the directress
A Montessori teacher is called a Directress. Maria Montessori chose this name as it best describes the teacher role within the classroom.
The directress is trained specially to observe, to respond to the needs of each child and to direct the whole group.
She guides and encourages each child on how to use the educational material appropriately to their stage of development.
The children choose their activities and the directress will demonstrate the correct use of the materials. She will then observe and maintain a record of each child's use of the materials. She refrains from intervening when a child makes mistakes, instead allowing the child to correct their error through further exploration of the special self-correcting materials.
