1 00:00:02,360 --> 00:00:06,320 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday, everybody. Recently, we got an email from listener 2 00:00:06,440 --> 00:00:08,600 Speaker 1: Kathleen who asked if we had done an episode on 3 00:00:08,680 --> 00:00:14,400 Speaker 1: Maria Montessori. We have on January and that is Today's 4 00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:18,160 Speaker 1: Saturday Classic. Also, we're getting towards the end of what's 5 00:00:18,160 --> 00:00:21,200 Speaker 1: been another incredibly challenging school year for a lot of 6 00:00:21,200 --> 00:00:24,040 Speaker 1: our listeners. The last couple of months of the school 7 00:00:24,120 --> 00:00:26,799 Speaker 1: year can be particularly hectic, so we thought we would 8 00:00:26,800 --> 00:00:32,680 Speaker 1: take a moment for an episode that celebrates educators enjoy 9 00:00:35,120 --> 00:00:38,120 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 10 00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:48,000 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 11 00:00:48,080 --> 00:00:52,159 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy Wilson and I'm Holly Fry. We have gotten 12 00:00:52,479 --> 00:00:57,280 Speaker 1: a lot of requests to talk about Maria Montessori, a 13 00:00:57,360 --> 00:01:03,120 Speaker 1: few hundreds that she's on. She's on our listener ideas 14 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:06,160 Speaker 1: list multiple times. And the last one just says Robin 15 00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:09,840 Speaker 1: and about a million other people. Um. I did a 16 00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:12,520 Speaker 1: Facebook live by myself right before the holidays and and 17 00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:15,240 Speaker 1: gave listeners kind of a rundown of what was coming up. 18 00:01:15,280 --> 00:01:17,319 Speaker 1: And then I said, and then will be here. We 19 00:01:17,360 --> 00:01:20,360 Speaker 1: have no idea what's happening. And somebody said, do Maria 20 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:24,560 Speaker 1: Montessori and I was like, funny, you should say that 21 00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:28,080 Speaker 1: that is actually I do know what's happening, and and 22 00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:32,840 Speaker 1: Maria Montessori is it. So she's a subject who's I mean, 23 00:01:32,880 --> 00:01:35,160 Speaker 1: she's really close to my heart because I have several 24 00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:39,560 Speaker 1: very dear friends who work in Montessori schools. But before 25 00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:42,520 Speaker 1: starting this episode, I knew so little about about her 26 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:45,560 Speaker 1: life that I was about fifty years off in terms 27 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:48,000 Speaker 1: of when I thought she lived. If you are a 28 00:01:48,040 --> 00:01:52,320 Speaker 1: certain age, meaning you know Holly's and my age are older, 29 00:01:52,360 --> 00:01:57,680 Speaker 1: probably you probably associate her with free spirited parents from 30 00:01:57,720 --> 00:02:01,800 Speaker 1: the sixties and seventies. That's from when Montessori became really 31 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:04,120 Speaker 1: popular in the United States, but her work goes back 32 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:08,040 Speaker 1: way earlier than that, and education also was not her 33 00:02:08,040 --> 00:02:12,079 Speaker 1: only field. We do have one super quick note, and 34 00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:14,200 Speaker 1: that's that a lot of the terms that are used 35 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:17,959 Speaker 1: to describe children and their development a hundred years ago 36 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:20,520 Speaker 1: are not terms we would use today, and in some 37 00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:23,440 Speaker 1: cases they would be insensitive or even offensive. And this 38 00:02:23,480 --> 00:02:28,399 Speaker 1: is particularly true because a lot of Maria Montessori's theories 39 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:31,080 Speaker 1: as an educator started out with work with children who 40 00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:35,280 Speaker 1: were developmentally disabled or financially disadvantaged, or both. So this 41 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:39,160 Speaker 1: affects everything from titles of her predecessors books, two quotes 42 00:02:39,240 --> 00:02:41,720 Speaker 1: from her own work, and if you're inspired by this 43 00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:44,920 Speaker 1: episode to go learn more about her. It also applies 44 00:02:45,400 --> 00:02:47,960 Speaker 1: two works that were written by people who actually worked 45 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:51,399 Speaker 1: with her. Um like. One of the most cited biographies 46 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:53,800 Speaker 1: of her is Maria Montessori her life and work by 47 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:56,320 Speaker 1: A m Standing, which was came up for the first 48 00:02:56,320 --> 00:03:00,960 Speaker 1: time I think in the nineteen fifties and speaks about uh, 49 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:05,280 Speaker 1: developmental disabilities in a way we don't talk that way today, right, 50 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:08,400 Speaker 1: That is cruel. Those are not words that we use, 51 00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:13,880 Speaker 1: so uh, just a heads up. Maria Montessori was born 52 00:03:13,880 --> 00:03:17,400 Speaker 1: on August thirty one, eighteen seventy, in chatta Vello, Italy, 53 00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:19,919 Speaker 1: and that's on the upper calf part of the boot 54 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:24,440 Speaker 1: overlooking the coast, and her father, Alessandro, was in civil 55 00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:29,080 Speaker 1: service and her mother reneald was charming, pious and educated 56 00:03:29,320 --> 00:03:32,000 Speaker 1: and well read. That last part was something that wasn't 57 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:35,360 Speaker 1: entirely common among women in Italy at the time. The 58 00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:39,400 Speaker 1: nation was newly unified and very conservative, with fairly rigid 59 00:03:39,480 --> 00:03:42,040 Speaker 1: gender roles that kept women mostly in the world of 60 00:03:42,080 --> 00:03:46,840 Speaker 1: domesticity and motherhood, with few opportunities for advanced education or 61 00:03:46,880 --> 00:03:50,840 Speaker 1: other work. Maria and renealed were very close and from 62 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:54,000 Speaker 1: a very early age, Maria was focused on helping people 63 00:03:54,080 --> 00:03:57,000 Speaker 1: who were less fortunate than she was. As an example, 64 00:03:57,080 --> 00:04:00,160 Speaker 1: part of her daily chores included doing some knitting of 65 00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:02,560 Speaker 1: clothing that would be donated to the poor, and this 66 00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:05,600 Speaker 1: was something she didn't mind doing because she genuinely wanted 67 00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:10,200 Speaker 1: to help. In her very early childhood, Maria wasn't particularly 68 00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:13,960 Speaker 1: interested in excelling at school, but that started to change 69 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:16,520 Speaker 1: if she got a little bit older. Her parents wanted 70 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:19,080 Speaker 1: to find a better education for her than was available 71 00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:23,159 Speaker 1: in their province. Eventually, Alessandro got a new post that 72 00:04:23,240 --> 00:04:26,880 Speaker 1: allowed them to move to Rome. In spite of this move, 73 00:04:27,320 --> 00:04:30,719 Speaker 1: Maria eventually had trouble getting the education that she wanted. 