Montessori Adolescent Teacher Preparation

Final Exam-Summer 2019

Eleonora Tarcau
 I. 2. What are the characteristics and needs of the adolescent and how does the

environment and the program of work and study meet those needs?

The first characteristic of adolescents, the one everyone can see clearly, is that they are changing

rapidly. Their bodies are growing, they also mature sexually and they seem to have a lot of

energy or lack of energy at times. Adolescents are always hungry, due to the rapid body growth

and they are susceptible to illness and accidents. Emotionally, adolescents are known for their

extreme mood swings due to the hormonal changes and the impact of puberty, which can make

them nervous, uncertain and self-critical. There is a sudden decrease in intelligence and increase

in the exhibits of self-consciousness because their bodies change so rapidly and sometimes

irregularly. Dr. Montessori was well aware of the reality of all these changes and she

recommended the perfect prepared environment for the adolescent: “quiet surroundings in the

country, close to nature. Here, an open-air life, individual care, and a non-toxic diet, must be the

first consideration.”(From Childhood to Adolescence, p.67) Such an environment would also

appeal to the emotional needs of the adolescent. The land school is meant to provide meaningful

work, opportunity to contribute to society, a chance to plan activities, make decisions, take

leadership roles and even make mistakes. The social characteristics of the adolescent include

solidarity with peers, creation of a new personal identity, criticism towards himself and others.

Adolescence is the sensitive period for developing noble character and the age when

independence is sought. The land school offers the opportunity to answer these needs because

they can build a community in which they play relevant roles and form reliable and close

relationships with peers. Adolescence is the period when one needs opportunities for
self-expression and to be creative, to learn new frameworks for thinking and habits of mind, to

think critically and develop a personal vision. These cognitive characteristics and needs need to

be met as well. “There must be clean air, but that alone is not enough. We have to give them an

education so that Social Man develops. This education does not consist of lectures that give some

sort of social feeling,” Maria Montessori stated is a lecture given in Utrecht. “The lectures make

the child tired” and she proposes social experiences instead, like running a private hotel and the

shop. “The new, unique idea that I have given is that the young person can work positively, and

while he works, earn a living,” she suggested in the same lecture. The Montessori method is all

about nurturing the personality first, “instruction gives a key to love”, because “a loving

personality is able to study.” Dr. Montessori’s idea is for the adolescent to “work with their

hands and their minds”, and then we will have “a more harmonious and stronger society for

young people.”(The NAMTA Journal, vol. 26, no. 3, p.197-198)

 I. 5. Describe Dr. Montessori’s fundamental developmental theory of the Four Planes

of Development and the psychological characteristics belonging to each plane.

Expound upon the similarities of characteristics and needs in the two parallel planes

(1 and 3).

As she worked with children and young adults as a medical student first and then as a pedagogy,

philosophy and anthropology student, she gradually came to the conclusion that human

development does not occur in a steady, linear ascent, but is a series of distinct, major stages

which she identified as the “four planes of development.” There are two planes for childhood,

0-6 years old and 6-12 years old , and two formative stages of adulthood: from 12-18 years old

and from 18-24 years old. The first three years of each grouping are characterized by great

physical, mental and spiritual changes, while the last three years are the more stable ones.

Montessori believed that schooling should correspond to the child’s developmental periods. Each

of these four planes of development builds upon the last, so if any of them are ignored will affect

the successful completion of all the others.

The children of the first plane of development (0-6) are attached and interested in their family,

they are self-centered, their intellect and language are rapidly developing, and their minds

“absorb” culture like a sponge.This is the sensitive period for order, repetition and language.

During the second plane (6-12), the children are interested in their family, but also in the society.

They are more emotional, but not as self-centered anymore. Their memory is keen and they are

mentally and physically strong, they want to work and they are proud of their work, their

imagination is alive and they are very interested in what’s right and wrong. This is the sensitive

period for justice and moral judgements.

The child of the third plane (12-18) is interested in peers, socialization and constructing a new

personal identity. This is a period of tremendous physical growth, change, and extreme mood

swings. They become interested in their family again, but needing them to a different level. They

need caring, concerned adults to listen to them and healthy role models. The fourth plane,

(18-24), is a time of more stability and the young adult prepares to join the adult world.

Montessori regarded adolescence as a period of great vulnerability and likened the first three

years of this period (12-15) to the first three years of life from birth to three years.The infant

requires a lot of attention and protection as a new being is forming, the child. In the same way,

the young adolescent needs attention and protection as he is building a new personal identity as

they are preparing to enter adulthood. Both infants and young adolescents are growing and

changing physically, emotionally and socially, there is a mystery of creation going on internally

in both cases. The infant is in the sensitive period for language, but the adolescent is voicing

opinions and needs opportunities to express them. The children and young adolescents of these

two planes go through a great transformational period.

