The Moment of Learning

Other Good Things

One of the most pressing and concerning issues of our contemporary educational and cultural landscape is the conception of education as instantaneous, as if you could just download knowledge. The moment of learning may very well come in spontaneous bursts, but it can’t be reduced to the exchange of information transmitted instantaneously.

“ Ideas germinate, or they’re never born. They’re like relationships. They take time. ”

While we may witness great leaps in abilities – for instance, a child suddenly but not unexpectedly starts to tie their own shoes, or initiates simple computations at the grocery store, or finishes reading a new bedtime story – these are the labors of a love of learning.

“Children learn at their own pace. It’s a process, one that requires great diligence and patience.”

In contrast to a reductionist theory of education, which is largely based on the idea that knowledge can be communicated immediately, Montessori cultivates an appreciation of thinking. Both in a child’s abilities to necessitate and generate thought, but also in their abilities to absorb the thoughts of others.

One exemplification of this instance is Montessori’s general opposition to memorization. It’s not so much that Montessori opposes memorization, which is essential for certain habitual operations, but rather, that the focus should be placed on understanding, not memorizing.

“ The myth of the genius perpetuates these misconceptions of the role of education. ”

Take for instance, the perceived success of flashcard based schools of thought. The focus on rote memorization, employing techniques that cater to this idea of instantaneous education, produce immediate and noticeable results. “After just one or two sessions, my child can now count to 100”.

The superficiality of success does not yield understanding. It produces frustration.

While this industry may provide temporary assistance, especially for an older demographics, they fail to address the larger and more systemic issues of learning: asking, more precisely, how we learn and in what capacities.

The idea that anyone can insist that a child reach a certain intellectual point, by a certain age, is fraught with the failures of education, one of which must certainly be the idea that education is instantenously.

The moment of learning? Well, these moments take time.

“Not all children of the same age are at the same point in this matter of reading and writing. We not only do not force a child, but we do not even invite him, or in any way attempt to coax him to do that which he does not wish to do.” -Maria Montessori