The inherent individualism in Montessori education

The individualism in American society has a natural ally in Montessori education, where students are allowed to make decisions, set goals, and work at their own pace.

Because children have the freedom to exercise willpower in the classroom, they not only gain independence, but also the capacity to form their own value systems.

Values are, by definition, individualistic. They're someone’s values—the things they’ve decided they care about deeply about.

Every day the child plays an active role in her school community, she unconsciously absorbs the message that the life she’s carving out for herself will be the product of her individual mind and choices.

This may explain why, at least in part, why “grace and courtesy” lessons get weaved into Montessori curricula, offering insights into the beliefs of the adult community in which the child is growing up, and providing a counterweight to the predominantly self-directed nature of learning.