Montessori and RTA bus tour

The montessori pedagogy

Montessori Pedagogy is based on obeservations and discovery of Maria Montessori. After many hours of observing them she prepared activities that help every child in their development. She discovered that if children work in a carefully prepared environment, they are more concentrated and have better self-control. Didactic tools that we in montessori name »materials« Montessori designed (and are still designed in this ways today) to help the development of the mind, concentration, coordination, independence, socializing and  sense of order. Environment enables the child to develop awarness of others in a natual, sponatneous way. The room is divided into basic areas: language, practical life, art, gross and fine motor for younger children and science and math for children above 3 years of age. The room is usually spacious. There are low open shelves, tables of various sizes by which one to four children can comfortably sit. Traditional montessori classes are mixed of at least three different age groups. The class is usually divied into areas with shelves. Every area contains »materials«. This is the montessori term for didactic tools for a certain  area of the curriculum (art, math, language, etc.) Materials have their own permanent place on shelves. Children always return them to the same place, where they are prepared for another child. We nurture the sensibility for the group and respect for needs of others. You can recognize the method by the peacefullness of children, the individual approach and the fact that children learn to write, read and do math themselves by working with the materials. The aim of the approach as well as the method is learning for life. Child works in a respectful environment, freedom and responsibility. The method includes selfmotivation, selfdiscipline, selfdiscovery – a remarkable ability of children to develop their own potential, independence, systematic approach to solving problems, acquiring knowledge and skills and at the same time nurtures the joy of learning. The educational montessori approach combines two: psychology and philosophy of child's growth and principles of guiding this development. It is based on child's developmental needs for freedom inside certain boundaries and carefully prepared environment. The prepared environmet offers the child opportunities to work with materials and gain experience, which develop their mind as well as physical and spiritual competence. It is designed to fully encourage child's selfmotivation and ability to develop their hidden competences.

I imagine the montessori pedagogy works specifically to nurture the young minds, to mould them into a certain way of thinking and outlook on life. A child is placed in a carefully prepared environment and is taught to abide a set rule. The montessori pedagogy looks to develop a child's selfmotivation, selfdiscipline, and selfdiscovery through their own pace.

The montessori pedagogy shifts their focus from a conventional objective learning which would cover maths, science, etc to a more spiritual self-guiding awareness. If we translate this learning pedagogy to a higher state of learning, I'm quite skeptical of it's effectiveness as a learning pedagogy since this kind of teaching works better on young minds that teaches them to think like that from a young age.

The montessori system also seems like it would require quite a rigid monitoring to ensure the child is nurtured and moulded for a "successful" outcome (I guess that's why they are taught to abide a certain set of rules) This pedagogy is definitely quite unique and seem healthy through correct uses, but doesn't seem quite effective as a learning pedagogy for adults.

By the time people reached a matured state, they would have come to understand the world through their own beliefs which is shaped by their lives and upbringings. Introducing a new philosophy to someone at the later stages of life is not easy especially when they do not see the benefits of (or the immediate benefits) of switching their life philosophies.

The Montessori design group worked on a system of honesty, trusting students to look after the centre and tools. I am quite skeptical about this design as a practical concern, it may work theoretically but in reality not everyone shares the same philosophy as Montessori. It's very difficult to introduce the philosophy in a tertiary institute, everyone would have developed their own philosophies at this point and it would be difficult for them to abandon theirs or even consider incorporating the values of montessori into their lives just because they don't see the immediate positive values that it would bring. Perhaps people would join for the sake of belonging to a community, but the community wouldn't be large enough to sustain the institute for a montessori learning centre for adults. I think it's a great opportunity to introduce a montessori styled institute on campus, but perhaps on a smaller scale, and less in your face?

The Steiner pedagogy was another interesting one that focuses on the well being of the student over the teacher. Steiner worked with architectural ideas that involved colours and non-orthogonal designs. The classrooms also valued the outdoor experience and nature as a way to develop the student's spiritual well-being.

While visiting freeman's bay primary school along with Jane through RTA's tour of their built works within Auckland. The principal of freeman's bay shared her discovery and research as the forefront of NZ's educational program. The designs of the freeman's bay school was influenced by contemporary work spaces as a stepping stone to prepare and transition the young minds into future work environments. The qualities that was focused on were: flexibility, collaboration, teamwork, choice and empowerment. The principal also wanted to embrace the diversity, ethnicity, vibrancy of Auckland which is reflected through the bright and colourful colours of the building's facades. The key elements that went into the design were creating a relaxing space that feels like home and spaces that offers opportunities for activities (like a staircase that you can sit and read on), elevated spaces for empowerment, open plans that offers choice to the users.

From my visit to freeman's bay school, the school seems to be quite forward thinking and includes digital technology to assist learning and creativity. Instead of commenting on Jane's presentation of her other research works such as montessori and steiner schools, I thought this is more relevant to what we're designing: a futuristic library. While the concept of a montessori and steiner school does intrigue me and was definitely an eye opener, the qualities of what went into freeman's bay feels more relevant to our design and more worthwhile writing about.

The words that resounded from the principal was definitely thinking about learning space that reflects future working environments like WETA workshop. If the university our last preparation before entering the workforce, I think it's quite relevant to investigate how we can bridge that connection to either reflect or propose a forward thinking work environment. In freeman's bay school, kids had access to laptops and 3d printers as a device that supplemented their learning and creativity. As the principal states: "if the kids wanted to design a house, we let them hop onto minecraft and let them design whatever they want." From what I had went through as a kid in comparison to the primary schools today, it's interesting to see how technology has been integrated and change how teaching and learning works. As I entered intermediate, laptops were still being introduced as a technology which is now been fully adopted as a learning device. From this, how can we take forward the more immersive technologies of Virtual and augmented reality and design a space that integrates them into learning. Since Virtual and augmented begins to inhabit the third dimensional space, it's integral to design a space that accommodates for it.