| Montessori |
Traditional |
| 1. Child chooses materials |
1. Teacher sets curriculum |
| 2. Child sets own pace |
2. Teacher sets pace |
| 3. Child is free to explore and discover on his own |
3. Teacher guides the child |
| 4. Emphasis is on the concrete |
4. Emphasis is on the abstract |
| 5. Reality orientated |
5. Much role play and fantasy |
| 6. Specific places for materials - sense of order |
6. Random placement - not necessary to return to specific place |
| 7. Child-centred learning environment |
7. Teacher-centred environment |
| 8. Child provides own stimulus |
8. Teacher provides stimuli to learning |
| 9. Self-education through self-correcting materials |
9. Use of reward and punishment in motivation |
| 10. Recognition of sensitive periods |
10. All children are treated alike |
| 11. Multi-sensory materials to develop specific skills |
11. Play materials for non-specific skills |
| 12. Liberty to move freely around the classroom |
12. Rigid rules not to move furniture and sit in designated places |
| 13. Liberty to speak (without disturbing others) as he pleases |
13. Silence is on many occasions enforced |
| 14. Teacher's role is to guide child to act and think for himself |
14. Teacher does all and child is forced to follow |
| 15. Disorderly conduct in class is regarded as teacher's fault, who seeks it out and corrects it |
15. Children are punished even if fault lies with the teacher's shortcomings. |