[IAEP] Montessori madness...

[David Farning]

Stephen Jacobs (cced) the Professor of the OLPC/Sugar course at the
Rochester institute of Technology is a product of Montessori schools.
His mother was a Montessori teacher.

I have found it helpful to include him in Montessori related
discussion.  He has a good sense of what happens 'in the classroom' in
addition to a theoretical understanding of Montessori.

david

On Mon, Oct 12, 2009 at 11:44 AM, Yama Ploskonka <yamaplos at gmail.com> wrote:
> 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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