A preliminary study of Montessori's educational thought (I)
Ideal Man: On Montessori's Educational Thought
Abstract: Maria? Montessori started from children's physical and mental characteristics and formed an ideal person in his educational philosophy. The ideal child is "normal" and the teacher is a "scientist"-like instructor. These ideal ideas still have great reference significance for education and concept change in today's society.
Keywords: Montessori, the ideal children's teacher
Montessori initiated "Children's Home" and conducted educational investigation and research, which achieved great success. Based on the theories of physiological psychology, morphological anthropology, medicine and experimental science, and on the basis of summarizing Rousseau and others' naturalistic educational thoughts, supported by the first-hand materials mastered in her own educational practice, she formed her own revolutionary views on children and teachers.
I. Ideal children
1. A sound personality
Children have their own "ongoing" unique personality, their own way of development, and their own laws. However, because of the weak state of the baby after birth, adults have a wrong cognition-they think they are the shaper, benefactor and owner of the child. Taking help as an obligation and children as their own property ―― trying to interfere with children's natural growth at will, forcibly instilling their own ideas and will, and stuffing children into the adult world. When children begin to know themselves, they are in a critical period of personality formation and sensitivity development. These behaviors of adults not only hinder and distort children's natural nature, but also make their own personality enter children imperceptibly, thus suppressing or even depriving children of their immature personality.
Montessori believes that children have an innate "potential vitality", which is positive, developing and has infinite power. The task of education is to guide the development of children's "potential vitality" to "form a sound personality", thus helping the development of "potential vitality" to "normalization" and helping children grow up to "normalization".
2. Be healthy and feel good.
In the growth of the day after tomorrow, due to some internal and external factors, the child is stunted or abnormal, leading to physical deformity. 3 to 6 years old, adults should pay attention to children's health care, and must use gymnastics to protect children. The main form is practicing walking. Through walking, exercise, free play, carrying, opening and closing doors, putting on clothes and practicing pronunciation, we can protect and promote normal physical development and muscle coordination.
Psychological deviation from the right track will affect the function of the body and cause many physical diseases and physical defects. For example, psychological problems can lead children to overeat and refuse to eat, while eating disorders can lead to diseases. Subconscious psychological barriers will dominate a person's physiological laws, and only when he is out of the unpleasant situation will these diseases and pathologies disappear automatically. Therefore, children should be placed in an environment that allows them to live normally and move freely, so that they can return to the right track psychologically.
Feeling is a communication channel to explore, understand and adapt to the outside world, which is closely related to life. The rational development of emotion is the preparation to adapt to real life and society. In the sensory formation period of 3-7 years old, sensory training can help the development of sensory organs, find and correct some defects (such as deafness and myopia), and improve sensory ability.
Educate yourself
Montessori put forward the possibility of children's self-education: a psychological absorption and a sensitive period. Children's growth is driven by their inner potential. Children are not containers for passively accepting knowledge, nor are they wax or mud randomly shaped by adults and the external environment, but are self-absorbed. Children have a natural function of absorption and creation. People don't find or don't want to admit this great power of children, but impose their wishes on children and suppress their nature. There are various sensitive periods in children's psychological development, which makes children have a special sensitivity to certain things in a specific period. Children will be very concerned and patient about these things and ignore other things. This enthusiasm comes from the depths of children's unconsciousness, but it meets their spiritual needs. Children get what they need through the sensitive period, thus forming their own personality. However, adults always interrupt children when they are concerned, or issue bans to prohibit children from paying attention.
Children have the instinct to absorb culture, and Montessori further illustrates the necessity of self-education. The purpose of children's education is to let children work freely in a prepared environment, to make children's potential vitality self-construct, correct and develop in the interaction with the outside world, and to promote children's self-education. If adults ignore children's self-education and overemphasize others' education, it will inevitably lead to children's passive learning, relying on external promotion and command, losing self-discipline and enthusiasm for learning, and eventually lead to adverse consequences. Therefore, it is necessary to protect children's initiative and absorption instinct, change the traditional supervised indoctrination education, create an environment suitable for their needs, and let children learn freely and educate themselves.
Second, the ideal teacher.
In the traditional education system, teachers always regard children as the ruler of the classroom, the supervisor of students and the dominator of resources, and regard education as a job responsibility. Their duty is only to instill all kinds of fragmentary knowledge and force children's behavior, which actually inhibits children's initiative and stifles their self-expression. Teachers should be renamed as "mentors", because the main task of teachers is to observe children, give timely guidance, and let children develop freely in a positive direction.
1. Scientists and
__
Montessori believes that scientists should be directly introduced into the school field and teachers should be raised to the level of scientists. Scientists at this level not only refer to external mechanical skills, but more importantly, they must have the spirit of scientists-the spirit of loving and selfless nature. In other words, it is necessary to cultivate more teachers' scientist spirit rather than mechanical skills, awaken the enthusiasm and interest of scientist-like researchers from the depths of educators, and cultivate the ability to treat children as unique individuals.
