Cosmic Curriculum & Academic integration during Montessori Elementary Years
In the Name of Allah the Most Gracious the Most Merciful
History/Geography Rationale
What is Cosmic Education?
Cosmic Education is the process of awakening and responding to a child’s need to understand the universe and his/her place in it. It is based on a belief that each human being is integrally connected to the entire cosmos and has a unique role, or “cosmic task,” in the unfolding of the universe (Montessori, 1973). Montessori believed that by striking the child’s imagination with an impressionistic story, or “Great Lesson,” and subsequently exposing the child to “Key Lessons” that challenged the mind, a teacher could initiate a yearning for knowledge in the child. The teacher’s role is not to provide the answers, to create a desire for answers and thereby assist in the emergence of the whole human being, just a midwife assists the birth of new child. In her book, Education for a new world, Montessori states,
Human teachers can only help the great work that is being done as servants help the master. Doing so, they will be witnesses to the unfolding of the human soul and to the rising of a New Man who will not be the victim of events, but will have the clarity of vision to direct and shape the future of human society. (1989, p. 3)
Dr. Montessori’s philosophy of cosmic education was devised in response to her experience in two World Wars. She believed that the process of cosmic education would complement and support the process of peace education. Montessori observed that children at this stage of development had an urgent need to connect with one another and a growing sense of moral justice. She believed that by nurturing these qualities at this stage of development when it is most keenly felt, this inclination would lead to a lifelong empathy with others and service to society (Montessori, 1992). She believed that this aspect of a child’s normal development had been previously ignored or corrupted by the process of modern schooling. Montessori states in her book, “From childhood to adolescence, “an education that suppresses the true nature of the child is an education that leads to the development of anomalies.” (Montessori, 1973, p 11). Therefore, Dr. Montessori believed the role of the teacher was to prepare a class environment where children could fulfill their need to live in unity and harmony with each other. Dr. Montessori believed that hope for a new world order based on mutual respect and understanding lay in an educational system that supported the natural inner guidance (called “fitrah” in Islam) of the developing human being at each stage of life.
Dr. Montessori developed her model of education after years of keenly observing the child. She discovered several unifying characteristics for all children at certain planes of development. She observed that from birth to six years the child explored the world through the senses and therefore had an urgent need to touch, feel, taste, smell and experience the world in a concrete manner (Montessori, 1994). Montessori observed however, that with the advent of the next plane of development, from ages 6-12, which she referred to as Childhood, the emerging human being developed an enhanced ability to conceptualize and imagine worlds and ideas beyond the senses. To fully develop the budding imagination at this stage of development, Dr. Montessori believed that the teacher should “give the child a vision of whole universe.. for all things are part of the universe and are connected with each other to form one whole entity” (Montessori, 1973, pp. 8-9). This concept is reflected in the Qur’an (6:48) “It is He who has brought you into being from a single soul, (translation by Qutub,, 2002). The “Great Lessons,” or cosmic tales of the Universe and its history, that are presented at this stage of development fulfill a psychic need for unity.
Beginning with the first Great Lesson, the “Story of Creation,” the six year old child is introduced to chemistry, physics, astronomy and history through carefully designed “Key Lessons,” that vividly display the laws of the universe. During the “Story of the Solar System” and the “Story of the Earth” the teacher presents lessons on the composition of sun, earth, air and water. These impressionistic “key lessons” are designed to spark excitement with the laws that govern the universe and lead to fascination with physical science, Earth science, geology and geography. The “Story of Life” presents the Timeline of Life in which the emergence of life on Earth is displayed in a dramatic and visual presentation. Key lessons in biology, archeology, and history are introduced. This process continues in the Upper Elementary with the “Story of Humans,” “The Story of Civilization” and “The Story of a Nation.” The seeds that are planted will provide a love of learning and basis for advanced study as the child grows and develops over the years.
The ultimate goal of the curriculum is to nurture the child’s natural longing to understand the world her place in it. Montessori believed that this could be done by opening the child’s imagination to the wonders of the cosmos from the tiniest atom to galaxies and beyond. Once this appreciation for all creation is fully developed, Montessori believed that an inherent desire to protect the natural world and live in peace and harmony would naturally follow.
References
Duffy, M & D (2002). Children of the universe Cosmic education in the Montessori elementary classroom. Holidaysburg. PA: Parent Child Press.
Montessori, M (1992). Education and Peace. Oxford: ABC-Clio Ltd.
Montessori, M (1994) From childhood to adolescence. Oxford: ABC-Clio Ltd.
Montessori, M (1973) To educate the human potential. Thiruvanmiyar, Madras: Kalakshetra Publications.
Qutb, S. (2002) In the shade of the Quran. Chippenham, England: Antony Rowe, Ltd.
Stoll Lilard, A. (2005) Montessori: The science behind the genius. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, Inc.
*Al-Anbiya:30. :
أَوَلَمْ يَرَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا أَنَّ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ كَانَتَا رَتْقًا فَفَتَقْنَاهُمَا وَجَعَلْنَا مِنَ الْمَاءِ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ حَيٍّ أَفَلَا يُؤْمِنُونَ
ARE, THEN, they who are bent on denying the truth not aware that the heavens and the earth were [once] one single entity, which We then parted asunder? – and [that] We made out of water every living thing? Will they not, then, [begin to] believe?