'Superwoman Was Already Here': Montessori's Philosophy, Animated

An adaptation of the Montessori philosophy of education by Maria Montessori fan Daniel C. Petter-Lipstein and animators at 321 Fast Draw

Superwoman Was Already Here! is an animated adaptation of the Montessori philosophy of education by Maria Montessori super-fan Daniel C. Petter-Lipstein (who lists Harvard College and Columbia Law School as his alma maters). Though I wish he hadn't used a company called 321 Fast Draw, who use all-caps, exclamation points, and the word "ZING" in their sales pitch and who effectively ripped off Andrew Park's brilliant and memorable style of RSA animation -- and poorly, at that -- I'm still intrigued by a sketchnote-animated synthesis of the Montessori philosophy. (Though it certainly doesn't help that the most famous RSA animation is actually the adaptation of Sir Ken Robinson's now-legendary TED talk on changing educational paradigms, adding to the similarity of style a similarity of message.) Be your own judge:

Kids don't stop asking questions because they lose interest. It's the other way around -- they lose interest because they stop asking questions.

This, in turn, inspired another animation, alas also from 321 Fast Draw, by Petter-Lipstein's "fellow Montessori caped crusader" Trevor Eissler, based on Eissler's popular book Montessori Madness! A Parent to Parent Argument for Montessori Education:

For more on the Montessori school of thought, see Maria Montessori's own recently digitized handbook and her seminal 1949 book The Absent Mind. For a broader look at the past and future of learning, don't miss these seven must-read books on education.

This post also appears on Brain Pickings, an Atlantic partner site.