OBSERVATION AS A METHOD: FREE MANIFESTATION IN THE MONTESSORI APPROACH

Abstract

In Montessori pedagogy, one of the fundamental teacher’s characteristics is the attitude to active observation, this, infact, figure out as a learning source basilar for every teacher's work. For Maria Montessori (1999) it is essential to prepare master observers able to observe and guide the child's development while respecting the natural course. The time used for observation is precious moment to avoid that “the vain effort of those looking for a hidden object and the anxiety of those who need support escape”, as well as a moment to catch the essence of a child and his needs. To avoid that observer ideas, prejudice and proclivities will not distort the action of observation, an observation structure is needed in order to maintain the objectivity of the collected information excluding each form of distorting subjectivity. In this way, observation becomes a consequence of educational action and vice versa, bringing out an idea of education that is based on respect for the child and his desire to know and experience "alone" (Margiotta, 2012) . The purpose of the observer must be the effectiveness of the educational action, which translates into the promotion of increasingly higher levels of autonomy for the child. In this sense, Montessori sees in observation the guideline that allows the teacher to know the child in his free manifestation, focusing on the interest in the object and the attention span, without neglecting the feelings perceivable by the expressions of his face. It is important that the child is not deprived of his sense of freedom, as this would compromise the scientific observation of spontaneous activity. The contribution reports an interpretative survey that aims to understand how much kindergarten and primary school teachers know and are inspired by the Montessori Method. It is expected to have a sample of about 400 preschool and primary school teachers. The tool used is a semi-structured questionnaire; the data analysis, conducted by means of the IBM SPSS analysis software, is of a quali-quantitative type. The purpose of the work is to highlight the importance of good observational practices, according to the Montessori approach, which aims to determine quality learning. The paper shows the results of a study that involved 400 trainee teachers of the IV Specialization Course on educational support activities for the kindergarten and primary school of the University of Palermo in the A.Y. 2019-2020.