Elise Doyle

12/5/19

Montessori vs. Reggio Emilia

 Maria Montessori created a school in Rome, Italy in 1907 for the children of working

class families(Montessori Education, 2018). The goal of a Montessori school is to prepare the

student for real life. Montessori schools focus on observing the child to see what the child

absolutely needs. Montessori schools avoid helping a student if they don’t need it. This allows

for students to figure things out for themselves. A quote from Maria Montessori, “Never help a

child with a task he feels he can succeed” (Montessori Education, 2018).

There is also a heavy emphasis on practical life skills. The reason for this is to inspire and

allow for children to become more independent. The goal is to stray away from the vision of

children being incapable and needing constant help(Montessori Education, 2018). The children

are given freedom to choose the activity they want, but within the limits given. This means that

it isn’t a total free-for-all, but still allows for children to choose. These classrooms have group

tables, which encourages social interactions and learning. These social interactions encourage

the opportunity for spontaneous self-discipline(Montessori Education, 2018). Spontaneous self-

discipline is when a student notices on their own that what they are doing isn’t acceptable, and

corrects it themselves. This also means that students choose what is best for them, and that

choice isn’t irresponsible or wrong. Within Montessori schools, it has been noted that children

would go to the same practical and educational activity over and over again rather than

reaching for basic toys(Montessori Education, 2018). While we never visited a Montessori

school, I can compare this to my teacher’s reading group activities. The kids got to choose from

a variety of options. I view Montessori almost as an extreme example of differentiation, but

where the student chooses the activity that best suites them, rather than the teacher.
 The Reggio Emilia approach was developed by Loris Malaguzzi in Reggio Emilia, Italy

post World War II(WNIT Public Television, 2018). His goal was to have children be active

participants in their own learning. Teachers work alongside them as facilitators and learner.

They are equally a part of the learning process. There is a focus on the idea of students having

hundreds of languages and ways of learning(WNIT Public Television, 2018). Knowledge must be

delivered to the students in a way that they desire and about what they desire, rather than pre-

packaged bits of information dictated to them by a teacher. When walking into a classroom

that uses the Reggio Emilia approach, one could immediately recognize the sense of flexibility in

the classroom to meet the students’ needs.

Another goal of the Reggio Emilia approach is to encourage discovery, personality

development, and character education(WNIT Public Television, 2018). These are all skills that

children can apply in the real world, along with plenty hands-on activities that keep the children

engaged. If a child decides it is time to move on from that activity, this is not just allowed, but

highly encouraged and a teacher would work with the child to meet those needs. There is also

an emphasis for children to explore the outdoors and feed the curiosity of the world around

them(WNIT Public Television, 2018). This was seen at the College School and Principia Lower

school. Both of these schools had a large play area outside with ponds, grassy area, and as few

man-made play structures as possible. This allows for deeper critical thinking and making fun

out of the world around them.

Montessori schools and schools that utilize the Reggio Emilia approach have similar

missions, goals, and environments(Our Kids). These theories view children as capable

individuals who should have control over what they get to learn and do. Teachers in these
settings are not just dictators of a predetermined curriculum, but are flexible individuals who

want the physical, emotional, and educational needs of the children met. This also means that

both of these schools encourage children to be vulnerable, make mistakes, and learn from

them. The environments of these schools are more open and have a variety of activities that

encourage students to learn in a way that challenge them rather than strict rows of desks that

hinder creativity and freedom.

The Reggio Emilia approach and Montessori schools have subtle aspects that set them

apart from one another. Teachers in Montessori schools tend to take an observer role and tend

to be more hands of with children to try and help them become more self-sufficient. They also

allow children self-discipline and figure out mistakes for themselves. While teachers who apply

the Reggio Emilia approach are also observers, they are facilitators who get a bit more involved.

They may talk to a student more about a mistake they made. They also teach students more.

They just teach to what the children want to learn and learn beside them, rather than observing

them learn. This model that Reggio Emilia utilizes also encourages more project-based learning

and collaboration than Montessori schools. This doesn’t mean that Montessori schools don’t

encourage collaboration, it’s just more at the core of Reggio Emilia. This could be because of

the teachers being facilitators in the classroom and bringing kids together to answer the

questions they may have. This was seen in The College School that we visited, when students

were all doing a science experiment together. Reggio Emilia also tries to include parents more

in the classroom and is geared more towards early childhood education, while Montessori

schools can sometimes go all the way up to 8th grade.

 If I had to choose one theory to implement in my classroom, it would be the Reggio

Emilia theory. This is because it allows for the teacher to learn alongside with the children.

Group work was something that I highly encouraged in my internship. I appreciate the project-

based learning because I want my students to problem solve together, rather than being

dependent on an adult to give them the answers. Especially in today’s society where answers

are so instant gratification, that it will be important to build problem-solving skills at a young

age before they have all of these shortcuts offered to them. The independence and critical

thinking skills that Reggio Emilia encourages can be easily translated to the public-school

system for certain subjects.

 References

Montessori Education. (2018, August 28). What is Montessori? | Jesse McCarthy [Video file].
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ljuw3grZ11Q.

Our Kids. (n.d.). Reggio Emilia vs. Montessori Schools: Our Kids. Retrieved December 5, 2019,
from https://www.ourkids.net/school/montessori-vs-reggio-emilia-schools.

WNIT Public Television. (2018, March 5). Education Counts Michiana - The Reggio Emilia
Approach [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYx_aGs-
DjU&t=99s.