One of the greatest mistakes of our day is to think of movement by itself, as something apart from the higher functions. We think of our muscles as organs to be used only for health purposes. We “take exercise,” or do gymnastics, to keep ourselves “fit,” to make us breathe, or eat or sleep better. It is an error, which has been taken over by the schools. In the world of physiology, it is just as though a great prince were being made the servant of a shepherd. The prince – the muscular system – is only being used to help the vegetative life.
Such a grave error cannot but lead to injury: there comes about a separation between the life of movement and the life of thought. Since the child has a body as well as a mind, we feel we must include games in his curriculum, so as to avoid neglecting any part of nature’s provisions. But to be always thinking of the mind, on the one hand, and the body, on the other, is to break the continuity that should reign between them. This keeps action away from thought. But the true purpose of movement is far higher than to produce an appetite or strengthen the lungs; it is to serve the ends of existence, the universal and spiritual economies of nature.
To give them their right place, man’s movements must be coordinated with the center – with the brain. Not only are thought and action two parts of the same occurrence, but it is through movement that the higher life expresses itself. To suppose otherwise is to make of man’s body a mass of muscles without a brain. Development may occur on the vegetative side, but the interconnection between mind and muscle does not keep pace. The power of decision lacks the muscular control by which alone it can be expressed. Not thus is independence achieved, but only the breakup of what nature, in her wisdom, intended to be one.
When mental development is under discussion, there are many who say, “How does movement come into it? We are talking about the mind.” And when we think of intellectual activity, we always imagine people sitting still, motionless. But mental development must be connected with movement and be dependent on it. It is vital that educational theory and practice should become informed by this idea.
Till now, almost all educators have thought of movement and the muscular system as aids to respiration, or to circulation, or as a means for building up physical strength. But in our new conception the view is taken that movement has great importance in mental development itself, provided that the action, which occurs, is connected with the mental activity going on. Both mental and spiritual growth are fostered by this, without which neither maximum progress nor maximum health (speaking of the mind) can exist.
Montessori, Maria. The Absorbent Mind: From the original paper archives by M. Montessori, in partnership with AMI - ASSOCIATION MONTESSORI INTERNATIONALE (The Montessori Series Book 1) . Montessori-Pierson Publishing House. Kindle Edition.
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