The Absorbent Mind

What is meant by the “absorbent mind?

Why is our understanding of it so critical to early childhood education?

 Dr Maria Montessori’s educational philosophy holds the belief that education begins at birth. Montessori describes this period from birth to six years as the “Absorbent Mind”.

As the first plane of development in a child’s life, it is divided into two sub planes. The Unconscious Absorbent mind (birth to three years) and the Conscious Absorbent mind (3 – 6 years).  This first plane of development forms the foundation for a child’s intellectual and psychological development and is the most important developmental plane in Montessori theory.

When a human baby is born, it is born with no knowledge and as it grows must acquire knowledge from the world around him by creating impressions that will help him to reach his potential. Montessori (1988) explains that these impressions from the environment will help the child pass from the unconscious to the conscious. “He learns everything without knowing he is learning it and in doing so he passes little by little from the unconscious to the conscious, trading always in the paths of joy and love.”(p.24)

In the period of 0-3 years, the unconscious absorbent mind simply absorbs the world around the child. It is a time when the brain is more reactive than purposeful. Throughout this period, “the child has a type of mind that the adult cannot approach, that is to say, we cannot exert upon it any direct influence. (Montessori, 1988, pg 17-18).

This is evident in observation of a human baby. A baby must learn everything. He only has his reflexes when born, unlike other species. In time he will learn to roll, crawl, walk. His speech patterns will develop and he will talk.  This sub-phase is better known as the time of construct. A child, using his senses constructs his impressions of the world.  A child learns to speak, to gain control of his hands and to master his bodily functions, therefore freeing himself from the adult and achieving freedom.

In the period of 3-6 years, the conscious mind remains the same but can begin to be influenced by others.  It is a time when the development of the brain begins to order and classify experiences  and decipher the multitude of sensations entering the brain.  Throughout this period, the child begins to act more consciously towards the world around him and begins to manipulate his environment in order to make sense of it. Using the impressions from the previous subphase, a child’s fundamental task is to pursue freedom from the adult. His mantra at this time is “Let me do it myself!”

The concept of the Absorbent Mind is shared by other educational theorists. McDevitt & Omerod(2002) clearly outline the educational theories of Piaget and Vygotsky, their similarities and differences. On comparison it is evident that many of their ideals can also be compared to Montessori theory. All three theorists believed that social interaction was a beneficial part to learning and that social interaction with older peers and adults was fundamental to the learning phase, the difference in this is that Montessori believed that children would learn better from children whereas Piaget and Vygotsky believed children would learn better from the adults around them.

 Another theory shared among them was a ‘readiness ’for learning to occur. Each addressed this readiness in a different way. Montessori refers to this readiness as sensitive periods, Vygotsky as the Zone of Proximal Development and Piaget as the Stages of Cognitive Development.

Although named differently they refer to the same thing- a child must be able to use prior knowledge to scaffold the new knowledge against. During this transition from old knowledge to new knowledge a child can be guided or assisted with tasks. Herein lies Montessori’s fundamental theory of presenting work to the child at the appropriate stage.

Using this method of guidance a Montessori classroom is designed to provide for the changing needs (physical, emotional, social and intellectual) of children in each developmental plane. This linking of age and development with curriculum(sensitive periods) and the social interaction with student and teacher can be linked to Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development. Activities are designed to motivate and stimulate the child. The interaction with student and teacher is sparked when a child is interested in an activity that has not yet been presented to him.

Lillard and Jessen(2003) believe our role as  adults is to assist our children in the formidable task of finishing their own formations as human beings.(p13.) In order to do this, an adult must first understand the human tendencies of a child and create an environment that is reflective of these tendencies: exploration, orientation, order, abstract thought, imagination, manipulation, exactness, repetition, control of error and perfection and communication.

There must also be a sound knowledge of the sensitive periods and an understanding that the absorbent mind can only be influenced indirectly, through the preparation of the environment, the prepared adult and the freedom with responsibility. “The environment itself is moreover something special. Though it is provided by adults it is in reality, an active and vital response to the new patterns manifested in the life of a growing child.(Montessori 1966, p.140,Secret of Childhood).

The special environment in the Young children’s community are based on activities of the home : cooking, cleaning, washing, flower arranging. There are puzzles and objects to aid the children in their development of their senses, hand control, balance and co-ordination….Most of all, being together in this specially prepared environment helps children to develop an awareness of their rights and limits, as well as the rights and limits of others.( Lillard, 1996, p 29-30) The environment of the Children’s House is designed to be a bridge to the outside world. It is allows for exploration in four areas, practical-life, sensorial, language and mathematics.

In the case of practical life and sensorial activities, it is important to understand the nature of the absorbent mind because the role of the teacher is not to talk, but to prepare and arrange a series of motives for cultural activity in a special environment made for the child (Montessori, 1988, The absorbent mind,p.7)

In order to aid the child to reach its potential as man, our understanding of the Absorbent Mind is imperative. As adults, our role is to facilitate the learning, not to talk and to arrange an environment where the child is free to explore, imagine, perfect and draws his own impressions of a world he is to navigate throughout his life.

References

Lillard Jessen, L & Polk Lillard, P (2003), Montessori from the start: The child at home from birth to age three. New York. Schocken Books

Mc Devitt, T & Ormrod J (2002), Child Development & Education. New Jersey. Pearson Education Inc.

Montessori, M  (1966), The Secret of Childhood. New York. Ballantine Books.

Montessori, M (1988), The Absorbent Mind. Oxford. Clio Press.

Polk Lillard,P (1996) Montessori Today: A comprehensive approach to Education from birth to adulthood. New York. Schocken Books