Rambusch's Role In Montessori Public Schools

Introduction Many parents struggle with the decision of which daycare they should start their child’s education. They go back and forth trying to determine what is the best school to help develop their young child’s mind. They ask themselves, “Will this actually affect how he or she succeeds throughout the rest of their educational life?” Some parents in this situation choose to enroll their child in a Montessori School. Montessori education allows a more personal needs based learning system that not all students thrive in if they respond better to a more structured way of learning. Montessori school education aids more in the development learning habits than traditional schools. I believe that Montessori education is overall a better choice …show more content…
The key concepts of Maria Montessori’s method still remain, but there have been additions. In 1960, Nancy McCormick Rambusch read a book review written by a man named John McDermott. According to Phyllis Povell, the author of John McDermott and the Road to Montessori Public Schools, throughout the review McDermott wrote of Rambusch’s role in bringing Montessori Education back to America. After reading this review Rambusch came to the conclusion that she had to meet the author of this book review. “Together, she thought, they could address the issue of cultural accommodation to the American context.” Within the same year, Rambusch, along with others, founded the American Montessori Society. (p.47) Rambusch also claimed that McDermott urged Montessorians to update Montessori’s philosophy and make it relevant to the time and place in which it was being interpreted or reinterpreted. He believed the reason for the renewed interest in Montessori in America was a willingness among many to “read her afresh in light of new contributions to learning theory . . . and the urgent need for guidance, new or old, in facing the crushing problems” of the failing American school system. (Povell, p.47) Together McDermott and Rambusch’s efforts made the way for a new educational movement and launched the beginning of a Montessori public school …show more content…
Today Montessori Schools still follow the Maria Montessori Pedagogy which is based on the scientific observation of the spontaneous learning habits of children, giving the child space to explore and come up with their own activity, and his/her independence while still respecting the child’s individuality. According to Sablic (2015), “Advocates of the Maria Montessori Pedagogy came to the conclusion that the principles of this pedagogical concept gives children exactly what they need, i.e. a stimulating environment, order, independence, and movement.”(p.756) I can relate this pedagogical concept to my personal experience while working in a Primary Montessori School. My job title was “Toddler Teacher”, and I worked in the pre-primary classroom with children ranging in ages from 1-3. I got the opportunity to observe the Montessori Method at work. A Montessori Classroom is set up in a way that promotes freedom of movement and choice. The shelves that contain the educational materials are low to the ground and the materials are pushed to the edge of the shelf to give the child access to whatever material they wanted to choose off the shelf to “play” with. These materials are exactly like the materials that Maria Montessori created for the “feebleminded children”. The students in the classroom do not call these materials toys, but they call them “work”. When it is time for the children to choose some work