Maria Montessori- A Celebrated Figure In The Education Sector

Maria Montessori Name Institutional Affiliation Maria Montessori is a celebrated figure in the education sector all over the world for being the most accomplished educator in history. A trained medical doctor, Maria believed in the pushing of the limits of society from an early age. The attitude led to her developing philosophies and techniques often utilized in schools and colleges to promote learning. Dr. Montessori’s work has had significant influence especially to preschool children aged three to five years old who she considers significant. According to her, the work children engaged in during early childhood years contributed to the men and women they became in the future. Her main contributions to the foundation of early childhood education include the following. One, she supported early childhood education by coming up with a curriculum for young children. Maria believed that the best way children considered uneducable could learn it was through experience and hands-on manipulation of materials. Her experience in working with special needs children in the hospital gave rise to sensory education, which operated on the notion that if a psychiatrist could teach an idiot how to walk, maintain balance and how to feel, then the same concept could be used to teach children how to experience the world (Cooney & Jones, 2011). Thus she instituted sensory education, which utilizes the five senses to help children learn different languages, how to think critically, abstract thoughts, solving problems, do the math, discover practical life skills and become independent. The utilization of this curriculum ensured that children participated actively in their education, and absorbed knowledge making them ready for early childhood schooling. Two, she contributed by developing child-friendly schools. Maria believed that preschool education that she was offering was vital in ensuring children learn by giving them freedom of exploration to influence the environment (Cooney & Jones, 2011). Thus, she created a school that worked with mixed- age groups where children aged three, four and five years were put in the same class to learn from each other fostering learning and development of social skills. Second, Maria structured and organized the learning environment by placing all learning materials in a specific place, making them children size and attractive to the children (Cooney & Jones, 2011). Additionally, she developed learning materials that children could manipulate, materials that could correct themselves and simple enough for the students to understand without instruction. The child-friendly environment ensured children became independent, developed social skills and gained knowledge. Three, she contributed to the education of young children by designing unique teaching mate...