Normalization

Of all the phenomena Montessori observed, none shaped her theory more decisively than the one she called normalization — a term she chose deliberately and whose meaning in her usage was the inverse of its colloquial sense. Normalization was not making the child conform. It was the process through which the child, freed from the distortions of inadequate environments, returned to her natural state of concentrated, peaceful, purposeful activity — the state Montessori considered normal because it corresponded to the child's true nature rather than the artificial behaviors bad environments produce. The first observation occurred in the Casa dei Bambini in 1907. Children who had been restless became concentrated. Children who had been aggressive became gentle. Children who had been unfocused became absorbed in work for periods far beyond what anyone predicted. The transformation occurred through no conventional mechanism — not instruction, reward, punishment, or coercion. It occurred through engagement with meaningful work in an environment that met developmental needs. Montessori described the normalized child as a constellation: deep concentration on freely