The holistic framework of Maria Montessori's educational pedagogy is still strong and pertinant to today's world. Holistic education celebrates and makes constructive use of evolving, alternate views of the world and multiple ways of knowing. It is not only the intellectual and vocational aspects of human development that need guidance and nurturance, but also the physical, social, moral, aesthetic, creative, and — in a nonsectarian sense — spiritual aspects. John P. Miller concisely describes holistic education in The Holistic Curriculum (1996) as “seeking the continuing growth of the individual and society through connection, inclusion, and balance.” Montessori classrooms achieve this “transformational model” (Miller, 1996) by following such fundamental holistic principals as:

 

1. Honoring students as individuals--This means welcoming personal differences and fostering in each student a sense of tolerance, respect, and appreciation for human diversity.

 

2. Experiential learning—Where learning is an active, multisensory engagement between an individual and the world.

 

3. Freedom of choice--Genuine education can only take place in an atmosphere of freedom. Freedom of inquiry, of expression, and of personal growth are all required.

 

4. Participatory democracy--Empowering individuals (even the very young) to take an active part in the affairs of their community (i.e. classroom community, family community, neighborhood, etc.).

 

5. Global citizenship--In the emerging global community, we are being brought into contact with diverse cultures and worldviews as never before in history, thus classrooms are spaces to nurture appreciation for the magnificent diversity of human experience.

 

6. Eco-literacy—This wisdom must spring organically from a profound reverence for life in all its forms and nurture a relationship between humans and the natural world.

 

7. New role of educator--Educators ought to be facilitators of learning, which is an organic, natural process and not a product that can be turned out on demand. Teachers require the autonomy to design and implement learning environments that are appropriate to the needs of their particular students.

 

   Maria Montessori deeply appreciated this approach to learning and devoted her life developing her methods and theories of education. Montessori understood that the concept of “wholeness” should be at the core of the educational process. Wholeness implies that each academic discipline provides merely a different perspective on the rich, complex, integrated phenomenon of life. In that vein, Montessori schools are places that facilitate the whole development of all learners. The pedagogy Montessori developed in the last century intrinsically encourages this deepening of relationships to self, to family and community members, to the global community, to the planet, and to the cosmos--ideas quite essential to our modern world.