The Spread of Montessori Education in Mainland China

This paper is a historical account of the spread of Montessori education in mainland China. It surveys the general picture of early childhood education (ECE) in China and discusses the factors leading to the popularity of Montessori education in the 1990s. Although first introduced into China in the early 1900s, for reasons explained, Montessori education was unsuccessful in catching on as an education method in the early part of the 20th century. Following policy changes and growing interest in western education methods, Montessori education reemerged in the 1990s and has remained a sought-out education method since. In this paper, localization is also discussed as a prominent concern expressed in the Chinese research is ensuring Montessori education promotes and instills values consistent with Chinese society. As is shown, elements of the Montessori method are consistent with Chinese culture, creating a cooperative relationship between these two systems. Of equal importance, Montessori education emphasizes the cultivation of collective identity and societal relationships similar to Chinese culture, the slight difference between them being that Montessori also emphasized the construction of the individual as well.