Am I a Montessori Teacher or a Coach?

I’ve always thought of myself as someone who wears two hats – a Montessori teacher’s hat and a coaching hat. But it was only recently, when two coach friends asked me (during a moment of self-exploration into who I am as a coach) if I could draw on my experience as an educator to inform my practice as a coach. And that question sent me down a rabbit hole of deep reflection and exploration!

What if I was a Montessori teacher for grown-ups? What would that look like? Can the two (Montessori teaching and coaching) even be compared?

Unique Child, Unique Adult: The Montessori philosophy stems from a deep respect for the child. As teachers we must respect the uniqueness of the child, respect their deep-seated need for choice and respect that they can figure things out for themselves at their own pace. How like coaching this is?! As a coach, I also have deep respect for my clients and allow the sessions to move at the pace best suited to them. My clients are free to take the session where they want to take it, to focus on what they need to focus on in that moment. Montessori teachers are often referred to as guides, rather than teachers, they observe the children to see where their interests and heightened areas of focus are to guide them through the room and their school day. As a coach, I will guide my clients through the session but the context is set by them. My role is to guide them back to that context when their mind wanders, or if they appear to be going off on a tangent. Adults, too, are unique and so each session will look a little different depending on who I am coaching. I have learned that the same thing simply does not work for everyone and so I adapt my approach, just as I approach each child in my care differently.

Observation: Maria Montessori talked of sensitive periods that a child goes through, which refers to a period of time when a child’s interests are focused on developing a particular skill or knowledge area. They describe a window of opportunity for learning and the teachers must observe closely so these aren’t missed. Coaches are also keen observers, we look for a shift in energy and gently enquire about it, we listen for a change in tone of voice, we notice when the client’s eyes look upward and to one side (a sign of deep reflection) and we see when the lightbulb moment has hit, checking in with that expression of insight.

Whole Child, Whole Adult: Montessori is focused on educating the whole child. We nurture each child’s potential by providing learning experiences that support their intellectual, physical, emotional and social development. Coaching, too, requires a holistic approach. A client may come to you with professional goals but you have to take the whole person into account to support them to reach those goals. Life is very different in each person’s shoes, each person has a different working style and learning style, a different sense of balance, different commitments, therefore the same plan will not work for everyone. Change comes from within and so we have to look inward to ensure we set ourselves up for success in achieving those outward goals. Montessori teachers strive to instil intrinsic motivation in each child. We take the view that learning is its own reward and so do not give out gold stars or complete reward charts. The completion of an activity is where a sense of accomplishment should derive from. This is also true of adults. True happiness is intrinsic. Okay, we do usually use the word reward when asking – “How will you reward yourself when you complete this action or achieve this goal?” – but it is the inner sense of satisfaction that will drive the client to reward themselves in the first place.

Play and Exploration: Dr. Montessori said that “Play is the work of the child.” She believed that when children are allowed to explore their world through meaningful activities, they learn about the world they live in. I often bring an element of play to my sessions, when we are having fun, we feel more relaxed, igniting the creative mind and heightening our ability to think outside the box. I inject a sense of play through exploration and experimentation, we might role play to get a better sense of things from other’s perspectives. I invite my clients who have an inner narrative that puts them down, tells them they’re not good enough and increases a sense of imposter syndrome to name that voice and tell it to “get lost” when they notice it talking (I now know of a Fiona, a Brenda, a Jude, a ‘monkey on my back’ and two Dereks that my clients love to tell where to go!)

Empowerment: Montessori wanted to empower children with the ability to direct their own education. As a coach I want to empower the adults I work with to direct their own lives. When empowered we feel more motivated, we think differently about our work, we become more creative and want to solve problems rather than ruminate on them, enabling us to cope with and adapt to change more positively.

Peace: Maria Montessori lived during times of global upheaval, including two world wars; perhaps this is why she placed such a great emphasis on peace education and a sense of community. The classroom is a community where the children learn about their local and wider world communities. She taught the children tools of self-regulation so they could calm themselves, and she supported peaceful conflict resolution which has carried forward into today’s Montessori classrooms. Coaches too, long for a sense of inner and outer peace for their clients. We focus on what makes us feel better and how we can get more of that in our lives. When coaching professionals, we sometimes spend whole sessions exploring a conversation that happened or that needs to happen, considering how would we do it better or differently next time, or how we can approach it to achieve positive results.

Finally, Montessori focused on instilling resilience, competence, confidence and a positive sense of self in the children she taught, and I am proud to carry on her work in my Montessori career. But so much of the confidence and resilience we have as children disappears as we grow, and us adults have a longing to get it back. And, yep, you guessed it, this is a huge part of coaching! Coaching to help us remember how we can be resilient, confident and self-assured members of the human race. Coaching to approach life more positively. Coaching to see ourselves in a positive light.

So, am I a Montessori teacher or a coach? I’m both, and at exactly the same time!

“Children learn naturally through activity and their characters develop through freedom.”

Doctor Maria Montessori