Exercises of the Will at Work

By Nieva Armstrong, Lower Elementary Teacher

 There is something about the beginning of the new year that exposes a "new light" about the children. I think this is also true of the children I taught in the past, but I noticed it more evident in the children I have taught in North America. I observed that the children, after returning from the Christmas break, are manifesting their "new selves."  I expected the students to return distracted by their time away, but, instead, they return focused and eager.

So, who are these "new selves" who came back from the break? These are children who are able to choose from the lessons they have received. They are those who are more able to stay focused on their chosen task for the necessary amount of time and only stop when they feel an inner satisfaction, and are ready to start a new work. Each child thus described is manifesting what Maria Montessori describes as “acts of the will.”

An act of will requires three components. First is the child's awareness of the inner drive to work on a specific lesson. Second is taking responsibility, or ownership, for the decision to act upon the inner drive to work on that lesson, feeling that he has the knowledge to complete it. The third component of an act of will is the ability to stay on task, even though there may be many external and internal distractions. Maria Montessori explains that for a behavior to be an act of the will it has to be continuous. There should be persistence. She says, “There can be no manifestation of the will without completed action.” She further explains that “he who thinks of performing a good action, but leaves it undone … does not accomplish an exercise of the will.”

There are currently several illustrations of "acts of will" in our classroom. One younger child who, most often, will choose to work alone or with an older child, chose to work on the lesson on tone bars. He decided to invite a child his age. After working on the simple song cards, they decided together to transcribe a song the class has learned. These two young children have worked together for a good period of time using what they know about pitch and the tone bars. They have transcribed part of the song and have committed to finishing it.

Then, there are two older children, who decided to work together after receiving the lesson on the perimeter of other polygons. In the beginning they were content to sit together while working on their individual papers. Because they became willing to learn together, they agreed to put together some cut papers so they can draw a big picture of a polygon and find its perimeter. Their finished work is a delight to them and they decided to share it with their classmates. 

A third example is a young child who at one point was learning to read and write large numbers using a wooden frame with beads, representing the categories of numbers up to the unit millions. When he started doing this work he recognized that it was challenging to him. Initially, the only time he would go back to the work was when he was invited to receive some more support from the teachers. But one day, he chose to go back to it on his own. He continued doing it alone and, whenever he encountered difficulty, he approached one particular classmate to ask for help. This child kept on doing the work until he completed the notation paper. He also exemplified an exercise, or act, of the will. He would have not gone back to the task had he not willed to try to complete it on his own.  The challenges he experienced while working on it alone did not stop him.  Instead, he willed to overcome it by seeking help from someone he has identified as one he trusts. Thus, he was able to accomplish his goal – learn to read and write large numbers and complete the notation paper he wanted to achieve – feeling freed from the uncertainty about his ability.

 I would like to summarize this illustration of the growth of the children  with these words from Maria Montessori: " Whatever task the child may choose, it will be the same, provided he persists in it. For what is valuable is not the work itself, but the work as a means for the construction of the psychic man. “(p.139)

Bibliography:  Maria Montessori, The Advanced Montessori Method –I, Chapter VII: Will, pp. 132 – 150.