Concentration is a part of life. It is not the consequence of a method of education.
Interpretation
Concentration is an essential element of life that goes beyond formal education methods.
Maria Montessori emphasizes that concentration is a fundamental aspect of living, suggesting that it should be cultivated naturally rather than solely through educational techniques. Her perspective encourages individuals to recognize the importance of focus and attentiveness in all areas of life, highlighting that these qualities contribute significantly to personal growth and learning.
In practice
During a workshop on personal development, this quote can inspire participants to prioritize their focus.
... the first thing his education demands is the provision of an environment in which he can develop the powers given him by nature. This does not mean just to amuse him and let him do what he likes. But it does mean that we have to adjust our minds to doing a work of collaboration with nature, to being obedient to one of her laws, the law which decrees that development comes from environmental experience.
When we want to infuse new ideas, _x000D_ to modify or better the habits and customs of a people, _x000D_ to breathe new vigor into its national traits, _x000D_ we must use the children as our vehicle; for little can be accomplished with adults.
Noble ideas, great sentiments have always existed and have always been transmitted, but wars have never ceased.
What we need is a world full of miracles, like the miracle of seeing the young child seeking work and independence, and manifesting a wealth of enthusiasm and love.
To aid life, leaving it free, however, that is the basic task of the educator.
It is fortunate, I think, that nature is not bounded by human reason and by laboratory work and experimentation, for by the laws of pure reason and by microscopic investigation, it might easily have been proved, long before this, that children could not be born.
There are so many kids in this country growing up in poverty, facing very, very hard challenges... We need resilience for all of them.
What we want... is for students to get more interested in things, more involved in them, more engaged in wanting to know; to have projects that they can get excited about and work on over long periods of time, to be stimulated to find things out on their own.
The scandal of education is that every time you teach something, you deprive a [student] of the pleasure and benefit of discovery.
Of course there is no denying the possible pleasure of holing up with a fat, slow-moving, mediocre novel; still, we all know that we can indulge ourselves in that fashion only so much. In the end, we read not for reading's sake, but to learn.
Today, in every wave of every ocean, I see our children playing and dancing. Today, in every plant, tree, and mountain, I see our children growing in freedom.
Few things are better in the world than a room full of librarians. I consider them literary heroes. The keepers and defenders of the written word.
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