When you walk into a Montessori class for the first time, you notice that the students face toward the center of the classroom, toward a central activity area, and toward other students, rather than toward the teacher. This difference between traditional and Montessori educational methods is significant and symbolic. It says that the student rather than the teacher is the focus of activity in a Montessori classroom. This is even more significant in the life of deaf children, as their world is based entirely on their other senses.
Montessori
- Emphasis on cognitive structures and social
development
- Teacher’s role is unobtrusive; child actively participates in learning
- Environment and method encourage internal
self-discipline
- Individual and group instruction adapts to each
student’s learning style
- Mixed age grouping
- Children encouraged to teach, collaborate, and help
each other
- Child chooses own work from interests, abilities
- Child formulates concepts from self-teaching
materials
- Child works as long as s/he wants on chosen project
- Child sets own learning pace to internalize
information
- Child spots own errors thru feedback from material
- Learning is reinforced internally thru child’s own
repetition of activity, internal feelings of success repetition
- Multi-sensory materials for physical exploration
development
- Organized program for learning care of self and
self-care environment (shoe polishing, sink washing, etc.)
- Child can work where s/he is comfortable, moves and
talks at will (yet doesn’t disturb others); group work is voluntary and
negotiable
- Organized program for parents to understand the
Montessori philosophy and participate in the learning process
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Traditional
- Emphasis on rote knowledge and social development
- Teacher’s role is dominant, active; child is a
passive participant
- Teacher is primary enforcer of external discipline
- Individual and group instruction conforms to the
adult’s teaching style
- Same age grouping
- Most teaching done by teacher and collaboration is
discouraged
- Curriculum structured with little regard for child’s
interests
- Child is guided to concepts by teacher
- Child usually given specific time for work
- Instruction pace set by group norm or teacher
- Errors corrected by teacher
- Learning is reinforced externally by rewards,
discouragements
- Few materials for sensory, concrete manipulation
- Little emphasis on instruction or classroom
maintenance
- Child assigned seat; encouraged to sit still and
listen during group sessions
- Voluntary parent involvement, often only as
fundraisers, not participants in understanding the learning process
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