Montessori Blog
The Whole Child
The working relationship
between Anita Albers and Nina Marvi of the Albrook Montessori School in
Bernards Township, New Jersey, can easily be compared to the strong working
history that developed between Maria Montessori and Lakshmi Kripalani in 1946.
Maria Montessori founded her style of teaching out of necessity. She supported
a new approach to teaching that would keep children in an educational
environment that was clean and organized and would encourage the children to
learn independently. Montessori traveled to India where she taught her
techniques to Kripalani, who opened her own Montessori learning center in India
in 1947. She soon moved to the United States and began a Montessori movement in
New Jersey. When New Jersey resident, Anita Albers, met and trained under Maria
Montessori, she founded the Albrook Montessori School in Bernards Township, New
Jersey. Albers has since trained talented directors and staff, including Nina
Marvi, who is the current director of the Albrook Montessori School. With attention placed on developing the whole
child, Montessori schools have a solid reputation of graduating extremely
successful children.
In a revealing interview with the current Director of the
Albrook Montessori School, Nina Marvi, I was impressed with her dedication to
the Montessori concept. Marvi has been teaching at Albrook for almost 30 years.
She said that she has always “loved the Montessori method over public schools.”
Marvi notes that all of her children attended public school, and she observed
many flaws. At Albrook, she oversees grades Pre-K through 6th grade. Although
the school is full, the largest class is the combined class of Preschool and
Kindergarten. Marvi said that the combined classes of mixed grades “allows the
children to teach and mentor each other.” When I asked her to explain the
grading system, she said “there are no grades and only a scale between
successes and difficulties.” Marvi stresses the importance of “social skills”
as much as math and reading. Marvi indicated that she received her Montessori
training through the American Montessori
Society (AMS). The AMS maintains a school ratio of teacher to student as 1:10.
When I asked Marvi to expand on the value of Montessori over a public
education, the list was endless. She said that “the Montessori child learns to
overcome social difficulties” and that “every child has gifts and struggles.”
In thinking about her own children’s experiences (all in college except for one
who is in the public high school), she said that her children did not receive
the value of overcoming social difficulties in the way a Montessori student
does. With regard to behaviors and consequences for misbehaving, “the
Montessori child receives ‘natural consequences’, not so much punishment,” she
said. As an example, a teacher may ask a student to sit in another area away
from the group to observe, but the student is not being told that it is a “time
out” or a penalty. The goal is for the student to identify with self-taught
life lessons.
Marvi
keeps with Montessori tradition in “always modeling and reinforcing goal
behavior.” The unique difference in the Montessori approach is that “Maria
Montessori pioneered teaching the whole child and not just academics.” The
focus is not on local and state standards at Albrook. Learning does not need to
apply a specific curriculum or meet strict guidelines. At Albrook and other
Montessori schools, the focus is on “shared knowledge with one another.” I
asked Marvi if she ever received feedback from the public middle school that
believed a Montessori graduate was not up to the 7th grade standards of the
public school. “We track alumni to be sure we have a finger on the pulse and
tweak the program based on feedback.” It was reassuring to hear that Albrook
has interest in alumni and making sure all students are successful after
leaving. Another area of difference, Marvi noted, was that “the imbalance of
power creates bullying at school” and that Montessori stresses equality of
faiths, cultures and gender diversity. Marvi believes Albrook’s sensitive
attention to “the development of empathy and compassion helps us to put
ourselves in others’ shoes.” She said that “until we walk in someone’s shoes,
we can’t understand them.” Marvi said they practice a technique where the
children remove their shoes and wear another student’s shoes and walks across
the room. “This exercise allows them to think of others and not just
themselves. This further enhances the Montessori development of the whole child
and not just the student.
During the interview, an unexpected guest arrived and
introduced herself. Albrook’s founder and Trustee Emeritus, Anita Albers,
entered the room since she learned I was holding the interview with Director
Marvi. I was amazed to see such an elderly woman (she eagerly shared that she
is 89 years old) with such energy and enthusiasm. When I realized she was the
original owner of Albrook Montessori, I jumped at the chance to learn more.
“Did you know anything about Maria Montessori?” I asked. Albers was so excited
to have the thought cross her mind. “Maria was from Italy and founded
Montessori learning. She was a great observer.” What she said next was
incredible: “When I last saw Maria she was already quite ill.” I realized that
Albers had actually met with Montessori on more than one occasion. My questions
surfaced all at once. “Maria was an ardent believer in holistic teaching”
Albers said. “She founded her pedagogy practice in ‘79.” Albers spoke of Maria
as an acquaintance who taught her the philosophy that has become a popular
education around the globe. Albers added that she knows many Montessori alumni
and keeps in close contact with families. “The leading quality”, she says, “is
critical thinking skills and imagination.”
To further expand on the Montessori style of teaching, Katie
Babinski Thompson, a mother of 2 children who presently attend Albrook
Montessori and an alumnus herself, said “my sister and I attended preschool at
Albrook Montessori 30 years ago and now my 2 kids are there for Pre-K.”
Thompson is a supporting voice of Montessori and said “I absolutely love it and
have been amazed at how both of my children have blossomed there, in their own
ways.” The positive development of the whole child is what makes the Montessori
student thrive even long after graduation.
To further my growing
interest in how Montessori teaching has played a role in the success of some of
the most well-known creators and inventors, I found that some of the most
open-minded thinkers attended or graduated from Montessori. Their curiosity and
“outside-the-box” vision can be linked to their Montessori training. The
respect Montessori has for the natural development of children fosters the
ideas that may be hidden with the undue stress of curriculum. In recalling his
Montessori experience and link to his success, Larry Page, CEO of Google, says
“I think it was part of that training of not following rules and orders, and
being self-motivated, questioning what's going on in the world and doing things
a little bit differently." Thomas Edison, inventor, has been quoted
saying “I like the Montessori Method, it teaches through play. It makes
learning a pleasure. It follows the natural instincts of the human being. The
present system casts the brain into a mold. It does not encourage original
thought or reasoning." The mother
of Amazon’s CEO, Jeff Bezos, reports that “young Jeff would get so engrossed in
his activities as a Montessori preschooler that his teachers would literally
have to pick him up out of his chair to go to the next task." I was amazed
to learn that Henry Ford was also a graduate of Montessori. Finally, Jimmy
Wales, Founder of Wikipedia, described his Montessori schooling as a place where
he “spent lots of hours pouring over the Britannicas and World Book
Encyclopedias”. His intrigue inspired the launch of Wikipedia. These and other
success stories may not have been part of our history had it not been for the
Montessori training that celebrates the whole child and not just the student.
The evidence is compelling. Whether it is the success of
currently enrolled Montessori child or a graduate from its earliest days, the
world is a completely different place in the eyes of the Montessori attendee.
The students are not just educated, they have learned to think outside the box
and to create and discover, beyond the public school curriculum. The foundation
of the Montessori school’s philosophy of teaching the whole child is a superior
approach to education as it embraces the whole child, including academics.
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