Botswana schools need Montessori approach – expert

Young children enrolling at Eaglestar Christian School in Gaborone are set to learn from a new curriculum believed to be the best medicine for Botswana’s ailing education system that has seen students fail to make a life for themselves after school.

This Friday, the school will launch a Montessori approach to instruction, described as not subject-oriented, but where the aim is a more hands-on approach evading the rote method of teaching through books and being taught to memorise things by a teacher. The proponent of this method of teaching for Botswana schools is Sithembinkosi Nyamugama, founder and school principal of Eaglestar School, whose Doctor of Ministry Studies has revolved around strengthening Christian education and curriculum.

For her, it is best to give students the proper foundation at tender age, and she believes a child exposed at tender age to the Montessori instruction is unlikely to struggle with life’s challenges after school life. She told The Midweek Sun in an interview: “Montessori develops abstract thinking. The child can now be taught something and he or she expands that information on their own. They will now be able to develop their problem solving and analytical skills. This is thoroughly effective in building confidence.”

She added: “At Eaglestar we have adopted the Montessori method of teaching in conjunction with, and in a very potent synergy with CAIT, a Christian Curriculum which is equally very effective with a unique thrust mainly dealing with worksheets and visual stimulation. Our hope is to see many schools, including primary and secondary schools throughout Botswana, adopting the Montessori teaching method in addition to their current curriculums as Montessori is a strong international brand and has produced some of the most renowned and undoubtedly creative people such as Google founders Larry Page and Sergie Brin; as well as Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Prince William and Prince Harry, among many others.”

Nyamugama has noted that for a Botswana setting, it may be currently advisable to implement Montessori in conjunction with current curriculums that mainly use rote methods of teaching as most schools at higher level do not yet offer Montessori.

“It is important to still continue with rote learning while exposing children to Montessori methods during substantial work periods. That way there will be an easier transition into the primary or secondary schools that all mainly use rote teaching methods, where a teacher instructs and the child learns what they are taught as opposed to Montessori where children learn solely through exploration and discovery on their own - the teacher being just a guide,” she said.

A few schools in Botswana use the Montessori method, with one pre-school in Tlokweng known to have used the method from inception. The emerging new trends in the world have seen things getting harder with especially the youth struggling to find or retain employment. Nyamugama feels that Montessori is thus the way to go.

“If children are taught from an early age to think outside the box and be innovators, they will be going through school to learn to be life smart and be creators of their own destinies; not the way we have been taught in Africa - that we go to school, memorise a lot of things that are abstract to us, pass and get a job and stay there while the west is innovating things that we are enslaved to and pay huge amounts for. We need to come up with a new generation of great innovators and it begins at the sensitive period of learning which is found between 0 to 5 years,” she told The Midweek Sun.

A Christian private school, Eaglestar offers pre-primary education as well as day care services, and enrolls children from as young as 6 months to 6 years.
The launch of the Montessori instruction will see a display of specialized classrooms or labs made to facilitate self-discovery for the children. Nyamugama says the launch will be in seminar form and welcomes all parents who wish to understand the teaching tools, some of which can be taught and implemented at home. The launch is scheduled for this Friday at the Eaglestar Hall in Phase 4 from 1600hrs. 

“With the shift to Montessori, we believe that the best way for a child to learn something is to experience it. Young children are explorative, they are inclined to touching, feeling and observing the objects around them. Their vocabulary grows daily due to their innate desire to learn. It is also necessary to demonstrate moral ideals and societal conventions as opposed to simply explaining them. This is why the Montessori method of education is optimal for young children,” she said.