Education today approaches the work of learning from a range of perspectives, two of which are behaviorist and constructivist. Before exploring the constructivist approach underlying the Montessori method, it’s important to understand the behaviorist approach within which many educators were educated.

Behaviorist Approach
This is the idea that learning happens when there is a proper response to stimulus, such as correct answers (proper response) to math problems on a worksheet (stimulus). The child is merely reactive to the conditions in the environment without being expected to take an active role in discovery. The belief is that facts and information are separate from the learner and are something to be acquired. Behaviorism then is focused on the outward behavior or result, situating learning outside of the learner.

Constructivist Approach
By contrast, constructivism sees learning as creating meaning from experience. This thinking rests on the idea that learners acquire knowledge through active engagement. Students learn by fitting new information together with what they already know. With children as active partners, the method relies on practitioners’ understanding of and ability to implement the constructivist approach, though many themselves have been raised through a behaviorist approach.

This thinking doesn’t simply inform what is happening in classrooms separate from the way the rest of the school is run. As one ecosystem, there also needs to be a synchronized understanding and use of the same framework. When implementing the Montessori method across the whole school, understanding the distinction between behaviorist and constructivist approaches and activating a commitment to using constructivist methods becomes the shared frame.