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