MONTESSORI

TRADITIONAL

Emphasis on cognitive structures and social development.

Emphasis on rote knowledge and social development.

Teacher’s role is unobtrusive; child actively participates in learning.

Teacher’s role is dominant, child is a passive participant.

Environment and method encourage internal self discipline.

Teacher is primary enforcer of discipline.

Individual and group instruction adapts to each student’s learning style.

Individual and group instruction conforms to the teacher’s teaching style.

Mixed-age grouping.

Same-age grouping.

Children encouraged to teach, collaborate, and help each other.

Most teaching is done by teacher and collaboration is discouraged.

Child chooses own work from interests, abilities.

Curriculum is structured with little regard for individual interests.

Child formulates concepts from self-teaching materials.

Child is guided to concepts by teacher.

Child sets own learning pace to internalize information.

Instruction pace set by group norm or teacher.

Child spots own errors through feedback from material.

Errors corrected by teacher.

Learning is reinforced internally through child’s own repetition of activity, internal feelings of success repetition.

Learning is reinforced externally by rewards.

Multi-sensory materials for physical exploration development.

Few materials for sensory, concrete manipulation.

Organized program for learning care of self and self-care environment.

Little emphasis on instruction or caring of self.

Child can work where s/he is comfortable, move and talk at will (yet doesn’t disturb others); group work is voluntary and negotiable.

Child assigned seat; encouraged to sit still and listen during group sessions.