Children and adolescents often struggle with existential questions such as “Who am I?” and “Who do I want to become?” As early as infancy, children began to recognize that they are a separate being with a stable sense of self with interconnections to other objects and beings. Young children begin to identify themselves using very concrete categories such as developmental age, gender, size, and skills. As children age and begin to forge new and stronger relationships with family members, classmates, teachers, and community members, and develop a more profound understanding of their culture, they develop self-identity.

According to Psychology Today, “identity encompasses the memories, experiences, relationships, and values that create one’s sense of self.” Over time, each of these elements blends together to create a steady sense of who one is, even as new facets are incorporated. Identity is formed through three key tasks:

• Discovering and developing one’s potential
• Choosing one’s purpose in life
• Finding opportunities to exercise that potential and purpose

Identity is also greatly influenced by interactions with teachers and peers during childhood and adolescence, making the classroom experience incredibly important for a child’s development. In fact, when considering a student’s needs, academic engagement and cognitive development may be unlikely unless the social nature of the classroom is addressed. Students need to feel safe in order to be fully engaged in the classroom.

Montessori guides hold the responsibility for creating identity-safe classrooms, “places that foster belonging and value for students of all backgrounds.” Elements of the Montessori pedagogy naturally create identity-safe spaces. For instance, looping, or the practice of students moving up from one grade to the next with the same teacher, a hallmark of the Montessori Method known as mixed-age groupings, fosters a community of care with conditions that promote the flourishing of positive connections. The student-centered approach of Montessori philosophy also promotes autonomy, cooperation, and student voice, helping students develop self-confidence as they contribute their ideas, thoughts, and feelings.

The work does not stop there, though. Montessori educators should strive to help their students reach their highest potential by affirming all identities, acknowledging and supporting their students’ social and emotional development and cultivating diversity.

Here are Six Ways Montessori Guides Can Put These Practices into Place, Creating Identity-Safe Classrooms:

1. Acknowledge and Validate All Types of Identity

   Montessori guides should make a conscious effort to explicitly introduce the concept of identity. It can be helpful to engage students in a brainstorming session, identifying all the different types of identity including a person’s name, age, race, gender, culture, language, interests, physical appearance, and more. Doing so will help each student to feel seen and appreciated, no matter their identities.

2. Cultivate Diversity on a Daily Basis

   Diversity should be utilized as a resource for learning. It should not be viewed as an add-on to the curriculum, but should be an integral part of everyday learning. Montessori guides should make intentional efforts to include diverse music, art, stories, and activities that reflect the identities of not only each student in the class, but also those not reflected in the classroom as well. They should also review their classroom libraries, ensuring that diversity is cultivated and that a range of backgrounds are reflected in classroom literature.

3. Examine One’s Own Identities and Demonstrate Humility and Vulnerability with Students

   Maria Montessori noted the importance of guides demonstrating humility. Having open, honest conversations with students about one’s own positive and challenging experiences surrounding identity is a great way for Montessori guides to do so in a way that promotes the establishment of identity-safe classrooms. Sharing stories about experiences such as having divorced parents, growing up in poverty, having a disability, or having immigrant parents helps students feel secure in expressing their own identities. Self-reflection will allow guides to better understand their own identity. Educators should challenge themselves to explore and address implicit and explicit biases as part of the spiritual preparation necessary to engage in identity-safe teaching.

4. Create Identity-Safe Classroom Constitutions

   The process of working together as a classroom community to develop a constitution or a list of rights and responsibilities is one that is commonplace in a Montessori classroom. In an effort to create identity-safe environments, Montessori guides can ask students to consider rights and responsibilities that help to foster a safer classroom community during these brainstorming sessions.

5. Rely on the Power of Grace and Courtesy

   Positive student relationships and teacher warmth and availability are foundational for establishing trust. By modeling grace and courtesy and helping students understand social etiquette, a culture of kindness and equality will naturally develop in the classroom.

6. Hold Regular Classroom Meetings and Community-Building Activities

   Community-building activities help students to develop trusting relationships with one another. By engaging in experiential team-building exercises, they learn to work together to solve problems. Classroom meetings function in a similar manner, providing a platform for students to engage and share with one another. When conflicts arise, classroom meetings can be used as a restorative practice, addressing challenges and disagreements and finding resolution as a community. Both of these activities help students realize that it is important to build and maintain relationships in their classroom community.

“Educators seeking to cultivate identity-safe classrooms celebrate the unique identities of students while building on them to support rich and inclusive learning” (Hernández and Darling-Hammond 2022). If Montessori educators make intentional, deliberate efforts to create identity-safe classrooms, not only will their students feel a sense of acknowledgement, validation, and security at school, they will develop a stronger sense of self that will empower them to reach their highest potential. In this way, education can become the preparation for life that Maria Montessori truly envisioned.

References

Hernández, Laura E. & Darling-Hammond, Linda (2022). Creating identity-safe schools and classrooms. Learning Policy Institute. https://doi.org/10.54300/165.102.

About the Author

Heather White, EdS, is a Montessori coach and consultant, content creator, and educator for adult learners, as well as a moderator and manager for the Montessori at Home (0 – 3 years) Facebook group. Formerly, she was a Montessori teacher, in-home caregiver, Lower Elementary coordinator, and associate head of school. She also has experience as a school psychologist intern. She is AMS-credentialed (Early Childhood, Elementary I) and is a Nationally Certified School Psychologist (NCSP). Contact her at hpratt@stetson.edu.

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The opinions expressed in Montessori Life are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the position of AMS.