Jesus: "whoever becomes like a child is the greatest." Believers who hear such remarks are full of respect and curiosity to carefully observe the children's performances in order to achieve this state. Even such an observer cannot be a new teacher. However, if the scientist's spirit of self-sacrifice and _ _ _ _ _ _ are transplanted into the soul of an educator, then the teacher will learn from the children and become a real educator.
2. Learners
It is not enough for a teacher to prepare his mission by studying. Teachers must be guided to study their own defects and bad temper from the beginning, instead of blindly correcting children's mistakes. Teachers use lofty responsibilities as an excuse to cover up their shortcomings. In fact, these deep-rooted defects will hinder his relationship with children.
Arrogance and anger are its basic shortcomings. The teacher arrogantly thinks that he is responsible for all the children. This arrogance will lead to some false dignity and even demand respect. Anger is anger towards children, which is covered by arrogance. When children want to show their weak intentions, anger develops into tyranny and contempt for deliberation. But children can't understand this yet. They accepted tyranny. When they are blamed, they always feel that they are wrong. Before they learned to resist, they were used to it and believed that this tyranny was entirely for his own good. These defects are unique prejudices of adults, which will undoubtedly hinder teachers from understanding children. To be an effective teacher, we must get rid of these defects and learn the virtues of humility, kindness, calmness and tolerance, which are helpful to balance and teaching. This is of great reference significance to the current situation of frequent violence between teachers and students in China.
3. Observer
The most basic quality of a new teacher is observation ability. Adults must change their self-centered authoritative attitude, cultivate their own ideas and ability to observe children, and replace traditional indoctrination teaching with observation.
Observation quality includes all kinds of small qualities, such as patience. People who have no patience can't observe and judge things correctly, but can only realize their temporary desire satisfaction, escape from real work, and can't pay enough attention to those little things.
Many defects of children, which are difficult to make up later, are all caused by being ignored in the most important period. Therefore, teachers must have the ability to observe carefully. At the same time, teachers' observation attitude should be positive, scientific and sacred. Because he wants to accurately distinguish the true from the false through careful observation, and only people can observe this special and sacred object.
4. Mentors and environmental managers
Paying attention to children's environment is the first stage of teachers' work. The influence of the environment is subtle and effective. The first thing a teacher should consider is to put all the teaching AIDS in turn, so that they will always be beautiful, shiny and perfect, and create an environment where everything is novel, complete and available for children. This also means that teachers should have attractive appearance, keep clean, calm and solemn, and win the trust and respect of children. You should also pay attention to your manners. The teacher's appearance is a part of the environment, and the teacher himself is the most important part of the children's world.
Necessary intervention for children is the second stage of teachers' work. At this stage, if the child keeps disturbing others, the most practical measure for the teacher is to interrupt him, or scream loudly, or show special deep interest in the child who bothers others.
However, when children concentrate on their work, teachers should not disturb them, so as not to interrupt their positive attention and hinder their natural development. The child worked hard and finally began to concentrate on a certain job. Even if the teacher just says "yes", this first step will disappear like a soap bubble. When a child feels difficult about something, the teacher should not help him, otherwise he will lose interest in overcoming it. Teachers must always pay attention to children's situation, carefully arrange the learning environment, and guide children to act, decide and think for themselves.
Three. assess
From the perspective of early childhood education, Montessori put forward ideal assumptions and requirements for children and teachers by using various theoretical knowledge. Her unique views have a great influence on early childhood education in many countries. Although there are limitations and fallacies in some aspects, such as exaggerating children's innate potential and autonomy and not fully recognizing the role of teachers, the environmental education advocated is divorced from social life. However, there are still many ideas worthy of our consideration and reference, such as understanding and respecting children, advocating children's freedom and independence, attaching importance to the subtle influence of the environment, and opposing rewards and punishments and teachers' full-time irrigation, which have great enlightenment and reference significance for changing children's concepts, indoctrination education, passive learning, utilitarian education and fractional theory.
refer to
[1] maria montessori, edited by Shao Xiazhen. Montessori's Complete Book of Early Education Law [M]. China Development Press. 2004+02.
[2] Lu Leshan. Montessori preschool education [M]. Beijing: Beijing Normal University Press
[3] Yi Song. A Three-dimensional Review of Montessori's Educational Thought [J]. Journal of College of Education, Taiyuan University.2008,26 (3): 5-8
[4] Myna Xin. On Montessori's educational thoughts and teaching methods [J]. Journal of zhongzhou university. 2002，(4): 5 1-53
Brief introduction of the author
Fu Meihua (1995-), female, Han nationality, born in Dazhou, Sichuan, undergraduate, West China Normal University.