Freedom and Discipline

Thoughts & Reflections

How does Montessori address freedom and discipline?

Without rewards or punishments, and with a focus on collaboration instead of competition, how does Montessori handle the issue of discipline, or conflict resolution?

Believe it or not, disicpline is not really an issue in Montessori classrooms. Why? Because the prepared environment, with an emphasis on community, instead of individuality, is designed to maintain stability.

One of Maria Montessori’s famous insights was to pinpoint discipline as the other side of freedom. She described it as two sides of the same coin.

“ On one side you have freedom, and the other, discipline. ”

In Montessori, children are afforded their freedom. They are free to engage and interact with the classroom, their peers, the materials, in so far as they remain within the conditions of the environment.

How does freedom not lead to conflict? Because the children are activity participating in activities of their own choosing. They’re reliant on themselves, in conjunction with the social dynamics of the class.

The only real discipline in Montessori is the self-discipline that each and every child inherently fosters. Note the concentrate and self-discipline in the execution of Numbers and Counters above.