Montessori -- Cosmic Educational Strategies
The success that the Montessori system of learning has achieved is in part due to the theory of cosmic education and its affect on children. Maria Montessori wrote that the universe is "…an imposing reality, and an answer to all questions… All things are part of the universe and are connected with each other to form one whole unity…" (To Educate the Human Potential). Moreover, this paper presents -- through the literature -- how a child can be led to acquire new powers in the process of cultural learning through activities, movements, particularly those that are interesting to him. The Montessori method allows the child (under 6 years of age) to construct useful, culturally-related strategies that will remain with him for all his life.
The Cosmic Educational Experience at Montessori
"Rocks, water, air -- solids, liquids, gasses: each is what it is because of its degree temperature," Maria Montessori explained. This a simple way to approach the universe and the world they live in, according to Mary Hayes' presentation at the 25th International Montessori Congress in Sydney, Australia. Montessori teachers do not tell children that "…mountains, rivers, the valleys and all those particulars of the planet were created" (Hayes, 2005, p. 3). Rather, the students are told about the scientific facts that all matter exists in three states and that temperature is the catalyst for these three states of matter.
Indeed it was because of the discovery of the laws of nature that humans understand: a) water flows downwards and sideways; b) air rises when it is heated; and c) rocks will wear away in time to create new soil for seeds to grow in. Montessori students are told that plants will then product oxygen for humans and for animals to breathe -- and some of the animals live in water, some live in "complete darkness under the earth," and some animals will become food for other animals. This is the way it works in the cosmic world, and children by the time they are in school have already "…absorbed the immediate environment and the restricted society they and their families have dealings with," Maria Montessori explained (Hayes, 3). .
So after the children have had their first interaction with the physical world, and attend a Montessori class, the task of a Montessori teacher is to "…try and give the child what he now longs for: an understanding of the world, how it functions and how it affects the life and behavior of humanity" (Hayes quoting Maria Montessori). Once the children understand the basic aspect of cosmic education, the next step is to explain the "house-keeping, or maintenance" of the creation of the planet; this of course is known as pollution, and in Montessori's Cosmic Education children learn that there must be "service rendered to the environment, service rendered to life, service rendered to humanity" (Hayes, 3).
To demonstrate how rocks can be worn away the teacher uses an acid solution on a tiny piece of marble from an aquarium and as the marble begins to dissolve, the children get it. As part of the cosmic education, the Montessori teacher introduces "material" and "spiritual" fundamental needs for humans. And everything moves forward toward a "predetermined end," Hayes continues, and while the adult may "modify the environment unconsciously, he/she constructs" houses and buildings from what he/she finds in the environment (Hayes, 8).
Maria Montessori believed that children who receive a Cosmic Education "…are better prepared to enter adolescence as independent, confident, responsible, emotionally intelligent individuals" (Montessori Teacher Training, 2009). With Cosmic Education training those adolescents will be more "…balanced in physical, intellectual and social achievements," the teacher training blog explains. Cosmic Education does not present the universe as random or objectified, but rather it "…constantly stresses the interconnections between all content areas" including the study of history and culture, and in doing so it transcends "superficial racial and cultural differences" and demonstrates how humans are all "driven by the same set of fundamental human needs" (Montessori Teacher Training, 2009).
Montessori "Living Legend" and noted author Aline Wolf explains that Cosmic Education offers children first "…an all-encompassing sense of the universe with its billions of galaxies"; secondly, cosmic education zeros in on the Milky Way, the solar system and planet earth, including all species of plants and animals "and finally human beings. Inherent in the whole study is the interconnectedness of all creation, the oneness...
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