Maria Montessori was born in 1870 in Alcona, Italy to an educated, but not wealthy, family. She defied her father and the conservative Italian society and studied science, becoming the first female physician in Italy. Her work was mostly with the poor and she saw in these children vast potential, and understood that intelligence is common, but only uncommonly tapped. She was an altruistic person, speaking across Italy about women's rights and child labor law reforms.
Montessori was appointed Director of a branch of the University of Rome, an asylum for "deficient and insane" children. Children who had been previously confined to their rooms and deprived of attention and stimulation were brought out into the daylight, so to speak. The staff was instructed to speak to them with respect, and they were provided with purposeful activities, including learning to care for themselves, and educational pursuits.
Montessori drew on the studies of the "Wild Boy of Aveyron" who was found in a forest in the 1800s. He had been without human interaction for about ten years. Eighteenth century physician Jean Itard studied the child at length, considering him raw material and prime for studies about the relative importance of nature vs. nurture. When the boy failed to learn to speak and do other basic functions, Itard speculated that there are learning periods in human development when growth potential is prime. He believed that the Wild Boy had missed the prime window for learning speech. He believed that it was essential to observe the educational process carefully to determine the best times to present learning opportunities.
Montessori agreed and this concept of “sensitive periods” became the backbone of her methods. Through careful observation of her mentally challenged children she was able to determine what worked best with them and when. She posited a sequence of developmental stages, universal for all children. However, where children are on the continuum may be different from one child to the next. The teacher must be ready, especially in the younger years, for signs it is time to present new material. In two years time, some of Maria’s "deficient" students were able to pass standard tests for Italian School Children. She was lauded for this achievement but replied that public schools should be able to get far better results, then, with her methods, than with their traditional ones.
The government didn't allow her that chance, so she started to work with preschool children of the working poor. At first Montessori doubted her methods could work under these conditions of poverty. However, she gave them a try and her successes were even greater than with the institutionalized children. These children did not need to be prodded to participate. They were eager to learn and begged for more. They were fascinated by numbers and were adding four and five digit numbers at the ages of four and five. Their enthusiasm was so great that Montessori spent many nights awake into the wee hours making new learning tools for them.
During this time at the "Children's House" as she called it, she quit her work as a physician and began to work exclusively advocating for children's educational opportunities. Montessori observed that if children have an orderly place to work and learn, they take great pride in it and care well for the learning tools. They are able to sit quietly and learn for long periods of time-- far longer than in normal everyday settings. She had carpenters build the first ever child-sized school chairs and desks to make them comfortable for learning. She didn't have them do all their learning at desks, however. She created seating areas on the floor with rugs and allowed the children to stand, sit or lie down with their work. In another innovation during that time, she allowed the children to move freely around the classroom.
Montessori taught her methods in many countries including Africa, Sri Lanka, India, and various parts of Europe. Anna Freud, Jean Piaget, Alfred Adler, and Erik Erikson studied Montessori education and before making their own contributions to the understanding of children.
After living through the aftermath of two world wars, Maria Montessori believed that children are the hope for peace in the world. Children who have their needs met and can live in community with each other, despite their differences, grow to be compassionate problem solvers. Conflict resolution and peaceful problem solving are actively taught in Montessori classrooms.
Montessori's methods have been repeatedly supported by research into child development. Many current learning materials in math and language are based on Montessori materials. Montessori’s concept of “peace education” is now a recognized area of study. Montessori instruction is now universally recognized as quality education for children.