“The mind takes some time to develop interest, to be set in motion, to get warmed up into a subject, to attain a state of profitable work. If at this time there is interruption, not only is a period of profitable work lost, but the interruption, produces an unpleasant sensation which is identical to fatigue.” ~ Maria Montessori
Disruption is a very broad topic, but a critical one for Montessori classrooms. In this article we will focus on disruption as it relates to the morning work-cycle, when children are engaged in independent work and teachers are giving lessons.
Manny was giving a lesson to Caitlin with the moveable alphabet. He had chosen this moment carefully—the other children were engaged in their work, and it seemed like an ideal time for the lesson.
Five minutes in, Jaime hopped up from his work and crossed the classroom to talk to Emil. Emil had been working on his math but was now involved in an animated conversation with Jaime. Manny watched and grew anxious. He knew this was just the beginning.
Two children near Emil and Jaime looked up and watched the conversation with curiosity. Jaime invited them over. Now four children were talking loudly, inviting more curious glances from their classmates. Manny knew the disruption would spread, so he excused himself from the lesson to redirect Jaime and the others.
When Many returned to Caitlin he found that she had undone all her work and reorganized the moveable alphabet letters by size and color. After helping Caitlin put together the letters she had reorganized he looked up and noticed Jaime wrestling with Emil next to the snack table.
Disruption affects Montessori classrooms in a unique way. During a typical work cycle, the guide walks a familiar tightrope: giving lessons that connect children to materials while simultaneously managing the environment so children can work independently. (Lloyd, 2008)
When a child disrupts others who are engaged in work, the guide feels compelled to intervene to preserve the uninterrupted work cycle. It is for good reason – disruptions have a detrimental effect on concentration and engagement (Shield & Dockrell, 2008). But here’s the dilemma: the guide is often in the middle of giving a lesson—a lesson designed to help a student become engaged. She depends on the independence and self-regulation of the other students to complete her lesson without interruption. It’s a circular process that requires the entire environment to function smoothly. Disruption is the stick in the spoke of this process.
Disruption and the Planes of Development
Toddlers (ages 0-3) – During the first half of the first plane of development, when young children are developing independence, they are still developing self-regulation skills. Disruptive behavior is often “innocent” and may reflect frustration, or a need for consistency and predictability, movement or sensory experiences. Disruptive behaviors might include loud outbursts, grabbing materials from another child, crying, hurting another child or physically interrupting a friend who is working.
Children’s House (ages 3-6) – In the second half of the first plane of development, children are in the conscious absorbent mind, actively constructing themselves through purposeful activity, repetition and social interactions. Disruption may present itself as interruption of concentration during work (e.g., taking materials away, excessive adult interference), talking loudly to friends, misusing materials, or heightened responses to over-regulation by adults who may disrupt the child’s drive for independence.
Elementary (ages 6-12) – With a heightened focus on social dynamics, fairness and moral development elementary disruptions often occur in an elementary environment with a social motive. Disruption will include excessive talking or socializing, interrupting, derailing group work, interpersonal conflicts, teasing, exclusion and arguing – especially if a situation is perceived as unjust. Lack of engagement from rote work, rushing abstraction, and few opportunities for following topics of interest can also invite disruptive behavior.
Adolescent (ages 12-18) – Adolescence is a time of psychic and physical upheaval, as the adolescent experiences drastic changes in their bodies and minds. The need for belonging and significance amongst their peers is paramount as teenagers begin to form their own identity apart from their families of origin. Common behaviors that create disruptions to the classroom environment can be emotional outbursts, withdrawal, refusal to participate, challenging of authority, testing boundaries social norms to assert independence. Lack of meaningful, real-world work – or work that students perceive as meaningful – can lead to disengagement and then disruptive behaviors.
Preparing the Environment and the Teacher
Preparing both the adult and the environment is critical for creating a classroom where children find a sense of belonging and significance and security. An engaged and normalized child rarely disrupts the community. Fewer disruptions means more teacher-child engagement and child-environment engagement.
- Modeling – Yes, we all learned about using slow, purposeful movements and a quiet tone of voice. However, in the heat of a distraction it’s easy to become a distraction ourselves, without realizing it. A strong response to disruptive behavior by the adult can invite a stronger response by the child and invite insecurity in observing children.
- Intervene Before Disruption – Dr. Montessori (2013) suggested that “The teacher should intervene before, not after, the disorder has occurred.” Just how do we do this? Take some time to observe your classroom and count how many disruptions can be predicted before they happen! Learning to observe and manage the classroom with Presence, Warmth and Silence can be a game changer (see General Responses below).