II. 1. Describe at length how opportunity for personal expression facilitates

development and support your response by describing various activities in music, drama,

and art for the adolescent.

Adolescence is the time for developing a new personal identity, therefore students in this plane

of development need to experiment with different identities and find the balance between

dependence and independence. We can facilitate this experimentation by introducing different

opportunities for them to voice their opinions and creativity. Maria Montessori recognized the

difficulty of the development of personality and so, when she came up with the plans of studies

and work, she put the opportunities for self-expression at the top of her educational syllabus.

“For this purpose there will be all kinds of artistic occupations open to free choice both as to the

time and the nature of work.” (Maria Montessori, From Childhood to Adolescence, p. 75)

Her idea of these self-expression activities was to involve both artistic and linguistic abilities and

imagination. Her examples from the field of music, language and art include: listening to music,

choral singing, practice playing instruments, diction, acting of stories and poems, making

speeches and presenting ideas, debates, discussions, drawing, modelling, creative work of the

imagination. The importance of Expressive Art activities interwoven into our thematic study

curriculum was highly stressed all throughout our Adolescent Teacher Training. Music really

appeals to the adolescents. We can encourage practicing an instrument individually or as part of

a band or orchestra, but also play soft music during our work periods, play dance games and

other movement exercises through which the adolescents become self-aware. Adolescents love

drama. The elements of drama include risk, game playing, rules and boundaries, fun, choices,

movement, point of view, space, sound, character and choice which are essential in developing
creative, problem solving, contributing members of society. Warm-ups, Improv exercises, Class

Performances and Readers Theaters are all good ways to bring drama and theatre in the

classroom. Visual Arts should not be missing from the adolescent educational plan. We can

engage their creative minds through visual art projects like: “The Personal Coat of Arms”, “The

Personal Shield”, creation of collages, etc. “This work is not to be considered as a proper training

in art, but a means of giving expression to individual aesthetic feeling with special reference to

handwork and to learn modern techniques.” (Maria Montessori, From Childhood to Adolescence,

p.75)

II. 2. Adolescence is a critically thinking age. Opportunity for hearing good language,

formulating ideas, and speaking to and in front of each other is important. Describe

constructive ways adolescents can be given opportunity for voicing their thoughts and

opinions.

“Montessori considered the development of language as a part of the personality itself. She

considered words such as the natural means to express an idea and consequently to establish

understanding between human beings.”(Montessori Today, p.160) She also wrote about

adolescence being the “sensitive period” when the noble characteristics that would prepare a man

to be social are developed. She realized that success in life depends a lot on self-confidence. We

agree that healthy self-esteem is built in the middle of community. At this age the friends are

important to every facet of a middle school student’s happiness and the Montessori program

incorporates many options for socializing. Students participate in group presentations, they are

encouraged to debate, defend, share ideas, respectfully converse and even challenge the
presented content. The curriculum is delivered in small group settings and students are

encouraged to collaborate, which challenges and teaches them to practice acceptance, equity,

sharing responsibility, and accountability. Other opportunities to practice communication skills

are bi-weekly community meetings, class committees, small group projects and peer teaching

and seminar where they have to actively participate in the discussion.

The other “reforms” that Dr. Montessori proposed, the land-school, the hotel and the shop would

facilitate a lot of opportunities for communication with peers and to other people in the

community. Some of the benefits of the adolescents running a shop or a business enterprise are:

selling produce or goods that they have grown or made, social work, learning the art of trade,

making new friends, overcoming the fear of talking to strangers, etc. The adolescent is a citizen

taking on adult-like roles and responsibilities inherent within the adolescent community. If they

will become comfortable and accepted within the school community, they will develop healthy

self-esteem and will be able to then take their skills into the society. “She learns to use charitable

words in confrontational situations and to engage in the history of others in a positive and

respectful way.”(Pat Ludick, Civility and Citizenship)

Another way the adolescents are exposed to good language and challenged to formulate ideas is

by “listening to the human story. Stories connected with people and place and life are essential

so that she in turn can begin to re-story and to restore ‘place’ herself. Good literature has such

power with the adolescent,” states Patricia Ludick in the same article. It is the duty of the

Montessori adolescent guide to expose them to “good literature”.

