THE BEAUTY OF AN OBSERVER / TEACHER
“Education should not limit itself to seeking new methods for a mostly arid transmission of knowledge: its aim must be to give the necessary aid to human development.... If the 'Formation of man’ becomes the basis of education, then the coordination of all schools from infancy to maturity, from nursery to university, arises as a first necessity: for man is a unity, an individuality that passes through interdependent phases of development. Each preceding phase prepares the one that follows, forms its base, nurtures the energies that urge towards the succeeding period of life".
MARIA MONTESSORI
Children are capable of leading their own learning process.The learner has all the capacity to build and construct his knowledge, all in their unique way of interacting with the new concept. The teacher's task is nothing but to touch the Imagination of a child so as to excite him to a level of Curiosity, and then the learner is ready to Explore in his own way depending on his interest, experiences, and specific hidden talents. Exploration leads to Discovery; the ultimate goal of Education.
The teacher is always there not as an Instructor or Dictator but as a scientific Observer who specializes in OBSERVATION SKILLS, just to witness what's going on and then to predict what and where he should add.
The teacher has to discriminate between Careful scientific Observation and careless Interference.
This statement is a beautiful expression about the Teachers' Job,
"Praise, help, or even a look, may be enough to interrupt him, or destroy the activity. It seems a strange thing to say, but this can happen even if the child merely becomes aware of being watched. After all, we too sometimes feel unable to go on working if someone comes to see what we are doing. The great principle which brings success to the teacher is this: as soon as concentration has begun, act as if the child does not exist. Naturally, one can see what he is doing with a quick glance, but without his being aware of it.
(Dr. Maria Montessori, 'The Absorbent Mind')
Only Observation leads a teacher to know exactly where the child is ....
Teacher's role is so sensitive that he has to be extremely careful about her looks, attitude, facial expressions, gesture, posture, and even where he stands or sit...and what he speaks, otherwise he can easily make the Learning process disappear.....
"The mind takes some time to develop interest, to be set in motion, to get warmed up into a subject, to attain a state of profitable work. If at this time there is interruption, not only is a period of profitable work lost, but the interruption, produces an unpleasant sensation which is identical to fatigue".
Maria Montessori
Such a scientific Observation is needed by the teacher to go with the laws of nature.
"Before such attention and concentration have been attained, the teacher must learn to control herself so that the child's spirit shall be free to expand and show its powers; the essence of her duty is not to interrupt the child in his efforts. This is a moment in which the delicacy of the teacher's moral sensitiveness, acquired during her training, comes into play. She must learn that it is not easy to help, nor even, perhaps, to stand still and watch. Even when helping and serving the children, she must not cease to observe them, because the birth of concentration in a child is as delicate a phenomenon as the bursting of a bud into bloom. But she will not be watching with the aim of making her presence felt, or of helping the weaker ones by her own strength. She observes in order to recognize the child who has attained the power to concentrate and to admire the glorious rebirth of his spirit."
(Dr. Maria Montessori, 'The Absorbent Mind')
MARIA MONTESSORI
For all this to happen Schools should stop acting as a Prison and stop Producing Confirmists and only then Explorers, Innovators and Creators will be joining the CREATIVE FORCE...and not the (work force).
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