The Ultimate Montessori Blog

(This post is the second in a series of posts which tries to explain Dr. Maria Montessori’s interpretations of certain leading concepts. The previous post dealt with her interpretation  of the concept of education. The present post provides her interpretations of the concepts of “Adaptation” and “Development”. )

Adaptation

The child adopts himself to society and the world by building a psychosomatic structure which will enable him to enjoy a maximum of happiness in the conditions to which he has become adapted.

Adaptation normally implies a negative element. Western missionaries in India, for example, may announce that they have adapted themselves to Eastern conditions, but have found the process painful. This is equivalent to saying that, in spite of tremendous efforts to appreciate the food, climate, customs and people they encounter, their adaptation has remained partial or negative. Positive adaptation is to find your happiness; spiritually and physically; in the conditions which have become yours.

Development

Development means the process of becoming; the process one goes through after birth in order to reach maturity. It is too psychosomatic, for both body and spirit are involved. This development is directed by an energy which has been called the horme: that is the iresistable drive which is inherent in all organisms (non-living organisms are also impelled by it), which urges them to assume their specific bodies and the appropriate behaviour. For instance, a fertile hen’s egg contains the germinative cell which divides and multiplies, building the structure which eventually becomes a chicken. The various cells have received their own commands as to what they should build - beak, eye, feathers, internal organs - and an inner compulsion obliges them to complete their task. Once this process has begun, nothing except destruction can interfere with it. You can maim a child but - except by killing him, you cannot prevent him from growing.

Why does the egg become a chicken, or the acorn an oak, each reproducing detail by detail the pattern of its species? In the germinative cell there appears to be present some kind of unconscious memory, to which psychologists have given the name mneme. This must be present also in inanimate matter. Solutions of certain chemicals, for instance, will always produce the same type of crystals; the molecules invariably rearrange themselves in their characteristic shape.

(The next post in this series will deal with Dr. Montessori’s interpretation of Heredity and The Unconscious)

A single fertilized egg cell, smaller than the head of a pin, only in nine months time in the womb of the mother, grows to a lovely bundle of energy that looks like a human being. In hardly 15 months this bundle of energy grows into a naughty toddler who is curious about everything. The infant learns to walk and talk, think and reason. Emotional responses, intellectual abilities and styles of social interaction evolve.

Children born in every culture share the same human biological inheritance and the same fundamental need for care. Thus adults in every culture face the same major tasks in rearing children. They must provide infants with basic nurturance needed for development and prepare children to function as adults in their particular social worlds. The rules and values of the culture are passed on to children. This process is called socialization.

Children change physically and intellectually as they mature. The transformations in physical and cognitive capacities have a dramatic influence on how children interact with their environment. Play serves important functions for children. It is a means by which they can be active explorers of their environment, active creators of new experiences and active participants in their own development. Children play untiringly till they are hungry or sleepy. No one need teach children to play’ they do so naturally. Children need no reward for playing; play is its own reward. Play is a ‘laboratory’ in which children learn new skills and concepts, play is a child’s ’social workshop’ where he/she tries out rules alone and with other children. The child expands his/her ’self’.

For preschoolers play can be an outlet for their emotions. It is often concerned with important themes and feelings from everyday life. They express their anxieties and fears. Play often centres on the most frightening of topics, such as being lost or having to fight off ‘monsters’.

A common game preschoolers initiate with parents is “you be the baby and I will be the mummy or daddy”. The child might say “now you go right to bed!” The power roles are reversed in play and the parent is charmed and not angry. In play child can pretend to be destructive, disobedient or un-cooperative without being scolded by the parent. This satisfies the conscience of the child.

It is interesting to observe the sequence of social development in children between two and five years. It begins with non-social activity which child psychologists name as ‘solitary play‘ they child plays all alone unaware of children and people around. Then it shifts to ‘parallel play‘ in which the child plays near other children with similar materials but does not try to influence their behavior. A little later children engage in ‘associative play‘ where they interact by exchanging toys and commenting on one another’s behaviour. Finally they change over to ‘cooperative play‘ in which children orient towards a common goal such as acting out a make-believe theme or working on the same product like making sand castle or painting a wall or a picture.

After the children get into formal schooling they start playing rule-oriented games. In middle childhood they play ‘rough-and tumble’-they wrestle, roll, hit and run after one another while smiling and laughing. During mid-adolescence more time is spent with novel play activities and finding partners of common interests. As adolescence draws to a close, most young people show many complex social behaviours and are proficient in their interactions with peers.

A note from the author: I would like to add that the inspiration to put down these few thoughts and concepts about the role of play in the early childhood came from my first visit to a Montessori House of Children, where I happened to have a glimpse of the Montessori method and the philosophy being practised. The children in the Montessori environment are provided with equipment which are are highly impressive, scientific and educative.

(The author of this article is a Professor of Psychology, The National College, Bangalore)