Both the powerhouse that is the educator and physician Dr Maria Montessori’s and psychologist Jean Piaget’s stages and planes of cognitive development are quite insightful and useful to understand when parenting, teaching or involved with children in any capacity. Although Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development are more widely referenced in education, Montessori’s Planes of Development are as pertinent when analysing the developmental phases children go through.  Let’s take a look at some similarities and differences between the way both breakdown the cognitive journey of childhood.

Suppositions

Piaget believed that children can only accomplish what they are psychologically ready to achieve so through observations he grouped the different milestones or phases into four different stages according to age. (Cardwell, Clark and Meldrum, Psychology for A Level (1998), page 387)  

Maria Montessori also believed that children pass through different stages or, what she called ‘Planes of Development’ at different ages (Montessori, What You Should Know About Your Child (2002), page 16).  She claimed that there were three stages of development before adulthood (the fourth plane being adulthood) and each last for a span of around six years. Montessori believed that the first three years of each plane show the most active change and acquisition, the remaining three years were thought to be when the child becomes stable within each plane consolidating that which was accrued from the first three years.

 

Piaget’s First Stage (0-2 years) & Montessori’s First Plane of Development (0-3 years)

Piaget’s first stage is called the Sensori-Motor stage and begins from birth to between eighteen and twenty-four months.  Piaget divided this stage into six sub-stages: 

• Simple reflexes (0-6 weeks): Piaget’s first sub-stage is the “reflexes.”   He suggests that infants between birth and one month use action and behaviour patterns such as sucking, grasping and turning towards light and sound to begin their intellectual development.  An infant, at this stage, begins to develop what Piaget called a ‘schema.’  This is the infant’s general understanding and knowledge of the objects and people in his/her environment.  An infant’s schema develops through what Piaget calls assimilation (the process used to take in material from the environment into the mind) and accommodation (the change in an individual’s thinking or concepts after the assimilation has taken place).  
• Primary Circular Reactions (6weeks – 4 months): The “Primary Circular Reactions” sub-stage begins when the infant is between one month and four months.  During this sub-stage, behaviours and reflexes that at first were random are repeated by the infant to gain the experience or reaction again.  The focus at this stage is primarily on what the infant can do with his/her own body.
• Secondary circular reactions (4-8 months): Piaget’s third sub-stage is the “Secondary Circular Reactions” sub-stage between four and eight months.  During this sub-stage, most infants begin to crawl and so can explore in more depth their immediate environment.  Infants at this sub-stage will actively experience the effects they have on external objects rather than focusing on their own body. 
• Coordination of secondary circular reactions (8-12 months): The fourth sub-stage, namely “Co-ordination of secondary circular reactions”, is between eight to twelve months.  During this stage the infant develops doing things intentionally.  Infants at this stage acquire a simple understanding that by following a pattern of actions an intended result occurs.  Piaget also believed that at this sub-stage an infant begins to understand object permanence.  
• Tertiary circular reactions (12-18 months): Piaget’s fifth sub-stage, “Tertiary circular reactions” sub-stage occurs between twelve months to eighteen months.  Piaget observed that during this sub-stage, actions are repeated in a specific order to gain a specific result but the infant/toddler will now vary in the way they reach their specific goal or result.   An infant may be sitting in his/her high chair and drop objects from different sides of the high chair to see what happens. 
• Internalisation of schemas (18-24 months): Piaget’s final sub-stage is called the “Mental combination” sub-stage.  Infants reach this stage between approximately eighteen to twenty four months.  Piaget suggests that by this stage an infant is able to create a mental image of his/her environment rather than depending on the physical presence of an object or person.  At this stage toddlers will begin to string words together showing that the concept of symbolic representation of an object or being is now occurring. 

Piaget did an experiment to observe whether an infant could understand object permanence (Teo Alson, Age of Insanity, 07/11/05).  He did so by concealing objects that the child was playing with under a blanket. Piaget believed that infants less than eight months could only work on the physical presence of objects i.e. if it cannot be seen then it is not there.  A British writer named Tom Bower (1946- ) designed his own object permanence experiment with colleagues at Edinburgh University (Baillargeon, Object Permanence in five month old babies, pages193, 194).  Bower monitored infant heart rates throughout his experiment to measure surprise.  Bower discovered that overall the infants were less surprised to see the object still there than they were seeing the object had vanished.  This proved that infants as young as five months are capable of object permanence but simply do not know how to retrieve the hidden object.  Although Bower did not refute that object permanence took place, he suggested that it may take place earlier than Piaget had first denoted. 

