Chennai Montessori School

It was apparent from the first glance at my classmates that today was going to be a long day. With nearly half of the class and our Professor sick with the cold, cough, and head/tummy ache, we knew it would be a battle to make it through today's school visit. We made it to the school this morning and immediately met with the principal, who gave us an overview for the day. We were to choose two classes, where we would remain for an hour each. Not only were we confined to these two classes, we were told that there would be zero interactions with the students... we could only observe. You could tell immediately that Vidya was less than thrilled with the circumstances, but she remained gracious, and we all split up and went into our classrooms. Hannah, Vidya and I all chose the primary class which taught children 2.5-6 years old. The montessori teaching technique was definitely unique. The teachers had minimal interaction with the students and only taught the children if the kids asked for assistance. During lesson time, the children were able to pick their own activities. One student was working on addition, one was sewing, one was gluing paper together, while another was shredding a carrot... all in the same room. The children had floor mats which they worked independently on. I have found, through visiting multiple schools, that India has a very collectivist education system, but the Montessori method is extremely individualistic.


Unlike children in other schools who remained engaged and focused during classes, the Montessori children were extremely fidgety, distracted, talkative, and disrespectful to both teachers and their fellow classmates. After visiting a school like TVSA and then going straight to the Montessori school I felt extremely discouraged. The children today were extremely rude and snobby. I am not looking forward to going back tomorrow, but I know there is a valuable lesson to be learned.