[rp3]

Large systems, like a school system, need rules and procedures that help guarantee a relatively consistent outcome. The unstructured, exploratory nature of Montessori doesn't lend itself well to a a large-scale, systematic approach.

[luma]

Large systems, like a school system, develop rules and procedures that help guarantee the continued existence of the system itself. The overt stated goals (eg "provide a quality education") eventually become secondary to this fundamental driving principle (eg "make sure there is a school system for us to go to tomorrow").

[vanviegen]

My children attend a Montessori public school here if the Netherlands. So such a thing is certainly possible. Though the Montessori principles may have been watered down a bit to comply with state demands - I'm not really sure as I don't have any comparison points outside of our public system.

[watwut]

Montessori schools are super structured. They are not unstructured in any meaning of the word.

[rp3]

As far as I know, which is admittedly not much, unstructured play as a mean of nurturing a child's independence, self-reliance, and creativity in a central tenet of Montessori.

[3np]

From the point of view of the institution, a consistent approach is usually preferable. In general it’s not a given that it’s a desirable goal. Depending on your ideological and political stances.

[rp3]

I don't think many people want to send their kids to a crap shoot.

[dgb23]

Life is a crap shoot. Trying to control and streamline it can have very harmful effects.

[scythe]

>Large systems, like a school system, need rules and procedures that help guarantee a relatively consistent outcome.

But is that really true? For one thing, you can have a fail-over mechanism if something isn't working. For another, we already do: it's called special education. That's before we get to the part where "consistent outcomes" are not a feature of the current system, unless you impose a very low standard of 'consistency'.

[warble]

Yeah - I agree. Large centralized institutions do tend to work this way, but it's not a requirement, although it's always a struggle to keep the administration from pushing this route because it's easier even though it gives poorer outcomes.

[mensetmanusman]

Which is funny, because unstructured exploratory learning by definition increases diversity of thought, but diversity isn’t the goal of large industrial systematic systems.