III. 2. Describe how the subject of mathematics can be made real and relevant for the

adolescent through application and through special methods.

I once saw a statement online that said: “Math. The only place where people buy 60

watermelons and no one wonders why.” I was already taking the training and I thought about the

adolescent. I think they will be the ones who will wonder why. Especially an adolescent who is a

Montessori student. One of the main needs of the adolescent is for meaningful work. The

Montessori adolescent program should feed the need to know the math, science, humanities and

language work they do in the classroom translates into what they will need in their everyday life.

Again, Dr. Montessori recognized that to develop understanding in mathematics, education must

continue to connect the hand and the mind. She wrote about this in “From Childhood to

Adolescence”: “Because of this vital importance of mathematics, the school must use special

methods for teaching it and make it clear and comprehensible its elements with the help of plenty

of apparatus that demonstrates the ‘materialized abstractions’ of mathematics. That’s why,

instead of using textbooks only, projects like “The Financial Project”, measuring the

circumference of trees during a hike and then finding the average, building a shed, or using a

wooden coordinate plane material will impact the students in a more positive way.

Another special method to practice mathematics would be cooking for the class or community,

the accounting for their class business (pizza business), land based science data gathering or

using a hands-on curriculum like Michael Waski’s. A way to incorporate mathematics is

humanities are the researches: History of Mathematicians or teach tessellations through a visual
art project with Megan Sullivan. The Montessori Cosmic Education is taken to the next level in

the adolescent program.

Math should not be taught as an isolated discipline, but rather in the context of human history

and culture. Classroom learning should be integrated with the use of mathematics as part of the

land based occupations, science, and even planning of field trips and outings.

III. 4. Describe how studies in foreign languages provide the adolescent with a better

understanding of humanity and culture, and how their studies do not have to be confined

to the classroom.

Dr. Montessori considered it of vital importance to be able to communicate with others in their

native language. She herself spoke Italian, French, Dutch, Spanish and English. What are the

benefits of studying foreign languages for the adolescents?

Being able to communicate in another language will give the opportunity to connect to more

people, helps with memory, critical thinking skills and problem solving, so it has cognitive

benefits for the growing/changing brain of the adolescent. Also, when a certain foreign language

is studied, one becomes more connected to its culture and is exposed to its history, religion,

tradition and art. Adolescents can become more empathetic, tolerant and accepting towards that

culture and its people. Another benefit is that when studying a foreign language and become

more comfortable with it is more likely to visit other parts of the world, especially the countries

where that country is spoken, which is another step towards becoming a global citizen. The

cosmic curriculum which is one of the great characteristics of the Montessori method stresses the

importance of teaching the child that he is a citizen of the Earth and to strive to find their own

place and meaning. Learning a foreign language can help boost self-confidence, which is one of
the purposes of the education of adolescents. Also, learning about another culture can give you

another perspective on your own culture. Adolescents can see the positives and negatives in

other cultures and compare them to their own. This can help them identify things they want to

improve in their own culture or become more grateful for what they have.

Learning a foreign language doesn’t have to be from a textbook. Some of the practical ways to

incorporate a foreign language into the studies are: inviting a native speaker to come and give

presentations, a pen pal project, visiting refugee centers where people don’t speak English and

you have the opportunity to practice your knowledge, cooking authentic recipes and visiting

international markets in order to find the ingredients, planning international trips with the

adolescents, giving the opportunity for choosing an independent study on a foreign language or

an internship with a speaker of a different language.

IV. 3. We must be able to draw from a pool of knowledge that is interrelated and

interconnected in order to create relevant answers to real problems society faces. Explain

how thematic studies prepares the adolescent for their future role in society.

Montessori’s plan for the adolescents was that the subjects are to be interlinked rather than

divided into categories. We are to continue to follow the child by encouraging adolescents to

follow their own interests. The subjects that she considered as the foundation of the academic

program are mathematics, science, language, history, creative and performing arts, and

independent study. The main purpose of education, in Montessori’s words, “should not be

restricted to a well-paid post in the future. It is quite obvious that the necessity for such

specialization exists and must be considered, but only as a means, as a practical method of

becoming a member of the society, not as an end to which must be sacrificed both the values of

the individual and his feeling of responsibility towards society as a whole.” Her idea is that the

aim of education is, above all, “the valorization of personality” in the present social conditions.

