and finding it surprisingly detailed as to the application of her method.
However, at the end of the 200 pages of her language discussion
I found this amazing quote:
Our teachers, rather, should be cultivators of the fine arts.
For in our method art is considered
a means to life. It is beauty in all its forms which
helps the inner man to grow.
We have repeatedly emphasized
that both in the environment at school and in
the materials used, everything should be carefully considered
in its artistic bearings, to provide ample room for
development for all the phenomena of attention and persistence
in work which are the secret keys of self-education.
The Montessori teacher should be a cultivator of music,
drawing and elocution, responsive to the harmony of
things ; she must, that is, have sufficient good taste to be able
to lay out the school plant and keep it in condition;
and sufficient delicacy of manner - - the product of a sensitive nature - -
Wow, Kathy. That IS an amazing quote, showing how fundamental Dr. Montessori considered the arts to be. It makes me even sadder to think about the children in schools that are reducing or even eliminating their arts programs. Arts proponents know that the arts are a means to self-development and not just a lovely, inessential icing on the cake. In addition to being a "means to life"--to self-development, self-expression, creative thinking, mental and manual expansion--I think of the arts as being a means by which we preserve and transmit culture. How impoverished a child's education will be if she's not been guided to see the skill, excellence, and beauty in the artistic creations of civilizations coming before us. We must be trained to see these things; I think that's largely the role of a sensorial education: appreciating fine distinctions. OK...you hit on a topic I like! :-)
ReplyDeleteThank you for this lovely comment.
ReplyDeleteMy sentiments exactly!
K.