A parent asks:
Hi I really need help with how to use the work plan and morning meetings. The teacher will give them a week of assignments. Should that be the plan or should I have the kids choose some of the items to make a daily plan? We will have 10 kids most of which are new to independent management and I want to establish that autonomy.
Six months ago, my response to this question would have been: work plans are not part of Montessori! COVID-19 has completely changed my view of what is and isn't part of Montessori, and I'm no longer quite so dogmatic about these things. So, instead of simply saying "don't use a work plan", let's consider why work plans are not a part of a well-developed Montessori program and then think about how to get there.
Work in the Montessori elementary is a delicate balancing act between spontaneous curiosity, responsibility to the community, and obligations to society. If there is one principle that underlies everything in Montessori, it is that healthy development happens when a child concentrates intently on a freely chosen activity. The trouble with work plans is that they interfere with this spontaneity. If the children are tied down to too many daily obligations, there is no room for this spontaneous work to happen, and therefore, little possibility for the unexpected.
But, I hear you say, what about all the things they have to learn? Let's have a look at the tools available to the elementary guide in a prepared (face-to-face) environment to guide learning:
- First and foremost, we have the enticement of beautiful materials and good teaching. Elementary children are intellectual sponges, and will soak up anything worthy of their time and attention. One of my mentors once said to me, "The children will work on anything they find interesting; it's your job to make it interesting." If we do a good job providing interesting and challenging work, and teach them how to work productively together, the children will work.
- Second, we have the children's own growing sense of responsibility. To deal with the challenge of meeting state learning standards, I discuss with the children that society has decided there are certain things all children need to learn. In our classroom, they are lucky enough to be able to choose their work, but this comes with the responsibility of making sure they meet society's expectations. I have a child-friendly version of the Common Core Standards on one of my shelves that they can use for reference, and I find that usually they come to me asking for lessons to help them fulfill these expectations. (Of course, it is my responsibility to have lessons prepared for all of these expectations.)
- Third, we have work journals. These differ from work plans in that the children record what they've done, rather than what they plan to do. In the traditional work journal structure, the child writes the time they begin an activity, the activity, how much they've done, and the time they finished. (It takes time to get to this point. Many new elementary students do nothing more than record the date for the first several months.) As they get older, they can also start writing about what they've learned, and if they choose, something about what they plan to do next.
- Fourth, we have regular one-on-one consultations with each child. During these meetings, we can look at their work, consider the projects they have in progress, and if necessary, make goals and plans together. The lovely thing about this setup is that it is completely individual: some students really need daily work plans (in fact, some need hourly consultations), others need a consultation once a month, and will come to those meetings with a list of lesson requests and a clear idea of what they are working on next.
- Finally, we have the culture of work in the classroom. A wonderful Montessori educator, the late Jon Snyder, once described six-year-olds just joining the elementary as "drunk on freedom". I find this is absolutely true, but the lovely think about a multi-year, multi-age class is that we can develop a strong classroom culture. While the youngest children may struggle to follow through, or find the notion of learning standards flummoxing, most more experienced children don't, and over time, they bring the youngest children into this culture of joyful responsibility.
That's all well and good, but what about the COVID era? These children are new to self-directed learning, the parent working with them is new to facilitating this kind of learning, and they are receiving assignments from their school (which I believe is not a Montessori school). Simply doing away with the structure of teacher-led plans is a recipe for chaos, not self-directed learning. But here are some steps this parent might take to help the children move towards more independence:
- Begin by encouraging the children to decide how they want to work through the work plan sent by the teacher. It can be up to each child to decide this. Whether you encourage the children to choose some items for a daily plan or to stick with the whole week plan really depends on the age and engagement level of the child. Pick something you think will work and try it. You can always change course later, as long as you're honest with the children about why you want to make changes.
- Consider inviting the children to work on a "passion project". They can explore essentially anything for this, and can work alone or in small groups. Make this a core part of their work day, not something they get to do after they finish their "real", and constantly communicate that their project is important and you are genuinely curious about their discoveries.
- When you see honest, enthusiastic engagement happening, don't interrupt it, even if the plan calls for moving on to something else. This is where real self-development happens, and it's the foundation of self-direction. You and your group of families will have to decide for yourselves how much priority you want to place on the work assigned by their teacher. Personally, if that work isn't inspiring enthusiastic engagement, but something else worthwhile is, I would be happy to ignore the assignments for as long as the children need, but that may not work for you. (N.B., part of your role as a leader is to decide what counts as worthwhile activity, and this can be a subtle judgement call. Playing video games all day is probably not worthwhile activity; but designing a video game to teach something the children are learning about could be amazing.)
- Talk with the children directly about what society expects them to learn, and what the work from their teacher is helping them learn. If their teacher assigns some really boring work, work together to figure out what the point of the work is, and then see if you can come up with a more interesting way to learn that. If you can't even figure out what the point of the work is, talk to their teacher. Teachers are struggling to find good ways to provide learning opportunities remotely, and may appreciate the feedback, so long as you go in with an attitude of wanting to work together, rather than an attitude of accusation.
- Remember that many of the most important learning opportunities don't necessarily look like lessons. Cooking, baking, learning to clean up after baking, learning to do laundry, and other practical skills are all extremely valuable. Moreover, handwork, in particular, can be very grounding for children who are struggling to focus. Sewing, knitting, crochet, embroidery, soap carving, and the like are all wonderful activities for elementary children. These can be wonderful ways to begin to encourage deep concentration and self-chosen work.
- Allow for lots of movement time, preferably chosen freely by the children. Movement is extremely important for learning, and frankly, for everyone's mental and physical health. Allowing the children to move and take breaks freely (within reason), will improve their self-regulation and keep everyone more relaxed. If you have an outdoor space they can access, let them choose when to go outside, instead of scheduling recess. If a child is choosing to do nothing but play, work with that individual child to come up with a reasonable plan, instead of imposing new rules on everyone.
- Expect everything to take time. Expect that it will take time for children to settle into a new, more self-directed way of learning, and that this is a process, not an overnight change. To the extent you can, try not to panic and revert to telling the children what to do. Instead, you can say something like "I see you are having trouble choosing what to work on right now. Let's look at your list of work options and pick one thing to do."
- If all else fails, go outside and observe nature. Bring sketchbooks to draw and write about what you see.
I hope this helps you find some good strategies. I realized I've moved a bit away from the simple question of how to (not) use work plans, but self-directed learning is all part of a larger structure. You'll struggle to facilitate it if the children don't have an appropriate range of choices.
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