(From Childhood to Adolescence, p. 71) The thematic studies help interrelate different subject

areas in order to make the studies relevant to the life of the student. The Montessori curriculum

for the adolescent has a big picture characteristic, it is cosmic. The purpose is to create meaning

and to draw the adolescent into work. A big picture idea is studied in class, for example the early

inhabitants of our state, and it is also linked to field studies (visiting Native American sites,

museums), integrating the theme in academics (reading a novel for seminar about early Native

Americans, having a personal shield visual arts project, etc.) occupational studies (planting a

native american garden, building a sundial) and even moral education by learning about Native

American spirituality and values. The adolescent learns in this way that all work is noble and
important-the work of the intellect and the work of the hands. Researches that take place outside

during land based science projects are as important and valuable as cleaning the environment or

picking up trash during community service. Sometimes the work of the hand done during the

thematic studies can help them earn money that can be used toward meaningful expenses: paying

for a goal trip or a charitable cause. One of the most important goals for the adolescent is putting

them on the road to financial independence.

IV. 4. The interdependent agents of land, water, air, energy, plants, animals, and

humans frame our study of place, and serve as a thematic foundation for the occupational

studies that operate in an adolescent environment. Explain.

Place, according to Dr. Maria Montessori, is experienced through “work of the land which is an

introduction both to nature and to civilization and gives a limitless field for scientific and

historical studies.” This was her view of the prepared environment for the young adolescent. She

believed that before the adolescent is ready to take their place in society they have to have a

place in which they feel they belong and contribute. In the absence of the farm, that place can be

the campus and the city or town where the school is located in. “The rhythm in which we move

with our humanities, with science, with service work, with our micro-economy, with

mathematical applications, all of this is really connected with our land and our village.”(Pat

Ludick, Pedagogy of Place, p.150) What is the result of using this interdependence between

agents in our study of place and the occupational studies? It is that the adolescent will find both

of his academic and occupational work real and meaningful, which serves one of his great

developmental needs. The adolescent will see that what we teach is not just a story or textbook

material, but something that will help him when he will finally take his place in society and we

will then see true engagement. By seeing how the land, water, air, energy, plants, animals and

humans are interdependent, while involved with the occupational studies of their real place, the

adolescent will understand that everything is linked together and each agent has their own

important role that is key to harmony in the world. What we hope in terms of outcomes for the

adolescent is their understanding that they need to cooperate with peers and adults in relation to

the needs of this environment and the community and learning that their own contribution is
indispensable. This will result in the “valorization” of their personality. At this age, place is

grounding. The adolescents love their place and the ability to go out and work on it and discover

more about it. They are striving for belonging and ownership and “genuine investment comes

through occupations and projects in their own environment.” (Pat Ludick, p. 151)

Dr. Montessori’s genius words bring even more light into why we should use thematic study

rather than teaching subjects individually: “...to teach details is to bring confusion; to establish

the relationship between things is to bring knowledge.” (Montessori, From Childhood to

Adolescence, p. 58)
V. 2. Building community is essential to the adolescent who is cultivating a sense of

their own capacity for becoming a responsible adult and take their rightful place in society.

Describe how the Montessori adolescent environment offers opportunity for building

community.

Peers and their opinions are so important to the general happiness of the young adolescent. They

yearn to be accepted by their peers and to belong. The first thing in building a community that

will nurture this need of the adolescent is the prepared environment. The key is for the

adolescent to take adult-like roles within the adolescent community during occupational study,

community committees, even academics. The adolescent in the Montessori environment will

hopefully see that work is noble and that it gives them an opportunity to use their gifts in

collaborating with their peers for the great purpose of a better community.

The next thing in order for the community to function properly is for each adolescent to discover

their mission. When they discover their own mission they see that they are needed. The

Montessori guide is key to helping the adolescent pursue their individual mission. One of the

most important tasks of the guide is to take special care to show confidence and respect to the

adolescent. We are not to treat adolescents as children anymore. The Montessori education is a

holistic one. In Dr. Montessori’s view, the environment should give opportunities for the laws of

one’s nature, the law of the community, and the law of the natural world to me interrelated. She

talked about the secondary schools of her time that they “do not concern themselves with

anything but the preparation for a career, as if the social conditions of the time were still peaceful

and secure.”(From Childhood to Adolescence, p.62) What she believed was that “success is life

depends in every case on self-confidence and the knowledge of one’s own capacity and
many-sided powers of adaptations. The consciousness of knowing how to make oneself useful,

how to help mankind in many ways, fills the soul with noble confidence, with almost religious

dignity.” (p.64) The only way the adolescent can achieve this kind of confidence is being

accepted and belonging to a just community.

