The unique and widely lauded education method, created about a century ago by Dr. Maria Montessori an Italian medical doctor and education visionary, is built around the concept of self-directed learning, mixed-age classrooms, collaboration, creativity and social responsibility.
In a six-year study of 3,000 innovative executives, professors Jeff Dyer of Brigham Young University and Hal Gregersen of INSEAD in Europe discovered that a significant number of the respondents had gone to a Montessori school “where they learned to follow their curiosity.”
Famous people who went to Montessori schools:
Technology:
Sergey Brin & Larry Page (GOOGLE FOUNDERS):
“You can’t understand Google,” says Wired, “unless you know [its founders] were Montessori kids… In a Montessori school, you paint because you have something to express or you just want to… not because the teacher said so. This is baked into Larry and Sergey… it’s how their brains were programmed early on.”
When Barbara Walters, who interviewed Google founders Messrs. Page and Brin in 2004, asked if having parents who were college professors was a major factor behind their success, they instead credited their early Montessori education. “We both went to Montessori school,” Mr. Page said “and I think it was part of that training of not following rules and orders, and being self-motivated, questioning what’s going on in the world, doing things a little bit differently.”
Jimmy Wales (WIKIPEDIA FOUNDER):
As a child, Wales was a avid reader with an acute intellectual curiosity, to which he credits his Montessori school’s philosophy of education.
Jeff Bezos (AMAZON FOUNDER):
Amazon’s founder, who proudly cites his Montessori roots, is a study in contradictions: analytical and intuitive, careful and audacious, playful and determined. Critics note his extraordinary ability to learn from others, one hallmark of Montessori education.
Will Wright (CREATOR OF THE SIMS Videogame series):
The videogame innovator says Montessori was the “imagination amplifier” that prepared him for creating The Sims, Sim City, Spore and Super Mario Brothers. “SimCity comes right out of Montessori… It’s all about learning on your own terms.”
Will Wright heaps similar praise. “Montessori taught me the joy of discovery,” Mr. Wright said, “It’s all about learning on your terms, rather than a teacher explaining stuff to you. SimCity comes right out of Montessori…”
Meanwhile, according to Jeff Bezos’s mother, young Jeff would get so engrossed in his activities as a Montessori preschooler that his teachers would literally have to pick him up out of his chair to go to the next task. “I’ve always felt that there’s a certain kind of important pioneering that goes on from an inventor like Thomas Edison,” Mr. Bezos has said, and that discovery mentality is precisely the environment that Montessori seeks to create.
Literature:
Gabriel Garcia Marquez (NOBEL PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR):
Marquez said his Montessori education gave him “the desire to kiss literature” and states, “I do not believe there is a method better than Montessori for making children sensitive to the beauties of the world and awakening their curiosity regarding the secrets of life.
Anne Frank (MEMOIRIST & AUTHOR):
Anne Frank’s famous diary is a natural extension of her school experience. She—like all Montessori students—learned to cultivate observation skills and record her thoughts in a journal early on. Diary of a Young Girl has been translated into 67 languages and is one of the best loved books in the world today.
Katharine Graham (PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR AND FORMER OWNER & EDITOR OF THE WASHINGTON POST):
Crisis forced Katherine Graham to assume control of the Washington Post. Her confidence faltered but—remembering that what matters is how people learn, not what they know—Graham said, “The Montessori method, learning by doing, once again became my stock in trade.” Her reign at the highly-regarded paper lasted more than two decades.
Music
Joshua Bell (GRAMMY AWARD-WINNING VIOLINIST AND SUBJECT OF A PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING MEDIA STORY):
A world-renowned violinist, Joshua Bell is thoughtful about the role his music plays in society. In a cultural experiment turned Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post story, it is Bell’s humility, not his virtuosity, that most inspires. In suspending his fame to explore the true meaning of his work, Bell exhibits Montessori thinking at its best.
Yo Yo Ma (UNITED NATIONS PEACE AMBASSADOR, WINNER OF 15 GRAMMY AWARDS, PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM & NATIONAL MEDAL OF THE ARTS):
A child prodigy cellist and Montessori student, Yo Yo Ma learned to early to follow his own interests and think outside traditional definitions. Today, critics call his artistic style “omnivorous” in reference to his versatility, his notably eclectic repertoire and his musical iconoclasm.
Sean “P Diddy” Combs (GRAMMY AWARD-WINNING MUSICIAN, RAP RECORDING ARTIST AND CEO OF BAD BOY RECORDS):
The multi-talented hip hop artist Sean “P Diddy” Combs says he feels fortunate to have attended Mount
Vernon Montessori School during his childhood, recalling that, “I feel like I was nurtured into wanting to be somebody special”.
Beyoncé Knowles (SINGER, SONGWRITER, ACTRESS AND FASHION DESIGNER,16-TIME GRAMMY AWARD-WINNER):
In Houston, at St. Mary of the Purification Montessori, Beyoncé’s talents first emerged. In a school that valued both art and academics, a top student and world-class performer was born. Today Beyoncé has been nominated for more Grammys than anyone in history and is one of pop music’s most highly-regarded figures.
