Cosmic Education: Maria Montessori’s signature contribution to elementary-age education. Cosmic Education is a vision intended to serve humanity in harmony. In Cosmic Education, Montessori saw the possibility of creating not only a new human being, but also a new world. We need that vision reborn in our lives, and we need it now.
Cosmic Education hands the entire Universe to the children at precisely the moment in their development when they are most ready and able to be inspired by its wonders; at a moment when their imaginations can be fired to create new possibilities for the future; at a time when their individual relationship with the entirety of it all can lead them to a lifetime of unique, personal success. At this moment in history, when we are collectively striving to solve the problems of a world-wide pandemic that has thrown our lives into chaos, Cosmic Education opens the doors to finding the connections we all so desperately need.
Cosmic Education hands the entire Universe to the children.
At the heart of Cosmic Education is interdependence. It is the understanding that biologically, socially, and even spiritually everything is intricately intertwined. Cosmic Education urges awareness of this reality. Philosophers and scientists, mystics and pragmatists, economists and political activists have each, in their own way, used their understanding of interdependence to influence us in making sense of the world or to manipulate us away from awareness to suit their own purposes.
As fearsome as it is, this coronavirus we’re dealing with is a gift needed by the entire world. It’s the nasty medicine to cure our world-wide ills, for it is forcing us to look beyond our separate realities and accept that we are all connected in our vulnerability to its power to destroy us.
As schools seek solutions to return to a system that most educators recognize has been in much need of reformation, my appeal is to return to Montessori’s Cosmic Education. Cosmic Education offers curiosity-inspired learning that will lead our children to new solutions to modern problems. It raises understanding of what it means to live on a planet with limited resources; it develops awareness of the impact of actions taken.
Imposed restrictions give us time to re-evaluate our relationship with patience. At the same time, there are issues coming to the fore that need our immediate attention.
In countless ways, at this moment in time, we’re being forced to deal with the fragility of life. How we’ve lost connection to this reality is in our face. This moment extends an opportunity on a silver platter: to take a new vow, to make a renewed commitment to learning how to connect with our inner selves, with our neighbors, and with our living-breathing planet Earth. It’s time to clean up our house and make it a peaceful home.
Our current abilities to connect through the internet don’t meet our needs to connect physically, but they do give us a window into the experiences of places and people on the other side of town or the other side of the world who are all facing problems of survival. It lets us communicate and work together in ways rarely imagined. Whether we merely survive or choose to survive in a world filled with people who recognize and respect the value of life itself is the opportunity before us. I believe that Montessori’s Cosmic Education is the tool for changing the world; to reinventing it with a new vision of collaboration, harmony, and peace extended to all.
Want to do more? Take a look at Keys to Cosmic Education, a webinar to help you plan your Cosmic Education journey!