74 00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:34,479 Speaker 1: Her parents encouraged her to become a teacher, that was 75 00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:37,200 Speaker 1: one of the very few careers that were really open 76 00:04:37,279 --> 00:04:40,640 Speaker 1: to women, but she insisted that was not what she 77 00:04:40,760 --> 00:04:42,760 Speaker 1: wanted to do. I mean going so far as to 78 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:48,680 Speaker 1: basically say literally any other thing besides teaching. After discovering 79 00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:50,880 Speaker 1: that she had a knack for math, she set her 80 00:04:50,920 --> 00:04:54,120 Speaker 1: sights on becoming an engineer, but since schools for young 81 00:04:54,160 --> 00:04:56,960 Speaker 1: women did not offer the kinds of classes she would 82 00:04:57,000 --> 00:04:59,920 Speaker 1: need to actually do this. She enrolled in a technic 83 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:04,520 Speaker 1: school for boys in three From there, Maria found a 84 00:05:04,560 --> 00:05:08,240 Speaker 1: love of science, especially biology, and she decided what she 85 00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:11,960 Speaker 1: really wanted to do with study medicine. This was even 86 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:14,000 Speaker 1: more unheard of for a woman at the time than 87 00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:17,080 Speaker 1: being an engineer, and enrolling in medical school was an 88 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:20,560 Speaker 1: uphill battle, including a personal interview with the head of 89 00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:23,080 Speaker 1: the Board of Education who told her it would be 90 00:05:23,120 --> 00:05:27,600 Speaker 1: impossible for any woman to study medicine. She persevered, though, 91 00:05:27,680 --> 00:05:30,880 Speaker 1: and ultimately Maria Montessori became the first woman to study 92 00:05:30,920 --> 00:05:35,160 Speaker 1: medicine in Italy. She also excelled at it, and earning 93 00:05:35,279 --> 00:05:37,960 Speaker 1: multiple scholarships and paying most of her own way by 94 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:42,279 Speaker 1: becoming a private tutor. But the challenges to her studying 95 00:05:42,320 --> 00:05:44,760 Speaker 1: medicine did not end with the struggle just to become 96 00:05:44,839 --> 00:05:48,479 Speaker 1: enrolled in medical school. There are lots of this part 97 00:05:48,480 --> 00:05:52,160 Speaker 1: of her story that parallel our prior show on Elizabeth Blackwell, 98 00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:55,679 Speaker 1: the first American woman to earn an empty The story 99 00:05:55,760 --> 00:05:57,760 Speaker 1: kind of becomes very similar when it is a woman 100 00:05:57,839 --> 00:06:02,040 Speaker 1: trying to go through medical school. Uh Montessori faced derision 101 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:05,400 Speaker 1: and harassment from her male classmates, and because it was 102 00:06:05,440 --> 00:06:09,000 Speaker 1: considered improper for her to participate in dissections in a 103 00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:11,719 Speaker 1: co ed setting, she had to do all of her 104 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:15,360 Speaker 1: dissecting work alone in the evenings, surrounded by the other students. 105 00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:20,840 Speaker 1: Cadavers in a dissection hall illuminated by lamps and candles 106 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:24,160 Speaker 1: started to wear on her, and eventually she almost gave up, 107 00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:26,080 Speaker 1: walking out in the middle of her work one night 108 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:28,160 Speaker 1: and making up her mind to find a pursuit that 109 00:06:28,200 --> 00:06:31,599 Speaker 1: would not seem so set against her. But on the 110 00:06:31,600 --> 00:06:34,000 Speaker 1: way home, she saw a woman begging in a park, 111 00:06:34,120 --> 00:06:37,760 Speaker 1: and the woman's child, caught Montessoria's attention, was playing with 112 00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:41,560 Speaker 1: a piece of colored paper with this just completely wrapped attention. 113 00:06:43,080 --> 00:06:47,120 Speaker 1: Something about this scene really struck Montessori, and it gave 114 00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:50,560 Speaker 1: her renewed determination. But it wasn't as you might assume, 115 00:06:50,960 --> 00:06:54,640 Speaker 1: to become a teacher. It was to complete her medical education, 116 00:06:54,720 --> 00:06:57,960 Speaker 1: no matter what obstacles were in her way. When she 117 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:01,480 Speaker 1: graduated in eight she was the first woman in Italy 118 00:07:01,560 --> 00:07:04,719 Speaker 1: to earn a doctor of medicine. At this point in 119 00:07:04,760 --> 00:07:07,960 Speaker 1: her life, Montasari was also an advocate for feminists and 120 00:07:08,040 --> 00:07:11,440 Speaker 1: social causes. This would continue to be true throughout her life. 121 00:07:11,800 --> 00:07:15,000 Speaker 1: She was appointed to represent Italy at a feminist congress 122 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:18,120 Speaker 1: in Berlin the same year that she graduated for medical school. 123 00:07:18,640 --> 00:07:21,320 Speaker 1: She also advocated for the rights of working women and 124 00:07:21,400 --> 00:07:24,800 Speaker 1: against the use of child labor. In eight she went 125 00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:27,760 Speaker 1: on a lecture tour on the quote new woman. This 126 00:07:27,840 --> 00:07:31,280 Speaker 1: is a woman who was liberated from Italy's strict gender roles, 127 00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:34,200 Speaker 1: able to work outside of the home, and not defined 128 00:07:34,280 --> 00:07:41,360 Speaker 1: by stereotypes of feminine frailty and inferiority. Although Montessori's conceptualization 129 00:07:41,560 --> 00:07:45,280 Speaker 1: of new womanhood offered far more freedom for women, it 130 00:07:45,400 --> 00:07:50,240 Speaker 1: was still strongly connected to motherhood. In her own words, quote, Eventually, 131 00:07:50,440 --> 00:07:52,800 Speaker 1: the woman of the future will have equal rights as 132 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:55,640 Speaker 1: well as equal duties. She will have a new self 133 00:07:55,680 --> 00:07:59,440 Speaker 1: awareness and will find her true strength in an emancipated maternity. 134 00:08:00,280 --> 00:08:02,800 Speaker 1: Family life as we know it may change, but it 135 00:08:02,920 --> 00:08:06,320 Speaker 1: is absurd to think that feminism will destroy maternal feelings. 136 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:10,360 Speaker 1: The new woman will marry and have children out of choice, 137 00:08:10,560 --> 00:08:13,880 Speaker 1: not because matrimony and maternity are imposed on her, and 138 00:08:13,920 --> 00:08:16,679 Speaker 1: she will exercise control over the health and well being 139 00:08:16,760 --> 00:08:19,680 Speaker 1: of the next generation and inaugurate a reign of peace. 140 00:08:20,200 --> 00:08:22,480 Speaker 1: Because when she can speak knowledgeably in the name of 141 00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:25,400 Speaker 1: her children and in behalf of her own rights, man 142 00:08:25,440 --> 00:08:29,120 Speaker 1: will have to listen to her and her medical practice. 143 00:08:29,160 --> 00:08:32,600 Speaker 1: At this point, Montessori was focused on psychiatry, becoming an 144 00:08:32,600 --> 00:08:35,840 Speaker 1: assistant doctor in the psychiatric clinic at the University of Rome. 145 00:08:36,600 --> 00:08:40,040 Speaker 1: Part of her rounds included visiting Italy's asylums in part 146 00:08:40,080 --> 00:08:42,600 Speaker 1: to identify patients who could be helped at the clinic. 