Kids Need Structure By Powell And Maria Montessori

What does a child need when it comes to education? Colin Powell and Maria Montessori have very different opinions. Both believe that their way of teaching has positive effects and will shape children correctly. In Powell’s speech, “Kids need Structure” and Montessori’s “Dr.Montessori’s Own Handbook”, they express their feelings on structure, the teacher’s role in education, and the results of their teaching.

Powell and Montessori have very different views on structure and respect in the classroom. For example, Powell says that in military school, “the first thing [they] do is put [children] in an environment of structure, put them in ranks, cut all their hair off so they look alike, make sure they are standing in ranks” (Powell para. 3). Here, Powell explains how they do things to give the children structure. Powell wants readers to see that

For example, Powell thinks teachers should be like a drill sergeant, who “starts screaming at them, and telling them to do all kinds of awful things'' (Powell para 3). In this example, Powell explains how he thinks that a teacher should be strict and demanding. He wants readers to understand that this type of teaching is what gives children the structure they need. Montessori believes in a completely different type of teacher. Montessori explains her belief of how teaching should be when she says, “Our intervention in this marvelous process is indirect, we are here to offer to this life, which came into the world by itself, the means necessary for its development, and having done that we must await this development with respect” (Montessori para 7). Here, Montessori explains how a teacher should be indirect with her teaching. Montessori wants her readers to see how important it is for a child to be able to learn by experiencing things themselves. In summary, Montessori and Powell have different ideas of how a teacher should