In the 2001 conference proceedings of “Maria Montessori’s Cosmic Vision, Cosmic Plan and Cosmic Education,” Camillo Grazzini described Cosmic Education as fundamental “to the whole of the Montessori movement ... the key which gives us a shared direction and a common goal in our work” (in Hayes, 2005, 1). In Grazzini’s words:

It is this vision of an indivisible unity made up of energy, of sky, of rocks, of water, of life, of humans as adults and humans as children that lends a sense of the cosmic to Montessori’s thinking. This cosmic sense pervades all of Montessori’s work, both her thinking and her educational approach for all of the different planes and stages of development of the human being.

There are two components of Cosmic Education, the first being the planes of development, which are “fundamental and unchanging” and therefore “determine our approach to education and ... particularly to Cosmic Education” (Hayes 2005, 1); and the second that of the “vision of an indivisible unity …” as articulated by Grazzini. Montessori sets forth her cosmic vision for the child in the second plane of development in To Educate the Human Potential. In Chapter One, “The Six-year-old Confronted with the Cosmic Plan,” she writes:

Interest spreads to all, for all are linked and have their place in the universe on which the mind is centered. The stars, earth, stones, life of all kinds forms a whole in relation with each other, and so close is this relation that we cannot understand a stone without some understanding of the great sun. No matter what we touch, an atom, or a cell, we cannot explain it without knowledge of the wider universe.

The aim of Cosmic Education is twofold: to present to children “the creation of the universe through stories that integrate the studies of astronomy, chemistry, biology, geography, and history” and to help them “become aware of their own roles and responsibilities as humans and as members of society...” (amshq.org). We focus here on this twofold approach of the presentation of Montessori's “vision of the universe” to the child in the second plane of development, beginning with the Great Lessons.

The Great Lessons as the Center of Cosmic Education

As an organizing structure for the curriculum, the five Great Lessons provide an impressionistic big picture of the universe that appeals to the Elementary age child's imagination and sense of wonder. Usually delivered each year in Lower Elementary, the lessons are meant to fuel the imagination such that the child can begin to conceptualize big and small ideas, making connections across disciplines through their developing imagination and powers of abstraction.

The use of impressionistic charts illustrates the main ideas of the stories and are followed up with simple corresponding demonstrations and experiments in physical science. The stories and charts are designed to leave a lasting impression on children, thereby inspiring them to follow up with their own curiosity and learning pathways. The lessons and their extended areas of study follow:

• The Origin of the Universe – astronomy; chemistry; physics; meteorology; geology and geography
• The Coming of Life – ancient life; cells; the Tree of Life; diversity of life; microscope use; botany; zoology; ecology and conservation
• The Development of Humans – history (early humans and ancient civilizations); culture (discovery and inventions, fundamental needs of human); general social studies
• The Story of Writing – reading and literature; writing and composition; origins and history of language; syntax, grammar, word study, etc.
• The Story of Numbers – origins of numbers, systems, and bases; mathematics; geometry; and application

All the lessons of the Elementary curriculum are extensions of the Great Lessons; as such, it is an integrative framework wherein big and small ideas across disciplines are brought together, allowing the child to make their own connections. As the centerpiece of the spiral curriculum, the lessons are given each year, providing the opportunity for the child to revisit major curriculum topics and themes at increased levels of sophistication, ideally deepening their understanding.

Next we examine how the lessons are aligned with specific developmental characteristics of the second-plane child.

Characteristics of the Second Plane of Development

The characteristics of the child at any one stage of development inform the content of the curriculum and delivery of that content. This is fundamental to teaching in general and is especially well conceived and manifested in Montessori education where the curriculum and materials have been carefully designed to meet the predispositions of children through each successive plane of development. Montessori observed the following characteristics in the second-plane child, aged six-to-twelve:

• Emerging imagination
• Developing reason and abstract thought
• Developing morality and ethics
• Increased social awareness and social order
• Emerging global perspective

It is with these aspects of the child's development that the lessons and curriculum are aligned. Montessori wrote in From Childhood to Adolescence that “Our methods are oriented not to any pre-established principles but rather to the inherent characteristics of the different ages.” Consistent with the aims of Cosmic Education as articulated by the American Montessori Society, the stories are aimed at the following characteristics of the second-plane child:

Emerging Imagination

Bold, engaging, and impressionistic, the Great Lessons ignite wonder and curiosity about a variety of topics from all areas of the curriculum. Imagination helps the child at this age to grasp abstract ideas and concepts. The child cannot in reality see the process of photosynthesis taking place, for example; but to support their understanding, they can—using models—disassemble water, oxygen, and carbon dioxide molecules, then rearrange them to assemble a glucose molecule. Supported by their developing intellect, the child's imagination is perhaps the most powerful tool with which they can grasp abstract concepts like the size of an atom, or the sweep of the universe. In Montessori's own words (1948):

Our aim is not merely to make the child understand, and still less to force him to memorize, but so to touch his imagination as to enthuse him to his innermost core.

The Great Lessons inform, inspire, and spark the imagination, generating a range of follow-up study options from which children choose their work.

