Transcript Unit 1

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When Maria Montessori was born in Italy in 1870, her future seemed certain. Women did not have
careers in those days, nor did they attend college. People generally believed that women were not very
intelligent and not capable of complex thought, so Maria, it seemed, had little choice. Like her mother
and most women of her day, she would become a mother and a housewife.
She did, in fact, become a mother, but otherwise, her life took a very different course. She became a
doctor—the first woman doctor in Italy. With her brilliant medical studies and research, she proved that
women could indeed think and work as well as men. Later, she became internationally famous as the
inventor of the Montessori method of learning.
She was born in Chiaravalle, near Ancona, Italy. Her father, Alessandro Montessori, was a government
official in the state-run tobacco industry. In his youth, he had fought for the liberation and unification of
Italy. Well-educated himself, he wanted the best for his daughter. However, he was also conservative and
did not approve of her unusual choices. Only later, when she became famous, did he change his mind
and become proud of her.
Maria’s mother never had any doubts about her daughter. She supported all of Maria’s decisions and
helped her through many difficult times. Her own life was ordinary enough, but she wanted her
daughter’s life to be different. It was she who gave Maria the optimism and the ideals necessary for
success. She also taught Maria not to be afraid of hard work. Even as a small girl, Maria always had her
share of housework to do. And finally, Maria’s mother gave her a sense of responsibility toward others.
This was an important factor in her later work as a doctor and as an educator.
The Montessori family moved several times when Maria was young. When she was five, they went to live
in Rome, and there she started primary school. Only an average student at that time, Maria did not seem
very ambitions. Nor did she sympathize with the competitive behavior of some of her classmates. When
she won a prize in the first grade, it was for good behavior. In second grade, she won another prize for
sewing and needlework. So far, her interests and achievements were the same as those of any other girl
of her time.
However, something in Maria’s character stood out among the other children and she was often the
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leader in their games. Self-confident and strong-willed, she came to believe that her life was somehow
going to be different. At the age of ten, when she became dangerously ill, that belief in herself was
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