Maria Montessori’s thought and work between past and present

Abstract

Tiziana Pironi and Manuela Gallerani begin the Special Issue with introductions to the articles that follow. Pironi considers the relationship between nature and culture in the Montessori approach that developed between the 19th and 20th centuries. She highlights how it distanced itself from positivistic determinism, and analyzes the innovative results of Montessori theory and practice in schools, which have significantly impacted today’s approaches in the educational and neuroscientific fields. Gallerani notes how Maria Montessori’s work was met with a good deal of resistance and criticism during the post-WWI and post-WWII years from Italian academics who tended to interpret her innovative educational concept rather simplistically, like a mere teaching system endowed with a certain degree of effectiveness. However, the criticism did not prevent the spread of the Montessori approach in many other countries, where it was appreciated and leveraged for its effectiveness and modernity. As a matter of fact, its key principles can still be found today, revised and applied in such new methods as Universal Design for Learning and Embodied Education.