Developing Reason and Abstract Thought

Rational thinking allows the older child to create a framework for the bits of knowledge they have accumulated during their early childhood years. The three-to-six-year-old child works with the materials and actively collects random facts by way of the absorbent mind: dolphins, cats, and elephants are mammals; the Nile River is in Egypt; some objects float and others sink. The Elementary age child, through their emerging power of rational thought, begins to consolidate their knowledge and asks, for example: What is it that dolphins, cats, and elephants have in common? What bearing did the Nile River have on the lives of the ancient Egyptians? What are the properties of objects that cause them to float or sink? By way of analogy, Dr. Montessori wrote that it is as though the younger child is busy collecting books, and when they reach Elementary, they discover they have a library. As Montessori wrote (1948):

The knowledge he then acquires is organized and systematic; his intelligence becomes whole and complete because the vision of the whole has been presented to him…

The Great Lessons provide the content and inspiration, and the child's developing reason is activated to make connections.

Developing Ethics, Awareness of Social Order, and Emerging Global Perspective

During the second plane, children begin looking beyond the boundaries of the classroom and their own communities; it is the time when they “become aware of their own roles and responsibilities as humans and as members of society...” The wide range of topics for study arising from the Great Lessons provides ample opportunities for the child to broaden their perspective, ponder the fundamental rights of humans and non-human others, and importantly, consider the moral consequences of their own actions and decisions. Montessori wrote in From Childhood to Adolescence (1949):

It is at six years that one may note the beginning of an orientation toward moral questions toward the judgment of acts. The preoccupation belongs to an interior sensitivity, the conscience.

Lessons on the fundamental needs of humans, and how these needs are met, almost inevitably bring up questions of ethics, especially for the older Elementary age child. They may become aware, for example, of substandard working conditions in places that manufacture some of the very products they use, or the lack of untainted water and nutritious food in places very close to home. They might encounter moral questions about the use of animals in laboratories for experiments, even when those experiments are directed toward improving some aspect of the human condition. They could begin to think about the ethics of running a pipeline through the land of Indigenous peoples in order to help meet society's demand for energy. They may ask how the raising and transporting of animals and their products for human consumption impacts the environment (in addition to the rights of the animals in question).

These and other questions can and do come up with children who are exploring, investigating, and researching topics in science, history, geography, and more. The variety of topics studied as extensions of the Great Lessons naturally become springboards for these important discussions—discussions for which the child in the second plane of development is primed and ready.

Revisiting the Cosmic Task

The elements and aims of Cosmic Education as discussed above—the planes of development, the integrated curriculum, and a developing awareness of one's role and responsibilities as a human—converge on Montessori's discussion of the cosmic task. The first and second Great Lessons, for example, are often presented in terms of organic and inorganic elements obeying the laws of nature in unconscious service to the cosmos. The manner in which this is interpreted will have very different consequences on the impact of the delivery of the Great Lessons in the classroom. If by “laws of nature,” we mean those statements … that describe or predict a range of natural phenomena (the law of the conservation of energy, for example), then our stories are consistent with that which has been empirically observed, measured, and scientifically validated. However, we run the risk of potentially confusing children about matters of science when we ascribe human qualities to inorganic and organic elements of the natural world, especially when we give them agency, as Montessori does in To Educate the Human Potential (see the chapter, “The Drama of the Ocean,” for a series of examples).

It is important to remember that the stories are meant to be impressionistic, and to be fair, Montessori admits to the aid of myths or fairy-tales, “but they must be such as [to] symbolize truths of nature, not the wholly fantastic” (1948, 28). Each teacher will decide for themselves to what extent fantasy should be woven in with truth (and whether this is sound pedagogy). And while it is also true that the stories are not meant to provide a list of scientific facts, but rather to awaken wonder and curiosity, we should at least be aware of anachronistic ideas such as the “crisis” of excessive calcium carbonate in the ocean; a species becoming extinct because it has “lost its usefulness;” or some reptiles becoming “tired of life on land” and returning to the sea. These notions are now known to be false and are misleading when taught to children. Moreover, Montessori often postulates a “governing intelligence” and the idea of organisms evolving toward a predetermined finality. We understand the latter positions as consistent with Montessori's Catholic background; however, they are not always or necessarily aligned with the current and accepted scientific content we need to present in today's classrooms.

Teachers might also consider how they discuss the idea of the cosmic task with the child. Helping the child develop respect and appreciation for the wonders of the natural and human-made worlds, encouraging responsibility, environmental stewardship, and awareness that their actions and decisions have consequences, are all important elements of good citizenship and are in keeping with the widening moral and global perspective of the second-plane child. Moreover, there is value in encouraging the child to consider the gifts and talents they possess, that they too have an important role to play in making the world a better place. This is very different, however, from suggesting their cosmic task is part of a larger predetermined cosmic plan.

The Value of Cosmic Education in the Anthropocene

Given the significant human impact on Earth's geology and ecosystems, including, but not limited to, anthropogenic climate change, there is enduring value in the Great Lessons and the general aims of Cosmic Education as an integrative curriculum framework for the Elementary years. Montessori believed in the child as both a promise and a hope for humankind. She writes in Education and Peace that a curriculum that engenders respect and reverence, appreciation and responsibility “gives us hope and reason that humanity can develop in a new direction.” This is the shared direction and common goal of Montessori's Cosmic Education.

References

Montessori, Maria. To Educate the Human Potential. Oxford: Clio, [1948] 1989.

Montessori, Maria. From Childhood to Adolescence. New York: Schocken Books,[1949] 1973.

Montessori, Maria. Education and Peace. Chicago: Regnery, [1949], 1972.