Pioneers in Education

Zuraimi Zakaria, Faculty of Education, UiTM

 Dr Maria Montessori was the first female
physician in Italy (first woman in Italy to
graduate from medical school in 1896) and
one of the most well known figures in early
childhood education.
She graduated from Rome University with
Doctorate of Medicine.
She studied young children with learning
difficulties and found that deficiencies can be
solved using pedagogical approaches rather
than medical approaches.
 Maria Montessori was nominated
three times for the Nobel Peace Prize.
In 1907 she opened her first Casa dei
Bambini (Children’s House) in the
slums of Rome, and she made many
of her own materials.
By 1913, there were almost 100
schools in the United States following
Montessori’s methods.
In 1922, she was appointed as the
government inspector of schools in
Italy.
 In 1929, Montessori established the
Association Montessori Internationale
(AMI) to support the swell of Montessori
schools, teacher education programs,
and national organizations around the
world.
However, in 1934, she was forced to
leave Italy due to her opposition of
Mussolini’s fascism and fled to India.
Montessori died in 1952 in Holland,
leaving behind ideas and writings for
educational programs for children.
 Montessori’s first job was to visit insane
asylums and select patients for treatment.
While working there, she became
interested in young children and their
needs.
She took special interest in children that
were labeled ‘unteachable’. She observed
the children and documented her findings.
Montessori then developed methods that
aided in educating these children and she
was labeled a ‘teacher’, despite the fact
that she had a doctoral degree.
 Appointed as the co-director of
Orthophrenic School, and she was allowed
to house children from asylum in separate
ward.
Montessori employed Itard and Seguin’s
work to create new teaching methods.
She also designed teaching tools that
allowed children to learn through
experiencing the world and using their
senses.
Some of the children from the asylum
gained literacy skills and scored above
average on state exams.
 Montessori’s Children House
Casa de Bambini, also known as the Children’s
House was established in 1907 to keep
children of working parents out of the streets.
Montessori created a school environment to
make up for impoverished conditions of many
children’s homes.
She believed that to be comfortable, young
children needed furnishings their own size and
tools that fit their small hands.
Montessori schools opened throughout
Europe, in North and South America and
finally, on every parts of the Globe.
 Montessori’s Teaching and
Learning
Teachers should assume the role as a
‘directress’ instead of teachers. They should
observed children’s behaviors.
Children are encouraged to pursue their own
interests: move around freely, not forced to sit
behind desks.
The children are provided with Montessori’s
teaching tools. Children play with tools
instead of toys.
They learn literacy and self-care skills. Correct
environment is essential to student learning.

1. INDEPENDENCE
One of the goal of Montessori
education in the classrooms is to
make the children independent and
capable of doing things for
themselves.
This is achieved by presenting
children with opportunities.
Principles of
MONTESSORI
The opportunities include the opportunities to
move, to dress themselves, to choose what they
want to do and to help the adults with tasks.
When the children are able to do things for
themselves, there is an increase in their self
belief, self confidence and esteem and they may
carry on throughout their life.
 Principles of
MONTESSORI
1. INDEPENDENCE

Hence, the teacher’s job is to prepare the environment,

provide appropriate materials and then step back and allow
the children the time and space to experiment.
 Principles of
MONTESSORI
2. OBSERVATION

Maria Montessori learned about children and developed her theories on child
development through observing children.
She observed without preconceived ideas that helped her develop materials
that the children needed and were interested in.
Observation is also the way adults can learn about what the child needs are.
 Principles of
MONTESSORI
3. FOLLOWING THE CHILD

Children should be given freedom to From what you have observed from the actions
choose and explore what they have of the children, follow them in what they need
an interest in or need to explore. to do without being overprotective.

Children should not be told what Following the child also means being non-
they should do, but be given choices directive, the adults should avoid from telling
or different materials/toys. the children what to do all the time.
 Principles of
MONTESSORI
4. CORRECTING THE CHILD

When children make mistake, it is It is important for the adults to address these
the opportunity for the adults to mistakes calmly: by giving the children freedom and
teach the children the appropriate choice, supporting them in their choice by making
coping strategies. sure they are safe.