147 00:08:43,360 --> 00:08:46,679 Speaker 1: A lot of the people that she identified were children. Specifically, 148 00:08:46,760 --> 00:08:49,560 Speaker 1: they were children with a range of physical and intellectual 149 00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:53,160 Speaker 1: disabilities who, at this point in history were often sent 150 00:08:53,240 --> 00:08:56,680 Speaker 1: to asylums for mentally ill adults, where they got little 151 00:08:56,720 --> 00:08:59,160 Speaker 1: to nothing in the way of education or treatment. I 152 00:08:59,160 --> 00:09:02,440 Speaker 1: mean it was basically a dumping ground for any child 153 00:09:02,480 --> 00:09:06,520 Speaker 1: who was deemed to be not quote normal in the 154 00:09:06,520 --> 00:09:10,440 Speaker 1: time words of the time. And it was in working 155 00:09:10,440 --> 00:09:13,160 Speaker 1: with these children that Montessori started to form a theory 156 00:09:13,240 --> 00:09:17,679 Speaker 1: of education connected to sensory stimulation and manipulating things with 157 00:09:17,760 --> 00:09:20,559 Speaker 1: your fingers. It started one day when she found a 158 00:09:20,640 --> 00:09:23,680 Speaker 1: room full of children supervised by a matron who reported 159 00:09:23,720 --> 00:09:26,240 Speaker 1: that after their meals, they would get on the floor 160 00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:30,000 Speaker 1: to search for crumbs. The Matron was disgusted by this 161 00:09:30,120 --> 00:09:32,840 Speaker 1: behavior and thought it was tied to being greedy for food, 162 00:09:33,480 --> 00:09:36,680 Speaker 1: but Montessori, seeing that the room had absolutely nothing in 163 00:09:36,720 --> 00:09:40,199 Speaker 1: it that could stimulate a child's hands and mind, instead 164 00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:43,600 Speaker 1: interpreted it as a desperate search for something tactile to 165 00:09:43,679 --> 00:09:48,360 Speaker 1: hold and manipulate. Through observing these children, Montessori began to 166 00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:53,440 Speaker 1: see developmental disabilities, particularly ones that related to learning and intelligence, 167 00:09:53,840 --> 00:09:56,880 Speaker 1: as a need for different methods of teaching, not as 168 00:09:56,920 --> 00:10:01,000 Speaker 1: a medical problem or an untreatable lack of intellect. And 169 00:10:01,120 --> 00:10:04,640 Speaker 1: from there she started to piece together a system of education, 170 00:10:04,840 --> 00:10:06,720 Speaker 1: and we're going to talk about that more after a 171 00:10:06,720 --> 00:10:18,319 Speaker 1: brief sponsor break. As she started to consider an approach 172 00:10:18,360 --> 00:10:23,360 Speaker 1: to educating children with disabilities, Maria Montessori began studying the 173 00:10:23,400 --> 00:10:28,079 Speaker 1: special education theories of two doctors, Jean Marc gaspar Atar 174 00:10:28,559 --> 00:10:32,520 Speaker 1: and Eduard Sagan, And although Atar's work had included some 175 00:10:32,600 --> 00:10:37,040 Speaker 1: truly questionable attempts to cure deafness, his methods for educating 176 00:10:37,040 --> 00:10:40,600 Speaker 1: deaf children had been groundbreaking in France. He was also 177 00:10:40,640 --> 00:10:43,000 Speaker 1: the person who wrote about the feral child who became 178 00:10:43,040 --> 00:10:45,920 Speaker 1: known as the wild Boy of Avon, and Attard was 179 00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:49,120 Speaker 1: also a proponent of the idea that children moved through 180 00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:53,200 Speaker 1: specific developmental stages and that their education is most effective 181 00:10:53,240 --> 00:10:56,840 Speaker 1: when it's appropriate to each of those stages. Saga, who 182 00:10:56,880 --> 00:10:59,559 Speaker 1: was born in France and later moved to the United States, 183 00:10:59,800 --> 00:11:02,600 Speaker 1: how had written a book called quote Idiocy and its 184 00:11:02,640 --> 00:11:07,160 Speaker 1: Treatment by the Physiological Method, which theorized that developmental disabilities 185 00:11:07,200 --> 00:11:10,559 Speaker 1: stemmed from issues with the central nervous system and consequently 186 00:11:10,559 --> 00:11:16,520 Speaker 1: could be treated with exercises and sensory activities. Montessori found 187 00:11:16,520 --> 00:11:20,120 Speaker 1: that her theories were compatible with a tars and sigins. 188 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:23,480 Speaker 1: For example, she thought that children passed through quote sensitive 189 00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:26,960 Speaker 1: periods in which they were particularly receptive to learning certain 190 00:11:26,960 --> 00:11:30,719 Speaker 1: new skills and concepts, and she thought that sensory experiences 191 00:11:30,720 --> 00:11:34,960 Speaker 1: were critical to learning. In she delivered an address at 192 00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:37,920 Speaker 1: a pedagogical congress in which she stressed that children with 193 00:11:37,960 --> 00:11:41,880 Speaker 1: developmental disabilities quote were not extra social beings, but were 194 00:11:42,000 --> 00:11:44,920 Speaker 1: entitled to the benefits of education as much as, if 195 00:11:44,960 --> 00:11:49,120 Speaker 1: not more than normal ones. She started to promote something 196 00:11:49,160 --> 00:11:53,160 Speaker 1: that was at the time completely revolutionary in Italy, special 197 00:11:53,240 --> 00:11:57,319 Speaker 1: education classrooms where children with disabilities could receive an individualized 198 00:11:57,400 --> 00:12:01,079 Speaker 1: education that was appropriate to their individual need. So As 199 00:12:01,120 --> 00:12:04,000 Speaker 1: we've talked about in previous shows on special education and 200 00:12:04,080 --> 00:12:07,520 Speaker 1: its history today, the goal is typically to educate children 201 00:12:07,520 --> 00:12:11,480 Speaker 1: with disabilities in the same classroom with their non disabled peers, 202 00:12:11,480 --> 00:12:14,920 Speaker 1: in the least restrictive environment that can still meet their needs. 203 00:12:15,240 --> 00:12:18,840 Speaker 1: So even though she was advocating for basically segregated schooling 204 00:12:19,000 --> 00:12:22,480 Speaker 1: for children with disabilities at this time, the idea of 205 00:12:22,600 --> 00:12:28,120 Speaker 1: educating them at all was a huge step forward in Italy. Yeah. 206 00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:31,320 Speaker 1: The difference between that and sending them to a mental 207 00:12:31,360 --> 00:12:35,960 Speaker 1: asylum we're grown ups. Yeah, uh soon. Guido Vicelli, the 208 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:39,160 Speaker 1: Minister of Education, invited Montessori to come to Rome and 209 00:12:39,200 --> 00:12:43,080 Speaker 1: deliver a series of lectures on special education, and she did. 210 00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:46,720 Speaker 1: In eight she was appointed co director of a state 211 00:12:46,840 --> 00:12:51,240 Speaker 1: school for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Over the 212 00:12:51,280 --> 00:12:55,280 Speaker 1: next two years, she worked tirelessly both at the school 213 00:12:55,360 --> 00:12:58,240 Speaker 1: and by traveling to London and Paris to study other 214 00:12:58,320 --> 00:13:04,079 Speaker 1: theories of special education. She rigorously observed her students, evaluated 215 00:13:04,120 --> 00:13:06,560 Speaker 1: what worked and what didn't, and then would refine her 216 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:09,640 Speaker 1: approach accordingly. And as she built on her knowledge and 217 00:13:09,640 --> 00:13:14,240 Speaker 1: her methods, her students performed exceptionally well. Several learned to 218 00:13:14,360 --> 00:13:16,440 Speaker 1: read and write well enough that they were able to 219 00:13:16,480 --> 00:13:19,000 Speaker 1: sit for the same exams that were required of other 220 00:13:19,080 --> 00:13:22,080 Speaker 1: school children. And as she was doing all of this, 221 00:13:22,240 --> 00:13:24,840 Speaker 1: she was also doing a lot of other work, including 222 00:13:24,880 --> 00:13:27,319 Speaker 1: having a medical private practice and being the chair of 223 00:13:27,400 --> 00:13:30,280 Speaker 1: hygiene at one of Italy's two women's colleges, which she 224 00:13:30,360 --> 00:13:34,880 Speaker 1: held from eight to nineteen o six. This earned her 225 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:37,920 Speaker 1: a lot of praise, but Montessori found that it raised 226 00:13:37,960 --> 00:13:41,000 Speaker 1: a lot of questions within her own mind. If her 227 00:13:41,040 --> 00:13:44,199 Speaker 1: methods allowed her special education students to perform as well 228 00:13:44,240 --> 00:13:47,520 Speaker 1: as their peers in regular classrooms, what did that say 229 00:13:47,559 --> 00:13:50,400 Speaker 1: about the methods that were being used in those classrooms. 