As a parent there are a multitude of important decisions to make about your child’s education and choosing which philosophy aligns with your values can be a difficult decision to make. I had the same concerns before I decided on Montessori education and specifically regarding religion.
Montessori is a pedagogical model and as a rule, is fundamentally non-sectarian. The philosophy does not dictate a particular religion but instead promotes the nurturing of the child’s spiritual development and underpins the values of peace and respect towards oneself and others.
Whether you are deeply religious or completely irreverent, Montessori will make sure to lay the foundation upon which you can add your personal views while ensuring you raise a kind human being.
Is Montessori Religious?
The Montessori curriculum foregoes religious instruction and instead includes lessons on different religions, cultures, and customs.
Although Montessori education does not subscribe to religion a Montessori school might choose to operate from the foundation of a specific religion. You could have a Christian Montessori School as well as a Montessori School without a prescribed religion.
What values does Montessori promote?
Montessori education aims to inform a child on all aspects of life for all human beings living on earth. The intention is to cultivate a respectful and peaceful person who will be an asset to society. Something I believe most religions have in common.
So what values does Montessori impart that are compatible with both religious and non-religious people?
Maria Montessori often wrote about the spiritual development of the child and how important it is to nurture this capability within young children. She believed in the child’s potential to be She also writes extensively about the spiritual preparation that teachers (and parents) have to undergo to ensure that they are adequate guides before embarking on their educational endeavors with young children.
“The surest way of keeping down the bad seed is to encourage the growth of the good. . . .The key to the problem is, therefore, not to destroy evil but to cultivate good”
Dr Maria Montessori
Nurturing a child’s Spirituality
It’s important to understand the difference between religion and spirituality. Firstly, spirituality is universal. We all experience it whether we are aware of it or not. Secondly, spirituality is older and forms the foundation of all religions.
Someone smart once said that spirituality asks the big questions and religion tries to answer them. This is what Montessori tries to inspire in young children through purposeful everyday tasks and big-picture thinking. Montessori education achieves this through what they term Peace Education, Cosmic Education, and with the help of the prepared environment.
The Prepared Environment
The prepared environment is the way the teacher/parent sets up the classroom or home environment to meet the needs of the child so they can do more for themselves with less help from the adult. This ultimately empowers a child to start thinking differently and independently since they can make more decisions about what activities they engage in and how they feel about mastering those activities.
It also focuses on creating calm spaces with an emphasis on natural elements and beauty through art and plants. The environment is designed to feed the human spirit.
Peace education in Montessori
The Montessori philosophy’s core principle is peace education. There are no materials to represent this category but it is underlying every aspect of the method. This peace education begins with fostering spirituality within young children. This is done through a host of different practices.
Practical life activities – purposeful activity
Practical life activities are everyday life tasks that children perform at home or in the classroom. The purpose of these tasks is to include children in real work that lends itself to independence and mastery. The tasks or activities are divided into three different categories:
Care of self
These activities include simple tasks like getting dressed, brushing teeth, preparing a snack, etc. The purpose of learning to care for oneself is obvious but the underlying benefit is to instill inner peace and self-awareness. If we do not respect ourselves we cannot respect others.
Care of the environment
These activities include taking care of plants and pets and learning how to clean up after ourselves. The direct objective is to instill responsibility but children also learn to respect nature, their possessions, and other living beings. Children become aware of the joy in simple tasks and the oneness with nature.
Grace and Courtesy
These lessons focus on treating others with kindness while acting respectfully and include activities like learning how to greet others, table manners, how to interrupt someone respectfully, carry a teacup, move a chair in and out, etc.
Some Practical life activities can be performed as early as 12 months.
Cosmic Education in Montessori
This forms the basis of the elementary curriculum for children aged 6 to 12 and is an umbrella term for the following subjects:
- Science
- Art
- Geometry
- History
- Geology
- Mathematics
- Language
The approach to teaching these subjects is to first look at the big picture or a global perspective. The aim is to foster a sense of gratitude for the universe and their lives within it. Most of the lessons are to sow seeds instead of pushing an agenda. Teachers and parents are encouraged to follow the child and take into consideration their interests and human tendencies.
The bigger picture of Cosmic education is to highlight the interrelationships and interdependencies of everything in the universe. Everything has a cosmic task – a purpose and a role to play in the universe. This emphasis is made to help a child think about their own role and purpose in the world and how to live in harmony with nature and fellow humans.
I discuss the 5 key principles of Montessori more in depth in this article
if you are interested in learning more.
Did Maria Montessori believe in God?
Maria Montessori was herself a Catholic, like most Italians of that period, yet her philosophy for education did not include strict Catholic principles. It was designed to include everyone and be accessible to all.
It is safe to assume that her religious background had an influence on her philosophies and she does mention these influences in her writings. You might say that she borrowed the universal message of love, peace, and kindness from Catholicism and packaged it in a relatable way.