Observation vs. Assumption

One of the most important shifts Montessori asks educators to make is also one of the hardest: stop assuming you know what you’re seeing. Start observing what is actually there. This sounds simple, but it is a complete reorientation of how most adults were trained to teach, manage classrooms, and interpret children. In conventional schooling, educators are often expected to move fast, make quick judgments, label behaviors, and respond immediately. Montessori asks for something different. It asks educators to slow down, watch carefully, and let evidence—not emotion, not instinct, not bias—guide decisions.

In Montessori, observation isn’t a bonus skill. It is the foundation. Observation is how you understand what a child needs, what a child is ready for, what a child is struggling with, and what the environment is supporting or blocking. Observation is how you avoid turning your classroom into a place where children are managed instead of understood. Observation is also how you protect children from adult projections, because adults project constantly, especially under stress. We interpret children through our own experiences, our own expectations, and our own fatigue. Montessori doesn’t pretend adults are neutral. It builds a practice that helps us become more accurate anyway.

Assumptions often feel like “truth” because they arrive quickly and confidently in our minds. A child refuses to do work and we assume they’re lazy. A child talks over others and we assume they’re disrespectful. A child struggles to follow directions and we assume they’re defiant. A child moves constantly and we assume they have a behavior problem. A child avoids eye contact and we assume they’re being rude. A child cries easily and we assume they’re manipulative. Assumptions tend to land as character judgments: this child is the kind of child who ____. And once we label a child, we start teaching the label instead of teaching the child.

Montessori rejects that. Montessori treats behavior as communication and development as dynamic. It expects variability. It expects struggle. It expects uneven growth. Montessori doesn’t ask educators to ignore behavior, but it does ask us to interpret behavior through a developmental lens rather than a moral one. The child is not performing for you. The child is revealing something. The question becomes: what is being revealed?

Observation helps you answer that question with precision. It allows you to see patterns rather than isolated moments. It helps you separate what happened from the story you told yourself about what happened. That separation is where better teaching lives.

A helpful way to understand the difference is this: observation is what a camera would record. Assumption is the commentary we add on top. “The child pushed the chair and yelled” is an observation. “The child is aggressive and trying to cause problems” is an assumption. “The child put their head down during the lesson” is an observation. “The child doesn’t care and is choosing to waste everyone’s time” is an assumption. “The child walked away while I was talking” is an observation. “The child is disrespectful” is an assumption.

Assumptions are not always wrong, but they are often incomplete—and they are almost always biased by what we believe children “should” do. Montessori invites educators to become more evidence-driven: to pause long enough to gather more information before naming what something means.

This matters because assumptions don’t just shape how we respond in the moment. They shape our whole relationship with the child. If you assume a child is defiant, you will approach them with tension, suspicion, and defensiveness. You will speak differently. You will limit freedom. You will correct more. You will interpret neutral behaviors as intentional disrespect. The child will feel that energy and respond to it. And then the “evidence” of your assumption grows, even though you created part of it through your stance. This is how children get stuck in negative feedback loops with adults. Montessori uses observation to interrupt that cycle.

Observation also matters because it is one of the clearest ways to reduce harm caused by adult bias. When educators interpret children through dominant cultural expectations—particularly expectations tied to whiteness, compliance, and middle-class norms—children who do not match those expectations are often labeled unfairly. Black children, disabled children, neurodivergent children, multilingual children, and children carrying trauma are disproportionately described as disruptive, disrespectful, or “difficult.” Montessori observation practices are not automatically bias-proof, but they are an accountability tool. They require us to describe what happened before we decide what it means. They force us to slow down and check ourselves. They increase the chance that support replaces punishment.

In Montessori, observation isn’t passive. It leads directly to action—but action that is more accurate. When you observe, you start noticing the real levers you can pull as an educator. You notice that the “defiant” child struggles most during transitions and thrives during hands-on work. You notice the “lazy” child concentrates for long periods when the work is self-chosen but shuts down when publicly corrected. You notice the “aggressive” child escalates when crowded and calms when given heavy work and clear boundaries. You notice that behavior spikes after lunch, or right before dismissal, or in the presence of a particular peer, or when the room is noisy, or when your attention is pulled away. Suddenly the behavior isn’t a mystery and the child isn’t a villain. There are patterns. And patterns can be supported.

Montessori observation also includes the environment. This is a major difference between Montessori and many other approaches. Montessori doesn’t only ask “What is wrong with the child?” It asks “What is happening in the environment that is shaping this?” The environment includes physical layout, materials, noise level, movement flow, schedule, adult tone, classroom norms, and adult consistency. If a child is repeatedly “misbehaving,” Montessori wants educators to consider whether the environment is underprepared, overstimulating, unclear, or mismatched to development. That is not blaming the teacher. That is empowering the teacher. Because you can change environment. You can’t shame a child into development.

Observation also helps educators deliver lessons at the right time. Montessori is built on readiness. A child who is not ready for a lesson will often “misbehave” during it, not because they are trying to sabotage you, but because their brain cannot engage with that content yet. When educators observe carefully, they can match lessons to developmental readiness and prevent unnecessary frustration. Observation is how Montessori avoids pushing children too early, and it’s how Montessori avoids leaving children unchallenged for too long. It’s how you find the sweet spot: work that is just hard enough to build growth without breaking confidence.

So how do you practice observation as an educator new to Montessori? Start by changing what you write down. Instead of writing “not listening,” write exactly what happened: “During group invitation, child continued building with blocks, did not look up, and did not respond to name.” Instead of “defiant,” write: “When asked to put work away, child said ‘no,’ turned body away, and held material tightly.” Instead of “attention-seeking,” write: “During independent work time, child walked to adult three times, interrupted, and touched adult’s arm while adult was speaking with another child.” When you write observations like this, you can analyze them later without the charge of judgment. You can also share them with colleagues and families more honestly and professionally.

You can also practice asking yourself a few consistent Montessori observation questions: What is the child trying to do? What need is being expressed? What skill is missing? What part of the environment is helping or hindering? What happens right before the behavior? What happens right after? How does my presence affect the child? When does the child look most regulated and engaged? What kind of work pulls them into concentration? These questions shift you away from blame and toward support.

Finally, Montessori observation requires humility. Observation is not “I watched and now I know.” It is “I watched and now I have more information.” It stays open. It stays curious. It stays grounded. It allows the child to be complex. It allows you to be wrong without making it a crisis. Educators don’t need to be perfect. They need to be responsive, and responsiveness requires reality.

Observation over assumption is one of the most protective choices an educator can make. It protects children from being reduced to labels. It protects educators from reacting out of frustration or bias. It protects the learning environment from becoming a place of constant power struggles. And it creates space for what Montessori is actually trying to build: a classroom where children are understood, supported, and guided toward independence and community with dignity intact.

When you choose observation, you are choosing truth over story. And in Montessori—especially Montessori without gatekeeping—truth is where real transformation begins.