 

Montessori also divides her first plane but into two main sub-planes.  Her first sub-plane encompasses infants between zero to three years and the second sub-plane between three to six years.  Montessori believed that infants during the first sub-plane stage have a special ability called an Absorbent Mind hence why her first stage, Early Childhood, is coined ‘The Absorbent Mind‘.  This is the only time in the infant’s entire life that s/he will ever engage with such a distinct characteristic.  The Absorbent Mind allows the infant to learn in a very different capacity creating the personality that s/he will eventually have.  Montessori used the term “sensitive periods” to describe the fervent intensity which a child engages with particular areas in his/her environment almost ignoring everything else until they have thoroughly satisfied their psychical need for that area. These sensitivities do not occur in such a manner, according to Montessori, at any other time during life. The sensitive periods are: 

• Sensitivity to Movement (0-1 years)
• Sensitivity to Mathematics (0-6 years)
• Sensitivity to Language (0-6 years)
• Sensitivity to Small Objects (1-4 years)
• Sensitivity to Order (2-4 years)
• Sensitivity to Grace & Courtesy (2-6 years)
• Sensitivity to the Refinement of the Senses (2-6 years)
• Sensitivity to Music (2-6 years)
• Sensitivity to  Writing (3-4 years)
• Sensitivity to  Reading (3-5 years)
• Sensitivity to Spatial Relationships (4-6 years)

Throughout the first sub-plane Montessori believed that an infant has an unconscious Absorbent Mind.  Infants do not act on will or have a conscious memory rather the infant uses his/her five senses to explore, learn and develop.  

Montessori also suggests that infants go through sensitivity to movement.  At first the infant is uncoordinated and disorganised with his/her movements but suggests that given the suitable materials, environment and support, the infant learns to refine and perfect each movement.  The infant may also have sensitivity to order, becoming comforted by regular and unchanging routines and feeling upset by irregular patterns of routine.

Montessori suggests that during the first plane of development, infants go through sensitivity towards small objects and sensorial experiences.  I observed an infant at the age of eighteen months being totally fixated on ants.  She would follow an ant around for a good amount of minutes at a time and eventually try to pick it up.   Sensory learning and experiences means the child uses all five senses- touch, taste, smell, sight, and hearing – to understand and absorb information about his or her environment.  

Montessori also suggests that during this time an infant is likely to achieve sensitivity to symbolic representation.  Montessori believed that through repetition, the infant is able to ingrain what s/he learns.  Infants between eighteen to twenty-four months usually enjoy trying to repeat everything another person has said.  This could be signs of the sensitivity to language.

 

Piaget’s Second Stage (2-7 years) & Montessori’s First (3-6 years) and Second Plane (6-12 years) of Development

The second stage of Piaget’s intellectual development is called the Pre-Operational stage and occurs between the age of two and seven years.  Unfortunately, Piaget focused more on what a child could not do at this stage rather than what s/he could do.  He suggests that pre-operational children cannot understand that other people have different points of views, therefore considered them to be going through an egocentric state during this stage.  His Three Mountains experiment with Inhelder in 1948 concluded this theory.  However another experiment conducted by Hughes in 1975 disputes Piaget’s claim.  The Policeman Test proved that ninety percent of three year olds could de-centre.  (Hughes, M (1975) cited in Brief notes on some Well Known Experiments handout).   

Throughout the second sub-plane of the first plane of development (3-6 years), Montessori believed that the child still posses the Absorbent Mind however, s/he now has a conscious Absorbent Mind (as opposed to the unconscious first sub plane).  Montessori does not suggest that the child is egocentric but believes that the child is conscious of his/her thoughts and has a need to do things for his/her own self.  In this way the child will learn through his/her own learning experiences.  I have observed children often saying “I want to do it by myself.”  In the classroom and at home, Montessori suggests that carers and parents should provide children with the smaller versions of everyday household utensils such as dustpans and brushes and cutlery and crockery.  She suggests that these utensils should be real and not plastic materials.  

