Independence:

A Montessori Journey
By Michael Dorer, EdD

Under the urge of nature and according to the laws of development, though not understood by
the adult, the child is obliged to be serious about two fundamental things.…The first is the love
of activity.…The second fundamental thing is independence. (Montessori, 1948, p. 11)

To many people, the ultimate goals of a Montessori
education do not fall in the measurable domains
of subject matter or mastery of specific techniques.
Instead, the outcomes of Montessori education that
really matter are, to some extent, intangible. Many
Montessorians believe that children work to fulfill
inner directives, and it is during such labor that the
more measurable goals are addressed.
Possibly the foremost of the inner directives is the
Many Mon- child’s drive toward independence. In The Absorbent
Mind, Maria Montessori wrote, “The child’s nature is
tessorians to aim directly and energetically at functional indepen-
believe that dence” (Montessori, 1964, p. 83).
children To understand the significance of independence, it
work to must be defined. Interestingly, the word independence
fulfill inner is best understood as a negative. It is based on the root
word dependent, which means “relying on someone else
directives, for support, being under the power of another or others”;
and it is its original meaning is “hanging down from a superior
during such support, or to be held from above” (Ayto, 1990).
labor that Independence undoes that meaning with the prefix in-,
the more a negative, which reverses the concept of dependence
(Weekly, 1967). Thus, from its etymology, independence
measurable means a freedom from the power of others, not relying on
goals are others for support, either intellectually or functionally.
addressed. So why is independence important? What is it about
independence that elevates it to the level of a central goal?
While there are many reasons, I’ve identified 5 significant
traits that I have noticed in the hundreds of classrooms in
which I have observed children building independence.
1. Independence increases confidence. I believe
when children make choices from a very young
age, they gain confidence in their good judgment.
As a result of increased confidence, they are more
willing to take risks and challenge themselves
and therefore require more experience than less-
independent individuals.
2. Independence leads to greater self-reliance. Put
another way, independent people believe they are
capable of dealing with life’s challenges and can
guide themselves rather than having to depend
on others.
3. Independence leads to an increased sense of self-
worth and self-esteem. I’ve seen that encouraging
children to accomplish tasks by themselves leads
to an irrepressible strength in facing obstacles, as
well as a strong sense of self.
4. Emotional independence—being responsible
for one’s own emotions and meeting one’s own
emotional needs—encourages happiness and
decreases stress. Emotional independence also
enables the ability to make significant decisions
without needing to involve other people in the
decision-making process.
5. Intellectual independence—thinking for oneself—
produces unique thought and creativity. Indepen-
dent thinkers do not simply accept the ideas or
opinions of others in a passive way and are not lim-
ited by conformity of thought. I believe intellectual
independence is one of the core roots of creativity.

SPRING 2018 41
INDEPENDENCE: A MONTESSORI JOURNEY
As we think about fostering independence, we
should remember Montessori’s famous 3 freedoms:
the freedom of choice, the freedom to repeat, and the
freedom of movement. Each of these freedoms has
Refraining to do with independence. By allowing children free
from these choice, repetition for as long as they wish, and free
unneeded movement within the classroom, children grow in
forms of their ability to make successful and positive decisions
assistance that lead to independence.
Of course, it is important to remember that every
allows freedom brings responsibility—and that responsibility
children to can be seen as another form of independence.
expand their The Montessori prepared environment is an
creativity important contributor to independence (NAMTA,
and inde- 2017). Two elements of the environment assist spe-
cifically in addressing independence at every age
pendence level. The first of these is the uncluttered display of
of mind. materials. By maintaining clear distinctions between
subject areas, by placing all materials in clear sequen-
tial orders, by maintaining about a hand’s width
between each piece of material or activity, and by
being sure that all materials are at or below the chil-
dren’s eye level, we greatly empower children to
strive for independence.
While arranging materials, it is critical to avoid
giving away connections. This means not indicating to
children the relationships between various materials
or the creative ways those materials may be used. For
example, it is important to avoid marking on materials
such as the cylinder blocks the colors that correspond
to the Knobless Cylinders. This would give away
their relationship, which the children can discover
independently. Giving children card material that
displays creative or unusual layouts also takes away the
possibility of children discovering these creative acts
on their own. Refraining from these unneeded forms
of assistance allows children to expand their creativity
and independence of mind.
The second Montessori element that helps create
independence has to do with the freedom of choice. It
is important that a number of choices are available in
the environment for seating and for work. These may
include floor space, low tables often called chowkies,
table space, and a raised carpeted platform, which is
also used for presentations and serves as a focal point
for group meetings. Having these choices allows chil-
dren to exercise their independence in determining
how, where, and with whom they will work.
