Who was Maria Montessori? Biography of this educator and pedagogue.

We review the life and work of this Italian physician and activist.

Maria Montessori is known for having created the pedagogical model known as the "Montessori Method".. However, her biography is much more extensive. She was also one of the first women to obtain a medical degree in Italy and participated as an activist in defense of women's and children's rights.

Likewise, Maria Montessori specialized in areas such as biology, philosophy and psychology, which allowed her to create knowledge and interventions on child development that continue to this day.

• Recommended article: "Maria Montessori: her 8 educational principles".

Maria Montessori: biography of this physician and activist.

Maria Montessori was born in Chiaravalle, province of Ancona, Italy, on August 31, 1870. The only daughter of a military father descended from the nobility of Bologna who had fought for Italian independence; and of a liberal, Catholic and intellectual mother whose family was involved in the world of philosophy, science and research.

Not surprisingly, the rest of her biography unfolded as it did: at the age of just 12, Maria Montessori and her family moved to the city of Rome, with the intention of ensuring that she would study in the best schools of the time.

While there, she showed a special interest and ability for mathematics, so, despite her father's wishes for her to become a teacher, Maria Montessori enrolled in an engineering technical school attended only by men.

A year later, he became interested in studying medicine and decided to abandon engineering and begin his new studies at the age of 22, even in the face of the initial refusal and rejection of the director, his father and his classmates, who considered that medicine was a specialty that could only be practiced by men.

Finally, in 1896, at the age of 26, Maria Montessori became one of the first female doctors in Italy, the same year in which she was elected as the first woman physician.In the same year she was elected to represent Italian women at the Feminist Congress held in Berlin, where she defended equal rights for women.

At the same time, she denounced the situation of children working in mines in Sicily, joining the struggle against child labor exploitation. Some time later, motivated by a conscience of social justice, she began to work in psychiatric clinics and schools where children with intellectual disabilities in very precarious conditions attended. At the same time, Maria Montessori had continued studying biology, philosophy and psychology in Italy, France and England.

These are the experiences that finally allowed her to develop the pedagogical method that bears her name.

From medicine to pedagogy: the beginnings of the Montessori method

At the time of Maria Montessori's life, medicine was strongly interested in finding treatments and even a "cure" for some conditions such as deafness, paralysis, intellectual disability, etc. But, what Maria Montessori observed while working with children with such conditions was that what they really needed was not medicine, but pedagogy.

Maria Montessori made many observations at the Psychiatric Clinic of the University of Rome, which led her to realize that the real problem of many children with disabilities playing in ways that seemed socially inadequate, was that they were bored, because they had no didactic materials, in addition to the fact that the space in which they were located was very cluttered and their conditions were quite precarious.

From there, Maria Montessori had the idea of building an environment that was pleasant, she was convinced that the conditions of space and materials were crucial for the development of intellectual and social skills of children. At the same time she learned that there were two French doctors who had developed an educational method along similar lines, so she traveled to Paris to meet with them.

Upon her return, the Italian state had inaugurated an institute aimed at enhancing the intellectual abilities of people with disabilities (Orthophrenia School), where Maria Montessori became director and continued as a teacher trainer, as well as a university professor and lecturer.as well as university professor and lecturer in different cities.

What was the first Montessori school?

Finally Maria Montessori had the opportunity to create her own educational center. In January 1907 she opened the first Casa dei Bambini (Children's House - the name by which the classroom, or Montessori environment, for children from 3 to 6 years of age is known to this day) in Italy.

She paid special attention to how the environment would be prepared, she had furniture made to the size of the children (which at the time was quite innovative). She also designed pedagogical material appropriate to the children's ages and sensitive periods and hired a teacher as an assistant. Together they began working with about 50 children.

Maria Montessori continued to constantly observe the evolution of the children, which enabled her to further develop her educational method.. In the same way she was able to continue designing activities and didactic materials, but above all she was able to establish the theoretical and empirical principles that define the method to this day.

Maria Montessori had finally become a teacher (just as her father had wanted), but her biography shows us that she was also a woman who revolutionized the traditional ways of teaching-learning: she maintained the commitment to respect children, and thus managed to recognize what they needed to learn more easily.

His method was at first recognized as a "scientific pedagogy" that eventually had repercussions at home, because it was noted that children easily transferred knowledge and habits to their homes and public spaces.It was noted that children transferred knowledge and habits very easily to their homes and also to public spaces. It had inaugurated a way to enhance the development of children that had implications far beyond formal education and the schools themselves.

Bibliographical references:

• Pussin, C. (2017). Montessori explained to parents. Theory and practice of Montessori pedagogy at school and at home. Plataforma editorial: Barcelona
• Obregón, N. L. (2006). Who was Maria Montessori. Contribuciones desde Coatepec, 10: 149-171.