One of Maria Montessori's hallmark achievements was the recognition of the Planes of Development. It is the foundation of how Montessorians understand the child's changing needs as they progress through life. The four planes identified by Montessori were Infancy (0-6), Childhood (6-12), Adolescence (12-18), and Maturity (18-24). Each plane is divided in half with sub-planes that describe the rapid change of growth followed by the relative calmness that follows because of a slow integration of these new powers. Within the planes of development, 'sensitive periods' are identified. These are specific time frames in a child's life when they are particularly receptive to certain stimuli and experiences, and the denial of these stimuli can hamper growth.
However, the planes of development were not formulated in isolation. Numerous foundational psychologists and educational reformers have also explored the complexities of children's development. While their perspectives may not always align, they share more common ground than differences, including Montessori. This analysis is not intended to diminish Montessori's work but to examine how it aligns with her contemporaries. The theory gains strength by adopting a scientific approach, where multiple researchers arrive at the same conclusion. This approach, which is the antithesis of 'group think,' is crucial for the credibility and validity of the work.
While researching these foundational psychologists and educators, I was reminded of one of my favorite parables from India, The Blind Men and the Elephant. In the parable, several blind men touch a different part of the elephant, having never experienced an elephant before. Their description of an elephant is limited to their individual perceptions, which are very different from each other. However, each individual claims their experience is the absolute truth, and the others must be lying. The moral of the story is that humans tend only to believe their experiences while ignoring other people's experiences, which may be equally valid. I think this fits nicely with the idea of "my truth."
Consider this thought experiment: What if the blind men didn't limit themselves to one part of the elephant, but instead, each got to touch a different part? Let's say they all switched places to their right, so now they have two experiences of the elephant: their previous experience and a new one. What might we think would have happened in this scenario? If the blind men started communicating with each other, they would have had their own experience validated by someone else, and they would be able to validate someone else's experience. However, no one person has all the information, but through the chain of validation, I believe they would come to a much better understanding of the elephant as a whole. The same principle applies to understanding childhood development. By collaborating and validating each other's research, we can gain a more comprehensive understanding of how humans develop.
First Plane of Development - Infancy
Montessori
Montessori observed this time when humans have the "Absorbment mind." Children are sensitive to communication and language, environmental order and manipulation, movement, and visual and social behavior with personality generation.
Erikson
Erikson also believed that childhood passed through stages similar to the planes of development. From ages 0 to 1, children build trust by having their basic needs met, including necessary stimuli, not just food and water. Children build autonomy from 1 to 3, increasing confidence, decision-making, and self-control. Much of this aligns with the downward slope of the first plane with rapid growth. From 3-6, children build initiative, primarily through play, as children start planning, accomplishing tasks, and facing challenges, which gives a sense of purpose. This aligns with the upward slope of the first plane and Froebel's play theory. It describes play as "the highest form of human experience in childhood." He also proposed a set of play materials to stimulate the child's senses, like blocks, clay, etc. Again, this coincides with the specific use of materials for learning objectives. Vygotsky also believed imaginative play was vital for cognitive, social, and emotional development.
Piaget
Piaget also believed in stages of development. In his first stage, which he described as the sensorimotor stage, which lasts from 0-2, the child uses their senses, motor, and reflex actions to learn about the environment. This aligns with the idea of the Absorbent Mind from Montessori. Piaget's next stage was the preoperational stage, from when the child begins speaking to about seven, describing how children use new linguistic abilities to substitute symbols for objects and ideas. This mirrors Montessori's belief that the sensitive period for language and the child's ability to symbolize bleeds into the second plane of development.
Piaget's second stage, the preoperational stage, from when the child begins speaking to about seven, describes how children use new linguistic abilities to substitute symbols for objects and ideas. This mirrors Montessori's belief that the sensitive period for language and the child's ability to symbolize bleeds into the second plane of development.
Bruner
Bruner introduced three modes of how information is encoded and stored in memory. The first is the Enactive phase, which is action-based, which is the primary mode for 0–1-year-olds. This matches Montessori's belief of the importance of sensory information in the first plane, and to be more specific, matches one of my favorite quotes from Montessori, "The hands are tools of the mind." The hands contain three major nerves connecting to the brain's motor cortex. This is also very similar to Piaget's sensorimotor stage. The second is the Iconic phase, which is image-based and lasts from 1 to 6 years old. This matches the sensitive period for visual stimuli.
