Language: German

ISSN: 0949-2682

Abstract/Notes: MORE Abstracts 2003: The critical literature has always acknowledged the important role that the positivist Montessori teachers had on Maria Montessori and yet it is also true that the criticism has mostly focused on the subsequent developments of Montessori’s positivist phase. Indeed, when reprinting her works (and Il Metodo della Pedagogia Scientifica is a case in point), Montessori herself often changed and/or added substantial elements while leaving the title of the publication unchanged. This means that the internal process that Montessori thinking underwent over the years has not always been well-understood, so much so that there has been an insistence – at least for many of her followers – on the fecundity of the method without any accurate historical analysis of the conceptual elaboration. In particular, the so-called positivist phase had a greater influence than what may appear on Maria Montessori’s whole intellectual dynamics and such that the fundamental theoretical mainstays are actually identifiable in that very early period, which has sometimes been hastily treated by a more spiritualist critique that has devoted more attention to highlighting the later contributions of this famous educationist (for example, education for peace). The present contribution instead aims to make a more accurate reconstruction of the historical period in which Montessori matured speculatively and to identify the main themes which, even with the inevitable developments determined by her process of reflection and action, constitute the basic themes of her thinking, in order to enable a more suitable historical collocation of this brilliant educationist who was, in many respects, atypical but not forgetful of a training that was, in many respects, decisive.

Language: English

ISSN: 2281-8375