Besides occupational studies and class committees, the running of a real business enterprise,

going out in the community, activities to teach morals and conflict resolution, opportunities for

exhibiting self-expression in a safe way and opportunities to make decisions and maybe even

fail, constitute ways in which the Montessori adolescent environment offers opportunity for

building community.
V. 3. Discuss the significance of the two kinds of work, manual an intellectual, for the

successful growth of the adolescent. Cite specific examples of how the duality of work is

offered in the adolescent environment.

In her book, “From Childhood to Adolescence”, Maria Montessori stated her belief that

education should include the two forms of work: manual and intellectual. The adolescent learns

that the two complete each other and both of them are equally important. Thus, the

“land-children” should have the opportunity to learn both academically and through actual

experience what the elements of social life are. (Montessori, p.65-68) Dr. Montessori wrote

about the hands being instruments of one’s intelligence and work being one of the human

tendencies. This is why in our Montessori adolescent environment we don’t only use textbooks

to teach about life, but offer the chance to experience the theory through practice on the land.

The adolescent needs to explore reality, his work needs to be meaningful. Intellectual work is of

huge importance and one thing that Montessori pleaded for was large blocks of interrupted time

to give the adolescent time to develop their thoughts. In terms of physical work, when

adolescents have to tend to a garden, they are not only the labour workers, but they also have the

opportunity to learn the effects of science on the improvement of their crops. They can use their

knowledge from biology and chemistry in order to “help” nature. They can also make good use

of mathematics and geometry if they chose to take on a building project. There will be planning

and measuring and failures and successes until they see their great finished products.

Mathematics and economy might be linked with the process of growing and then selling the

produce from the garden in the local harvest market. Adolescents will thus learn history, science,

philosophy, and have social experiences while working the land with their hands. The care of
their environment involves distributing roles and their artistic talents will be put to good use in

decorating and keeping it beautiful. “But the thing that is important above everything else is that

the adolescent should have a life of activity and variety, and that one occupation should act as a

‘holiday’ from another occupation.” (From Childhood to Adolescence, p. 70)

To put all this is a nut-shell, I loved the words of Laurie Krocker: “The land-based, full-time

community is a pretty genuine microcosm, a small society, a social experience that truly

communicates how division of labor works for human beings and how production and exchange

are fundamental human interactions. The opportunity for the work of the hands is not only

frequent, but connected back to theoretical knowledge and general education over and over

again.”(Laurie Ewert-Krocker, Occupation Projects, The Micro-Economy, and

Student-Managers: Meeting the Needs of the Adolescents)

VI. 2. Has your work with the Montessori Teacher Preparation and the adolescent in a

Montessori Learning Environment transformed you in any way? If so, please describe.

I will be honest and admit that I was afraid of teenagers and I was dreading my kids reaching the

“teenage years” that everyone was talking about. After working as a Montessori teacher assistant

for five years and having the opportunity to see my kids thriving in a Montessori environment, I

was wondering and worrying about what will happen after the completion of the 9-12 cycle.

When the opportunity arose for me to take the Montessori Adolescent Teacher Training, I mainly

saw the advantage for the school growth, and then thought about my children who loved their

school and learning so much. After the first brief summer introductory course I knew there was

hope for my own children and for the society. I learned that indeed adolescents can be egocentric

and selfish, but they have to in order to build their own identity. As Montessori guides and

parents our role is to help adolescents improve themselves if we want to improve society. Yes,

the adolescent needs the acceptance of their peers, but we can help them not to be led astray by

facilitating the building of the right community and pointing to the right role models.

Understanding the similarities between the infant from the first plane of development and the

adolescent as a social newborn helped me view the young adolescents as vulnerable and yearning

for protection. But what I learned is that they are not looking for the same protection as the infant

from the parents and teachers. They must be treated with respect and dignity “as if their worth

were superior to their real worth than to minimize their merits and risk injury to their sense of

personal dignity.” (From Childhood to Adolescence) Since I learned that, I tried to practice it

with every occasion and I could see adolescents open up like flowers. If you respect them, you
will get respect in return. Secondary schools care a lot about testing and academics and they

ignore the social life of the adolescent. One of the needs of the adolescent is to socialize. The

building of a community of adolescents with healthy self-esteem will be a thriving learning

community. We, as Montessori guides, are to cater to the needs of the adolescent rather than the

parents’ pressures to push academics and neglect socialization. I also understood the great link

between academic work and the work of the hands and I could see the great outcomes of

facilitating it. It is truly a great mission to be a Montessori lead. I learned that I need to be

transformed and live a life of self-awareness. But most of all, I learned that there is hope and this

is the most important thing.