Address before the VIIIth International Montessori Congress

By Dr. Cheng Chi-Pao Deputy Lead, Department of Education UNESCO

President Dr. Montessori, Ladies and Gentlemen. It is indeed a privilege to be present at this important congress and to have an opportunity of saying a few words on behalf of UNESCO. UNESCO is deeply interested in this meeting. We are fully aware of the achievements of your organization and of the world-wide influence that the great educationist Dr. Montessori, has exercised in the field of Education. The name Montessori, represents today, not only an eminent personality, but also a new educational ideal. It not only stands as a theory or a method of teaching, but also as a movement which, if permitted to spread, will certainly contribute to a more united world for our future generations.

UNESCO is particularly interested in the general theme that you have chosen for the Congress: the formation of man in world reconstruction. Man, indeed, is the centre of the world. The kind of education man receives shapes the world he lives in.

We all know that within the last 30 years, we have witnessed two great world wars. They have left behind unmeasurable destruction. Millions of individuals were killed, millions of properties were destroyed. The same foundations of society and civilization were threatened. Indeed, war is a force whose power of destruction is dreadful. But have we ever realized that there is an even greater force, which if wrongly applied, could be even more dreadful? I mean education. Education can do good as well as evil. If education is based on universal love and world cooperation, there will be peace. But if it is based on hatred, distrust, rivalry or prejudice it will encourage war. War begins in the mind of man.

We educators and teachers who are entrusted with the training of the young must re-examine our education.

Do we really understand our children? Are we giving them the right kind or education for their full wholesome development? We need a new outlook on the Child, and a new philosophy of Education. I entirely agree with Dr. Montessori, when she says that we must consider the Child not only as a spiritual reality, but also as a cosmic force capable of influencing the development of human civilization. Education is not a mere process of filling the mind of children with materialistic knowledge, but we must give them a solid basis on which they will develop and grow not as individuals as such, but as individuals conscious of their relationship with Mankind. Ever since the beginning, UNESCO has consecrated itself to the task of promoting international understanding and world peace by means of the education of man’s mind. The idea of course is not new, but it has been very slow in spreading itself.

  UNESCO has a heavy task in front of it and it cannot be achieved by UNESCO alone. It needs the cooperation of everybody. You, who are the followers of the Montessorian Method, will certainly give us your sincerest cooperation. I cannot conclude without giving you our warmest greetings and our best wishes for the success of your Congress.