Why Montessori?

How my professional journey led me to Montessori Education - and I never looked back!

Written by Lucy Gibson

Published: December 2023

2-minute read

I got asked this question today during a networking meeting and thought it would be worth sharing here with you.

"Why Montessori?", someone asked me as I introduced myself and my business to this new networking group.

When I got my very first teaching job back in 2004, I had no idea what Montessori education was. I was in university studying Social Communication and Media Studies - a completely different major. So I saw children with different eyes. I wasn't someone with a degree in Education, so my theoretical knowledge in child development was quite limited back then.

I had a feeling, though, of what seemed to be important for a toddler as they stepped their little feet in the classroom:

they needed to feel safe;

they wanted to understand the world around them - and the best thing they could do to achieve that was to be able to explore every nook and cranny in that space;
they wanted to feel free to explore;
they wanted to learn through their senses;
they wanted to see in us, adults, people who they could count on no matter what;

and, above all,

they wanted to be given the chance to do things for themselves and to develop their full potential.

Well, they couldn't express these needs and wishes with words, but I knew that's what they wanted. Counting, learning the colours, names of animals, the alphabet, etc., all that would be a byproduct of the environment. We didn't have to push any of this knowledge on them. They would eventually acquire all that when they were ready for it.

So I began paying closer and closer attention to what really mattered to me: children's social and emotional development.

However, as years would go by, I began to see that many schools were much more focused on children's intellectual and academic development than anything else.

At this stage, I had already earned two degrees in Education on top of Social Communications, so I knew a little about the subject.

I would constantly question a few things here and there about the educational system and was always asking myself:

"Is this what I want to do for the rest of my life? To try to push information inside these children's brains even when they don't seem interested or ready for it?"

Fast forward a few more years of me trying to find the school which values and practices would really allign with mine until I discovered the missing piece to my puzzle: Montessori education.

Everything that I would advocate for my pupils was exactly what the Montessori approach would value and teach us: by creating "yes" spaces where the child is free to explore and develop at their own pace, their social-emotional development would naturally flourish with our guidance.

Having a routine that is both flexible and well-structured at the same time was the icing on the cake.

That's it.

This is my place.

I can't believe I have finally found my people!