The Absorbent Mind Of The Child According To Maria Montessori
The child’s absorbing mind is one of the key concepts in the pedagogical method developed by the Italian pedagogue and doctor Maria Montessori.
It arises from research where Montessori observed that, between 0 and 6 years of age, children learn instantly, as if their mind were a sponge that unconsciously absorbs information from external stimuli in response to the needs of each stage of development.
For his contributions to psychology and pedagogy, The absorbent mind of the child is a concept that has been constantly studied
Young children tend to show fascination with almost everything around them. It seems that almost any stimulus can attract your attention and that, no matter how many times it is presented, said stimulus can remain as attractive as the first time. Furthermore, they never seem to get tired and are constantly drawn to novelty and adventure.
According to Montessori, this is because the main characteristic of children is that, unlike adults, they can naturally, involuntarily and progressively absorb the information around them.
Therefore, for Maria Montessori, the fundamental thing in learning during childhood is allow children to live experiences according to their own rhythms and needs since it is these experiences that will later become organized perceptions of the world, and they are also the ones that underlie the child’s psychic maturation.
Technically, the absorbent mind is a mental state that allows the child to assimilate experiences and subsequently analyze and integrate them, which is done unconsciously during the first 3 years, and becomes conscious progressively over the next 3 years.
From there, Montessori proposes that the child’s absorbing mind is also the moment in which the child lays the foundations for the development of an identity which is not only psychic, but also social, because it allows you to organize your experiences according to what the environment offers and demands.
For example, without having to go through formal learning, the child absorbs the language, customs, practices and norms of those around him, which creates a first sense of belonging and therefore security.
For Maria Montessori, childhood is the crucial stage in the development of human beings and it is the task of education to encourage and offer the appropriate means for children to build an autonomous identity that is also respectful of those around them.
How is the absorbent mind developed? Sensitive periods
What Maria Montessori also observed is that the mind does not absorb the same thing at all ages, but there are a series of predispositions that make the child focus his attention on some stimulus based on what is necessary for his growth. That is, depending on their needs, children concentrate on some things and not others. They naturally show interest and approach them, which allows them to acquire the necessary knowledge with pleasure and almost without effort.
This interest varies depending on the stage of development, which are transitory and successive moments that Montessori called “sensitive periods.” Although he divided them by age, he clarified that sometimes they overlap, and that the length of time each period lasts can vary, as well as its intensity. The main periods he described are the following.
Especially during the first two years of life there is a willingness and an important interest in classify and categorize everything around them which is favored through order.
2. Sensitive period of movement (0- 5/6 years)
They show special interest in moving from one place to another especially if they have learned to walk.
3. Sensitive language period (0 to 7 years)
Virtually no need for direct teaching They usually acquire a wide vocabulary
4. Sensitive period of sensations (0-6 years)
It involves the development of the senses. Although both hearing and sight are active from birth, as their development progresses they acquire a special sensitivity and an ease of learning through touch, taste and smell.
5. Sensitive period of small objects (1 to 6-7 years)
Silk a special interest in small objects which relate to the need to pay special attention to detail
6. Sensitive period of social life (from intrauterine life to 6 years)
It refers to the need to relate to peers and the process of acquire certain important rules for coexistence
Impact on education
Although it is easier to learn certain things depending on the moment of development, it can also happen that a sensitive period ends before the corresponding learning has been achieved, which can make it very difficult to teach it in the following stages.
To prevent this, educational methods should offer not only the development of intellectual abilities but of the appropriate elements to promote learning according to each sensitive period.
From there, Montessori also developed an explanation for children’s “tantrums” or “tantrums,” which sometimes seem inexplicable, but which could actually mean significant intellectual frustration due to not being able to respond to the stimuli that interest them.
For example, when children have spent a long time doing the same activity and we adults tell them that it is time to move on to another, because it seems unimportant to us, or because it has been going on for a long time, or because we tend to prioritize quantity over quality; even when the child’s need is still to pay attention to that specific stimulus.
The pedagogy of Maria Montessori even It has been described as a pedagogy of attention and concentration precisely because it drives children’s need to maintain their attention on certain stimuli according to the stages of development, respecting their own interests and avoiding interference from adults.
What has neuroscience said?
In the field of neurosciences, Maria Montessori’s proposals have been studied and several empirical foundations have been found. For example, that the development of neuronal connections and networks in the human brain peaks between 0 and 3 years of life (synaptogenesis), suggesting that indeed, During its early stages of development, the brain functions like a sponge that almost automatically absorbs everything around it.
As this development progresses, some neural connections are prioritized according to the information that most needs to be acquired and organized. That is why, towards puberty, the child has already consolidated more concrete learning: he has discriminated about what is useful to know, attend to and experience and what is not, according to what his own environment has offered or denied him.
