Investigating the Philosophical Foundations and The Nature of Learning of the Montessori Educational Model

Throughout the history of early childhood education, various popular patterns and approaches have emerged that are still popular. The Montessori curriculum model is one of these models that is being used in our country. The purpose of this article is to examine the philosophical foundations of this model, and to analyze the nature of learning arising from it. For this purpose, using the regressive philosophical analytical method in the form of inferential approach, some philosophical foundations of this model were inferred and developed. These elements include; holistic view of existence and the child and the need for holistic education, the child's individual and social aspects and emphasis on both aspects in education, the existence of spontaneous force within the child in the development path, attention to the child's desires and the need to reveal his inner capacities, emphasis on different stages of development and provision of learning experiences tailored to the requirements of each stage, the child's freedom as a key element throughout the education process, the relative compatibility of the Montessori educational approach with the constructivist approach, providing a favorable learning environment in cooperation with nature. Then, using descriptive-analytical method, it became clear that the nature of learning in this model is similar to the findings of new research on learning that is based on competence, agency, multiple childhood and priority of children's lived experience.