How Montessori method of learning can liberate the mind, by experts

Headmaster, the Montessori School of Camden, South Carolina, United States, Dr. John Moncure, has charged education managers across the country to adopt Montessori method of education as it has the capacity to liberate human minds and guide them towards realising their full potentials.

Moncure who led the delegation of Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education (MACTE) On-Site Verification Team, to Greensprings Montessori Centre (GMC), Lagos, to validate the centre’s training activities for possible accreditation, asserted that countries that are wise have adopted the Montessori style for their elementary education system as it offers pupils unlimited access to learning.

Moncure who is also the Vice President, Montessori Educational Programmes International, said, “The Montessori method of learning liberates a human being to achieve maximum potentials, independence and self-confidence. If you look at the people who are leading the technology in the world, they have Montessori background. The two guys who invented google are Montessori children. The guy who invented Wikipedia is a Montessori child and even the person that invented amazon.

“A lot of people who didn’t go to Montessori school who are also giants have recognised its importance, like Bill Gates, he is not a Montessori child himself, but he sent his children to Montessori school because they know that it has the capacity to unlock human potentials. Montessori children are the ones creating the next world. They are not learning what is going on, they are learning how to figure it out and it is a huge difference when compared to other methods of learning.”

Commenting on their on-site four-day verification exercise at the GMC, he said, “They are people with passion for Montessori learning. Montessori method of education is not easy to administer, it takes a special kind of human beings and that is not easy to find but GMC has found group of people who are clearly becoming qualified Montessori teachers. They are like the fighter pilots of the educational world. The MACTE on-site team came from different parts of the country and we have recognised what we see here. They are doing greatly.”

The highly elated Executive Director, Greensprings Schools, Mrs. Lai Koiki, said the desire to help improve, impart and train teachers in Montessori education in Nigeria prompted the establishment of the GMC.

Decrying dearth of Montessori teachers in the country, Head of Greensprings Training College and Programe Director, GMC, Mr. Abraham Ogunkanmbi, urged government and school managers to sponsor their teachers to obtain specialty training in Montessori education, owing to its importance in human and national development.

“The method respects individuality of a child, it is a kind of learning that believes in the use of hands on materials which makes learning to be permanent and of course it takes care of all the three major learning styles of a child. If you a child is an auditory learner, he hears what the teachers is saying in the class; if he is a visual learner, he sees the Montessori materials in the class.