At every level of Montessori education, children
work toward independence. However, at each level—
from Early Childhood to Adolescence—there are
some particular independence strategies worth noting.
42 MONTESSORI LIFE
EARLY CHILDHOOD
The first guideline for building independence at the
Early Childhood level is to establish a strong and via-
ble Practical Life program. It is important to emphasize
that Practical Life, while it appears to focus on a variety
of skills, actually has just 4 essential goals (Fernando,
2012). Those goals are:
• the development and refinement of a sense of order,
• the encouragement and growth of concentration,
• coordination of movement involving both large and
small muscles, and
• most important to this discussion, the development
of independence.
Ultimately, the end goal of a strong Practical Life
program is to foster independence by means of the
other 3 goals.
A second important guideline is the management
of intervention. The Montessori guide must recognize
that the power of any adult intervention can disturb
or distract children from focus. By holding back and
intervening as little as possible and only when abso-
lutely necessary, the guide creates the ability within the
children to address their own issues and work out their
own solutions, finally leading to independence.
The third guideline is to avoid doing for children
what they can do for themselves. This is sometimes
exceptionally difficult when, for example, an adult could
accomplish something more efficiently, more quickly,
or possibly even better. The guide must practice self-
discipline and have faith that the independence the child
achieves through the work is more important than the
completion of any single task. This applies to work the
child is learning to do as well as work the child has begun
to master.
A fourth guideline that affects the development of
independence involves the guide learning when to
leave a presentation or lesson. The guide needs to prac-
tice leaving in the midst of the work if independence is
to be a prime objective. If the guide waits to leave until
the child has completed the work cycle, his or her leav-
ing can easily suggest to the child that the work is now
completed and is to be put away. As a result, the work is
not done except in the presence of the adult. If, on the
other hand, the guide waits until a child has completed
the work and then suggests that it be repeated, a new
ILLUSTRATION © HANNA BARCZYK
paradigm can be created. Once the child is in the mid-
dle of the repeated work and it is spread about the work
space, then the guide should excuse herself and quietly
slip away. The child then is left with all of the materi-
als arrayed in front of him. The likelihood of his then
completing the work, absent the presence of the guide,
is vastly increased, simply due to the child’s ability to
complete the work alone. Only when the children work
away from the presence of an adult is actual indepen-
dence being exercised.
Lastly, as a final guideline, it is important to practice
something I call modesty of the eyes. This means trying
to avoid catching the child’s eyes at any time other than
when directly working with her. The problem is that
when an adult makes direct eye contact with the child,
it can be perceived as an invitation to conversation or
working together, or as a correction. This can inhibit
independence, because the child may be drawn into a
conversation with the adult or can otherwise be dis-
tracted by the adult’s presence.
The strategies discussed above may also be applied to
children in the Elementary years and beyond.
ELEMENTARY
By the time children reach the Elementary level, addi-
tional specific techniques can be implemented to foster
greater independence. There are also particular activi-
ties and materials to be avoided so as not to inhibit the
achievement of independence.
When it comes to Elementary lessons, there are 3
very important ways to encourage independence. The
first of these is to implement a program of guided dis-
covery. Guided discovery is a valuable technique in
managing how to offer lessons as well as in helping to
develop independence.
Montessori addressed this type of discovery in Psy-
chogeometry (2011, p. 55):
Discovering a relationship oneself, formulating a theo-
rem and possessing the words to describe it correctly, is
truly something able to fire the imagination. A single one
of these discoveries is sufficient to open up a brilliant,
unexpected path to the mind.
This sort of discovery lesson is called “guided” because
the teacher knows exactly what difficulties are ahead
and guides the children to them. However, the adult
does not offer a presentation for each challenge before it
is encountered. This technique encourages risk-taking,
self-challenge, confidence, and, ultimately, indepen-
dence. Guided discovery has the additional advantage
of making the entire curriculum more manageable, by
substantially reducing the total number of formal les-
sons that must be taught.
In order to utilize guided discovery, it is important to
identify the most significant or key lessons; these are
limited, and there should not be more than 30 to 35 key
lessons in any subject area for any age group. Of course,
most of us have albums with many more lessons, so this
requires stringent pruning and restraint on the part of
the teacher. Only lessons that offer essential skills and
abilities should be considered “key.” Lessons offering
details and special cases are not.
With the guided discovery technique, there is never
a large set of potential problems, sentences, phrases,
or applications from which to choose. A single lesson
with 2 to 4 possible problems or applications is offered,
and after these first sample problems have been com-
pleted, the children should be encouraged to create
their own work, their own problem sets, and their own
activity plan.
