Forming Community in the Sheepfold

 by Kristi Medley, Director of Education

            In 2003, the World Bank issued a report detailing three core abilities necessary to prepare students for work and life. They outlined, 1) the ability to act autonomously (including knowing how to learn on one's own) while seeing one's self as part of a larger system, 2) the ability to effectively use tools, which includes language, information, knowledge, technology, etc., for communication, and 3) the ability to collaborate, cooperate, and handle and resolve conflicts with diverse groups of people.

           

I love running across articles, studies, and reports that confirm what Montessori said; it seems to happen more and more. Our children are amazingly skilled in all of the ways the World Bank outlines, but it strikes me, central to all three core abilities is relationship with one another.

From the moment the child steps into the classroom, this work of social development begins. A 3-year-old learns how to make a flower arrangement, and begins to understand their power to make the classroom beautiful. They learn how to carefully prepare and put away the work, so that it is ready for the next person. A 4-year-old says to her friend, “I didn’t like it when you wouldn’t let me play,” and hears in response, “I heard what you said.” A five-year-old carefully show a younger child how to measure, pour, and mix, making biscuits that he proudly serves to his class. A younger child observes him quietly, and imagines the day they too will do that work.

In the atrium, the catechist sits with a child and reads the story of the Good Shepherd. She says, “I wonder who the sheep are.” And slowly, the child points to every classmate, every adult she can see. And then starts naming every person they have ever known.

From the beginning, they are learning their significance within the community, helping to care for each other and listen to one another. They are beginning to recognize each other as being part of the sheepfold.

In the elementary, this understanding only deepens. They see the whole world as the sheepfold.  They are drawn to understand the universe, history, and the people who have made significant contributions to society. In turn, they begin to contemplate their own “cosmic task”, or the place where their greatest joy can meet society’s greatest need.

They are drawn to their peers, and working through problems together. The conflicts pop up hundreds of times a day. And they continue the hard work of talking to one another, and listening. Recently, a game many of the elementary children play at recess was causing a lot of hurt feelings. And so, for a time, the game was stopped, while a committee of children sat down to talk. They explored, “What’s going wrong with this game? Why are so many people feeling badly about it? What action can we take to change it?” And when they had decided how it could be a more peaceful game, they presented it to their classmates. The process was so much more meaningful coming from the children, than it would have been if the adults had stepped in and said, “This is how we’re going to fix this.”

Montessori said, “…little by little, these [little children] become aware of forming a community which behaves as such. They come to feel part of a group to which their activity contributes. And not only do they begin to take an interest in this, but they work on it profoundly, as one may say in their hearts.” They are preparing themselves for life.