6io THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



mentally adhered to the "physiological" method of Seguin, the first 

 great trainer of defectives, and she frankly acknowledges this indebted- 

 ness. The scientific foundation of her practise is further shown in the 

 conduct of her schools. Careful records are kept concerning the hered- 

 ity, parental occupation, feeding and infantile sicknesses of the Montes- 

 sori pupils, and anthropometric measurements are taken at regular 

 intervals. Moreover, an expert inspection is periodically made of the 

 sanitation and economic conditions in the home of each child. 



The Montessori spirit is again revealed in her attitude of allowing 

 the pupil as complete freedom as possible and of holding that the chief 

 function of the teacher should be to study the activities of the child. 

 " The transformation of the school," says she, " must be contemporane- 

 ous with the preparation of the teacher. For if we make of the teacher 

 an observer, familiar with the experimental methods, then we must 

 make it possible for her to observe and experiment in the school. The 

 fundamental attitude of scientific pedagogy must be, indeed, the liberty 

 of the pupil." In practise, Montessori carries out this fundamental 

 belief more fully than most Froebelians, who also profess it. Instead 

 of holding the children to a fixed and complete order of exercises im- 

 posed by the teacher, she maintains that all education worth having is 

 " autoeducation." The children should select their own occupations 

 and solve their own difficulties, and should be allowed to develop them- 

 selves both mentally and morally. Only when their activities interfere 

 with the general interest or are useless or dangerous, must they be sup- 

 pressed. However, while in this latitude toward individual expression 

 Montessori carries out the "following, not prescriptive" education of 

 Froebel more logically than that reformer himself, she does not develop 

 participation in group activities to the same extent as he. Nor is the 

 material used as rich and varied. There is little opportunity afforded 

 for the Froebelian construction and invention, and the development of 

 imagination is ruthlessly nipped in the bud. The interesting plays, 

 songs and stories of the kindergarten find little parallel in the Montes- 

 sori practise, although at present the founder of the system seems to be 

 expanding these elements. The conception of " autoeducation " is 

 admirable, but it is difficult to see how genuine activities are to be 

 carried on, except within a very narrow scope, unless the material of 

 the Montessorian schools be expanded considerably beyond the confines 

 of the "didactic apparatus." 



The most discussed features of the Montessori method fall naturally 

 into three groups. It should be noticed that none of these exercises are 

 absolutely original, but they are sufficiently peculiar to demand consider- 

 ation in any description of Montessorianism. They are connected with 

 (1) activities of practical life, (2) sense training and (3) the formal 

 studies of the elementary curriculum. (1) When the child first enters 



