Montessori vs Traditional Education
| Emphasis on cognitive structures and social development | Emphasis on rote knowledge and social development |
| Teacher has classroom role in classroom activity; child is an active participant in learning. | Teacher has dominant, active role in classroom activity; child is a passive participant in learning. |
| Environment and method encourage internal self-discipline. | Teacher acts as primary enforcer of external discipline. |
| Instruction, both individual and group, adapts to each student’s learning style. | Instruction, both individual and group, conforms to the adult’s teaching style. |
| Mixed age grouping | Same age grouping |
| Children are encouraged to teach, collaborate, and help each other. | Most teaching is done by teacher and collaboration is discouraged. |
| Child chooses own work from interests and abilities. | Curriculum structured for child with little regard for child’s interests. |
| Child formulates own concepts from self-teaching materials. | Child is guided to concepts by teacher. |
| Child works as long as he/she wishes on chosen projects. | Child generally given specific time limit for work. |
| Child sets own learning pace to internalize information. | Instruction pace is usually set by group norm or teacher. |
| Child spots own errors through feedback from material. | If work is corrected, errors usually pointed out by teacher. |
| Learning is reinforced internally through the child’s own repetition of an activity and internal feelings of success. | Learning is reinforced externally by rote repetition and rewards/discouragement. |
| Multi-sensory materials for physical exploration | Fewer materials for sensory development and concrete manipulation |
| Organized program for learning care of self and the environment (polishing shoes, cleaning the sink, etc.) | Less emphasis on self-care instruction and classroom maintenance. |
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