I initially was introduced to the concept of flow my first year while in the School of Art & Design's Concept, Form, & Context program. The TED talk by Csikszentmihalyi made me increasingly interested in the concept.
Brief additional online researching of the topic brought me to the synthesis of the psychological state of flow to the methods and practice of the Montessori style of education. For those unfamiliar with the Montessori education, our trusted free online encyclopedia tells us that it is a specific approach to teaching and learning, utilized in approximately 20,000 schools worldwide. Named after Italian physician and educator Maria Montessori, the style has several principles upon which it is built, of which a few are listed here:
1. Classrooms have students of mixed ages, commonly from ages 3 to 6
2. Students have a choice of which activity they engage in
3. Work time is long and uninterrupted
4. Students are intended to learn by personal "discovery" instead of strict instruction
Being a product of the Montessori method, I was able to Relate this approach to the ideas presented by Csikszentmihalyi. By having a choice in which activity a student engages in, they allow personal interests to motivate their actions, and aren't forced into any particular activity. Coupling this with having long work time and not being interrupted by a bell to change subjects every 30 minutes allows full immersion of the student into the work - ideal conditions to promote a state of flow. Finally, since the students are intended to lean through personal discovery, they develop a feeling of self-confidence and accomplishment which is essential to immersion into flow.
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