and the Pedagogical threads of the conference between sessions. Less than three weeks … Continue reading Let me be Zero – teacher as aspiring space holder
Give them the universe.
… a gentle reminder (from Maria Montessori) not to administer instruction to children in prescribed and measured doses on the presumption that we adults can know precisely what they all need to learn, and by when. Invite them into the vast wonders of the universe … welcome their participation … stimulate their curiosity … and … Continue reading Give them the universe.
freedom is more than a timeless abstraction
In community, freedom must be negotiated. Every action we feel free to take has some impact on our neighbors. If we want to govern ourselves democratically, we have to be in ongoing conversation about the spirit of our governing principles. We have to recognize when we infringe upon one another's freedoms, and we have to … Continue reading freedom is more than a timeless abstraction
Public education: mass producing the indolent consumer
I have a friend, a teacher educator, who alternates between amusement and despair: at the chasms between teacher training curricula and current research on teaching & learning, on the one hand … and between research on teaching & learning and the school quality measures that drive teacher education curricula, on the other. Climate change ain't … Continue reading Public education: mass producing the indolent consumer
Human culture as murmuration
I've begun to consider the starling murmuration as a metaphor for human culture. It's a spontaneously self-organizing group comprised of individuals that appear to be completely autonomous but nevertheless both respond to one another and contribute to the shape and flow and direction of the whole. The individual's behavior doesn't make sense outside the context … Continue reading Human culture as murmuration
School Accountability, Feedback Systems, and Cupcake Contests
“Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.” – Albert Einstein – My friend Sam is a gravitational physicist who recently made a disappointing foray into high school teaching. In his late career enthusiasm for kindling new flames of lifelong interest by sharing his research passions with high … Continue reading School Accountability, Feedback Systems, and Cupcake Contests
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