Mind and Montessori
In this essay I intend to explore the relationship between obedience and discipline and how they are linked to the development of the will. I will identify the vital role that they have in the making of the whole person and just how essential they are to all areas of human development and integration.
The terms discipline and obedience can have both negative and positive connotations. Traditionally the terms can convey negative images of punishment and of rules and regulations. They are commonly thought of as things that are imposed upon people by an external force that may well be maintained by fear or confusion. Similar to the regime of soldiers in the army, discipline in education suggests a form of control and restriction; images of children seated in rows and kept in silence whilst being made to listen to the ideals and orders of the adults who reign over them. Hence obedience can be believed to be the action of a person whose will has been bent or broken, that for most humans feels against natural law and only seems effective from a distance.
However, Maria Montessori observed a much more natural process at work among human beings that did not need to be taught, much less drilled, into the human psyche. She believed that discipline, obedience and a person’s will go hand in hand and it would be quite impossible to have one without the other. We can quite easily see that in order to obey in any meaningful sense there must already be the will to do so. This thought process requires a level of discipline. Discipline to Montessori is not something externally attained but rather something blossoming from within each individual child. Maria understood that, regardless of culture or ethnicity, all humans inherently follow the same natural laws. We are all driven to achieve independence and to be fully in control of ourselves – mind and body. We prefer order to chaos, as it brings the security and predictability we need to develop in this world.
Montessori
The terms discipline and obedience can have both negative and positive connotations. Traditionally the terms can convey negative images of punishment and of rules and regulations. They are commonly thought of as things that are imposed upon people by an external force that may well be maintained by fear or confusion. Similar to the regime of soldiers in the army, discipline in education suggests a form of control and restriction; images of children seated in rows and kept in silence whilst being made to listen to the ideals and orders of the adults who reign over them. Hence obedience can be believed to be the action of a person whose will has been bent or broken, that for most humans feels against natural law and only seems effective from a distance.
However, Maria Montessori observed a much more natural process at work among human beings that did not need to be taught, much less drilled, into the human psyche. She believed that discipline, obedience and a person’s will go hand in hand and it would be quite impossible to have one without the other. We can quite easily see that in order to obey in any meaningful sense there must already be the will to do so. This thought process requires a level of discipline. Discipline to Montessori is not something externally attained but rather something blossoming from within each individual child. Maria understood that, regardless of culture or ethnicity, all humans inherently follow the same natural laws. We are all driven to achieve independence and to be fully in control of ourselves – mind and body. We prefer order to chaos, as it brings the security and predictability we need to develop in this world.
Montessori
Bibliography: Maria Montessori (2007,2010) Volume 1, The Absorbent Mind: Montessori-Pierson Publishing Company Amsterdam Maria Montessori (2007,2009) Volume 2, The Discovery of the Child: Montessori-Pierson Publishing Company Amsterdam Maria Montessori (1966) The Secret of Childhood: Ballantine Books New York