A recent study from a major US university suggests that attending Montessori education leads to higher wellbeing in adult life. Wellbeing is about how people perceive their lives. It is linked to the way they experience their health or happiness.
The study carried out by the University of Virginia asked almost two thousand adults to fill out a large set of wellbeing scales followed by information about their background and their schooling. Half of the people surveyed had attended conventional schools, while the other half had attended Montessori schools. The psychologists measured wellbeing based on four factors: general wellbeing, engagement, social trust, and self-confidence.
What they found
The researchers found that attending Montessori education for at least two childhood years led to significantly higher adult wellbeing on all four factors. They also found the difference in wellbeing existed regardless of whether those surveyed had attended private or public education.
Crucially, the researchers found that the longer a child stayed in Montessori education, the higher their wellbeing was as an adult.
The researchers acknowledged that there needed to be further research to confirm what they had found, but their study suggests a strong correlation between attending Montessori education and higher adult wellbeing.
It’s good news for those of us who believe in the Montessori method, although we’re not totally surprised! How about checking out our school?
The full study is available here.