230 00:13:50,800 --> 00:13:54,240 Speaker 1: Should non disabled students have been performing even better than 231 00:13:54,280 --> 00:13:58,160 Speaker 1: they were so In nineteen o one, Montessori left the 232 00:13:58,200 --> 00:14:01,560 Speaker 1: special education school in Rome, and at this point she'd 233 00:14:01,559 --> 00:14:05,240 Speaker 1: had a son, Mario, with the school's other co director, 234 00:14:05,360 --> 00:14:08,840 Speaker 1: Dr Gippe of Monte Sano. The date of Mario's birth 235 00:14:08,920 --> 00:14:13,200 Speaker 1: is kind of unclear, It's often reported as March thirty one. 236 00:14:13,800 --> 00:14:17,199 Speaker 1: Monte Santo's family was against the idea of his marrying Montessori, 237 00:14:17,520 --> 00:14:21,840 Speaker 1: and although Montaso did legally recognize Mario as his child, 238 00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:25,840 Speaker 1: he also insisted that the baby we kept secret. Mario 239 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:28,080 Speaker 1: was sent to live with a wet nurse and then 240 00:14:28,120 --> 00:14:31,520 Speaker 1: to a boarding school. There's not a lot written um 241 00:14:32,040 --> 00:14:37,080 Speaker 1: about Maria Montessori's role in this decision, but based on 242 00:14:37,200 --> 00:14:42,120 Speaker 1: her really sticking to what she wanted and thought was 243 00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:46,040 Speaker 1: best um and other parts of her life that we'll 244 00:14:46,040 --> 00:14:48,640 Speaker 1: talk about later, it seems as though she would not 245 00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:54,640 Speaker 1: have been like bullied into sending her child away like this. 246 00:14:54,640 --> 00:14:56,880 Speaker 1: This seems like it was a decision that like she 247 00:14:57,000 --> 00:14:59,800 Speaker 1: also probably didn't want to marry him and thought that 248 00:14:59,840 --> 00:15:03,600 Speaker 1: it would be best for another family to look after Mario. 249 00:15:04,760 --> 00:15:07,240 Speaker 1: So with her son being cared for in the country 250 00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:11,960 Speaker 1: in secret, Montessori returned to school herself. She enrolled again 251 00:15:12,040 --> 00:15:14,320 Speaker 1: at the University of Rome with the goal of furthering 252 00:15:14,320 --> 00:15:18,160 Speaker 1: her education so she could create an education program suitable 253 00:15:18,200 --> 00:15:24,160 Speaker 1: for all children. She studied pedagogy, psychiatry, anthropology, and educational 254 00:15:24,280 --> 00:15:28,160 Speaker 1: history and philosophy. She became a professor at the University 255 00:15:28,160 --> 00:15:31,360 Speaker 1: of Rome in nineteen four and eventually became its chair 256 00:15:31,400 --> 00:15:35,520 Speaker 1: of Anthropology. During those same years, the world of education 257 00:15:35,640 --> 00:15:39,960 Speaker 1: was also changing during Montessori's childhood and early career. Many 258 00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:42,960 Speaker 1: schools in Europe and the United States were just dominated 259 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:47,120 Speaker 1: with memorization. Recitation and repetition might have had something to 260 00:15:47,120 --> 00:15:51,240 Speaker 1: do with why Montessori was not particularly into doing well 261 00:15:51,240 --> 00:15:56,800 Speaker 1: at it in her early childhood years. But educators like 262 00:15:56,880 --> 00:16:00,960 Speaker 1: Friedrich Froebel, the German reformer who coined the term kindergarten, 263 00:16:01,280 --> 00:16:04,680 Speaker 1: had started to shift that model. More and more educators 264 00:16:04,720 --> 00:16:07,760 Speaker 1: were starting to talk about making schools into more homelike, 265 00:16:07,880 --> 00:16:11,240 Speaker 1: inviting places that engage children through their senses, rather than 266 00:16:11,280 --> 00:16:14,960 Speaker 1: just drilling them in recitals and repetition and learning things 267 00:16:15,040 --> 00:16:17,880 Speaker 1: by rote to spit them back out again. And of 268 00:16:17,920 --> 00:16:21,440 Speaker 1: course this is a very simplified overview of education at 269 00:16:21,440 --> 00:16:24,320 Speaker 1: the time. There were a lot of schools of thought 270 00:16:24,400 --> 00:16:26,960 Speaker 1: that we're going on about how children should be educated, 271 00:16:27,040 --> 00:16:31,120 Speaker 1: particularly in early childhood during the late nineteenth and early 272 00:16:31,160 --> 00:16:35,680 Speaker 1: twentieth centuries. But from Montessori's point of view, Probole and 273 00:16:35,760 --> 00:16:39,000 Speaker 1: other reformers had taken and we're taking an approach that 274 00:16:39,080 --> 00:16:43,120 Speaker 1: was too intuitive and romanticized. She favored an approach that 275 00:16:43,200 --> 00:16:47,920 Speaker 1: she saw as more scientific, incorporating exact measurements of children's 276 00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:49,960 Speaker 1: bodies that would be kept as part of their record 277 00:16:50,360 --> 00:16:55,000 Speaker 1: making clinical observations collecting and interpreting data about what was 278 00:16:55,040 --> 00:16:58,320 Speaker 1: working and what wasn't. In nineteen o four, she had 279 00:16:58,320 --> 00:17:01,920 Speaker 1: returned to lecturing on pettig g and she advocated approaching 280 00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:06,879 Speaker 1: pedagogy through science to gather data and pinpoint successful strategies 281 00:17:06,880 --> 00:17:11,320 Speaker 1: for education. Eventually, Montessori wound up with a theory of 282 00:17:11,440 --> 00:17:16,520 Speaker 1: education that drew from all kinds of disciplines, including medicine, psychology, 283 00:17:16,560 --> 00:17:20,679 Speaker 1: and physiological and cultural anthropology. This was an approach that 284 00:17:20,760 --> 00:17:24,760 Speaker 1: was holistic and multidisciplinary, aimed at creating an educational setting 285 00:17:24,760 --> 00:17:28,159 Speaker 1: that would nurture and inspire the creativity and desire to 286 00:17:28,240 --> 00:17:32,000 Speaker 1: learn that she believed to be present in all children. UH. 287 00:17:32,040 --> 00:17:35,800 Speaker 1: The idea of physiological anthropology comes up from time to 288 00:17:35,840 --> 00:17:38,760 Speaker 1: time in the context of the eugenics movement because it's 289 00:17:38,760 --> 00:17:43,359 Speaker 1: about like human physiology and how it relates to anthropology. UH, 290 00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:47,040 Speaker 1: it does not appear that Maria Montessori ever had anything 291 00:17:47,080 --> 00:17:49,119 Speaker 1: to do with that movement, and in fact, a lot 292 00:17:49,160 --> 00:17:53,320 Speaker 1: of the things that she advocated were directly contradictory to eugenics. 