For example, a general exercise could be presented
using the Stamp Game material for division. Then the
guide can offer 3 or 4 set exercises in which there are no
difficulties—that is, wherein there are no remainders
and no zeros in any place, and where the first digit of the
dividend is always larger than the divisor. Now children
may begin to create their own arithmetic examples.
When they do this, they will inevitably encounter
every possible challenge. They will encounter zeros,
remainders, and strange dividends. When they meet
these challenges, they will be put in a position of
discovering, or needing to discover, how to solve that
particular type of problem. At this point, the guide may
gather the children who are working on that particular
topic to celebrate the discovery of the new challenge,
and possibly its solution. This creates a short teachable
moment in which the technique for addressing the
new difficulty can be introduced or summarized. This
is never to be a scheduled or planned lesson but instead
a response to the children’s real discovery.
There is little doubt that Elementary children learn
very well by talking. This knowledge has grown from Only when
Wilkinson (1965), who introduced the concept of the children
oracy. “Put simply, talk, or oracy, is the foundation of
literacy. This should not come as a surprise to anyone.”
work away
(Fisher, Frey, and Rothenberg, 2017, ¶10) from the
This means that, as a second technique, Montesso- presence
rians must maximize the opportunities for children of an adult
to speak in lessons. For example, they should be able is actual
to “put things in their own words,” invent definitions,
rephrase ideas, or explain their own thought processes.
indepen-
For this reason, lessons offered to Elementary chil- dence being
dren should nearly always be planned for small groups of exercised.
at least 4 or 5, but no larger than 9 or 10. When lessons
are delivered to these small groups, incisive higher-order
discussion, which involves and encourages independent
and creative thought, can be a central component. A
creative, higher-order discussion never simply replicates
ideas that have been generated by the adult.
A third important independence-building technique
at the Elementary level is always to offer two choices
of follow-up work after every lesson. The number, two,
SPRING 2018 43
INDEPENDENCE: A MONTESSORI JOURNEY
is not arbitrary. I found in research I conducted at St.
Catherine University (2008) that it is unnecessary to
offer three or more choices, and doing so may delay
choice making. Having a choice of follow-ups offers
children a starting point for independence. The two
choices offered must be equal in terms of challenge and
difficulty, but they should be different in terms of kind.
In other words, one choice might be more mathemati-
cal, for example, and the other more artistic.
Moreover, children should be expected to choose
their follow-up work before they leave the lesson. After
completing the work, they may do the second of the
follow-up options if they desire, or possibly one of
their own invention. This technique leads children to
more successful independent work time: Because they
have made a choice, they tend to be more attentive and
careful with the work—and more likely to complete it
in a timely manner. This seems to be due simply to their
having made a conscious choice.
When arranging the Elementary classroom, it is
important that the guide put out all resources that chil-
dren may require for independent activity, including
any books, forms, writing instruments, materials, and
paper. This will allow children to build their indepen-
dence by accessing, on their own, all the resources that
they may require, avoiding the possibility of having to
ask the guide to locate essential materials.
It is also important that expectations for work, lesson
attendance, and completion are clear and explicit at the
A focus on Elementary level and that there are regular and pre-
process dictable classroom routines. Having clear expectations
implies that and regular routines allows children to function inde-
activity and pendently without repeatedly asking for directions, due
learning dates, or other information for which they can learn to
be responsible on their own.
are ongoing At this level, there are also a few things that need to be
and can be avoided, as they can be impediments to independence
informed by and, often, blockers of creativity.
each child’s One important thing to avoid is an emphasis on mas-
independent tery, which represents an orientation toward product
rather than process. When the focus is on product,
desire for right and wrong and exactness begin to reign supreme.
growth and Alternatively, when the focus is on process, children pay
knowledge. more attention to problem solving, exploration, inves-
tigation, and creativity, all the while increasing their
independence. Mastery also suggests that activities have
an end, while a focus on process implies that activity
and learning are ongoing and can be informed by each
child’s independent desire for growth and knowledge.
As part of an effort to reduce the importance placed
on product/mastery, it is essential to avoid a detailed
checking of follow-up work or assignments—reviewing
44 MONTESSORI LIFE
every piece of work done by every child for exact accu-
racy, neatness, structure, or spelling. While it is necessary
to periodically review children’s work for accuracy,
involvement, beauty, completion, and understanding,
over-checking their work produces a mindset focused
on the outcome rather than the process. As a result, chil-
dren may begin to fear error and can become less likely
to make independent, risky, or challenging choices.
Instead, guides should work to create a focused dis-
cussion with the children around what challenges they
encountered, inviting them to offer examples of those
struggles and discuss how they dealt with them (even
when they were unable to solve their problems). In this
way, evaluation can be formative rather than summative,
and can lead to continued growth and independence.