These mistakes could be in the form Feed the children’s inquisitive minds in a way that
of spilling something, dropping food they can understand and observing their needs and
unintentionally, etc. fulfilling these are the keys to helping children
develop.

5. PREPARED ENVIRONMENT
Montessori proposed that the
environment which surrounds the child’s
life be accommodated in a way that would
support the child’s growth.
Prepared environment is important part of
Montessori education, and it serves as the
link for a child to learn from adults.
Principles of
MONTESSORI
Rooms should have the size appropriate for
the child with activities set up for success
and allow freedom of movement and
choice.
The environment has to be safe for the child
to explore freely. It has to be ready and
attractive enough for children to explore.
 Principles of
MONTESSORI
6. ABSORBENT MIND

Montessori observed how children the language without anyone teaching them,
this sparked her idea for the ‘absorbent mind’.
Children under the age of 3 do not need to have lessons in order to learn, they
simply absorb everything in the environment by experiencing it, being part of it.

It is therefore important that the environment set up is good, nice and positive
since this is what the child will absorb whether he chooses to or not
s Montessori Classroom Setup
 Tools and Classroom Setup

Montessori believed in providing children

with real tools such as sharp knives, good
scissors and woodworking and cleaning tools.

Materials and equipment are to be accessible

to the children and organized so they can find
and put away what they need.

Every material should have a place and

marked in a child-friendly way, with
photographs or drawings as well as the
printed name of the material that belongs
there.
 View of Education

Fundamentally, parents are responsible for

education. However should they become
unable to do it, schools would become
necessary to replace them.

The image of the ideal person what that of

a ‘pansophist’ or a person who has
learned all knowledge concerning God,
nature and human beings.
Montessori and Education Today

Currently there are around 22,000

Montesorri schools in 110 countries.
Montessori’s theories of education shape the
learning of young children and influence the
learning environment.
You will find classrooms with child-sized
furnishings, labeled shelves for materials,
scheduled time for free play, students
engaging in activities that promote
independence, freedom of choice and
teachers observing their students.
 Discussion Question
Should all schools implement the self-correcting, sensory-based methods designed by
Montessori or are these techniques only applicable in certain situations.
Jean Piaget (1896-1980)
 Jean Piaget was a Swiss genetic
epistemologist, psychologist and
philosopher.
He developed the most detailed and
comprehensive theory of cognitive
development in 19702.
Many of his ideas were the result of his
daily observations of few subjects usually
his 3 children and a nephew.
His contributions is credited to the
emerging disciplines of child psychology,
educational psychology and cognitive
development theory.
Jean Piaget was born in Neuchatel,
Switzerland on August 9 1986.
He was the eldest child of Arthur
Piaget, professor of medieval
literature and of Rebecca Jackson.
In his early years, he studied mollusk
and he love sciences. He then
changed to the study of philosophy.

He was one of the 20th century’s

most influential researchers in the
area of developmental psychology.
 Jean Piaget was employed at Binet
Institute in the 1920s where his job was to
develop French versions of questions on
English Intelligent tests.
He became intrigued with the reasons
children gave for their wrong answers on
the questions that required logical
thinking.
He believed that these incorrect answers
revealed important differences between
the thinking of adults and children.
Piaget was the first psychologist
to make a systematic study of
cognitive development.
His contribution include a
theory of cognitive child
development, detailed
observational studies of
cognition in children.
According to Piaget, children are
born with a very basic mental
structure on which all
subsequent learning and
knowledge is based.
 Piaget wanted to know how children
learned through their development in the
study of knowledge.
His theory is based on the idea that
children’s development builds on their
cognitive structures (cognitive
structures=schemes used to understand and
respond to physical environment).
He believed that the child’s cognitive
structure increased with development.
 What is Cognition?
Cognition refers to mental processes
an organism learns, remembers,
understands, perceives, solves
problems and thinks about a body of
information.

