What is the end for the Montessori child?

Reflect to Refocus

I've been an educator for almost ten years and a Montessori guide for about half that time. One of the reasons I was moved to learn and practice Montessori pedagogy was because of the ways in which the philosophy connects with how I believe children and all people should be treated: with dignity, value, and love. The unique ways that Dr. Montessori considered the child in every aspect of her teaching philosophy is astounding. But equally unique is that she seemed to keep the end in mind.  I'd like to try and do the same. After all, the 3 year old in my class will one day be a 6 year old, then 9, 12, etc. Then what? What was Dr. Montessori aiming at? What should I be keeping in mind in regards to the reasoning behind my work?

Not quite the Miss America Answer

In a statement, Montessori sought to bring out the fullness of humanity, so as to create peace in the world. It's kind of crazy to think about. This brilliant educator was shooting for one of the higher aims in life. And she sought this as systematically as she could. I suppose her reasoning was like this: Since the deviations in people's personalities (which leads to mental and physical disturbances) can be eradicated by providing for the child everything that he needs at every stage, then this creates a harmonious and peaceful child, and thus a harmonious and peaceful adult. Where this educational philosophy is perpetuated, it has the potential to change societies, provinces, nations, and the world. 

He who is the constructor of man can never be a person of no importance. He is capable of doing something great, like a seed. It is only when we realize the wonderful way in which the child creates the man that we realize, at the same time, that we hold in our hands a secret by which we can help in the formation of  better humanity (Just the opposite of a secret weapon to destroy it). Montessori quoted in the book Maria Montessori: Her Life and Work by E.M. Standing

The End for the Adult

In order for this to happen, for children to grow up in an environment where they are safe, have their inner needs met, and the freedom to pursue them, the adult who cares for them must also change. The inconveniences that we attribute to childlike behavior, must instead by seen as they are: the child's desire to discover, learn and grow. We can either help in this process, or hinder it. In the Montessori Method of teaching the goal was to create a way of education that unleashed the full abundance of life within the individual, including the individual within a society. By so doing, the child would become equipped to solve the problems of the world in which they currently lived, while also learning how to work with her peers to achieve those ends. As the child grows into an adult, the problems of her world become more complex, stretching her abilities. But the child will meet them, even as he learns from the past failures and successes of those who've gone before him.

So to be clear, in educating the child "for life", we do not gloss over the history (and present reality) of racism, climate change and the many other atrocities that have plagued our world for generations. We prepare them biologically, socially, and spiritually for what is necessary to eradicate these maladies (while continuing to do so ourselves).

A child is completely foreign to this organized society of adults. His "kingdom is certainly "not of this world" He is a stranger to that artificial world which men have built above nature. A child comes into the world as an asocial being since he cannot adapt himself to a society nor contribute to its productivity, nor influence its structure [Yet]. Maria Montessori "The Secret of Childhood"

For me the end goes further. Yes, I am actively working to remove boundaries that hinder a child from thriving to their fullest potential. And I do believe that this will aid in creating a future filled with goodness, justice, love and peace. But I do this with a deep love for the child in front of me, praying for the adult they will become, all to the glory of Jesus Christ who made me and them. In the end, I'm just planting seeds and watering. It's He who must give the increase.