Montessori education is a kind of student-led and self-paced education but guided, assessed, and enriched by knowledgeable and caring teachers, peer leaders, and a nurturing environment.
The entire idea began in the 20th century by Dr. Maria Montessori, the first female doctor in Italy. She unlocked the Children's House and started offering quality education to children from low-income family backgrounds in Rome.
She was not using the traditional method to teach the students, but her own special education theories focused on the child. She developed a method that helps to educate the child based on his personal development stage. This form of education encourages the students to work together among themselves towards accomplishing their academic goals.
This method of teaching developed by Dr. Maria Montessori became very popular and attracted the attention of so many individuals in Italy and beyond. Shortly after, many other institutions were adopting her style of teaching.
She went ahead to found the Association Montessori International in 1929, and this institution provides a guide to school authorities offering a Montessori form of education. Dr. Maria Montessori is undoubtedly one of the foremost pioneers of education in the 20th century.
Now, why should Nigerian schools accept Montessori education? Continue reading to find helpful answers to the question.
Benefits of Montessori education to the Nigeria education system
Montessori method of teaching focuses on inspiring the students to be responsible for driving their own learning. It is a special learning method that helps the students to develop their own solutions to problems.
It compels the students to be more creative, and this will make them excel academically. This method of education can be adopted in Nigerian schools at the pre-nursery and nursery levels. It is a teaching method developed for early child development.
Children are more suited for wide learning at this stage of their lives. It removes the use of things like worksheets, handouts, and series of grading criteria that rarely do the required job of guiding and assessing the education level of the students.
The following are the benefits of the Montessori teaching method and why Nigerian schools need to adopt it fast:
Teacher-guided and child-centered
Montessori education puts the child at the center of focus, but the teacher directs the entire process. This teaching method is perfect for slow learners since it enables them to learn and find solutions to specific problems at their own pace.
The teacher is responsible for guiding the pupils and showing them what to do. The teacher is responsible for creating a learning program that can work for individual pupils.
Aside from that, the classroom in a school adopting the Montessori education method should be put to make the place welcoming to all and encourage the children to achieve their potentials for development. They can equally achieve this at their own pace.
Social cooperation and growth
The Montessori education method is focused on improving cooperation and synergy among the pupils. The pupils of different age groups may be put together in a group and compelled to work together. In working together, they will be compelled to interact with one another, and this can break the walls that night has been preventing such an interaction.
This learning method can help the younger pupils learn positive behaviors while helping the older ones relate with people not in their age groups. Generally, the pupils will learn to respect one another.
Holistic learning experience
Montessori's Method of learning is holistic, which means it is all-encompassing. It makes room for a more engaging and natural way of teaching students and has proved to be a more effective method than the traditional teaching method.
Aside from giving their students academic knowledge, the Montessori Method of education can also teach them how to develop socially and emotionally. So, it touches every aspect of the child. The key areas covered by the Montessori Method of education include the following:
- Practical life
- Art and culture
- Geography
- Science
- Language
- Mathematics
- Sensorial
So, the students end up emerging as complete beings at the end of the day since every aspect of his existence has been touched via the Montessori educational method. Montessori education may be preferred for preschool teaching, but its impact on the child goes beyond the elementary education level.
Make learning fun
The traditional teaching method can be rigid and uninspiring, but this is never the case with Montessori education, which adds a lot of fun to teach without eroding its positive impact on the pupil’s academic excellence and emotional development. The educational method gets all the pupils adequately engaged, which makes Montessori education fun-filled in Nigeria.
There is no dull moment at all in class if Montessori is adopted. The pupils will have adequate time to work on projects and will also be able to understand developmental concepts needed for a complete education. Montessori education gives the children complete freedom of movement while in class, and they even have the freedom to choose any activity they want to take part in.
Passion discovery
Montessori education in Nigeria can help the pupils to discover their passions early in life. This education method enables them to decide what they want to do and which activity they want to engage in.
They will try several things and pick one that is more acceptable to them, thereby hinting at their areas of interest at such a tender age. They can start building on this area of interest early and achieve their goals faster than ever. This will enable them to build confidence in their individual stabilities as they grow older.
From the above, it is obvious that Montessori education can completely change Nigeria's face of education processes. Some institutions are already adopting it, and it will not be a bad idea if many more institutions start to adopt this learning method.
The learning method is focused on the elementary stage, but it can assist the students as they progress through various education levels. The Nigerian education system has fallen in value, but the adoption of Montessori education can help improve the quality.
