A different perspective on education: Montessori and Montessori school architecture

For hundreds of years, there has been much kind of philosophies on education, based on various models of study. In modern times, people interested in education and continue to explore the different philosophies on education and their impact on learning. Every educational philosophy covers the aim and functions of the education according to their philosophies as Montessori Method. In education there is a strong relation between focusing the attention and appropriate learning environment with course materials. Physical conditions of education buildings are one of the most important factors which are effective on the education. In the study; how and in which extent schools which use the Montessori system reflect their educational principles to their physical and learning environments and what the effects of the reflection on the students were discussed. Therefore, in the study three schools were selected from Amsterdam, Delft and Utrecht cities of Holland. In research, existing physical conditions and spatial features of the schools were determined by using observation technique and interviewed with directors or teachers of each school. At the end of the study, through literature and acquired knowledge, some design criteria was generated for educative buildings which will support student's learning and motivations according to Montessori idea. (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and/or peer review under responsibility of Prof. Dr. Huseyin Uzunboylu