293 00:17:54,000 --> 00:17:59,000 Speaker 1: But unfortunately, because she had that physiological anthropology focus to 294 00:17:59,040 --> 00:18:01,080 Speaker 1: some of what she did, there where people in the 295 00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:05,879 Speaker 1: eugenics movement who like then picked up her theories and 296 00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:11,439 Speaker 1: tried to advocate them as a like a eugenics UH tool. 297 00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:15,760 Speaker 1: She actually put all of this theory into practice for 298 00:18:15,760 --> 00:18:19,720 Speaker 1: the first time. In nineteen o seven. A charitable society 299 00:18:19,760 --> 00:18:24,639 Speaker 1: that was purchasing and refurbishing tenement properties impoverished areas of 300 00:18:24,760 --> 00:18:28,719 Speaker 1: Rome had approached her about starting a daycare in the neighborhood. 301 00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:32,199 Speaker 1: Most of the parents who were living there worked, and 302 00:18:32,320 --> 00:18:34,840 Speaker 1: children not yet old enough to be in school during 303 00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:38,640 Speaker 1: the day, we're being left alone, sometimes with basically no supervision, 304 00:18:38,680 --> 00:18:40,840 Speaker 1: because their parents just did not have the means to 305 00:18:40,920 --> 00:18:43,760 Speaker 1: care for them while they were at work. The result 306 00:18:43,880 --> 00:18:46,680 Speaker 1: was the Casa day Bambini a k. The Children's House, 307 00:18:46,760 --> 00:18:49,680 Speaker 1: which opened in San Lorenzo Quarter on January six of 308 00:18:49,760 --> 00:18:52,520 Speaker 1: nineteen o seven in one of the tenement buildings where 309 00:18:52,520 --> 00:18:56,240 Speaker 1: the children actually lived. About sixty children were enrolled, and 310 00:18:56,240 --> 00:18:59,320 Speaker 1: they were all under the age of seven. Montessori saw 311 00:18:59,320 --> 00:19:02,080 Speaker 1: this as an opera tunity not only to implement her 312 00:19:02,080 --> 00:19:05,359 Speaker 1: teaching methods, but also to make a charitable effort to 313 00:19:05,400 --> 00:19:08,120 Speaker 1: try to lift the residence of San Lorenzo Quarter out 314 00:19:08,119 --> 00:19:11,760 Speaker 1: of poverty through educating their children and making it easier 315 00:19:11,800 --> 00:19:14,560 Speaker 1: for their parents to comfortably go to work every day. 316 00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:17,879 Speaker 1: Although her students were all from low income families, she 317 00:19:18,080 --> 00:19:21,439 Speaker 1: also foresaw a time when women of all social strata 318 00:19:21,480 --> 00:19:24,520 Speaker 1: would want to enter the workforce, making the Casa dei 319 00:19:24,560 --> 00:19:28,600 Speaker 1: Bambini a model for daycare and early childhood education among 320 00:19:28,680 --> 00:19:33,040 Speaker 1: working families across the economic spectrum. In terms of the 321 00:19:33,080 --> 00:19:38,040 Speaker 1: school itself, it was sized for children's needs, with tables, chairs, cabinets, 322 00:19:38,320 --> 00:19:41,040 Speaker 1: wash basins, and the like all being sized down to 323 00:19:41,119 --> 00:19:45,560 Speaker 1: their scale. She encouraged parents involvement in their children's education 324 00:19:45,760 --> 00:19:50,480 Speaker 1: with periodic conversations akin to today's parent teacher conferences. The 325 00:19:50,560 --> 00:19:53,200 Speaker 1: children had a lot of freedom to learn and explore, 326 00:19:53,440 --> 00:19:56,960 Speaker 1: but there was also a lot of structure. Montessori reframed 327 00:19:56,960 --> 00:20:00,080 Speaker 1: the role of teacher as directress. Today often call to 328 00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:04,480 Speaker 1: guide who helped children educate themselves in life skills, motor 329 00:20:04,560 --> 00:20:08,360 Speaker 1: and sensory skills, and the typical reading, writing, and arithmetic. 330 00:20:09,200 --> 00:20:13,480 Speaker 1: One of the most recognizable hallmarks of Montessoria's educational methods 331 00:20:13,520 --> 00:20:17,240 Speaker 1: was the materials that she implemented for helping children learn 332 00:20:17,320 --> 00:20:20,679 Speaker 1: to build build these skills. For example, a set of 333 00:20:20,760 --> 00:20:24,760 Speaker 1: cylinders of different sizes that fit into similarly sized holes 334 00:20:24,760 --> 00:20:29,840 Speaker 1: in a wooden block. Her materials used colors, textures, sizes, smells, 335 00:20:29,840 --> 00:20:33,680 Speaker 1: and sounds so that children could learn to distinguish between 336 00:20:33,720 --> 00:20:38,680 Speaker 1: all of these and to recognize patterns. Rather than systematically 337 00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:41,719 Speaker 1: teaching children to read and write, she supplied them with 338 00:20:41,760 --> 00:20:45,680 Speaker 1: things like color coded cardboard letters and numbers, and counting 339 00:20:45,760 --> 00:20:49,080 Speaker 1: rods of different lengths which could be palpated and manipulated 340 00:20:49,359 --> 00:20:53,199 Speaker 1: as children became cognitively ready to read and count. The 341 00:20:53,240 --> 00:20:56,439 Speaker 1: directress did work with children as they use these materials, 342 00:20:56,480 --> 00:20:59,800 Speaker 1: for examples, sounding out each letter as children held and 343 00:21:00,040 --> 00:21:03,320 Speaker 1: felt the cardboard version, but it was more about readying 344 00:21:03,359 --> 00:21:06,560 Speaker 1: a child's mind for reading, writing, and arithmetic, and allowing 345 00:21:06,640 --> 00:21:09,480 Speaker 1: children to teach themselves to do it rather than sitting 346 00:21:09,520 --> 00:21:14,080 Speaker 1: them down and instructing them. Basically, in Montessoria's method, children 347 00:21:14,240 --> 00:21:17,879 Speaker 1: were self educating. The directress was simply guiding them in 348 00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:21,760 Speaker 1: self directing, self correcting activities that made it possible for 349 00:21:21,800 --> 00:21:24,800 Speaker 1: them to learn on their own. The directress was to 350 00:21:24,880 --> 00:21:28,200 Speaker 1: tailor her guidance according to the to the developmental needs 351 00:21:28,200 --> 00:21:31,720 Speaker 1: and the readiness of each child and to their sensitive periods, 352 00:21:32,440 --> 00:21:35,159 Speaker 1: and the students also learned about life skills and the 353 00:21:35,240 --> 00:21:38,520 Speaker 1: natural world through things like helping to prepare prepare meals 354 00:21:38,560 --> 00:21:42,720 Speaker 1: and planting and tending a school garden. Kasa dave Ambini 355 00:21:42,880 --> 00:21:46,600 Speaker 1: was hailed as a huge success, and soon Montessori was 356 00:21:46,640 --> 00:21:50,480 Speaker 1: working to put her educational theories into wider practice. We're 357 00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:52,600 Speaker 1: going to talk about that more after we once again 358 00:21:52,640 --> 00:22:02,600 Speaker 1: pause for a break from one of our sponsors. As 359 00:22:02,600 --> 00:22:06,479 Speaker 1: we said before the break, Maria Montessori's first school, Casa 360 00:22:06,520 --> 00:22:10,040 Speaker 1: de Bambini, opened in nineteen o seven. Soon she had 361 00:22:10,119 --> 00:22:13,040 Speaker 1: established several other schools in Rome, both in the San 362 00:22:13,119 --> 00:22:17,199 Speaker 1: Lorenzo quarter and in other more affluent parts of the city. 363 00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:21,320 Speaker 1: By her reputation was really growing in Italy, and she 364 00:22:21,359 --> 00:22:24,919 Speaker 1: had started a school to train other directresses. She had 365 00:22:24,960 --> 00:22:27,480 Speaker 1: created a curriculum that was starting to be shared around 366 00:22:27,480 --> 00:22:30,720 Speaker 1: the world. She left her position at the original Casa 367 00:22:30,800 --> 00:22:33,600 Speaker 1: de Bambini in nineteen eleven with the goal of bringing 368 00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:37,360 Speaker 1: her methods to more classrooms. Worried that her methods could 369 00:22:37,400 --> 00:22:40,840 Speaker 1: be distorted or implemented in an ineffectual or damaging way, 370 00:22:41,280 --> 00:22:44,359 Speaker 1: she did as much as she could to disseminate information 371 00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:48,879 Speaker 1: herself and educate people on her methods. Personally, she wanted 372 00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:53,480 Speaker 1: Montessori's directresses to follow her methods absolutely. Yes. She really 373 00:22:53,480 --> 00:22:56,160 Speaker 1: did not want teachers to be like, you know, I'm 374 00:22:56,160 --> 00:22:58,720 Speaker 1: just going to take the Montessori Method, but I'm only 375 00:22:58,720 --> 00:23:02,040 Speaker 1: going to take these blocks, numbers and and those sorts 376 00:23:02,040 --> 00:23:04,120 Speaker 1: of things, and I'm going to do my own thing. 