Montessori vs. Traditional Education
THE KENSINGTON SCHOOL
A 21ST CENTURY MONTESSORI
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MONTESSORI PHILOSOPHY VS TRADITIONAL EDUCATION
Child has an innate sense of wonder and a natural disposition to learn |
Child is an empty vessel waiting to ‘be filled’—waiting to learn. |
Learner-centered with teacher as guide/facilitator |
Teacher-centered class |
Prepared self-correcting kinesthetic materials |
Textbook, pencil, paper and worksheets where the teacher corrects errors |
Individualized instruction, at a level consistent with the child’s development |
Class oriented instruction, at class’ pace or teacher’s pace |
Children exercise choice regarding what to work on and for how long |
Teachers chooses what children will work on and for how long |
Integrated subjects and learning based on developmental psychology |
Individual subjects taught separately |
Process focused |
Product focused |
Whole child approach (cognitive, social-emotional, physical) |
Only focused on imparting certain knowledge |
Repeated use of materials is encouraged to develop investigative skills |
Memorization and correct answers are stressed |
INTEGRATED 21st CENTURY SKILLS VS TRADITIONAL EDUCATIONAL
Hands on, Project-Based Design working backwards from an end goal |
Coverage of a textbook |
Use of a range of resources to teach |
Overwhelming use of the textbook as the curriculum |
Differing instruction to meet individual needs |
Same instruction for all students |
Emphasis on learner as “doer” and “creator” |
Emphasis on teacher as presenter/lecturer |
Integrating technology into instruction to enhance learning |
Use of technology as an add-on when time and space is available |
Focus on multiple skills at a time |
Focused on isolated skills e.g. listening, speaking, reading and writing, each addressed separately |