Montessori Method vs. Pikler Approach - What's the difference?
Maria Montessori and Emmi Pikler were physicians in the 1900's who focused on helping children develop in a natural way. The goal was for children to learn through methods that were led by a child's inherent abilities. While the age ranges of the children on whom they focused their studies varied, a lot of their motivations and even their personal lives, held many similarities.
- Women Physicians in the 1900s
- The Montessori Method & The Pikler Approach
- Different and the Same - Two Amazing Women
Women Physicians in the 1900s
Quick Facts
Historical Background
Maria Montessori (1870-1952)
Maria Montessori was born in 1870, and by the age of 20 had decided to study medicine. Already having a certificate in physics and mathematics, she pushed the cultural norms of the time with her desire to go to medical school - even though she received a lot of pushback. By the time she was 26 years old, she had become a doctor of medicine. She immediately began research with children experiencing some forms of cognitive delay, and began advocating for their education. In 1902, Dr. Montessori had become the co-director of a school specifically for children who developed differently than was typical.
She continued her studies, advocating for children and for women's rights, and began developing her own methods for education. In 1907, she accepted an invitation to direct the care and education of low-income children, and the first Children's house was created, where she really began to develop her methodology. She started to see the connections between using furniture that was child-sized, and their ability to do better and more self-motivated work. She observed that self-care and playing with animals, cooking, language, mathematics, and general "work" was more likely to happen at specific developmental stages (called "sensitive periods.") than at other times in life. And she also realized that allowing children to be uninterrupted in their work and learning would lead to a greater chance of them being autonomous and confident.
Emmi Pikler (1902-1984)
Emmi Pikler also graduated from medical school when she was 25 years old, after having studied under two physicians who were concerned with the relationship they had with their pediatric patients as well as with treating their illnesses. With these influences, she began to work as a pediatrician in Hungary in 1935, where she began to make connections between allowing infants free movement (i.e. not putting them into positions, rolling them over, or making them sit or stand before they can do it themselves) and with the relationship of the individuals who cared for them. When a child felt comfortable with their caregivers, they were better able to relax and to develop freely.
Later, after having to close her practice because of World War II, she did not re-open it again. Instead, she worked for a national institution that helped children abandoned by the war. She opened an orphanage and, like in Montessori did in her Children's House, began to put her ideas to the test, to see if she could help children in an institutional, under-privileged situation to develop well physically, and emotionally.
Things They Had in Common
Both Montessori and Pikler felt that, no matter the age, children who were allowed to work independently would become self-motivated in their learning, and would attain new levels of autonomy and natural physical development. They also believed in treating children as individuals- each of them valuable, trustworthy, and good- and that by offering respect to the child, the child could then reach their full potential.
The Montessori Method & The Pikler Approach
Quick Facts
Comparing the Two Methodologies
During their times of study, Maria Montessori focused primarily on early elementary-aged children, and Emmi Pikler focused on newborns through early infancy and into toddlerhood. You might say, in a developmental learning relay, The Pikler Approach hands the baton to the Montessori Method around age three or four.
The Pikler Approach
There are three main pillars in the Pikler Approach. These can be viewed in a cyclical way, because they all play on one another. When one is given particular attention, the other two are strengthened. When one is neglected, the other two areas might potentially deteriorate.
Attentive Caregiving
Great emphasis is given to the way caregivers approach routine moments of daily life with their infants. When time is taken to carefully dress, bathe, and feed our children, speaking to them and not over them, we invite them to be full participants in their lives. Even at the very youngest age, little babies can sense the difference between this slow and gentle approach to care, and will relax (or tense, as the case may be) accordingly.
Freedom of Movement
In the Pikler Approach, studies have shown that children are highly capable of learning to go from lying on their backs to walking without physical assistance from caregivers and parents. Instead, the role of the parent is to constantly observe their child's abilities, and to provide a simple and safe environment that will invite the child to move freely and independently.
Self-Initiated Play
This is play that is not dictated by adults. There are no rules (unless they are made up by the child) or goals, other than testing out imaginary scenarios, developing or processing emotions, and building psychological resilience. When play is driven by an inner motivation, rather than a dictated by an external influence, children can develop their ability to think for themselves, to be driven, and to feel confident.
The Montessori Method
Respect of the child as a human being is the primary lens through which the Montessori method should operate.
Sensitive Periods, or certain developmental stages, are given special attention, noticing that children have a greater inclination to practice specific activities in developing skills.
Concrete to Abstract is giving children a tangible object in order to teach an abstract idea. (i.e. Giving a child a group of 5 blocks in order to show them what the symbol "5" means.)
The Prepared Environment* is giving the child what they need to learn and grow according to the developmental stages they are experiencing. It should be easy for the child to reach and utilize, beautiful and inviting, and use minimal materials.
Observation* the first role of the teacher is to observe, and then to adapt their environment to support the child's changing needs and interests.
Peace Education was born out of the desire to make the world a better, more peaceful place by receiving respect from adults, and being taught to collaborate, communicate effectively, and resolve conflicts peacefully.
Child-centered learning takes place when the children make the decisions on what to do with the choices they are given in their prepared environments.
*Also important in the Pikler Approach
More In-Depth Resources
For more resources on Maria Montessori and her Method, please visit our Montessori Page.
For more on Emmi Pikler, please see our blog posts:
Different and the Same - Two Amazing Women
Although they lived at different times, in different places, and had different foci, the studies of Drs Montessori and Pikler were highly complimentary to one another. The women themselves had a lot in common. Mothers, caretakers, defenders of the less fortunate, highly observant, and willing to go against the common grain in order to make real and lasting changes in the world around them. Motivated by the wars they saw in their lifetimes, wishing to emphasize peace and respect in a world that did not reflect such desires, both Maria Montessori and Emmi Pikler looked to the younger generations, even the littlest participants in the human race. If they could instill in these people, the children, an inner confidence, that confidence could then radiate and help regulate themselves, their families, their communities, and eventually - the world.