ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the history of the Montessori approach and the reasons for its continued relevance and appeal in the 21st century. The chapter focuses on the global aspects of the Montessori approach and its bearing on the lives of children today. It examines the discoveries made by Montessori in the first Children’s House and how those findings impact Montessori practice today. Education must concern itself with the development of individuality and allow the individual child to remain independent not only in the earliest years of childhood but through all the stages of his development. Montessori was born in Chiaravale, Ancona province, on the east coast of Italy on 31 August 1870, the year in which Italy became a republic. Montessori’s aim was to nurture each individual child so that she or he could reach her or his potential as a human being. Montessori’s emphasis on the child’s freedom with responsibility remains the key principle of her pedagogy.
