Week of October 28th, 2019
“Young people must have enough freedom to allow them to act on individual initiative. But in order that individual action should be free and useful at the same time it must be restricted within certain limits and rules that give the necessary guidance.” --Dr. Montessori, From Childhood to Adolescence
Montessori schools acknowledge and appreciate natural human development, which, over the course of childhood and adolescence, transforms a person from being totally reliant on others as an infant to being a fully independent adult. It’s an incredible transformation! This is why we promote age-appropriate freedom and independence for children and adolescents--we honor their natural growth and progress toward independence. They need the right environment in which this development can occur naturally and in the most healthy way.
An optimal environment for each age level, however, not only promotes freedom and independence, it provides these privileges within the bounds of appropriate responsibility. Freedom and responsibility must be balanced and both must be equally honored. Important personal, social, and moral development occurs at the intersection of the two.
During early adolescence, as young people develop a greater sense of self and social awareness and have a stronger urge to be independent, it’s important that they recognize their own personal responsibility for their growth and learning. Learning is not something that happens to you, it is something you do. Learning anything, even for adults, happens more quickly with the right guidance, but it requires the learner to be actively pursuing the knowledge and skills they are trying to learn.
Personal responsibility and active participation in one’s learning is encouraged through our process of trimester evaluations and conferences. Students this week reviewed this process during Advisory. They’re completing self-evaluations, reviewing the goals they set for themselves in August, and creating new goals and strategies for growth in each area of work and study. Meanwhile, the guides are composing narrative evaluations of their work in every area of the program, both academic and social. Each student will soon meet with their advisor to read their evaluation before it goes home and to discuss their goals.
When families arrive for conferences, it’s not the teacher or the parent that dictates the conversation. Instead, the student shows a portfolio of their work and speaks about their goals, taking questions and comments from their support team of teachers and parents. This student-led experience helps nurture in the young person a sense of responsibility for their own work and learning.
We look forward to gathering together in the coming days with parents and students for goal-sharing, celebration of accomplishments, and to offer support through the challenges of growing up.