In comparison with the first plane of development, Montessori suggests that children in the second plane: Childhood (six to twelve years), are more stable, have mastered coordinated movements, are fluent in speech, and have established their own personality. A child during this plane no longer has an absorbent mind but learns through reasoning and the use of imagination and logic. A child at this age has an extremely inquisitive mind wanting to know the how, when and where of everything.  Sensitive periods during this plane are towards reading and writing, maths, music and art (JMJ Publishing, Planes of Development, 28/06/07, sensitive period chart).

 

Piaget’s Third (7-11 years) and Fourth Stage (11+ years) & Montessori’s Second (6-12) and Third Stage (12-18) Plane of Development

Piaget’s Concrete Operational Stage is between seven to eleven years.  Children at this stage have a basic understanding of conservation although may need physical situations to understand more thoroughly.  Children can de-centre, understand the concept of reversibility and can classify into sets and sub sets.

For Piaget, the Formal Operations stage is the final development milestone before reaching adulthood.  In fact, this stage is where the child can now hypothesis about situations without having the real experience to hand.  In comparison, Montessori believes this age range to be as important as her first plane.

Montessori’s final plane before reaching adulthood ranging from the ages of twelve to eighteen is alike the first plane in that it is a plane of intense and dramatic transformation.  It is called Adolescence and is divided into two sub-planes (twelve to fifteen and fifteen to eighteen).  Montessori envisioned a different type of school environment for this age group which she called Erdkinder. 

“Dr. Montessori felt that because of the rapid growth, the increased need for sleep, and hormonal changes, it is useless to try to force the adolescent to concentrate on intellectual work. She recommended an Erdkinder, or Earth school, where children would live close to nature, eat fresh farm products, and carry on practical work related to the economics of supplying food, shelter, transportation, and so forth. Intellectual work is still done, following the child’s interests, but without pressure.” (MONTESSORI FOR AGES TWELVE TO EIGHTEEN: Montessori Philosophy and Practice for the Middle School & High School Years). 

 

Conclusion

There are many similarities between Montessori and Piaget such as the passing through important learning periods, using the environment to learn and initially needing concrete objects to learn from then progressing to abstract thought and concepts.  However, the main differences between the two are that Piaget believed the child to have egocentric natures whilst Montessori believed that children could learn from each other as well as their environment.  Piaget does not consider the social aspects of learning.

Both theories are very helpful in understanding how children think.  With this knowledge, teachers, parents, care givers and anyone involved with children are able to plan for each phase of a child’s education having a rough guide as to what materials to provide and how to assist the child in successfully transforming into a healthy and educated adult.

 

 

References

Teo Alson, Age of Insanity, http://jungleinablog.blogspot.com/2005/11/jean-piaget-object-permanence.html, 07/11/05

Andréa Aguia, Object Permanence, http://social.jrank.org/pages/ 450/Object-Permanence.html, 01/09/07

Renee Baillargeon, cited in Cognition, 20 (1985), pages 193-194

http://www.indiana.edu/~appstat/stanwass_reprints/Baillargeon_Spelke_Wass_1985_Cognition.pdf

JMJ Publishing, Planes of Development, http://www.jmjpublishing.com/PlanesofDevelopment.htm, 28/06/07

MONTESSORI FOR AGES TWELVE TO EIGHTEEN: Montessori Philosophy and Practice for the Middle School & High School Years, http://www.michaelolaf.net/montessori12-18.html, 01/09/07

Bibliography

Bruce T and Meggitt C, (2005), Child Care and Education 2nd Edition, London, Hodder and Stoughton

Cardwell M, Clark L and Meldrum C, (1998), Psychology for A Levels, London, Harper Collins Publishers Ltd

Sharman C, Cross W and Vennis D, (2001), Observing Children A Practical Guide, London, Continuum

Montessori M, (1972), The Discovery of the Child, New York, Balletine

Montessori M, (2004), The Absorbent Mind, Oxford, Clio Press

Montessori M, (2002), What You Should Know About Your Child, Oxford, Clio Press