377 00:23:04,880 --> 00:23:10,400 Speaker 1: She she wanted people to follow exactly what she uh, 378 00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:13,080 Speaker 1: what she was advocating, and what she was writing down. 379 00:23:13,440 --> 00:23:15,240 Speaker 1: She did not think it was gonna be effective otherwise. 380 00:23:16,760 --> 00:23:20,359 Speaker 1: Maria Montessori used her medical and academic background to publish 381 00:23:20,400 --> 00:23:23,320 Speaker 1: papers on the method in journals. She wrote what would 382 00:23:23,320 --> 00:23:26,439 Speaker 1: become known as the Montessori Method in nineteen ten, and 383 00:23:26,480 --> 00:23:29,280 Speaker 1: it began to be translated and published in other nations. 384 00:23:29,280 --> 00:23:32,359 Speaker 1: It's first publication in the United States was in nineteen twelve. 385 00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:36,760 Speaker 1: She published Doctor Montessori's Own Handbook in nineteen fourteen, and 386 00:23:36,800 --> 00:23:40,040 Speaker 1: a two volume work called Advanced Montessori Method in nineteen 387 00:23:40,080 --> 00:23:43,760 Speaker 1: eighteen and nineteen nineteen. Montessorio was also Catholic, and over 388 00:23:43,800 --> 00:23:46,440 Speaker 1: the course of her life wrote several books that were 389 00:23:46,480 --> 00:23:49,560 Speaker 1: more religious in nature for children, such as quote the 390 00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:53,600 Speaker 1: Mass Explained to Children When I was a kid, I 391 00:23:53,720 --> 00:23:56,560 Speaker 1: had a copy of that really Yeah, that was like 392 00:23:56,600 --> 00:24:00,280 Speaker 1: an old clunky like I don't know where it came from. 393 00:24:00,320 --> 00:24:02,720 Speaker 1: I think it probably came from my grandmother's house at 394 00:24:02,720 --> 00:24:05,639 Speaker 1: some point in time. But yeah, I had a copy 395 00:24:05,680 --> 00:24:07,879 Speaker 1: of it. I don't know where it ended up. And 396 00:24:07,920 --> 00:24:10,200 Speaker 1: I remember being like, oh, like it was actually quite 397 00:24:10,200 --> 00:24:13,520 Speaker 1: helpful to explain, to explain all the sitting and standing 398 00:24:13,600 --> 00:24:16,920 Speaker 1: and like, you know. She also traveled extensively in order 399 00:24:16,960 --> 00:24:20,240 Speaker 1: to lecture on her methods and trained teachers directly. She 400 00:24:20,359 --> 00:24:23,920 Speaker 1: visited the US in nineteen thirteen. Jane Adams, who was 401 00:24:23,960 --> 00:24:26,320 Speaker 1: subject of a Past to Part he here on the podcast, 402 00:24:26,720 --> 00:24:30,280 Speaker 1: introduced her at one of her appearances in Chicago. That 403 00:24:30,440 --> 00:24:34,119 Speaker 1: same year, Mabel and Alexander Graham Bell founded the Montessori 404 00:24:34,280 --> 00:24:39,640 Speaker 1: Educational Association in Washington, d C. President Woodrow Wilson's daughter Margaret, 405 00:24:39,720 --> 00:24:42,840 Speaker 1: was on the board of directors. In nineteen fifteen, the 406 00:24:42,840 --> 00:24:47,480 Speaker 1: Panama Pacific International Exhibition in San Francisco featured a glasshouse 407 00:24:47,560 --> 00:24:52,439 Speaker 1: demonstration school room for Montessori's methods. Her work and advocacy 408 00:24:52,520 --> 00:24:55,280 Speaker 1: for her methods continued on from there. She did research 409 00:24:55,320 --> 00:24:58,680 Speaker 1: in Spain in nineteen seventeen and started training directress as 410 00:24:58,680 --> 00:25:02,600 Speaker 1: in London in nineteen nine teen. Basically Montessori was becoming 411 00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:07,960 Speaker 1: an international movement, with she herself training people and traveling 412 00:25:07,960 --> 00:25:11,359 Speaker 1: extensively to promote it and try to try to directly 413 00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:14,840 Speaker 1: teach the people who were going to work as directresses 414 00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:20,080 Speaker 1: in Montessori classrooms. It was also within these nineteen teens 415 00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:23,080 Speaker 1: years that she was reunited with her son, Mario, when 416 00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:27,240 Speaker 1: he was about fifteen years old. Mario was reportedly presented 417 00:25:27,359 --> 00:25:31,080 Speaker 1: first as Montessori's nephew and then later as her adopted son, 418 00:25:31,760 --> 00:25:34,399 Speaker 1: and although he did not really know his mother until 419 00:25:34,440 --> 00:25:37,800 Speaker 1: his teens, he became incredibly devoted to her, and he 420 00:25:37,840 --> 00:25:41,920 Speaker 1: eventually became her successor. It cracks me up, like there 421 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:45,159 Speaker 1: was more than one source who said that Mario at 422 00:25:45,160 --> 00:25:47,919 Speaker 1: first was like, oh, this is my nephew. But I 423 00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:52,159 Speaker 1: also couldn't find confirmation that she had any siblings. So 424 00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:55,600 Speaker 1: that tickles me a little bit unless it's one of 425 00:25:55,640 --> 00:25:59,120 Speaker 1: those uh, you know things where like close friends kind 426 00:25:59,160 --> 00:26:01,640 Speaker 1: of become like family and people were referred to their 427 00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:07,600 Speaker 1: children as their nephews and nieces. But even so, yeah, 428 00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:12,440 Speaker 1: So in nineteen two, Benito Mussolini, who had established the 429 00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:17,280 Speaker 1: Fascist Party in nineteen nineteen became Italy's Prime minister. Mussolini's 430 00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:22,359 Speaker 1: secretary of Education, Giovanni Gentile, approved of Montessori's methods. The 431 00:26:22,440 --> 00:26:27,040 Speaker 1: first meeting among Mussolini and Montessori took place in nineteen 432 00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:32,800 Speaker 1: twenty four. Mussolini wanted Montessori's name and reputation to help 433 00:26:32,800 --> 00:26:36,800 Speaker 1: spread his fascist ideology and for her educational work to 434 00:26:36,880 --> 00:26:41,440 Speaker 1: lift Italy's reputation. For her part, Montessori wanted the Italian 435 00:26:41,480 --> 00:26:46,040 Speaker 1: government's backing to help spread her educational philosophies. By nineteen 436 00:26:46,080 --> 00:26:48,320 Speaker 1: twenty six, she had been made an honorary member of 437 00:26:48,359 --> 00:26:51,720 Speaker 1: the Fascist Party, and soon the Italian government was supporting 438 00:26:51,840 --> 00:26:57,320 Speaker 1: multiple Montessori schools and training programs. However, Montessori was still 439 00:26:57,400 --> 00:27:00,680 Speaker 1: dedicated to the idea of keeping control of her educational 440 00:27:00,680 --> 00:27:05,240 Speaker 1: philosophies and of educating all children, not just Italian children. 