Montessori |
Traditional |
| Emphasis on cognitive structure and social development. |
Emphasis on rote knowledge and social development. |
| Teacher has unobtrusive role in classroom activity; child is an active participant in learning. |
Teacher has domain, active role in classroom activity; child is a passive participant in learning. |
| Environment and method encourage internal self-discipline. |
Teacher acts as primary enforcer of external discipline. |
| Instruction, both individual and group, adapts to each student's learning style. |
Instruction, both individual and group, conforms to the adult's teaching style. |
| Mixed age grouping. |
Same age grouping. |
| Children are encouraged to teach, collaborate, and help each other. |
Most teaching is done by teacher and collaboration is discouraged. |
| Child chooses own work from interests and abilities. |
Curriculum structured for child with little regard for child's interests. |
| Child formulates own concepts from self-teaching materials. |
Child is guided to concepts by teacher. |
| Child works as long as she/he wishes on chosen project. |
Child generally given specific time limit for work. |
| Child sets own learning pace to internalize information. |
Instruction pace usually set by group norm or teacher. |
| Child spots own errors through feedback from the material. |
If work is corrected, errors usually pointed out by teacher. |
| Learning is reinforced internally through the child's own repetition of an activity and internal feelings of success. |
Learning is reinforced externally by rote repetition and rewards/discouragements. |
| Multi-sensory materials for physical exploration. |
Fewer materials for sensory development and concrete manipulation. |
| Organized program for learning care of self and environment (polishing shoes, cleaning the sink, etc.) |
Less emphasis on self-care instruction and classroom maintenance. |
| Child can work where she/he is comfortable, moves around and talks at will (yet disturbs not the work of others); group work is voluntary and negotiable. |
Child usually assigned own chair; encouraged to sit still and listen during group sessions. |
| Organized program for parents to understand the Montessori philosophy and participate in the learning process. |
Voluntary parent involvement, often only as fundraisers, not participants in understanding the learning process. |
