This paper discusses discipline and obedience in Montessori education.
This paper relates that, by allowing children to develop a significant degree of independence and self-discipline, Montessori schools set a pattern for a lifetime of self-discipline and personal responsibility. The author points out the only requirements are that the children return everything to its proper place and do not damage the materials. This paper states that, even in cases where the child is misbehaving in the short term, the long-term goals of Montessori education, which include independent thinking, self-discipline, and respect, are always kept in mind and reinforced.
“The specific methods used to maintain ground rules would vary according to the children and the teacher, but what is consistent is that the teacher must allow each child to find his or her own way; the teacher serves as a guide to the right path. Rather than interfering more when there is a discipline problem, the teacher should step back “so that the child-spirit may be free to expand and to express itself; it is that the importance of her task lies in not interrupting the child at work”.”