Kohlberg
Kohlberg theorized that moral reasoning happens in three stages, each with two substages. He famously interviewed hundreds of children at different stages of their lives. He proposed scenarios in which he did not care about a right or wrong answer but was more concerned about what logic systems were deployed. The Pre-conventional stage for younger children is about avoiding punishment and transitioning to reward-seeking. Montessori recognized that rewards and punishment-avoiding were essential to the young child. Still, she believed external rewards only appealed to the child's juvenile instincts and would hamper growth fueled by intrinsic motivation, which is satisfaction in doing their own work. Recent studies have shown that external rewards decrease motivation and make children less likely to enjoy their work.
Dewey
John Dewey's educational philosophy is "learn by doing," which leverages experiential learning strategies. Like Bruner, he believed knowledge was constructed by the learner through the experience with "the object of knowledge." We know Montessori painstakingly created many materials that fit the bill of this "object of knowledge." However, everyday objects that must be manipulated are also objects of knowledge, which is why practical life is emphasized in early childhood Montessori education.
May
May also believed that moral development came in stages as well. The first stage was called "Innocence." This innocence phase was described as "the pre-egoic, pre-self-conscious stage of the infant: An innocent is only doing what he or she must do. However, an innocent does have a degree of will in the sense of a drive to fulfill needs." When we observe a normalized child in a Montessori classroom, they are attracted to the work “they must do.” It is common to see a child repeat work over and over again, and they will do this work until the proper neural connections are made.
Second Plane of Development - Childhood
Montessori
In the second plane, Montessori observed children moving to abstraction with increased powers of imagination and (moral) reasoning. Children try to understand the big picture or the world around them with a sensitive period of fairness and justice. In this stage, social behavior (herd mentality) plays a crucial role along with socialization (including hero worship) and language.
Erikson
Children develop a sense of industry from ages 7 to 11, which aligns very well with Montessori's Second Plane. This is a feeling of competence and belief in their skills. Montessori mentioned that the end product of work matters to the child, and a child who excels in creating their work will feel competent and have high self-esteem.
Piaget
Piaget's third stage is the concrete operational stage from first grade to adolescence. This is when the child begins to think abstractly, use logic, and make rational decisions based on observable and concrete phenomena. Montessori ultimately agreed with this in her observations of children in the second plane of development.
Bruner
Brunner's third stage is called the Symbolic phase, which is language-based and runs from seven on. Montessori would probably argue that the Symbolic phase starts earlier and overlaps with the second phase. There are similarities between Piaget's concrete operational stage and Brunner's third phase because using language to symbolize ideas requires the ability of abstraction.
Kohlberg
Kohlberg's Conventional stage matches well with the second and third planes of development because it concerns social norms and law and order, which children become sensitive to throughout childhood and adolescence.
Dewey
Dewey also advocated for problem-based learning, which involves applying knowledge to solve real-world problems. This approach would undoubtedly stimulate the attention and learning of children in the late second and third planes of development. Problem-based learning appeals to the sensitivities of abstract big-picture thinking, imagination, reasoning, and creating fair and just solutions.
May
The second stage was called "Rebellion." The rebellious individual wants freedom but does not yet fully understand the responsibility that comes with that freedom. For children 6-9, their enhanced physical abilities over infancy afford them more freedom, but they mentally do not fully grasp the delicate balance of freedom and responsibility. As they turn the corner and go to 9-12, understanding this newfound responsibility through the lens of moral reasoning and fairness becomes very important.
Third Plane of Development - Adolescence
Montessori
In the third plane, Montessori observed adolescent children become concerned with identity and community by trying to discover "Who am I?" They also crave an understanding of global socialization. Socialization is essential and includes social behavior, role models, social justice, social interests, and individual and societal moral conscience. As expected, this plane has a sensitive period for social cognition and error recognition.
Erikson
Erikson perfectly matches the theme of this stage to Montessori's third plane. From 12 to 18, adolescents search for identity by exploring interests, values, and goals.
