DONAHOE - Valorization - of - The - Personality1

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Cincinnati Montessori
Secondary Teacher Education Program
Liberty and Hope for the Adolescent:

Valorization of the Personality
Marta Donahoe
If Montessori believed that we are to set up an education and living space that brings forth the
psychic development of the child, then it means that we, parents and teachers, have a responsi-
bility to do our homework, just as I expect my students to. That homework involves preparing
ourselves in spirit and with the necessary understanding of what an adolescent needs to grow up
healthy. As we enter this process of living with and educating a teenager, we are more likely to
respond with (at least a little bit of) grace as we encourage and guide our adolescent through the
third plane (ages 12-18) of Montessori’s developmental levels.
I hope I am not making it sound as though adolescents themselves are a challenge. Adolescents
are actually the flowering of the social and political human, and as such, we must take great care
P.O. Box 20145 • Cincinnati Ohio 45220 • p 513.861.9560 • f 513.861.0150 • www.cmstep.com

to encourage and support them through this pivotal phase.
In order to facilitate this process, the environment for the adolescent must be planned with the
concept of Valorization of the Personality in mind. Valorization is Montessori’s term for the
adolescent’s process of becoming a strong and worthy person. Valorization comes gradually to
the adolescent as she realizes she is useful and capable of effort. This is accomplished only by
the work of the mind, hands, and heart. It happens when adolescents have appropriate responsi-
bilities and expectations; when they are able to experience the joy that comes from successfully
meeting challenges, and the character building that is the result for their restitution when they
have made poor decisions.
The following chart is a list of characteristics that John Long shared with me 16 years ago. It
shows the characteristics the child is ready to develop at both planes, given the proper environ-
ment. It is an effective guide when making decisions about building and adolescent environment
and planning field studies for the adolescent.
Copyright © 2010 Marta Donahoe

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Normalization – ages 0-12 Valorization – ages 12-24
Love of order Joy
Love of work Selflessness
Profound spontaneous concentration Optimism
Attachment to reality Confidence
Love of silence and working alone Dignity
Sublimation of the possessive instinct Self Discipline
Power to work by choice, not just curiosity Initiative
Obedience Independence
Spontaneous self discipline Helpfulness
Joy Good judgment
Ability to work with others
By using a set of guiding principles and keeping in mind the characteristics we are hoping to call
forth in the adolescent, a well planned adolescent community will enhance and encourage the
development of valorization. The adolescent needs opportunities to experience academic chal-

lenges that open her mind to new ideas and ways of thinking. She needs the work of the hands to
help her understand her power and the concrete effect she can have in the world. She needs the
work of the heart so that the flowering of social justice can grow. The potential for all of these
experiences is maximized when she has the chance to work in a community of learners. Thai
community does not need to be a large one, but living and working with a group in which the
adolescent learns to practice accountability to a community is essential for the application of the
principles of valorization.
Interdisciplinary academics should be guided at this phase to encourage wonder and hopefulness,
and deep thinking. Students learn in this context to question and query. They are given the
structure and tools to research, investigate, and mediate. They are taught to approach issues at
hand as problems to be solved and are taught the tools to solve them. Discussions with peers,
guided by a skillful seminar facilitator, can create a lively and provocative conversation that can
give students a healthy sense of how to challenge and support diverse opinions and ideas.
Ideas and concepts studied in class are often linked to field studies. The adolescent work of the
hands can involve building projects like Habitat for Humanity, hiking and backpacking, physical
challenges and adventures that are alternated with periods of rest and relaxation. This is a period

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for learning to use tools, work the land (it can be your own school campus!) and perform minor
repairs and maintenance to buildings and equipment. Often the work of the hands can help
students develop skills for which they can be paid. Money students earn can be applied toward
meaningful, practical expenses – like paying for their own school field studies, tuition, or
another important financial obligation. This type of earning, saving, and spending is a cycle that
enhances the process of valorization and is not to be confused with saving for personal luxuries.
Just as earning money for a worthwhile endeavor leads to valorization, so does any activity that
encourages selflessness. Given the particular sensitivities of the adolescent, stewardship for the
school community, the land, the town or city and the service work to put the stewardship in
action are essential components to any adolescent program. We can see that the adolescent
comes from the elementary program with a sense of responsibility to society, so the study of
society is important. Then the work to serve the society is also important and should include
working with big ideas in politics and with big hearts on service projects.
All of the work during this period will shift the plea of the child in the period of normalization
from “Help me to do it myself” to the plea of the adolescent in the period of valorization, “Help
me to think for myself.” It is best to find interdisciplinary projects for students that link academ-

ics to the heart and the hand. All aspects of their Montessori education should now guide them
toward respect for the nobility of all types of work and the dignity of humans; two essential
components of a humane society.
During the third plane, whether on a farm, in the city, or both, students are preparing to find their
eventual work, not as a means to an end, but to take their place in society. I continually ask
myself, “What sort of adults do I want my students to become?” Rereading her words keeps me
closer to her sense of intention. Along with a solid skill base and ability to think critically, there
is an expectation that we guide our students in the understanding that they are the heirs to a
tradition of increasing liberty and rising hope. Our children will naturally take their place in
society when we have helped guide them toward valorization – a society that will have a greater
chance for liberty and hope because our children are its members.
Marta Donahoe
Program Coordinator , Clark Montessori Jr & Sr High School
Director, Cincinnati Montessori Secondary Teacher Education Program
marta@cmstep.com
Reprinted from Clark Montessori Newsletter, Spring 2009

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Liberty and Hope for the Adolescent:

P.O. Box 20145 • Cincinnati Ohio 45220 • p 513.861.9560 • f 513.861.0150 • www.cmstep.com

Copyright © 2010 Marta Donahoe

P.O. Box 20145 • Cincinnati Ohio 45220 • p 513.861.9560 • f 513.861.0150 • www.cmstep.com

Copyright © 2010 Marta Donahoe

P.O. Box 20145 • Cincinnati Ohio 45220 • p 513.861.9560 • f 513.861.0150 • www.cmstep.com

Reprinted from Clark Montessori Newsletter, Spring 2009

Copyright © 2010 Marta Donahoe

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