As part of my Montessori adolescent teaching program, I have to take notes in class on various parts of the Montessori philosophy – via her essays, lectures or of lectures given my Montessori teachers. I am sharing my notes for others who might benefit from them.

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The human tendencies are innate in man. They are the characteristics, the propensities, which allowed the human being, from his first inception on earth, to become aware of his environment, to learn and understand it… Each child, as he is born, enters, as did the very first human being, an environment created for him but unknown to him. If he was to live his life securely within it, he had to have a way of making a knowledge of it. This way was through the human tendencies. 

– Margaret Stephenson “Dr. Maria Montessori – a Contemporary Educator?”

What are the Human Tendencies?

• These are our internal urges that allow us to adapt to our environment.
• Human tendencies are how humans have to remake themselves every generation
• Human tendencies is a toolkit humans use to meet their needs by modifying their environment
• It is active throughout a person’s lifetime and manifest differently @ different stages of life

What are the characteristics of the Human Tendencies?

• Allow humans to adapt to diverse environment. Humans can adapt to any environment they which they fall into
• HTs push individual to satisfy needs in successful & creative ways
• Enables adaptation to social & physical needs
• HTs are present in all environment – not just in Montessori

What is the purpose of the Human Tendencies?

(connection to creative adaptation)

• HT are the driving force behind human development & achievement
• Creative adaptation and Human Tendencies are intrinsically linked because these tendencies drive our ability to adapt to new environments and situations. 
• Through tendencies like exploration, manipulation, and abstraction, humans naturally develop creative solutions to challenges they encounter. 
• This process of adaptation is creative because it requires innovative thinking and the ability to combine previous knowledge with new situations.

What are specific human tendencies? (note: all phrased as actions)

• To orient – determines position relative to physical, social, intellectual, spiritual, emotional
• To explore – to search or investigate. Can be physical, social, intellectual, spiritual or emotional. Adolescents exporlings socal/emtional a lot

• To order – Logical arrangement of ideas or things. Help us better understand things we perceive.
• To abstract – To draw from…Through abstraction, humans have discovered laws of rules around them and to create schema that support successful human adaptation
• To imagine – Imagination us allows to transform experience and pattern recognition to envision that which doesn’t exist but could. It is a tool that humans use to create what doesn’t exist and helps us explain things that are inexplicable.
• To work – Connects to all other tendencies. Work is effort or activity that is directed ot a purposeful end. The work of the hands and the head are equally important and must happen throughout development in tandem from old to young.
• To calculate – All individuals naturally seek order, precision and pattern recognition, we create a new order from our perceptions to calculate amounts, quantities, distances and dimensions between things.
• To be exact, to repeat – natural inclination to do the same activity over and over again so they master a skill and achieve perfection. Even youngest child repeats activity over and over again.Child drops spoon again to understand natural world.
• To self-perfect – Humans do better things through practice and self-repetition. Also helps humans manifest self discipline and self control
• To associate – Early humans associated with each other to survive and this is how we learn to balance the needs of the individual and the group. It is critical for empathy and morality.
• To communicate – Allows us to share our knowledge and feelings and support association and imagination.

 Manifestation of the Human Tendencies

• Differ across the planes of development and beyond
  • From Margaret Stephenson essay, first plane (0 to 6) Young children are like sponges, soaking up everything around them through their senses and learning to do things on their own, like climbing stairs.
  • The second plane (6-12) is about inflaming interest and where children become curious investigators.
  • Create
• Manifest within the limits of the environment

Potentiality: the unseen potential within a person (“x”)

Personality: the sum of a person’s physical, psychological , emotional and social aspects. It is manifested through actions in behavior and engagement in the environment. Through interaction with prepared environment, they develop their drive. When given freedoms that are developmentally appropriate, they will develop into an independent person.

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Character: a person’s moral and ethical qualities

Consists of beliefs and moral principles and guide.