Tim Seldin & Paul Epstein Ph.D. An Education for Life

CLOSING THOUGHTS
214
Left:
The first issue
of Tomorrow’s
Child
Magazine
published
in 1993.
that Montessori parents are less likely
to push their children (either consciously
or unconsciously) into pursuing
high-status careers, just because
the social status of certain professions
is the standard by which the world has
come to measures success.
I hope that parents who choose
Montessori are most concerned that
their children will grow up to be
The dichotomy inherent in
your question is false. Montessori
is the real world. The
Montessori classroom is very much
true to life. The child is pursuing an
interest in the context of many choices.
Isn’t that what society is all about?
Montessori children see their own
growth, constantly respond to their
own needs in relation to the multiaged
community around them. They
learn to make individual choices that
connect with their capabilities. And
that may be different than making it
on Wall Street or becoming a doctor,
lawyer, or preacher.
The Montessori classroom allows
for a diversity of individual expressions,
personalities, and cultural origins.
We must broaden the images of
success: carpenter, welder, automotive
mechanic, beautician, poet —
responsible, contributing members of
society, adults who will find satisfaction
and fulfillment in their work, regardless
of their career path. I am hopeful
that my own adult children will
approach each day of their adult life
with the same enthusiasm and eagerness
to grow that they experienced as
young children in their Montessori
classrooms.
At the same time, our children must
be cable of accepting the challenges
that life will provide and have the ability
to adapt to new ideas and technology.
If these are outcomes that other
parents share for their children, then I
believe that parents can feel confident
in their decision to keep their children
in Montessori programs.
As Editor of Tomorrow’s Child magazine,
I helped select the cover for our
first issue back in 1993 (shown at left).
This somewhat controversial cover
the possibilities correspond to the
uniqueness of each child.
Some say that Montessori classrooms
are devoid of competition and,
therefore, not part of the “real world,”
but competition, like cooperation, is
natural to life and, therefore, emerges
naturally in the Montessori classroom.
There, children freely compare
and contrast each other’s work.
Montessorians are careful not to
exploit the natural competition but
rather to note how children build or
lose self-esteem in relation to the way
they perceive themselves or the way
others perceive them. And while the
multi-age grouping softens comparison
because of the variety of stages
present in each classroom over a
three-year age span, I would hardly
consider the Montessori classroom a
shelter from the real world.
had significance to me for three reasons.
First, the boy in the picture is my
son, Robin, at age ten. I can assure you
that he did not look like that in real
life. Second, it was the first and only
time I ever succeeded in getting him
into a tie and jacket at that age. Third,
and most importantly, he and my
daughter’s friend, Leslie Tam, are
posed as lawyers in the photo, and, as
a young adult, I chose a career in law
for all the wrong reasons.
I believed that becoming a lawyer
would give me prestige and wealth.
What it gave me was an ulcer and the
nagging feeling that I should be doing
something different with my life. While
I don’t dislike lawyers (well, at least not
any more than anyone else), it just
wasn’t the right career for me. As I now
tell my own grown-up children: Just
because you can do something well, it
doesn’t mean you have to do it. There
In the micro-society of the Montessori
classroom, these children will
learn a great deal about human
nature and individual personality.
They will learn tolerance and respect
as modeled by the Montessori-trained
teacher; they will learn about fairness,
about different approaches for
different needs, and about individuality
in relation to group cooperation.
Success is in the eyes of the
beholder; it is largely formed privately,
individually, and compassionately
by the child and the family. Even the
Montessori classroom cannot substitute
for the parent’s faith in the child
or the child’s faith in following his or
her own star.
— David Kahn,
Executive Director of
The North American Montessori
Teachers’ Association (NAMTA)