Taylor Swift (GRAMMY AWARD-WINNING SINGER/SONGWRITER):
Taylor Swift, country music’s youngest-ever Entertainer of the Year, attended Alvernia Montessori School in Berks County Pa. The singer is widely described as “the product of homegrown values”; New York Times calls her “one of pop’s finest songwriters, country music’s foremost pragmatist, and more in touch with her inner life than most adults”.
Movies:
George Clooney (ACADEMY AWARD-WINNING ACTOR, DIRECTOR, PRODUCER,HUMANITARIAN, UNITED NATIONS MESSENGER OF PEACE):
Good pre-school pays off: Harvard economists say kindergartners with great teachers earn more later (and are more likely to attend college and own a home) than others. So what defines “good”? Turns out Montessori’s approach—unfolding students, not molding them—guides the most successful teachers. George Clooney? Montessori pre-schooler.
Helen Hunt (ACADEMY AWARD-WINNING ACTOR):
Helen Hunt, winner of some bigtime honors (Oscar, Emmy, and Golden Globe all one year—a feat nearly unmatched in history) is one cool Montessorian. Which makes her observation all the more interesting: “If there’s a message, it’s that the unlovable and unattractive parts of ourselves should be embraced. The only real currency between people is what happens when they’re not cool.”
Dakota Fanning (ACTOR):
This youngest-ever Screen Actors Award nominee, history’s youngest Academy member, recalls: “I learned to read at two…in a Montessori school where they teach you to read really, really young.” Montessori kids are not technically taught to read (reading skills just emerge in the right environment, we think), but they work at their own pace in age-diverse groups—not in curriculum-dictated lockstep with same-age peers. For Fanning, autonomy led to early achievement throughout her life.
John and Joan Cusack (ACTOR AND SCREENWRITER, AND ACADEMY AWARD-NOMINATED ACTRESS, RESPECTIVELY):
This sister-brother team, each of whom also has a hefty solo reputation, are not conventional heroes. That the former Montessorians’ work is described as “ideosynchratic”, “offbeat” and “fiercely original” is consistent with their belief in “a kind of Joseph Campbell theory of pursuing bliss. Whatever excites you is what you should be doing”.
Anne Hathaway
Other Arts:
Friedensreich Hundertwasser (VIENNESE ARTIST & ARCHITECT):
This world-renowned Austrian painter and architect attended a Montessori school in Vienna, which influenced both his affinity for vibrant colors and his love of nature. He collected pebbles and pressed flowers as a child, demonstrating an early interest in small, precious things—which later manifested itself in his work.
David Blaine (ILLUSIONIST & MAGICIAN):
David Blaine was a four-year old Montessori student when he fell in love with magic. Today he’s called “the modern day Houdini” by The New York Times, which says, “He’s taken a craft that’s been around for hundreds of years and done something unique and fresh with it… [His magic] “operates on an uncommonly
Mathew Bronsil – Puppeteer and Comedian was “Montessori” from the day he was conceived being the child of two Montessori teachers. Matt now, not only does stand-up improvisational comedy, but is a Montessori pre-school teacher.
Julia Child (CELEBRITY CHEF & AUTHOR):
A student of Mrs Davie’s Montesorri School in Pasadena California, Ms Child exuded a sense of fun and inspired others to try new things in the kitchen. She credits a Montessori background with her manual dexterity—a key feature of her mastery as a chef—and with the love and joy she found in her work
And more
Erik Erikson (PSYCHOLOGIST & AUTHOR):
The Danish-German-American psychologist and psychoanalyst known for his theory on human social
development, Erikson may be most famous for coining the phrase “identity crisis”. He found Montessori ideas so compelling that studied them as an adult, acquiring a Montessori teaching certificate but never teaching
in a classroom.
Helen Keller (POLITICAL ACTIVIST, AUTHOR, LECTURER, AWARDED THE PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM, ONE OF GALLUP’S MOST WIDELY ADMIRED PEOPLE OF THE 20TH CENTURY):
Maria Montessori said that if, deaf and blind, Helen Keller became “a woman and writer of exceptional culture, who better than she proves the potency of [the Montessori] method?” In her tribute to Montessori, Helen’s teacher observes, “Only through freedom can people develop self control, self dependence, willpower and initiative. This is the lesson Helen’s education has for the world.”
Montessori children of famous Politicians:
- Prince William and Prince Harry – sons of Prince Charles and Princess Dianna of Wales
- Chelsea Clinton – Daughter of President Bill and Hillary Clinton
- Princess Eugenie of York – the younger daughter of Prince Andrew, Duke of York and Sarah, Duchess of York.
For more information, check out:
http://mtips.org/docs/What_do_Pdiddy_SergeyBrin_and_Peter_Drucker_have_in_common.pdf
La Montessori School - Aizawl 