Freedom and Discipline

Often in Montessori circles we talk about Freedom and Discipline. They go hand in hand. They are like two sides of the same coin. Freedom and Discipline are critical ideas in a Montessori classroom, but they aren’t easily understood. 

Merriam Webster defines freedom as ​​ “the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action” or “the quality or state of being exempt or released usually from something onerous.” 

Freedom, then, is a response to needs but it is not just about meeting desires as these definitions imply. If freedom were only about meeting desires, it would live more in the hedonistic view of the world, which I would argue is not what we think of when we think of freedom.

In fact, freedom can only be understood in the context of the community that we exist within. Freedom from what? Freedom to what? Our community defines those parameters. Our environments create the space where the highest idea of freedom can exist.

It is important to note here that Freedom is not Abandonment. In the Montessori classrooms we talk about Freedom within limits. These limits are flexible and have individual parameters, but there are limits. We don’t simply allow a child to wander free without checks in place. The toddler cannot take things off the shelf without putting them back and the adolescent does not get a pass from academic work simply because they don’t want to do it. That is abandonment. What we do is freedom within limits.

Merriam Webster defines Discipline as: “a: control gained by enforcing obedience or order” or “b: orderly or prescribed conduct or pattern of behavior” or “c: SELF-CONTROL.” The type of discipline that we are talking about, that we are interested in developing in our children, is the third one. Self control. 

The thing about this is that it’s incredibly difficult to teach self-control. How do we develop that in our children? At Oak Knoll we do it through the environment and through this double-sided coin of freedom and discipline. 

Before six years of age, discipline is being developed. It is the thing that we work on throughout those years. We create order and clear boundaries so that children can work on the task of discipline. Of self-control. Children know what they can work with, how they should work with it, and what to do when they’re done. Because these parameters are so clear, this provides them with the opportunity to work on the task of self-control. 

After six, society tends to favor obedience over discipline and develop it through punishment and rewards. There’s all kinds of research about how punishment and rewards do more harm than good for children, but the biggest issue with this method is that it doesn’t allow for discipline to develop naturally. If you are constantly obedient, you can’t learn self-control. At Oak Knoll we develop discipline over six by utilizing the social needs of this age. Their peers take on an increased importance in their life and thus class meetings and the peace process become tools for nurturing discipline, and thus freedom, within the Elementary environment.

Freedom and Discipline are both internal states of being related to choice. They are active processes that are developed through practice and the effort of the child. They are developed through the child’s own activities with the environment - not through external control. It is a subtle thing to look at a classroom and see that the children are exhibiting self-control as opposed to being controlled. How does this show up? Dr. Montessori said, “The greatest sign of success for a teacher... is to be able to say, 'The children are now working as if I did not exist.'” 

That is discipline. And with it comes its twin, freedom.

And isn’t that what we want for our children?