| Montessori |
Traditional |
| Emphasis on cognitive and sociable development |
Emphasis on social development |
| Teacher has the role of a facilitator in class |
Teacher has a controlling role |
| Environment and methods encourage self-discipline |
Teacher acts as primary enforcer of discipline |
| Mainly individual instruction |
Group and individual instruction |
| Mixed age group |
Same age group |
| Grouping encourages children to teach and help each other |
Most teaching is done by the teacher |
| Child chooses own work |
Curriculum is already set and structured for the child |
| Child discovers own concepts from self- teaching materials |
Child is taught the concepts by the teacher |
| Child works as long as he wishes on chosen activity |
Child has a certain time to finish a certain task |
| Child sets own learning pace |
Instruction pace usually set by group |
| Child spots own error by feedback of material |
If work is corrected, errors usually pointed out by teacher |
| Child reinforces own learning by repetition of work and internal feelings of success |
Learning is reinforced externally by repetition and rewards |
| Multi-sensory materials for physical exploration |
Fewer materials for sensory development |
| Organized program for learning care of self and environment (cleaning, sitting and eating properly etc…) |
Less emphasis on self-care instruction |
| Child can work where he chooses, move around and talk at will (yet not disturb others) |
Child usually assigned own chair, encouraged to participate, sit still and listen during group sessions |
