[IAEP] Montessori madness...

[Yama Ploskonka]

Montessori, and all of Experiential Education, rely so very much on the
personality of the teacher that they have very limited scalability.  This
single matter is a whole sub-science in itself, with scant actual work
beyond the empirical.

Because some Schools of Montessori (there are factions and cults as anywhere
else) are even more rigid than others (I was blessed to have my 1 1/2 year
as Montessori teacher assistant happen in a more open one),  the tendency to
fall into rigid Walls you mention is way too common. I was warned of that as
I was considering specialized formal training. Even CUT had a Montessori...
I don't know if it was you who mentioned some Montessori did not want to
even consider XOs.

As to the spark in their eyes, yes, certainly.  One problem we have is that
right now the learning curve for getting the XO/Sugar to be useful for them
is so steep that it's unlikely they will get there.

BTW, the reports from Arahuay indicate that there they let the canes be
handled by trusty older kids, ingenious way to avoid setting themselves to
charges of abuse.

a last BTW, and I should be getting to work, my nephews 3 and 1 1-2 years
old at the time got the time of their lives with Lion King Activities, a
most excellent set of learning and exploring software from back then,
apparently able to navigate around "by themselves" on a PC.  Of course,
uncle was by, so as was mentioned earlier, that made the
self-learning-computer somewhat redundant and unworthy as a datapoint,
something I do earnestly agree.

That is why, again, I ask for ways we could find to communicate with real
teachers right there on the ground.

And a final BTW, Rishi Valley Institute for Educational Resources deserves a
look
 http://river-rv.blogspot.com/
They seem to be managing to do education under very difficult circumstances,
somewhat similar to what Sameer describes as happening in Bhagmalpur, and a
good point is to enhance peer-supported learning

I quote "For millions of children in the under-privileged sections of rural
communities, RIVER has created, tested, successfully implemented and
replicated, in India and abroad, a path-breaking Multi-Grade, Multi-Level
(MGML) Methodology in Primary Education. Around 75,000 teachers and
67,50,000 children are being benefited by this unique system based on
activity based learning. Unlike the glaring drawbacks existing in the
prevalent, mono-grade, teacher directed, text book based teaching system,
the MGML methodology has started a silent revolution that makes learning
joyful, reduces student dropouts, enhances community school linkage and
makes the teacher more accountable. "


On Mon, Oct 12, 2009 at 10:51 AM, Sameer Verma <sverma at sfsu.edu> wrote:

> On Mon, Oct 12, 2009 at 1:55 AM, Martin Langhoff
> <martin.langhoff at gmail.com> wrote:
> > On Mon, Oct 12, 2009 at 10:18 AM, Sameer Verma <sverma at sfsu.edu> wrote:
> >> I've been reading "Montessori Madness" for a few hours now, and I find
>
> > Of course, I like most of Montessori's approach. But remove the human
> > elements and... poof! it's effects will be gone. Montessori strategies
> > in a crowded group with an unenthusiastic teacher have very slim
> > chances.
> >
>
> Indeed. My kid goes to a Montessori (which is why I was reading this
> book) but we've seen several M schools around here, where an
> indifferent teacher destroys the environment. It reverts to a Pink
> Floyd'ish assembly-line of faceless students processed into pink
> filler meat (Cue 4:21 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VUhoD3vM9Q).
> Interestingly, my current discussions with them are about the
> introduction of Sugar in that environment (after-school sessions,
> maybe) but they think the kids are too young. They would like for the
> kids to be 5 at least...
>
> > Bryan, you need to postulate your theory more formally :-)
> >
>
> Or, become a Maria incarnate...I'm sure a born-again Montessori will
> get you tremendous following ;-)
>
> cheers,
> Sameer
> _______________________________________________
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