Cognition progresses in stages with

increasing levels of complexity.
Hence, the phrase ‘cognitive
development’ is developed.
 Cognitive
Development
Describes how mental processes
develop from birth until adulthood.
It is the process by which people’s
thinking changes across the life
span.

Also refers to the acquisition of the

ability to think, reason and solve
problems.
 Theory of Cognitive
Development
Piaget believed that children developed
their cognition and knowledge by
progressing through a series of
developmental stages.
Each stage occurred in a sequential order,
and none of the stages could be missed.
To move from one stage to the next,
children use assimilation, accommodation
and equilibration to gain and build
schemata.
 Sensorimotor Stage (ages 0-2)

Children predominantly learn and

act upon the world through their
senses and motor abilities.
The child’s thinking involving seeing,
hearing, moving, touching.
Knowledge is limited because it is
based on physical interactions and
experiences.
Experimenting and learning through
trial and error. Such exploration
might include shaking a rattle or
putting objects in the mouth.
 Sensorimotor Stage (ages 0-2)

Early language development

begins during this stage.
The child also has a primitive
understanding of cause-and-
effect relationship.
Object permanence appears
around 9 months.
Iklan…
 Sensorimotor Stage (ages 0-2)

Object permanence is
the understanding that
objects continue to
exist even when they
cannot be observed
(seen, heard, touched,
smelled or sensed in
any way).
Object
Permanence
 Pre-operational Stage (ages 2-7)

Herbert
How a childSpencer
thinks... (1820-1903)
 Pre-operational Stage (ages 2-7)

A stage where children develop their

language ability, increase
engagement in role-playing and use
of imagination.
The child demonstrates
egocentrism: the inability to view
things from another perspective
other than their own.
The child would also demonstrate
conservation: the awareness that
altering a substance’s appearance
does not change its basic properties.
Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)
 Pre-operational Stage (ages 2-7)

A stage where children develop their

language ability, increase
engagement in role-playing and use
of imagination.
The child demonstrates
egocentrism: the inability to view
things from another perspective
other than their own.
The child would also demonstrate
conservation: the awareness that
altering a substance’s appearance
does not change its basic properties.
Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)
Herbert Spencer
Piaget’s Conservation
 By the age of 16,Task
 Home schooled by his father and
later by his uncle.
 Learnt various subjects such as Latin,
Greek, English, and history however
greater emphasis was given on
Science.
Spencer had a good
background in mathematics and the
natural sciences.
 At the age of 17, he was an engineer at
London and Birmingham Railroad, and
later worked as a draftsman for the
Birmingham Railway.
 Concrete Operational Stage (ages 7-11)

Thinking is based on logic,

mental cognition centers
on concrete events. The
child has difficulty
understanding abstractive
concepts and hypothesis.
They demonstrate empathy
and understanding of
others’ point of view,
elimination of egocentrism.
 Formal Operational Stage (ages 11 until adulthood)

Able to think of abstract

concepts and employ
deductive reasoning.
Planning and execution of
behavior are systematic,
and attempt complex
problem-solving.
 Formal Operational Stage (ages 11 until adulthood)

1. Scientific Reasoning
 Formal Operational Stage (ages 11 until adulthood)

2. Abstract Thinking
 Formal Operational Stage (ages 11 until adulthood)
2. Abstract Thinking
 Formal Operational Stage (ages 11 until adulthood)

3. Separating reality
from possibility
Direction of thinking about
reality and possibility
reverses: reality is thought of
as only one of many possible
outcomes, how things could
be.
Formal Operational Stage (ages 11 until adulthood)
Formal Operational Stage (ages 11 until adulthood)
 Let’s do this
exercise very very
quickly!

Imagine that you have

been given a third eye
and you can place this
eye anywhere on your
body.
Where would you
place it?
 How
assimilation
works…