The Child Takes Pride of Place
The Secret of Childhood. By Maria Montessori. (Longman. 7s. 6d.)
TuAT a child is an experiment invested with an experiment's right to deVelop along its own lines, that " the vilest abor- tionist is he who attempts to mould a child's character," that parents should exhibit themselves as warnings not as examples, and that understanding is preferable to punishment which it renders unnecessary—these are truths which the present generation of parents has had dinned into its ears ever since post-War parenthood began, with such effect that its children have become the centres of its homes and, having been bullied and repressed by its parents on sound Victorian lines, it has now to permit itself to be bullied and tormented by its children on enlightened modern lines.
The advantages of the new attitude, at any rate for the child, are Obvious. It has been given light, air and space ; it has been carefully guarded from vain fears and nursemaid's superstitions ; it has received respect for its personality and humouring for its whims. Of the disadvantages, perhaps not so obvious, let one example suffice. There comes to my mind, as I write, the memory of a little girl, one of a class of some half-dozen pupils, who is- learning dancing. The teacher is showing a particular step and the children try it after her ; all but the little girl, who steadfastly refuses to move a foot. Presently the teacher remonstrates with her. " It is quite easy," she says, " why not try it ? " The little girl stamps her feet in rage. " You must not treat me like the others," she objects, " I am a problem child."
If one person more than another were to be singled out as responsible for the modern revolution—for it is nothing less—in the treatment of young children, it is Maria Montessori. Starting in Italy thirty years ago in the humbleSt possible way with homes for poor children—she did not call them schools—she developed certain ideas of child training which have today spread all over the modern world. In her present book she tells us what they are.
They evolved, it seems, very gradually as a result of close and methodical observation of children. Incidentally, Madam Montessori makes an interesting distinction between observation and analysis. We may fruitfully analyse adults with a view to discovering the causes of their psychological maladjustment. But in the case of children there is as yet nothing to analyse ; hence, we can only observe. It is interesting, by the *ay, to notice how many new departures in human thought have begun by observation. t-Newton watched apples ; James Watt, the lids of kettles ; Pavlov, the saliva of dogs ; Madam Montessori, the behaviour of children. _ Everything :that was observed had been seen an infinity of times before.; It is the mark of the original thinker to realise the signifieanee of what every- body has seen, but nobody has observed. The results of Madam MOntessorrs observation surprised nobody more than herself. Her children like repetition ; their cry is not "Do something new,"-but " DO it again" ; they despise rewardi and are indifferent to punishments -; they refuse sweets—at this point, the credence of at least one reader was
severely strained—are impressed by and seek to emulate silence ; spontaneously-Cliieipline theinieli-es and arrange their material, their work and their time-table ; learn to write before they learn to read. As a result of her observation, Maria Montessori was led to formulate certain general principles, whose purport is to define the correct attitude of teacher to child. It is not the teacher's business to mould children's characters, any more than it is his business to fill their heads. Ms true object is to let them become themselves, to realise, that is to say, all that they have it in them to be This end he will promote by removing all obstacles which impede a child's natural development. Hence passivity and watchfulneSsa respect for a child's personality, and above all humility, are requirements upon which Madam Montessori chiefly lays stress in the teacher. She was also one.of the first to emphasise the importance of environment. Little armchairs, little lawns to play on, little desks to sit at, and above all light and air and space—these are things upon which she insists and which she was one of the first to provide.
That part or the book which records her work, describes her methods and states her principles, is full of interest. As one reads, one senses the-play of an acute and enlightened intelli- gence informing a noble and generous nature. - She has some interesting strictures to make upon those parents, those many r arents, who equate virtue in their children with conduct conducing to their own convenience ; vice with its opposite. How often does " Don't be naughty mean " Don't make yourself a nuisance to me personally " ? The notion that a child needs so much sleep—a sleeping child is no longer a nuisance—and that he should keep still—witness, for example, " the little flower " ideal of childhood—are, she thinks, obviously rationalisations of parental convenience.
The book suffers occasionally from overwriting, and when Maria Montessori comes to ultimate purposes and discourses on religion and love, I find her trite, repetitive and uninterest- ing. It is also sad to reflect that the ideals for which she so eloquently pleads would receive short shrift over most of Europe today, and in no country shorter than in that of their origin. A mxlerri totalitarian State wants cannon fodder, not individuals, and, instead of realising all that they have it in them to be, its children are required to realise only what suits their rulers. As for the spontaneous expression of thought and personality, it has become so dangerous in adults that its encourageinent in children is sheer 'cruelty. Hypocrisy as an alternative to docility is, indeed, the quality of which the totalitarian child seems to stand chiefly in need.
C. E. M. JOAD.
Previous page
