Montessori educators use a lot of specific words, that may be
unfamiliar to parents. It can seem like you're learning an entirely new
dialect when taking a tour of a classroom for the first time! But every
special word and term has a purpose. One very specific term that parents
and visitors often notice is guide instead of teacher. What does the word guide say about their relationship with a child?
Here's how the American Montessori Society explains it:
"In
Montessori education, the role of the instructor is to direct or guide
individual children to purposeful activity based upon the instructor’s
observation of each child’s readiness."
In other words, the adult
in the Montessori classroom doesn't instruct or teach at the front of
the classroom like a traditional model, but rather leads or guides a
child to the appropriate activities based on each child's individual
development. As children get older, the adult increasingly becomes a
partner in learning, rather than a source of all knowledge or
discipline. In this way, a child is able to develop an intrinsic passion
for learning. They follow their own curiosities and preferences, rather
than those of a teacher.