Finally, the Elementary class should avoid predeter-
mined task cards, problem cards, worksheets, workbooks,
or fixed work plans—any and all tasks that focus on uni-
form completion. All of these tools tend to put children
into an outcome-focused mode, and these outcomes
have all been predetermined by the guide or by the
task card or worksheet. As a result, these strategic tools
de-emphasize independence and creativity.
ADOLESCENCE
At the Adolescent level, independence takes on new
forms and new meaning. Financial independence be-
comes very important. Adolescents need to be able to
fulfill at least some of their wants and needs with their
own money, so schools that offer Adolescent pro-
grams need to include moneymaking projects of some
sort. These can be things like a school store, a garden
with a farmers’ market, a set of craft projects, or other
marketing endeavors. I know of one Adolescent pro-
gram in which students even create, market, and sell
Montessori materials!
While financial independence is important to the
adolescent, so is independence in transportation.
Adolescents need to be able to move about their neigh-
borhoods, their vicinities, or their cities easily and
safely. Programs for adolescents aimed at independence
must include elements that lead to mastering transport
in one’s area, be it public transportation, using taxis or
other ride services, bicycling, or driving a car.
Adolescent programs must recognize the capability
of the adolescent to plan and anticipate future learning
opportunities. For this reason, creating independence
must include collaborative planning, since top-down
or teacher-centered planning does not encourage
independence on the part of the adolescent learner.
Independence grows from the decision-making of the
adolescents themselves.
 Planning for adolescent instruction then must allow
for flexible scheduling responsive to the requests and
requirements of the learners. Of course, at the same
time, it must meet school, school district, county, or
state requirements. It is possible to create schedules
that both are flexible and meet those requirements.
For example, Minnesota requires 4 credits of English
for graduation (Minnesota Department of Education,
2010). But these courses can be flexibly arranged in
many configurations.
As much as Elementary guides need to foster higher-
order thinking in their students, so too do Adolescent
guides. It is not a matter of simply allowing divergent
thinking but of actively encouraging it. Independence
of thought must be supported in every possible way,
such as by rewarding initiative, encouraging role-play-
ing and brainstorming, asking open-ended questions,
and using concept and mind maps.
In conventional middle and high schools, teachers
typically occupy one particular classroom and stu-
dents migrate from room to room throughout their day.
This may be important for some sorts of classes, such
as laboratories, greenhouses, art studios, and musical
practice rooms. However, for many subject areas, it
is more efficient and more respectful to the learners
if they are allowed to stay in a home classroom while
the teachers rotate from space to space. This sort of
respectful behavior honors the learner-centered focus
of the Montessori environment. Within a learner-
centered school, young people are more likely to be
able to achieve independence since their personhood
is respected so highly.
Finally, it is important that students at the Adoles-
cent level have significant leadership opportunities.
This is done through collaborative planning, flexible
scheduling, creative curriculum development, encour-
agement of intellectual independence, and the use
of such creative learning approaches as the Harkness
table (Robinson, 2015). At the same time, it is essen-
tial that programs working with adolescents emphasize
followership: the ability to work within a committee,
collective, task force, or other group form with a leader.
CONCLUSION
In summary, independence is the centerpiece of all
Montessori education. It should never be our objective
to create, develop, support, or encourage dependency.
Instead, Montessori programs focus upon indepen-
dence in thought, emotion, creativity, expression, style,
and leadership.
There is no single lesson, presentation, piece of material,
or shelf arrangement that by itself creates independence
among our learners. Instead, independence is a constant,
demanding, and overarching goal. It requires a contin-
ual and ongoing commitment to its achievement on
the part of Montessori guides. It often calls upon the Montessori
adult to consciously give up behaviors and activities to programs
which he or she is accustomed. It certainly means will- focus upon
ingly surrendering some of the control that adults may
wish to exert over their classes. The reward for this diffi- indepen-
cult undertaking is the independent human beings who dence in
graduate from our Montessori programs: They are the thought,
fulfillment of one of our most exalted goals. emotions,
creativity,
MICHAEL DORER, EdD, is a senior consultant for The Montessori
Foundation, with a specialization in Montessori theory, prac-
expression,
tice, and curriculum. He is AMS-credentialed (Early Childhood, style, and
Elementary I) and AMI-credentialed (Elementary I–II). He has leadership.
authored seven Montessori textbooks, including The Deep Well of
Time: The Transformative Power of Storytelling in the Classroom.
He is a former president of the AMS Board of Directors. Contact
him at mjdorer@gmail.com.
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SPRING 2018 45
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