Piaget
Piaget's final stage is the formal operational stage, from adolescence to adulthood. In this stage, a person does not need concrete objects to make rational judgments and can use hypothetical and deductive reasoning. These higher-level modes of thinking are necessary for individuals to investigate concepts like social justice, moral conscience and dignity, and responsibility, which are hallmarks of the third plane of development. Piaget makes connections to themes from Montessori, Erikson, and May.
Kohlberg
The Conventional stage matches well with the second and third planes of development because it is concerned with social norms and law and order, and social cognition is a focus of this age.
Dewey
Problem-based learning also appeals to the sensitivities of social justice, responsibilities, and the individual and society's moral conscience.
May
The third stage was called "Ordinary." In it, the ordinary individual has a "normal adult ego and has learned responsibility, but finds it too demanding, so they seek refuge in conformity and traditional values." Being extra sensitive to social behavior means people search for their cliques or people who match their beliefs and attitudes. Knowing where an individual's beliefs end and society's beliefs begin can be challenging because humans are social creatures.
Fourth Plane of Development - Maturity
Montessori
In the fourth plane of development, Montessori observed that humans seek responsibility and purpose, a proper work-life balance, and a position within their community where they feel heard, recognized, and respected. This is where individuals strive for self-realization or reach their full potential. This is congruent with Maslow's definition of self-actualization, the highest level of psychological achievement marked by the individual realizing their full potential after the other needs have been met.
Jung
Individuation is similar to the Maturity plane of development for Montessori because both believe self-realization and self-understanding are the primary concerns of this stage.
Kohlberg
The Post-Conventional Stage (which not everyone achieves) concerns social contracts and universal ethics, which sounds like the fourth plane's purpose of finding one's purpose.
May
The fourth stage was called "Creative." In it, the creative individual is their "authentic adult, the existential stage, self-actualizing and transcending simple egocentrism."
Differing Opinions
Several prominent educators and psychologists disagreed with the stages approach to human brain development. Their general belief was that learning does not have fixed start or stop times based on age but is lifelong. Both Bandura and Vygotsky agreed that attention is critical to the learning process. They both emphasized the importance of attention in their models of learning. While they did not believe in the stages development model, pieces from their theories are utilized in Montessori Education.
Bandura introduced the social learning theory, which was broken into four components. The first part was attention, which plainly means the subject must pay attention to the behavior. Next comes retention, or remembering what was observed. Next is reproduction, where the subject refines and practices the behavior until it can be replicated accurately. The part is motivation, the reason why the subject wants to learn and reproduce this new behavior. Bandura proposed three models of how observational learning occurred. They were a live model, through verbal instruction, and symbolic modeling. This has similarities to Bruner's Enactive, iconic, and symbolic phases.
Vygotsky, like Bandura, did not agree that children learn in specific stages but instead are continuous learners. Montessori knew that attention was critical and purposely designed attractive works for the child, and presentations were specific, almost like a choreographed dance, to center the child's attention on the work. Vygotsky's learning theory, called the "Zone of Proximal Development," states that learning happens through "knowledge from a more knowledgeable other." Montessori leverages this idea in two ways: the teacher and the multi-age classroom. Older students are role models who can also be collaborated with and sometimes even act like assistant teachers.
Bruner unites the two with his constructivist theory, which states that learners construct their own knowledge, but this process needs to happen over and over again. The idea of the "spiral curriculum" stems from this theory, which states that by spiraling back to previously learned material, the person can reapply new strategies and reorganize the information. Each time the student comes back to the material, they learn a little bit more; this process, over time, scaffolds and solidifies itself. The spiral curriculum is clearly used in Montessori education. Many iconic materials are used repeatedly throughout the student's education, and they glean something new each time. The binomial cube starts as a simple puzzle for matching color, shape, and pattern recognition. Only later does it become a concrete example of a binomial when the student has a grasp of numbers and mathematics. One material being used to introduce multiple concepts over time is a hallmark of Montessori materials. While Montessori education is recognized as having this spiral curriculum component, it goes one step further with its integrative processes, oftentimes called Cosmic Education.
Bibliography
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In the next blog, I will compare the planes of development with play, socialization and social behaviorism, and evolutionary biology.