In August, the campus is extremely hot, even the oncoming wind is hot. In the summer when the somatosensory temperature approaches 38 degrees, the students of Montessori experimental education are doing yoga in the stormy corridor.
I saw the junior students in front in a circle, gently stretching their bodies under the gentle guidance of the yoga teacher. "Imagine you are a seedling, you should take root in the earth", and each of them is trying to establish their own connection with the earth and the world.
Walking into the depths of the campus, I saw all kinds of plants planted at the door of the classroom. There were tables and chairs in the corridor, and two middle school students sat on them, hugging each other and chatting happily about their homework. The children's laughter and eagerness to learn brought a little coolness to the heat.
"Hey, isn't it class time? Why don't they study in the classroom? The question suddenly issued by the teacher next to me brought the reporter back to reality. However, even when I walked into the classroom, I didn't see the picture of the teacher teaching. On the contrary, several students are entrenched in the corner, some are reading novels, and some are looking through dictionaries.
The Yuyi Future Education Foundation and TMEC Taiwan Province Montessori Education Base recently jointly held a three-day and two-night Montessori Education Publicity Experience Camp, and invited more than 60 public primary and secondary school educators from all over Taiwan Province to learn about Montessori education and how Montessori education spirit is implemented in students' learning process.
Wang, the founder of Qixin Montessori experimental education institution, said: "In our class, students can decide what kind of' work' they want to do." In Montessori education, there is no clear discipline, no strict rules on class time, and there will be no scene where teachers stand in front of the stage and tell students what to do.
The classroom environment is also impressive. On the ceiling, the planets of the solar system are hung; On the wall are special reports, covering biology, civilization history, geography and other fields, all made by students themselves. "We also have parrots, and sometimes they fly to students' shoulders," said Wang, pointing to a parrot nearby.
Such a free and unrestricted learning atmosphere is really hard to see in public schools.
Montessori emphasizes a prepared environment, so the classroom will provide a variety of teaching AIDS and animals and plants for children to learn in the environment. Provided by Qixin Montessori Experimental Education Institution
Montessori stressed the need to provide a "prepared environment" for children to learn from the heart in the environment. Therefore, in Montessori classrooms full of teaching AIDS, children can often be seen picking up teaching AIDS that they are interested in. Animals and plants appear in the classroom because people do not live independently in the world. "Let children know what the whole universe is doing, bring the universe into the classroom, and bring things that can interest students.
The teacher's role is more like an observer, paying attention to students' emotions and learning conditions, but not making any direct intervention. "Even if the students have contradictions, we will only listen to him and let the children discuss how to solve the disputes themselves." Wang said that teachers would not take the initiative to teach students how to do it. "If public teachers want to become Montessori, they must lose the whole framework, because Montessori's real teachers are the children themselves. 」
The most important task of teachers is to help children establish contact with the environment. Therefore, to really implement the Montessori spiritual education model, not only a prepared environment is needed, but also prepared adults are needed.
This visit is one of the links of Montessori Education Public Experience Camp. Andy Chen, founder of Yuyi Future Education Foundation, who held this experience camp, said that he saw Montessori's educational model of respecting adaptive development and individual independence, so he not only sent his children to Montessori reading groups, but also hoped to bring the educational model that he could only see in reading groups or experimental education in previous years into public schools, so that Montessori could become an affordable education for everyone.
Although Qixin Montessori experimental education institution is located in the campus of Binjiang Primary School, it only rents the school premises through leasing and does not participate in the class operation of Binjiang Primary School. However, when experimental education enters public schools, it will often cause doubts about the operation of school affairs, fearing that students from both sides will influence each other and cannot concentrate on their studies. Therefore, at the Montessori Education Publicity Experience Camp, Wang also generously shared Montessori's school-running experience and how to get along with public primary schools as an experimental education system instead of "one country, two systems".
Wang not only shared his experience in running a school, but also shared the process of integration with public schools. Provided by Yu Yi Future Education Foundation.
He said that in order to let the school know more about Qixin, he invited the school director and teachers to the classroom, and the children personally demonstrated what they were doing in the classroom, which slowly opened up the space for dialogue and exchange inside and outside the system. At the same time, aspiring children will not only participate in on-campus activities, but also sometimes participate in off-campus competitions on behalf of participating schools, so as to make the connection between them closer.
"Slowly, some teachers will send their children to enlighten them," Wang said.
"I can't imagine a child really sitting and reading by himself without others staring! 」
"There is no division of disciplines, how to teach? 」
"The teacher really can not guide students to learn? 」
"How do children arrange their own schedules? Don't you want to be lazy? 」
After visiting Qixin, the teachers of public schools in the system threw out one question after another. Some teachers admit that this independent and free Montessori teaching makes it difficult for them to imagine that they used to be curriculum arranger and instructor.
? Montessori's emphasis on autonomy and freedom still surprises many teachers in the system and often asks questions. (The picture is not for the questioner) Provided by Yu Yi Future Education Foundation.
In this regard, Wang explained that Montessori did not advocate unrestrained freedom and laissez-faire. From 3 to 6 years old, Montessori values freedom and restriction, and teachers will let children be free within certain restrictions. From the age of 6 to 12, children will talk about freedom and responsibility, and let them know that "only when you fulfill your responsibilities can you enjoy freedom in the environment". 12 to 18 years old, children will talk about freedom and morality, and youth courses will arrange social moral concepts to let children know how to balance the boundaries between freedom and morality.
"But it takes time to repeatedly teach the concepts of freedom and restriction, freedom and responsibility from an early age, so that students can learn to grasp the boundaries," said.
After talking about freedom, Wang also responded to teachers' confusion about autonomy. He said that Montessori education respects the learning rhythm of each child, and children can decide for themselves which classroom to work in and what they want to learn now. "This is a process of learning how to be independent and responsible for yourself. 」
He pointed out that most people can't imagine that children can study independently because they have little time to practice autonomy. "Ordinary primary school students only have ten minutes of autonomy after class. Of course they want to play basketball. They want to play. Moreover, after their children come home, they can't study independently most of the time. How do they study independently? 」
"We have no timetable, no definite class time and no homework, because students can control their study progress and arrange their daily schedule, so they can finish all the work at school, but of course there is no homework," he said.
A total of 14 principals and teachers of public primary and secondary schools in Taiwan Province were convened in this experience camp, with more than 60 participants. Although many teachers still find it hard to believe that this educational model can be embodied in public schools, some schools are also planning to transform into Montessori primary schools. For example, Houdong Primary School in New Taipei submitted an application at the end of May this year, and Zhong Yi Primary School in Taipei will offer the first Montessori class in the first semester of the 109 school year.
What will Montessori education look like when it really enters public schools? Can public school teachers get out of the existing educational framework and embrace Montessori teaching full of experimental education spirit? The educators who participated in the experience camp are eager to find possible answers in the future. ?