"Cosmic Education in the Montessori Classroom: A Parent Education Evening" - April 13, 2017

Cosmic Education in the Montessori Classroom

A Parent EducationEvening

April 13, 2017

Overview of the Evening

Staff Introductions

Philosophical Framing

The Planes of Development

The Role of Imagination

Cosmic Education

Presentation of “The First Great Lesson”

Weaving the Cosmos

The Development of Morality & Character

Tour of Key Materials

Questions & Comments

Staff IntroductionsWho We Are & What We Do

Philosophical FramingThe Principles Behind the Practice

“[T]he whole concept of education changes. It becomes a matter of giving help to the child’s life, to the psychological development of man. No longer is it just an enforced task of retaining our words and ideas. This is the new path on which education has been put; to help the mind in its process of development, to aid its energies and strengthen its many powers.”

- Dr. Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind, p. 24

“We see the figure of the child who stands before us with his arms held open, beckoning humanity to follow.”

- Dr. Maria Montessori, Education and Peace, p. 119

“[We] must have the greatest respect for the young personality… in the mind of these boys and girls there lies all our hope of future progress and the judgement of ourselves and our times.”

- Dr. Maria Montessori, From Childhood to Adolescence, p. 72

“This world, marvelous in its power, needs a ‘new man’.”


The Planes of Development

The First PlaneThe Absorbent Mind

“It may be said that we acquire knowledge by using our minds; but the child absorbs knowledge directly into his psychic life…. the child undergoes a transformation. Impressions do not merely enter his mind; they form it. They incarnate themselves in him. The child creates his own ‘mental muscles’, using for this what he finds in the world about him. We have named this type of mentality, The Absorbent Mind.”

- Dr. Maria Montessori, The Absorbent Mind, pp.25-26

“The child has a different relation to his environment from ours. Adults admire their environment; but the child absorbs it. These things he sees are not just remembered; they form part of his soul.”


“There is in the child a special kind of sensitivity, which leads him to absorb everything around him, and it is this work of observing and absorbing that alone enables him to adapt himself to life. He does it in virtue of an unconscious power that only exists in childhood.”


“A sensitive period refers to a special sensibility which a creature acquires in its infantile state, while it is still in the process of evolution. It is a transient disposition and limited to the acquisition of a particular trait. Once this trait, or characteristic has been acquired, the special sensibility disappears.”

- Dr. Maria Montessori, The Secret of Childhood, p. 38

The Second PlaneThe Acquisition of Culture

Key Questions of The Second Plane


Where Do I Come From? (past / ancestry)



Who Am I?(present / identity)




Why Am I Here? (future / cosmic)


Where Do I Come From? (past / ancestry


Why Am I Here? (future / cosmic)

The Second PlaneThe Role of Imagination

“Human consciousness comes into the world as a flaming ball of imagination.”

- Dr. Maria Montessori, To Educate the Human Potential, p. 10

“The world is acquired psychologically by means of the imagination. Reality is studied in detail, then the whole is imagined. The detail is able to grow in the imagination, and so total knowledge is attained.”


“The secret of good teaching is to regard the child’s intelligence as a fertile field in which seeds may be sown, to grow under the heat of flaming imagination.

- Maria Montessori, To Educate the Human Potential, p. 11

“Imagination does not become great until man, given the courage and strength, uses it to create.”


The Second PlaneCosmic Education

COSMIC EDUCATION

Story

(teacher)

COSMIC EDUCATION

Story Study

(teacher) (student)

COSMIC EDUCATION

Cosmic EducationThe First Great Lesson

Cosmic EducationWeaving the Cosmos

“To the young child we give guides to the world and the possibility to explore it through his own free activity; to the older child we must give not only the world, but the cosmos and a clear vision of how the cosmic energies act in the creation and maintenance of our globe.”

- Mario Montessori, Cosmic Education, p. 7

“Life is a cosmic agent. How shall this truth be presented to the children so to strike their imagination?”

- Dr. Maria Montessori, To Educate the Human Potential, p. 20

“Since it has been seen to be necessary to give so much to the child, let us give him a vision of the whole universe. The universe is an imposing reality and an answer to all questions. We shall walk together on this path of life, for all things are part of the universe, and are connected with each other to form one whole unity.”

- Dr. Maria Montessori, To Educate the Human Potential, pp. 5-6

The Second PlaneThe Development of Morality & Character

“Moral education is the source of that spiritual equilibrium on which everything else depends.”

- Maria Montessori, From Childhood to Adolescence, p. 73

Spiritual Equilibrium

Cosmic Consciousness

Cosmic Consciousness

Spiritual Equilibrium

“It is necessary to create surroundings for the child that answer his needs not only from the point of view of his physical health but also from the point of his spiritual life.”

- Maria Montessori, Education and Peace, p. 76

“These studies should consider that uplifting of the inner life of humanity towards tendencies that grow ever less in cruelty and violence and strive to form ever-wider groups of associated individuals.”


making connections

making connections

sense of place and purpose

making connections


seeing the whole from its parts

making connections



interplay

making connections



interplay

a woven fabric

making connections



interplay

a woven fabric

inquiry and exploration

making connections



interplay

a woven fabric


parallel studies

making connections



interplay

a woven fabric


parallel studies

joy

making connections



interplay

a woven fabric


parallel studies

joy

Tour of Key Materials

Questions & Comments

Thank You and Good Night

Sources

Duffey, Michael & D’Neil. Children of the Universe: Cosmic Education in the Elementary Classroom. Holidaysburg, PA: Parent Child Press, 2002. Print.

Gang, Philip; Lynn, Nina; Maver, Dorothy. Conscious Education: The Bridge to Freedom. Atlanta, GA: Dagaz Press, 1992. Print.

Grazzini, Camillo. “The Four Plane of Development”. The NAMTA Journal. 29. 1: (2004). Print.

Huneke-Stone, Elise. “Cosmic Education”. NAMTA/AMI Orientation. June 29, 2016.

Montessori, Maria. Education and Peace. Amsterdam: Montessori-Pierson Publishing Company, 2007. Print.

Montessori, Maria. Education for a New World. Amsterdam: Montessori-Pierson Publishing Company, 2007. Print.

Montessori, Maria. From Childhood to Adolescence. Amsterdam: Montessori-Pierson Publishing Company, 2007. Print.

Montessori, Maria. To Educate the Human Potential. Madras, India: Kalakshetra Press, 1948. Print.

Sources (continued)

Montessori, Maria. The Absorbent Mind. Amsterdam: Montessori-Pierson Publishing Company, 2014. Print.

Montessori, Mario. Cosmic Education. Amsterdam: Association Montessori Internationale. 1976. Print.

Montessori, Mario. The Human Tendencies and Montessori Education. Amsterdam: Association Montessori Internationale. 1966. Print.

Webb, Seth. Teaching With Spirit: Maria Montessori’s Cosmic Vision. Web blog post. Finding Our Center - Reaching Out. 1 Mar. 2012.

Webb, Seth. Weaving the Cosmos. Web blog post. Finding Our Center - Reaching Out. 19 Aug. 2012.

Wolf, Aline. Nurturing the Spirit in Non-Sectarian Classrooms. Holidaysburg, PA: Parent Child Press, 1996. Print.