Maria Montessori was a true pioneer. After be-coming the first woman to qualify as a doctor in Italy she founded an educational philosophy which spread rapidly across the world.
She drew on her observational skills as a clinician working with children in the slums of Rome in the early 1900s to develop the fundamental principles of her approach to early education: given the right tools and stimulation, children would teach themselves.
In putting her ideas into practice, she also proved herself to be a great innovator. A Montessori classroom has equipment specifically designed to support all areas of a child's development. Many of her radical ideas are now accepted as standard in mainstream education. For example, Dr Montessori was the first person to think of providing child-sized furniture in a classroom.
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