As parents and teachers we should be wary of fads, especially when they lack compelling evidence.
‘Discovery learning’ is one such fad.
Of course children absorb and learn so much on their own, but the right prepared environment and guidance makes all the difference in what is actually being absorbed and learned, for better or worse.
Here is Maria Montessori on the topic, starting with the words of her biographer and friend E.M. Standing:
“Another time I heard her [Maria Montessori] relate how she was taken round another school in France, where they were supposed to be carrying out her principles. “We came to one room — it was the science room — not a soul was there except the master, nor for that matter had been for several days. When I enquired into his method of teaching, the master airily replied that he did not teach; the children discovered! It appears he had placed a mysterious white mixture on the laboratory bench; and the children were supposed to ascertain the various substances it contained — ‘by discovery!’ Considering,” continued Montessori with a wry smile as she related this almost incredible story, “considering how few real discoveries are made by trained scientists in a lifetime, it was, to say the least, strange to expect inexperienced children, without knowledge, without method, without stimulus and therefore without interest, to make perpetual discoveries from day to day! No wonder the room was empty!””
#montessori #preparedenviornment #guidance