Paul Clement Czaja
Being educators working within a Montessori charter public school, my colleagues and I strive to provide learning environments for children that are different from the familiar, traditional, graded classrooms of their neighborhood schools. Because of such purposed uniqueness, I think it might be helpful if I shared the values that make our learning environments so special. First of all, as Montessori educators we provide a learning community, not merely a classroom of same-aged pupils. The children do their learning in “family” groupings of two- or three-year age spans. This provides the children with an opportunity to work under the caring observation of one educator for a developmental span of some contiguous years and also allows them to experience themselves as beginners and finally as elders within their learning community – to be supported by peers and in turn the become supportive leaders, too.
Further, the children’s personal life within our Montessori learning environments is much like the natural life they have within their homes and neighborhoods. Respecting their natural right to enjoy freedom of movement and to exercise personal choice within their learning rooms, they are given expressed ground rules based on common sense and on the wisdom of their elders. Inappropriate behavior sticks out like a sore thumb and is caringly dealt with by members of the learning environment as well as by their observing Montessori educator.
As the children become older and more confident learners, they also become true leaders themselves in caring for their environment and for the well-being of the others in their learning community. Dr. Montessori observed that as the children within her first Casa dei Bambini became truly satisfied in their learning accomplishments, they began to show genuine kindness for the other members of their communal circle of friends and co-workers.
Perhaps because the children in Montessori learning environments are learning independently or as team members on a research project, they feel neither competition nor a need to show off or dominate in bullying. Ample time to communicate develops true community and especially the joy of healthy personal communion. And that is exactly what we as Montessori educators seek to create – a place that fosters lifelong personal learners who are knowledgeable, kind, sharing, and authentic members of our society.
Paul Clement Czaja, Ph.D., has been involved in the Montessori movement of alternative education for more than 50 years. Dr. Czaja was on the founding faculty and, eventually, headmaster at the famous Whitby School, The American Montessori Center, in Greenwich, Connecticut, from 1960 until 1979. He has been involved in Montessori teacher training for many years, and has worked with Montessori public charter schools as well as independent schools. He can be reached at czaja36@yahoo.com.
