Scientific Observation has established that education is not what the teacher gives; education is a natural process spontaneously carried out by the human individual, and is acquired not by listening to words but by experiences upon the environment. The task of the teacher becomes that of preparing a series of motives of cultural activity, spread over a specially prepared environment, and then refraining from obtrusive interference. Human teachers can only help the great that is being done. Doing so, they will be witnesses to the unfolding of the human soul and to the rising of a New Era where people will not be the victim of events, but will have the clarity of vision to direct and shape the future of human society.

-Maria Montessori