教育理论：Originator of the Montessori.doc

Montessori, Maria (mr mnts-sr), 18701952, Italian educator and physician. She was the originator of the Montessori method of education for young children and was the first woman to receive (1894) a medical degree in Italy. After working with subnormal children as a psychiatrist at the Univ. of Rome, Dr. Montessori was appointed (1898) director of the Orthophrenic School. There she pioneered in the instruction of retarded children, especially through the use of an environment rich in manipulative materials. In 1901 she left the school to embark on further study and to serve (19017) as lecturer in pedagogical anthropology at the Univ. of Rome. The success of her program at the Orthophrenic School, however, led her to believe that similar improvements could be made in the education of normal preschool children, and in 1907 she opened the first case dei bambini childrens house as a day-care center in the San Lorenzo district of Rome. The success of this venture led Montessori and her followers to establish similar institutions in other parts of Europe and in the United States, where the first Montessori school was established (1912) in Tarrytown, N.Y.In 1929 the Association Montessori Internationale was established to further the Montessori method by sponsoring conventions and training courses for teachers. By this time, however, interest in Montessori education had declined in a number of countries, especially the United States, mainly because of opposition from those who felt that the method was destructive of school discipline. The Montessori method experienced a renaissance in many American schools during the late 1950s, and in 1960 the American Montessori Society was formed.The Montessori MethodThe chief components of the Montessori method are self-motivation and autoeducation. Followers of the Montessori method believe that a child will learn naturally if put in an environment containing the proper materials. These materials, consisting of learning games suited to a childs abilities and interests, are set up by a teacher-observer who intervenes only when individual help is needed. In this way, Montessori educators try to reverse the traditional system of an active teacher instructing a passive class. The typical classroom in a Montessori school consists of readily available games and toys, household utensils, plants and animals that are cared for by the children, and child-sized furniturethe invention of which is generally attributed to Dr. Montessori. Montessori educators also stress physical exercise, in accordance with their belief that motor abilities should be developed along with sensory and intellectual capacities. The major outlines of the Montessori system are based on Dr. Montessoris writings, which include The Montessori Method (1912), Pedagogical Anthropology (1913), The Advanced Montessori Method (2 vol., 1917), and The Secret of Childhood (1936).BibliographySee E. M. Standing, Maria Montessori (1958, repr. 1962) and The Montessori Revolution (1966); biography by R. Kramer (1983).The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright 2007, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. /cu/cup/Montessori, MariaMaria Montessori (credit: Publifoto)(born Aug. 31, 1870, Chiaravalle, near Ancona, Italydied May 6, 1952, Noordwijk aan Zee, Neth.) Italian educator. Montessori took a degree in medicine (1894) and worked in a clinic for retarded children before going on to teach at the University of Rome. In 1907 she opened her first childrens school, and for the next 40 years she traveled throughout Europe, India, and the U.S., lecturing, writing, and setting up Montessori schools. Today there are hundreds of such schools in the U.S. and Canada alone; their principal focus is on preschool education, but some provide elementary education to grade 6. The Montessori system is based on belief in childrens creative potential, their drive to learn, and their right to be treated as individuals. It relies on the use of “didactic apparatuses” to cultivate hand-eye coordination, self-directedness, and sensitivity to premathematical and preliterary instruction.Benjamin Franklin (January 17, 1706 O.S. January 6, 17051 April 17, 1790) was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author and printer, satirist, political theorist, politician, scientist, inventor, civic activist, statesman, soldier,2 and diplomat. As a scientist, he was a major figure in the Enlightenment and the history of physics for his discoveries and theories regarding electricity. He invented the lightning rod, bifocals, the Franklin stove, a carriage odometer, and the glass armonica. He formed both the first public lending library in America and the first fire department in Pennsylvania. He was an early proponent of colonial unity, and as a political writer and activist, he supported the idea of an American nation.3 As a diplomat during the American Revolution, he secured the French alliance that helped to make independence of the United States possible.Franklin is credited as being foundational to the roots of American values and character, a marriage of the practical and democratic Puritan values of thrift, hard work, education, community spirit, self-governing institutions, and opposition to authoritarianism both political and religious, with the scientific and tolerant values of the Enlightenment. In the words of Henry Steele Commager, In Franklin could be merged the virtues of Puritanism without its defects, the illumination of the Enlightenment without its heat.4 To Walter Isaacson, this makes Franklin, the most accomplished American of his age and the most influential in inventing the type of society America would become.5Franklin became a newspaper editor, printer, and merchant in Philadelphia, becoming very wealthy writing and publishing Poor Richards Almanack and The Pennsylvania Gazette. Franklin was interested in science and technology, and gained international renown for his famous experiments. He played a major role in establishing the University of Pennsylvania and Franklin & Marshall College and was elected the first president of the American Philosophical Society. Franklin became a national hero in America when he spearheaded the effort to have Parliament repeal the unpopular Stamp Act. An accomplished diplomat, he was widely admired among the French as American minister to Paris and was a major figure in the development of positive Franco-American relations. From 1775 to 1776, Franklin was the Postmaster General under the Continental Congress and from 1785 to 1788, the President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania. Toward the end of his life, he became one of the most prominent abolitionists.His colorful life and legacy of scientific and political achievement, and status as one of Americas most influential Founding Fathers, have seen Franklin honored on coinage and money; warships; the names of many towns, counties, educational institutions, namesakes, and compani