I’ve been thinking a good bit about the role of lessons in a Montessori Unschool, and in particular, whether adults should initiate them. In my life, I’ve very much been influenced not just by Montessori, but also by “democratic free schools” (Sudbury Valley School in Massachusetts in particular), and by the “unschooling” style of homeschooling, especially the work of John Holt. In fact, my own middle/high school experience was in a school loosely inspired by Sudbury Valley School. At Sudbury Valley “teaching” from staff members happens only upon request. In Montessori, guides invite children to most lessons and decide what the content of those formal lessons will be. And of course, in traditional schools, adult initiated activities constitute the bulk of the day. How should we deal with this difference in a Montessori Unschool?
We should offer lessons, but keep them (and ourselves) in their place: lessons are meant to broaden the child’s options. Here is a quote from my Theory Album, written when I was in my Montessori training:
“There is a subtle contradiction here: in order to increase the degree of a child’s freedom within a prepared environment, we must present new ideas and activities. This requires an intrusion into the absolute freedom [within limits of appropriate behavior] that Montessori spoke of…One cannot be interested in something of which one knows nothing!” —Greg MacDonald, as quoted in my Montessori Theory Album
Can Montessori children refuse lessons? In my experience, lessons are usually taken to be a classroom expectation, with a bit of wiggle room when a child has a good reason to skip a lesson. But in a Montessori Unschool, I would say the answer is absolutely. Adults should offer lessons, and they can even encourage and cajole a bit if children don’t want to come, but if the children say no, that is their prerogative. (And if a child is always saying no, that’s our cue to observe closely and try to understand what really going on, not to pressure.)
But if lessons are offered in the proper spirit, and guides are careful to choose opportune moments to give them, then I anticipate that the question of children refusing lessons will mostly be a non-issue. New ideas are exciting and most children love the gift of something new to do or think about. Lessons are offerings of new ideas, and they are meant to increase the child’s ability to use their freedom.
When children complain about lessons, in my experience, the trouble is not the lesson, but the expectation of follow up work. In many (most?) Montessori classrooms, lessons come with the explicit or implicit expectations that children will “follow up” on the lesson by repeating it or working with it in some way. But this perverts the purpose of the lesson. Rather than briefly interrupting the child’s own activity in order to increase their freedom, we’ve now reduced the child’s freedom by imposing a burden of expectation on their time. No wonder children resist lessons!
Who are we to say what a child should or shouldn’t follow up on, or how much practice they need? Some children are methodical, “slow” learners. They take in a lesson, and then come back to it regularly, practicing until they get it right. Others see something once and “get” it, and practice is mostly a waste of time. No one falls absolutely in either of those camps.
In fact, who are we to say what a child should even be interested in? Our job is to plant seeds, not force them to grow, and the children will not choose to water every seed right away. Some may lie dormant for years. That’s a good thing. If we constantly insist that the children tend every single seed we plant, the children will end up skimming the surface of the Sea of Knowledge, and they’ll never have a chance to dive deeply into a passionate interest. On the other hand, if we remember that lessons, and the work that grows out of them, are just one small part of how children learn new things, we’ll realize that the children are always taking something deeper. Even children’s games evolve to keep the challenge level satisfying. When we spark a deep interest in a child, they will take it further.
"So long as a child is actively interested in what it is doing and there is no harm in its little activity, it is definitely at work on its own development. Besides any new idea it may be grasping, it is building for itself concentration and self-discipline."
—Maria Montessori, The Child, Society, and The World, p.8
So in a Montessori Unschool, let us keep lessons in their proper place: they are one of many ways that children discover new possibilities, to do with as they choose. Guides should offer lessons—not too many, not too few—and these should not be a burden on either the children or the guide. What children choose to do with the lessons is their business, not the ours.