training, both with regulated and free; it leaves room for natural gymnastics; it organizes outings and camps.

For its part, intellectual education opens up broad horizons for the spirit, with 'general culture' and 'spontaneous specialisations'. These specialisations are based on facts, experiences, personal activity and are in response to spontaneous interests proper to the various stages of a child's age. 'Individual research work' is favoured along with group discussion. The teaching is only done in the morning, following this rule: two or three subjects per day, and a just few per month.

Moral education is carried out from within; gradual practice of a child's critical sense and freedom in the context of a community which follows the 'school republic' or 'school-city' system. The 'school-city' is run by a general assembly involving the director, teachers, pupils and staff. The community may also follow a kind of 'constitutional monarchy' which calls for the election of heads, definite responsibility and other helpful social assignments. This type of school envisages positive rewards, punishments or negative sanctions and 'emulation '. The 'new school' must have a beautiful environment. Group music and choral singing are fostered. There are also daily exercises to educate one's 'moral conscience', and to educate one's 'practical reason'. Most of the 'new schools’ adopt a non-confessional or inter- confessional position as far as religion is concerned, with tolerance for the diversity of ideals, even though there are efforts made the spiritual growth of the human being.1354

Maria Montessori (1870 -1952) takes her cue from the scientific psychology and experiences of J. M.

Itard (1775 -1838) and E. Seguin (1812 -1880) rather than from 'new education', but she integrates them decidedly with her direct experience of psychology and ends up with La casa dei bambini or children's home (l907). Within this 'home' and from it Montessori finds the rich and vital potential of childhood - this is her 'discovery of the child' - and of the circumstances for their development, uniting science and spirituality.1355

The primary measure taken by Montessori consists in preventive action directed towards protecting the

child from the impact of negative environments of inept families or the widespread forms of 'coercive

and repressive education'. “In dealing with the psychic side of the child we should be concerned not so much with education but with the child. Practically the child disappears as a personality underneath education: and this happens not only in schools but anywhere where the word 'education' is found, so at home with parents, relatives and any adult who might have to take care of or have responsibility for children. Even for conscience, education has taken the place of the child”. This so-called education which, in reality, is lowered to the condition of being domination of the child by the adult and manipulation of the child, is debatable no matter what methods are being used to implement it. “When I speak of education”, Montessori clarifies, “I am referring to any kind of dealings with the child. I do not intend to distinguish between loving kindness and harshness in dealing with the child”. Instead, according to Montessori, “it is a question of placing the child right in the centre, just the way he is, pure and simple. There is no doubt that we have been unknowingly overpowering the human shoot which blossoms as a pure entity and is charged with energy. We should not be the “masters of a child's soul, but only and simply its helpers in the exercise of its activities and in the expansion of its personality”. “When room is left for the child to expand, then it shows surprising activity, and a truly

1354 A. Ferrière, Préface to A. Faria de Vasconcellos, Une école nouvelle en Belgique, Neuchâtel, Delachaux et Niestlé

1915, pp. 7-20. At the end of the preface he offers a grading for various famous 'schools': 30/30 to 17½/30: Odenwald

(Germany), Bierges (Belgium), Bedales and abbotsholme (England), Lietz (Germany), des Roches (France). This last-

mentioned, while offering a complete education also provides room for Christian formation: cf. The monograph of L.

Macario, Les Roches. Una comunità educativa, Zürich, PAS-Verlag 1969, 329 p.

1355 This is certainly the reason why Montessori wanted to change the title of Il metodo della Pedagogia Scientifica

applicata all'educazione infantile nelle Case dei bambini (1909) to be altered to La scoperta del bambino (Milan 1950,

VIII-379 p); cf Maria Montessori e la liberazione del fanciullo, ed. Elena Faber. Rome, Cremonese 1974, 128 p.