Waubonsee Community College

The child is the teacher, a life of Maria Montessori, Cristina De Stefano ; translated from the Italian by Gregory Conti

eng

Includes bibliographical references

individual biography

no index present

non fiction

The child is the teacher

bibliography

1255595633

Cristina De Stefano ; translated from the Italian by Gregory Conti

a life of Maria Montessori

"A fresh, comprehensive biography of the pioneering educator and activist who changed the way we look at children's minds, from the author of Oriana Fallaci. Born in 1870 in Chiaravalle, Italy, Maria Montessori would grow up to embody almost every trait men of her era detested in the fairer sex. She was self-confident, strong-willed, and had a fiery temper at a time when women were supposed to be soft and pliable. She studied until she became a doctor at a time when female graduates in Italy provoked outright scandal. She never wanted to marry or have children-the accepted destiny for all women in her milieu of late nineteenth-century bourgeois Rome-and when she became pregnant by a colleague of hers, she gave up her son to continue pursuing her career. At around age thirty, Montessori was struck by the work being done with children from the slums of the San Lorenzo neighborhood, and realized what she wanted to do with her life: change the school, and therefore the world, through a new approach to the child's mind. In spite of the resistance she faced from all sides-scientists accused her of being too mystical, and the clergy of being too scientific-she would garner acclaim and establish the influential Montessori Method, which is now practiced throughout the world. A thorough, nuanced portrait of this often controversial woman, The Child Is the Teacher is the first biographical work on Maria Montessori written by an author who is not a member of the Montessori movement, but who has been granted access to original letters, diaries, notes, and texts written by Montessori herself, including an array of previously unpublished material"--, Provided by publisher

Part one: Constructing the self (1870-1900). A little girl -- The seduction of theater -- Excellency, I will study medicine -- The anatomy museum -- Lessons on the cadaver -- Walks on the Pincian Hill -- Reaching out to the people -- Up with women's unrest -- A woman on the ward -- Giuseppe Montesano -- The boy savage -- Let them shout and they will talk -- The secret son -- A pioneering speech -- A new woman -- a Niagara of words -- The lesson of things -- A different teacher -- More painful than losing the man you love -- Part two: Discovering her mission (1901-1907). A great faith -- Back to university -- A partisan of free love -- Sorceress, witch, enchantress of the young -- He who possesses love is a god -- All women, rise up! -- The communion of sins -- San Lorenzo -- Thy light is come -- The children's house -- Blocks, clay, and pencils -- The immense work -- The marvelous fact -- Sandpaper letters -- The explosion of writing -- Part three: The first disciples (1908-1913). An angelic baroness -- New people who speak in us -- Just three darling girls -- The martyred saint of the movement -- The humanitarian society of Milan -- Give the child exactness -- Producing the material -- A thorny individual -- Like flies in summer -- The year of farewells -- The school in the convent -- Taking religion to the people -- A pilgrimage -- Montessori, Rome -- An American impresario -- The refound son -- Before the international tribunal -- The first American tensions -- Institutes, manuals, and other squabbles -- The most interesting woman in Europe -- Part four: Managing success (1914-1934). A triumphal tour -- Montessori fever -- Where are my trusted friends? -- I know nothing about business, that I do know -- Away from Europe at war -- Jealous, in some ways fanatical -- New things, houses as high as the sky -- The glass classroom -- A ball of fire -- La escuela Montessori -- The divine friend of children -- Handmaiden in the world -- The advanced method -- Freedom with material -- The white cross -- The teachers college -- The Montessori babes -- A socialist friend -- Development around the world -- British pragmatism -- Between socialism and psychoanalysis -- Coming home -- A hard year -- Bombastic pronouncements, covert impediments -- Montessorism without Montessori -- The break with fascism -- Part five: Cosmic education (1934-1952). The AMI and Mario's rise -- Among the peoples -- Children of the Earth -- The great vision -- India -- The great spirit -- Enemies and foreigners -- The completion of the idea -- The method is a small thing -- My country is a star -- The epoch of surprises -- I don't think, I see -- The house by the sea