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The story of Maria Montessori, a brilliant educator who abandoned her own child

There are many controversies about Maria Montessori. Some are enchanted by its undeniable contribution to pedagogical systems. Others do not understand how a woman, who “abandoned” her own child, could say something about child rearing. But the truth may lie somewhere in between: not everything is so “black and white”.

We, from incredible.club, we were fascinated by the biography of this extraordinary woman and decided to delve deeper into her story, which was marked by constant struggles against social conventions and stereotypes. Follow!

The Italian who became a doctor despite being bullied by those around her

The Italian Maria Montessori, daughter of an officer, was always a bright child who liked the exact sciences and, since childhood, dreamed of becoming a doctor or engineer. But her father didn’t think she should study: for the Italian society of the 19th century, it would be unthinkable for a woman to become a doctor.

Maria did not give up the idea, passed very difficult exams and entered the medical school. Biographers believe that it was accepted only because it was something unexpected: until then there was no such practice. During classes, students they considered her presence inconvenient. Both teachers and students openly expressed their dissatisfaction. In practical classes, all corpses were male bodies and were naked. How could a woman witness such a thing?! Because of this, she practiced alone and was often teased by classmates.

Despite the toxic atmosphere, she had many achievements in academia, including the opportunity to gain practical knowledge in hospitals. For the last two years of college, Maria studied pediatrics and psychiatry and worked in emergency departments as a pediatric consultant. She then became a specialist in children’s medicine and one of the first women in Italian history to receive the title of Doctor of Science.

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She decided to save children considered “lost cases”

After dealing with several children and getting to know the systems in the orphanages, Maria noticed that some forms of mental retardation, which at the time was considered an absolute sentence, could be treated. She found, therefore, that such children could receive medical follow-up to develop and have a better life. Therefore, she studied the works of doctors and pedagogues.

Based on the studies carried out and her experience, she started to develop her own system. At congresses, she said that such problems in children are more related to pedagogy than medicine: she decided, therefore, that she would work as an educator and not as a doctor.

When they created the Escola Ortophrênica, a special institution to prepare teachers to work with children with various intellectual disabilities, Maria was appointed as co-director.

Maria Montessori developed a methodical approach and applied it to children in a special class, which had been created at the institute itself. Students were invited who had been listed in common schools as “mentally disabled” because of their learning peculiarities. Incidentally, it was not always a question of mental retardation. The first recognitions came when the children were able to easily pass the school exams intended for “normal children”.

Kindergarten based on the Maria Montessori system. Germany, 1925

Secrets of personal life and breakup with the son

Compared to career success, this chapter in a teacher’s life is not a very happy one. When she was still working as a doctor, Maria met her professional colleague Giuseppe Montesano and had a child with him. She chose to keep the relationship and the child a secret and thus gave the child to an adoptive family. But not because I don’t love him. As he was born out of wedlock, she would be stigmatized as a single mother, which, at the time, would prevent her from continuing her career. This was a “disgraceful chapter” in the life of a great woman. The choice was so painful that she went through a long depression and ended up becoming a practicing Catholic. After her son grew up, Maria was reunited with him and took him to live with her.

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Mario not only forgave his motheras well as supporting all of her ideologies, working as an interpreter to help her, expanding her legacy, and spending her entire life fervently defending the teaching methods of the Montessori system.

As an adult, he admitted that he was very upset that people considered Maria to be a terrible mother. He never thought that himself and he always knew what a woman she was, even before their reunion, which was a moment of enormous happiness for Mario.

Maria Montessori and Mario Montessori with friends in India

How the journey to world fame began

Maria Montessori continued her studies and improved her methods, always defending the rights of children and women. At a certain point, she realized that her methods could be applied to the education of any child, not just the “special ones”, but she could only begin to better develop this idea after being invited to work with young people from poor areas. It was from there that the “children’s home” project began, which followed a separate program and gained more and more space throughout Italy.

One of the reasons for the rapid propagation of his ideas was to receive the support of influential people, who contributed to the project’s development and progress.

But what is so special about this system? The concept is simple: the child must be able to choose the activities he prefers to do and he needs to develop independence and responsibility. But she needs to find the answers on her own and feel what her needs and affinities are. Adults can help but should not pressure or direct in any way.

The tough times. During World War II, Maria refused to implement fascism-related ideologies in her classes. Because of this, she was persecuted and had to live with her son for a while in India, where she found a source of inspiration for new ideas.

Upon returning to Europe after the war, she lived the rest of her life in the Netherlands.

Maria Montessori has a huge following, and not only her teaching method, but also her life story and personality still captivate thousands of people around the world.

Regardless of sides, this woman’s story was not easy. Did you already know the Montessori teaching method? And what did you think of her decision to “drop” her own son? We want to hear her opinion!

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