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I did not attend Montessori school as a child. In fact, the first time my parents heard about Montessori education was when I stumbled upon it as an adult through social justice work. Looking back, I can see how much the traditional, compliance-based, predominately white institutions constrained my ability to innovate. But when I walked into the Montessori classroom, I actually felt free. Free to move, free to create, free to explore, free to try, free to fail, free to be.
This freedom is essential to becoming an innovator. Innovators don't just wake up one day with a brilliant idea. Innovators possess an irreverence almost as big as their self-efficacy, both of which have been nurtured in an environment where it's cool to think outside of the box and failure is encouraged as a stepping-stone to success.
Unfortunately, while many Montessori classrooms encourage this freedom and innovation for children, it is often not the reality for Montessori teacher training programs or adult learning programs in general. In sharp contrast to the Montessori classroom, teachers in training are expected to "do what I say, not what I do." We are graded, punished, rewarded, and given mindless busy work. When we ask for rationale, we are too often told, "Because I/Maria Montessori said so." How can we expect future teachers to create a Montessori prepared environment if they've never experienced what it's like to learn in a student-led, individualized, joyful learning space? How do we raise innovators when all we are taught is compliance?
I vividly remember receiving an F on an assignment in my Montessori training 15 years ago. Apparently, as I placed the tiny pin on the long division board, my hand bounced above the pin. "This is a distracting hand movement for the child. Redo it. F." I immediately burst into tears. My first F over a bouncing hand. Would we ever do this to one of our children? Why do we accept this behavior from our Montessori teacher training programs?
What if I had heard this instead:
Did you notice that your hand bounced when you placed the pin on the long division board? How do you think that might impact a child's learning? Is there another way you could try it that...