If you’ve been keeping up with us lately, you know we’ve been talking about interesting connections between education and business world as part of our series titled “Education & the Changing Workforce.” In our most recent entry, we painted a picture of a unique event hosted on a university campus that illustrated the stark differences between the traditional American educational method and that of Montessori schools. Today, we’ll continue the discussion by explaining the differences between these two methods in a more detail.

In literature displays across the country, you can stories or special notices about the Montessori Method. The public interest persists, and it makes sense that it does. Many of us have never heard of the Montessori Method, and, if we have, our understanding rarely does it justice.

My attempt to define the Montessori Method goes something like this: It is a type of school that fosters an environment conducive to self-directed and self-corrected learning, appreciation for all fields of study, and development of practical life skills. Teachers are not called teachers, but “directors” or “guiders” instead. These directors or guiders communicate to students that they should perform well for themselves, not for adults, or other children. This approach is believed to be beneficial to the development of the student’s creative and imaginative domains. If true, this is an interesting concept, for if students adopt a resourceful way of doing things at a young age, it becomes a part of how they work, solve problems, and develop their communication skills.

In addition to fostering a self-directed style of learning, the Montessori Method is one that encourages students to understand any topic from a multitude of different angles – is the number one (1) still number one (1) without the numbers two (2), three (3), or four (4)? Is ‘American History’ the same without ‘South American History’ or ‘European History?’

This approach is built upon the idea that learning should be natural, and one should learn relative to what he or she can sense and understand. The reality is that Children are not small adults; they don’t think the same way, they are not required to think about the same things, and they don’t have the same physical capabilities. Montessori “directors” understand this reality, and, in turn, abandon the concept of “teaching” or “lecturing,” and focus instead on guiding students by asking questions that challenge and inspire them to learn and grow on their own.

Come back next time for the next part in the series, where we explore the potential effect the next generation of Montessori students will have on the American workforce and business world.

The workforce is an incredible collection of once boys and girls who now dominate our all important financial sector. As members of the workforce, come in all shapes, sizes, and appearances. We’ve all got our own goals and aspirations. Logistically speaking, however, we all share more in common than our choice to work. We share somewhat similar upbringings, and, like it or not, we were all once students - students of subjects far and wide.

Well, in all seriousness, if you grew up in America, you might agree that our range of subjects was actually rather emaciated. It was, and in most cases, it still is.

Why a blog entry on education, one might ask? Fortunately (or unfortunately), there is a direct correlation between the direction of our American financial market and the way our children are taught, and, maybe even more importantly, what they are taught. It makes good sense that our present day children should be raised in a manner that sets them up for success, or something.

To do our part in addressing this issue, the Plastic Products Manufacturing Blog is announcing a series on Education & the Changing Workforce. Through a pair of plastic lenses (ha-ha), we’ll explore the connection between the changing global economy and American financial and educational systems.

The current educational system, which has remained essentially the same since inception, runs on the philosophy that students need a foundation in core subjects – mathematics, English (writing and reading), American History, and the sciences (chemistry, biology, and physics). The goal is that everyone knows or cares just as much about one of these subjects as they do about another one. In business language, this means: If you’re laid off, or if you need to switch positions, due to internal or external factors, you can procure employment elsewhere, in a different capacity, industry, or field. Example: Susan resigns from her position as a police officer. Because Susan is accustomed to knowing a little bit about everything, Susan should have no problem finding a position as a bank clerk, administrative assistant, sales rep, radio DJ, etc.

Yes, the current US educational system embraces the “American Dream,” the notion that any American, with a little determination, can accomplish anything he or she desires. Positive things can be said about this philosophy. It can even be held partially accountable for the millions of Americans deemed versatile, capable, and informed, due to their obtainment of standardized measures of achievement and success, such as a high school diploma, college degree, or good scores on the SATs. For businesses, these standardizations help streamline a portion of the hiring process; the attitude that candidates who have completed a standardized collection of “requirements” should have the requisite knowledge to perform the job is widely accepted.

Those are the positives…but there is more to it. However, before we try to explain the potential pitfalls of our current educational system, let us consider examples of those who have deviated from it – and succeeded.

Come join us on Wednesday, where we’ll be continuing our series by investigating American educators who’ve adopted techniques outside the normal scope, such as Montessori teachers, art school founders, and the like. We will also attempt to unmask some connections between the shifting global economy and the changing educational policy at home.

Stay tuned!