441 00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:08,679 Speaker 1: She accepted the government's support in spreading her work as 442 00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:11,800 Speaker 1: an educator, but she refused to have it aligned with 443 00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:17,200 Speaker 1: Italy's fascist politics. In she and her son Mario established 444 00:27:17,240 --> 00:27:21,879 Speaker 1: the Association Montsori Internacional, meant to unite the world's various 445 00:27:21,920 --> 00:27:26,880 Speaker 1: Montessori programs and organizations. Montessori was named its lifetime president, 446 00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:30,760 Speaker 1: with Mario working with her extensively in This organization was 447 00:27:30,800 --> 00:27:34,399 Speaker 1: headquartered in Berlin. The fact that it was in Berlin 448 00:27:34,800 --> 00:27:37,760 Speaker 1: did not sit well with Mussolini, whose regime had become 449 00:27:37,800 --> 00:27:41,600 Speaker 1: progressively more and more totalitarian at this point, and whose 450 00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:44,600 Speaker 1: motto was quote everything in the state, nothing outside the state, 451 00:27:44,760 --> 00:27:48,720 Speaker 1: nothing against the state. Montessori, on the other hand, wanted 452 00:27:48,760 --> 00:27:51,520 Speaker 1: to be an educator, as we said before, for all children. 453 00:27:51,640 --> 00:27:55,120 Speaker 1: This was regardless of the children's race, ethnicity, or nationality. 454 00:27:55,720 --> 00:27:59,719 Speaker 1: She refused to give this up and was increasingly vocal 455 00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:04,880 Speaker 1: in opposition to the government's fascist and totalitarian ideals. When 456 00:28:04,880 --> 00:28:08,679 Speaker 1: the government tried to name Montessori Italy's children's ambassador in 457 00:28:08,800 --> 00:28:13,240 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty four, she refused unless the Italian government recognized 458 00:28:13,280 --> 00:28:16,680 Speaker 1: her total control over the a m I. The government 459 00:28:16,720 --> 00:28:21,040 Speaker 1: shut down several state sponsored Montessori programs, and Montessori left 460 00:28:21,080 --> 00:28:25,600 Speaker 1: Italy in exile. In ninety six, Maria and Mario moved 461 00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:28,119 Speaker 1: to the a m i's headquarters to Amsterdam, where she 462 00:28:28,160 --> 00:28:31,760 Speaker 1: continued to try to build a truly international system of 463 00:28:31,880 --> 00:28:35,440 Speaker 1: education in which children from Europe, Asia, and North America 464 00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:38,640 Speaker 1: could all be guided to teach themselves using the same 465 00:28:38,680 --> 00:28:41,880 Speaker 1: methods and her words quote, there is no sense in 466 00:28:41,920 --> 00:28:45,840 Speaker 1: talking about differences of procedure for Indian babies, Chinese babies, 467 00:28:45,920 --> 00:28:50,000 Speaker 1: or European babies, nor for those belonging to different social classes. 468 00:28:50,280 --> 00:28:53,040 Speaker 1: We can speak of one method that which follows the 469 00:28:53,120 --> 00:28:57,440 Speaker 1: natural unfolding of man. All babies have the same psychological 470 00:28:57,520 --> 00:29:00,760 Speaker 1: needs and follow the same sequence of events, and attaining 471 00:29:00,760 --> 00:29:03,800 Speaker 1: to human stature, every one of us has to pass 472 00:29:03,880 --> 00:29:08,280 Speaker 1: through the same phases of growth. Montessori continued to travel 473 00:29:08,360 --> 00:29:11,040 Speaker 1: in support of her work, and sometimes that travel was 474 00:29:11,080 --> 00:29:14,160 Speaker 1: actually quite perilous. She was in Spain when the Spanish 475 00:29:14,200 --> 00:29:17,240 Speaker 1: Civil War broke out in nineteen thirty six. She was 476 00:29:17,280 --> 00:29:20,880 Speaker 1: training Montessori educators in India in nineteen thirty nine when 477 00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:23,600 Speaker 1: Italy entered World War Two, and as she was an 478 00:29:23,600 --> 00:29:27,120 Speaker 1: Italian national in British territory, she was for a time 479 00:29:27,600 --> 00:29:31,840 Speaker 1: confined to her training school along with her son. Eventually, though, 480 00:29:31,880 --> 00:29:34,440 Speaker 1: she was allowed freedom of movement, and while in India 481 00:29:34,560 --> 00:29:37,440 Speaker 1: she worked with Gandhi to develop a curriculum for peace. 482 00:29:38,480 --> 00:29:41,200 Speaker 1: After the end of World War Two, the Montessori's returned 483 00:29:41,240 --> 00:29:45,320 Speaker 1: to Amsterdam in nineteen forty seven. The Italian government invited 484 00:29:45,360 --> 00:29:48,320 Speaker 1: her back into the country to reopen the Montes, the 485 00:29:48,360 --> 00:29:53,080 Speaker 1: Montessori schools and training programs that had previously closed. Maria 486 00:29:53,160 --> 00:29:55,720 Speaker 1: continued to work and teach until the very end of 487 00:29:55,760 --> 00:29:59,160 Speaker 1: her life. In ninety eight, she returned to India and 488 00:29:59,200 --> 00:30:02,240 Speaker 1: in nineteen forty nine she made her first trip to Pakistan. 489 00:30:02,960 --> 00:30:05,960 Speaker 1: She toured Norway and Sweden in nineteen fifty and in 490 00:30:06,080 --> 00:30:08,560 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty one she went to London for the eighth 491 00:30:08,560 --> 00:30:12,680 Speaker 1: International Montessori Congress. She was nominated for the Nobel Peace 492 00:30:12,720 --> 00:30:16,080 Speaker 1: Prize six times before her death in a friend's garden 493 00:30:16,360 --> 00:30:19,440 Speaker 1: on May six of nineteen fifty two in the Netherlands. 494 00:30:19,480 --> 00:30:23,120 Speaker 1: She was eighty one at the time. Montessori's teaching methods 495 00:30:23,120 --> 00:30:26,320 Speaker 1: have continued to be really influential. There are at least 496 00:30:26,400 --> 00:30:30,640 Speaker 1: seven thousand Montessori schools around the world today, although since 497 00:30:30,680 --> 00:30:34,120 Speaker 1: in spite of her efforts to retain control over training 498 00:30:34,160 --> 00:30:37,160 Speaker 1: and certifications, in a lot of places, the name Montessori 499 00:30:37,280 --> 00:30:40,440 Speaker 1: is not actually trademarked, so the number of schools calling 500 00:30:40,520 --> 00:30:44,800 Speaker 1: themselves Montessori is actually a lot larger than those approximately 501 00:30:44,920 --> 00:30:49,080 Speaker 1: seven thousand certified schools. As we noted at the top 502 00:30:49,120 --> 00:30:51,480 Speaker 1: of the show. For some folks in the United States, 503 00:30:51,640 --> 00:30:55,120 Speaker 1: Montessori school has this connection with the free spirited parents 504 00:30:55,520 --> 00:30:58,200 Speaker 1: of the nineteen sixties and seventies, not with the turn 505 00:30:58,240 --> 00:31:01,120 Speaker 1: of the twentieth century. And this is because while the 506 00:31:01,120 --> 00:31:04,440 Speaker 1: Montessori method was growing in popularity in much of Europe 507 00:31:04,480 --> 00:31:07,120 Speaker 1: and parts of Asia, in the United States had actually 508 00:31:07,160 --> 00:31:09,320 Speaker 1: felt out of fashion for a while after its initial 509 00:31:09,360 --> 00:31:13,080 Speaker 1: introduction in the early nineteen teens. Between nineteen ten and 510 00:31:13,160 --> 00:31:17,160 Speaker 1: nineteen fourteen, Montessori education gained a lot of attention really 511 00:31:17,240 --> 00:31:20,120 Speaker 1: quickly in the United States due to its apparent success 512 00:31:20,160 --> 00:31:23,840 Speaker 1: in classrooms and because people were drawn to Montessori herself 513 00:31:23,880 --> 00:31:26,800 Speaker 1: as a person and as an educator. She was very 514 00:31:26,960 --> 00:31:31,000 Speaker 1: charismatic and energetic and how she talked to people. Her 515 00:31:31,040 --> 00:31:34,040 Speaker 1: method had also come from Europe, giving it a layer 516 00:31:34,080 --> 00:31:40,040 Speaker 1: of prestige, and many American minds it's European, Yes, I 517 00:31:40,040 --> 00:31:44,560 Speaker 1: don't feel like that has quite the same uh connotation today. 