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The Role of Accountability

In the last few weeks, we’ve been discussing four principles of a Montessori program: interest, choice, trust, and accountability. Interest, choice, and trust are bounded by three tools we use for accountability.

Before we talk about those, though, let’s back up and consider what accountability means. It’s not punitive or forceful. Instead, accountability is a system that allows children to make meaningful choices within the limits of responsibility: to themselves, to the community, and to the state standards.

In a Montessori environment, we use three tools of accountability: a daily work journal, weekly (or more frequent) one-on-one meetings with guides, and the state standards. Children are expected to record what they are doing each day, and keep work in a designated folder. Weekly, a guide meets with each child to review the work record and completed work, and to discuss progress and goals. In these meetings, children celebrate progress, share areas that are still struggles, and assess movement toward meeting standards.

Of course, a first-year’s work record and goal-setting look very different from a fifth-year’s! But within this transparent, predictable accountability structure, children can fully exercise their freedom and develop skills they’ll use for a lifetime.

Flow

In his work on the mental state of flow, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi states that people are happiest in an activity that challenges them while matching their level of competence. Flow is fulfilling, absorbing, engaging—all descriptors that we want applied to our work! The good news is that Montessori environments create the perfect conditions for this. Children are given individualized lessons, and encouraged to follow up with work they choose. Guides carefully monitor progress to ensure that the level of difficulty matches the level of skill. And, perhaps most importantly, long uninterrupted blocks of time allow children to dig into big projects, to rest and recharge, and then to continue.

Because we don’t impose arbitrary short time periods for each subject, children are free to approach their work in the way that works for them. We don’t offer lots of external motivators like scores, grades, or points. But what the materials do offer is a clear sequence of difficulty, so that children can challenge themselves to move to the next level when they are ready. The reward from seeing their own improvement—and the excitement children share when they tell us about it—guides the flow of the whole community.

Coming Up

Each week, we welcome to you to Walk-In Wednesdays! From 10:00 am - 1:00 pm, Carmen will be at Hyacinth so that you can visit. While we’re not completely set up yet, we have all the major pieces in place, and you’ll be able to see what the final space is going to look like.

Due to the fact that we both work with young children, please plan to wear a mask when you visit.

If Wednesdays don’t work for you, please send us an email at info@hyacinthmontessori.org to set up a different time. We’ll look forward to showing you around!