The Montessori Brand

Posted by Melanie in Branding, Dear Diary | 0 comments

Maria Montessori from Wikipedia

How do you become a household word?

How do you create a brand that transcends generations and socio-economics?

I was at my kids’ school yesterday thinking about brands and I was struck by the incredible job Maria Montessori did of creating the Montessori brand.

Of course, I’m quite sure she never set out to create a brand when she developed the Montessori method of education in the early 1900s. Her passion for working with children of all developmental abilities and her desire to test her theories on optimal learning environments led to her educational method. In the end, though, she created an educational philosophy that is a household term and a world full of loyal Montessori advocates.

She did this by creating a product founded on interlocking principles that brought a new way of thinking to the world of children. For example, one of the fundamental principles of the Montessori method is creating a child-sized world where children can take maximum responsibility and develop independence.
Some of my favorite Montessori tools are the tiny brooms, dustpans and mops the children use to clean up if they spill.

Another fundamental principle is the organization of learning tools in order of difficulty from left to right, top to bottom. This helps prepare the children for reading. The role of the teacher in the classroom is guided by another principle–Montessori teachers facilitate independent, self-paced learning in a way that encourages the development of a child’s attention span, patience and perseverance.

The firmly-held Montessori principles, and the fact that they work, have resulted in a strong “Montessori brand” that has not only endured the exile of its creator and several wars, but has remained constant through changing societal attitudes towards children and education. A brand founded on principles functions like a compass, providing direction to a company through the twists and turns of political unrest, economic downturns, cultural change and other challenges.