Big Work

"Our care of the child should be governed, not by the desire to make him learn things, but by the endeavour always to keep burning within him that light which is called intelligence." - Maria Montessori.

Montessori guides often refer to "Big Work" in Montessori classrooms. Big Work has  a number of characteristics.

It:

• is purposeful
• satisfies an inner urge a child has
• involves exactness and precision
• lights up the eyes
• creates flow
• engages deep interest
• answers questions and generates further questions
• connects to something bigger
• is spontaneous

Recently, I had the wonderful opportunity of seeing Big Work in action in the classroom. I had told the children the story of our Days of the Week and where some of the names originated from. To encourage the older students to explore further, I gave them the option to either do a mini research project on one day of the week or the Vikings. To help guide their investigation I set up some minimum criteria (e.g. How did the Vikings influence our calendar? What is the history of one of the days of the week?).

Some of the boys in the classroom eagerly set to work on a project on the Vikings. Before long they had taken out paper to draw their own pictures of Viking longboats and weapons. Each day the boys came in, they worked constantly on the project. They scoured the storeroom to find objects to create a Viking helmet, sword, shield and a model of a Viking dwelling (complete with fire). They pored over books they had brought in from home and carefully drew and labelled maps to indicate where the Vikings came from. To share their findings, they took photos of their drawings and presented them as part of a Powerpoint presentation which they had researched and written up in their own words.

Three weeks later they were ready to present their project. All the children sat with rapt attention (including a row of younger boys who were enthralled with what their role models were capable of). One could hear a pin drop as the older boys shared their learning with deep pride. 

This was big work in action! The children were actively engaged in their learning, much of it was spontaneous, it took time and it connected to something bigger (e.g. the fundamental needs of humans and the influence of past cultures on our present one). It also was a great example of how older students can act as role models and mentors in a Montessori classroom.