518 00:31:47,920 --> 00:31:50,600 Speaker 1: A lot of this attention, though, was from the general public, 519 00:31:50,960 --> 00:31:54,960 Speaker 1: parents who had heard about Montessori successes with disadvantaged children 520 00:31:54,960 --> 00:31:57,920 Speaker 1: in Italy who had learned to read by age four 521 00:31:58,000 --> 00:32:01,280 Speaker 1: and seemed exceptionally happy in the class room. Some of 522 00:32:01,280 --> 00:32:05,920 Speaker 1: this attention came from articles in magazines. Notably, McClure's publisher 523 00:32:05,920 --> 00:32:08,800 Speaker 1: and editor, Samuel S. McClure, was a huge proponent of 524 00:32:08,840 --> 00:32:12,080 Speaker 1: the method, although his business relationship with her to that 525 00:32:12,200 --> 00:32:16,719 Speaker 1: end was kind of fraught and it eventually unraveled. Doctors, scientists, 526 00:32:16,760 --> 00:32:19,880 Speaker 1: and other experts from outside the field of education also 527 00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:24,200 Speaker 1: wrote about it quite favorably. A portion of American educators, 528 00:32:24,200 --> 00:32:27,320 Speaker 1: though were vocally critical of Montessori's methods when they were 529 00:32:27,320 --> 00:32:31,720 Speaker 1: first introduced. Her theories were often described as being commonplace 530 00:32:31,800 --> 00:32:34,640 Speaker 1: in the United States twenty five or thirty years before. 531 00:32:35,120 --> 00:32:37,480 Speaker 1: By the time of the English language publication of the 532 00:32:37,520 --> 00:32:42,920 Speaker 1: Montessori Method, Friedrich Crobo's concept of kindergarten was widely implemented 533 00:32:42,960 --> 00:32:45,640 Speaker 1: in the United States and had been for decades. That 534 00:32:45,680 --> 00:32:49,240 Speaker 1: meant that the child sized classrooms and child centered learning 535 00:32:49,280 --> 00:32:52,760 Speaker 1: that were common to both kindergarten and Montessori were not 536 00:32:52,920 --> 00:32:55,320 Speaker 1: really novel in the United States the way that they 537 00:32:55,320 --> 00:32:58,640 Speaker 1: had been in some other nations. In the words of 538 00:32:58,680 --> 00:33:02,920 Speaker 1: William H. Kilpatrick of Teachers College, Columbia University, who published 539 00:33:02,920 --> 00:33:06,840 Speaker 1: a highly critical the Montessori System Examined in nineteen fourteen, 540 00:33:07,400 --> 00:33:11,640 Speaker 1: quote Madame Montessori belongs in the history of American educational 541 00:33:11,720 --> 00:33:15,960 Speaker 1: theory essentially along with the writer's anti anti dating eighteen eighty. 542 00:33:16,560 --> 00:33:20,000 Speaker 1: In several fundamental respects, she is some thirty years behind 543 00:33:20,080 --> 00:33:25,400 Speaker 1: the best of our present. Some educators also criticized Montessori's 544 00:33:25,480 --> 00:33:30,240 Speaker 1: work in the nineteen teens as failing to engage children's imaginations, 545 00:33:30,640 --> 00:33:33,800 Speaker 1: prompting any George, one of the biggest proponents in the 546 00:33:33,840 --> 00:33:36,840 Speaker 1: United States and the translator of the Montessori Method for 547 00:33:36,920 --> 00:33:40,080 Speaker 1: English and its first US publication, to count or quote 548 00:33:40,360 --> 00:33:43,080 Speaker 1: the Italian educator, it is said, makes the mistake of 549 00:33:43,160 --> 00:33:46,480 Speaker 1: bringing the children too closely to the earth, as distinguished 550 00:33:46,520 --> 00:33:49,840 Speaker 1: from other methods which encourage imagination and deal in fairies 551 00:33:49,880 --> 00:33:53,960 Speaker 1: and nights and imaginative games. Dr Montessori makes the children 552 00:33:53,960 --> 00:33:56,160 Speaker 1: see the world as it really is. To her. A 553 00:33:56,200 --> 00:33:58,760 Speaker 1: block is a block, not a castle. The hands and 554 00:33:58,840 --> 00:34:03,320 Speaker 1: fingers are anatomical structures, not pigeons. The children learn real 555 00:34:03,400 --> 00:34:08,080 Speaker 1: geometrical forms by their right names triangles, squares, circles, ovals, 556 00:34:08,120 --> 00:34:12,439 Speaker 1: not as symbolic abstractions. So for the first few years 557 00:34:12,480 --> 00:34:16,719 Speaker 1: after its introduction in the United States, Montessori education was 558 00:34:16,760 --> 00:34:19,279 Speaker 1: a bit of a flash in the pan fad, but 559 00:34:19,440 --> 00:34:23,960 Speaker 1: quickly dedicated Montessori schools dwindled, especially after the United States 560 00:34:24,040 --> 00:34:27,959 Speaker 1: entered World War One. Yeah, that it's from Europe. Prestige 561 00:34:28,080 --> 00:34:31,759 Speaker 1: meant something quite different when World War One started and 562 00:34:31,800 --> 00:34:37,200 Speaker 1: it became its from Italy. Yeah. However, in the nineteen sixties, 563 00:34:37,200 --> 00:34:40,040 Speaker 1: there was a resurgence and interest in the Montessori method 564 00:34:40,120 --> 00:34:42,800 Speaker 1: in the United States, led by a combination of factors, 565 00:34:42,880 --> 00:34:46,560 Speaker 1: including its focus on child centered learning and a renewed 566 00:34:46,600 --> 00:34:50,279 Speaker 1: focus on getting children, especially children from low income and 567 00:34:50,320 --> 00:34:54,600 Speaker 1: at risk families, uh into academic excellence sooner. It was 568 00:34:54,960 --> 00:34:59,560 Speaker 1: the same window that like the Headstart program was first launched, Like, 569 00:34:59,600 --> 00:35:01,799 Speaker 1: there was a still a lot of focus on American 570 00:35:01,880 --> 00:35:05,359 Speaker 1: children need to be achieving academically earlier than they are. 571 00:35:05,400 --> 00:35:07,160 Speaker 1: And then, as we said at the top of show, 572 00:35:07,400 --> 00:35:11,840 Speaker 1: some kind of free spirited parents. Today, about four thousand 573 00:35:11,960 --> 00:35:15,440 Speaker 1: of the seven thousand accredited Montessori schools worldwide are in 574 00:35:15,480 --> 00:35:20,480 Speaker 1: the United States. That's Maria Montessori. This whole episode makes 575 00:35:20,520 --> 00:35:23,440 Speaker 1: me want to go play with blocks. There's some pretty 576 00:35:23,440 --> 00:35:29,000 Speaker 1: great blocks and colorful letters. It would be great well. 577 00:35:29,040 --> 00:35:32,040 Speaker 1: And one of the first jobs that I had out 578 00:35:32,080 --> 00:35:38,000 Speaker 1: of college, I wrote copy for a educational catalog um 579 00:35:38,040 --> 00:35:40,040 Speaker 1: and we had this sort of corner like this one 580 00:35:40,080 --> 00:35:43,919 Speaker 1: page of things that were basically the blocks and letter 581 00:35:44,000 --> 00:35:47,279 Speaker 1: shapes and cylinders and things like that that are part 582 00:35:47,320 --> 00:35:51,799 Speaker 1: of the Montessori method um. And I remember just having 583 00:35:51,840 --> 00:35:57,080 Speaker 1: all of these conversations about like we can say these 584 00:35:57,120 --> 00:35:59,440 Speaker 1: are appropriate for a Montsory classroom, but we like we 585 00:35:59,480 --> 00:36:02,000 Speaker 1: could not write the copy to be like, you'll be 586 00:36:02,040 --> 00:36:05,960 Speaker 1: a monest story teacher with these great blocks. Like for 587 00:36:06,000 --> 00:36:08,440 Speaker 1: a lot of people, they're the most recognizable hallmark of 588 00:36:08,719 --> 00:36:13,000 Speaker 1: Montessori school. But that's there's a whole philosophy going with 589 00:36:13,000 --> 00:36:23,040 Speaker 1: those blocks. Fay so much for joining us on this Saturday. 590 00:36:23,239 --> 00:36:25,360 Speaker 1: Since this episode is out of the archive, if you 591 00:36:25,440 --> 00:36:27,640 Speaker 1: heard an email address or Facebook U r L or 592 00:36:27,680 --> 00:36:30,360 Speaker 1: something similar over the course of the show, that could 593 00:36:30,360 --> 00:36:34,799 Speaker 1: be obsolete now. Our current email address is History Podcast 594 00:36:35,000 --> 00:36:38,600 Speaker 1: at I heart radio dot com. Our old health stuff 595 00:36:38,600 --> 00:36:41,759 Speaker 1: works email address no longer works, and you can find 596 00:36:41,840 --> 00:36:45,040 Speaker 1: us all over social media at missed in History. And 597 00:36:45,120 --> 00:36:48,920 Speaker 1: you can subscribe to our show on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, 598 00:36:48,960 --> 00:36:51,560 Speaker 1: the I heart Radio app, and wherever else you listen 599 00:36:51,600 --> 00:36:57,360 Speaker 1: to podcasts. Stuff You Missed in History Class is a 600 00:36:57,400 --> 00:37:00,520 Speaker 1: production of I Heart Radio. For more pod asks from 601 00:37:00,520 --> 00:37:03,879 Speaker 1: i Heeart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 602 00:37:04,000 --> 00:37:07,000 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. H