Episode 22: Dr. Montessori and Drama
My Montessori Life with Barbara Isaacs and David Gettman
English - March 27, 2024 13:39 - 46 minutes - 42.9 MB - ★★★★★ - 3 ratingsParenting Kids & Family Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
In this first of three podcasts on the theme of drama, Barbara and David consider how dramatic role-play, which all young children naturally engage in, fits with Montessori’s ideas. While Montessori didn’t address drama per se, she did identify social relations as a Sensitive Period from ages two to five. And she did encourage practical social skills, interpersonal communications, grace and courtesy, and conflict resolution in the classroom — all of which help the child to navigate their social environment. But Montessori did not explicitly address role-playing as a learning activity, and she did not explain how the Absorbent Mind constructs an understanding of social relations. As a result, Montessori practitioners often go out of their way to suppress natural role-playing, especially where it tends towards pretend play, since Montessori emphasised ‘real life’ over fantasy. Practitioners also worry that social role-play might interfere with a child’s concentration on independent learning.