Communication Order
Communication Issue
Communication Text
This issue sees the conclusion of the series of four San Remo lectures, delivered by Maria Montessori to the 8th International Montessori Congress, August, 1949. The title of the Congress was La Formazione dell'Uomo nella Ricostruzione Mondiale [Man's Formation in World Reconstruction].
In this lecture Montessori acutely identifies the suffering of humanity and its limitations in trusting the child. ‘Our work will most surely be inspired by our reflections with regard to the child; above all, the perception of the child as the constructor of civilisation and progress will imbue us with the faith to follow a new road—a road that, we are convinced, leads to the solution of humanity’s gravest problems.
A bewildered humanity has long been searching for harmony, for a point of understanding where hope and the common interest may converge. Humanity has not yet found this point. Many say that to reach an accord we should begin by eliminating all racial and national prejudices. However, is it possible to disregard elements that appear to be essential to our life and that of others? Reconstruction cannot originate from a negative formula which demolishes the essential structures of social organisation that have prevailed in the world until now.’