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The Role Of Teacher Within The Early Childhood Classroom

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Theory Discuss the role of the teacher within the early childhood classroom. Please connect your discussion to the characteristics of this aged child and our goal to educate for peace. Maria Montessori envisioned a different sort of educator of children than had hitherto been the norm. In Montessori’s vision the school was a sort of laboratory where the teachers acted as scientists, observing the development of the child under a carefully prepared set of environmental circumstances. The teacher adjusted the circumstances to best suit the needs of the child. In fact, the teacher does not teach, rather he or she directs the child in their activities with faith they will reveal themselves through work (Absorbent Mind, 276) and educate themself with what they absorb from the environment. The role of the teacher in the Montessori classroom is three fold; to create and curate a safe and sensorially rich environment suitable for the child, to use their observations of the child’s sensitive periods to entice them to become engaged with the material and, when this occurs, to step back and allow the child to concentrate independently on building their development. By following these steps the directress facilitates the child’s incarnation of a peaceful self. The Montessori classroom must be beautiful for the child. The “potentialities, in fact, [of the child]must be stimulated by the environment” (The Formation of Man, 60) The furniture must be

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