- Avoid Over-Intervention – Observation helps to develop our judgement and intuition. Pause! Take a moment and observe what is really happening before you react. In addition to being proactive, Dr. Montessori (2013) also pointed out, “Many teachers interfere in order to restrain, advise or praise the children when they should not, and instead refrain from intervening when it is necessary.” Often, just a warm, knowing glance – even from across the room – will support self-correction by the child, giving them the victory in the quest for self-regulation.
- Throw Your Lesson Plan Away – Lessons plans, and curriculum maps can be helpful in guiding how you pace the curriculum throughout the year. But they are a framework and should not supersede your observations. Observe for individual and group interests and run with them wherever possible and change your plans when you find those sparks. If your most disruptive child is “obsessed” with frogs and you’ve planned to study birds, consider changing your plans and studying amphibians!
- Observing for Developmental Movement – In the same vein as observing for interests, observing for developmental changes is rudimentary, but critical. Developmental growth does not always align with our lesson plans or the order of the curriculum. Adapting to this with flexibility is key. This might mean skipping or altering a lesson in your album sequence because you observed that the child’s development was further along. Don’t be afraid to experiment in following the child’s development.
- Class Meetings – At the beginning of the year, create an “ideal work cycle” with the children. What does it look like? What does it sound like? What does it feel like? Use the answers to these questions to create guidelines and norms for the morning work cycle. Children are more likely to cooperate and to exhibit leadership when the help create the guidelines. No need to worry about mistakes in this process – you can always make changes in future Class Meetings if problems arise.
- Prepare Outdoor Work – It is so easy to become anchored to the indoor environment. Many children who become disruptive in the classroom find solace in meaningful outdoor work. Instead of gross motor “breaks” for active children, consider developing purposeful work that incorporates gross motor activities (e.g. art with nature, tree identification work, meaningful contributions like weeding or sweeping a sidewalk).
- Gross Motor Activities – I recently observed a toddler classroom the perimeter of the classroom was dotted with gross motor elements – stairs, ramp, a line to walk, climbing element, etc. The interior of the classroom had shelves with typical Montessori toddler materials – practical life, sensorial, etc. The children on the interior worked quietly and the children on the outside were also settled, but actively, without disruption. In a middle school I visited there was a stationary bike and exercise equipment on the margins of the classroom. This idea can be used in classrooms of every age.
- Barometer Approach – It is easy to see a disruptive student as an impediment to the progress of the group.Consider a different perspective. What if you saw this student as the canary in the coal mine – simply more sensitive to interactions and the environment. What might this canary be telling you. I found from a disruptive upper elementary student that she thought my lessons were too long and too boring. I didn’t like to hear it, so I ignored it. A month later another student brought this up as a topic at our Class Meeting. Apparently, the disruptive student was on to something ! Sometimes disruptive students can be our early warning system for needed changes in the environment or the adult!
Grace and Courtesy Skills
Grace and Courtesy lessons help children develop social skills that foster belonging (acceptance) and significance. Teaching these skills is a three-part process, similar to a three-period lesson: Direct Instruction – Teach the missing or lagging skill explicitly. Practice – Provide opportunities for practice through role-play and real-life experiences, allowing children to make mistakes and learn from them. Application – Encourge progress, not perfection. Take quiet moments to acknowledge and give encouragement to children as they learn to apply new skills.
- Moving Through the Classroom – Demonstrate how to move through the classroom, purposefully and quietly. Ask children what they noticed during your demonstration. Have them practice. Consider creating a non-verbal signal to remind each other to move gently in the classroom.
- Asking for What You Need or Want – Many adults were brought up learning to say, “please” and “thank you”, but it is less common in today’s culture. Direct lessons on how to ask for what you want, or need can be empowering for children. It takes skill – some adults don’t do it well. In addition to, “please” and “thank you”, teach children how to identify a good time to ask (wait until someone is finished), and who to ask (teacher, friend, etc.).
- Correcting a Friend – Discuss how to correct a friend who is being disruptive. Invite children to reflect on how they would like to be corrected, then brainstorm respectful strategies together.
- Asking a Friend to Work With You – In a Montessori classroom, children work together freely, but social dynamics can lead to disruptions. Teach children how to ask a friend to work with them, politely, to say “no” kindly, and respond gracefully if declined.
- Choosing Productive Work Partners – Sometimes a good friend is also a productive work partner – sometimes not! How can you tell? Who are some of the people you work well with?
- Voice Modulation – Play voice modulation games with children to practice volume control. Sing songs that get loud, then get quieter. Discuss together the best volume for our voices in the classroom. Create non-verbal signals together to prompt a friend who is speaking at a high volume during the work cycle.
- Interrupting – Grace and courtesy lessons often focus on how to interrupt an adult – especially if they are in a lesson. In addition, teach and practice the same method with peers.
- Self-Regulation Skills – See article on Dysregulation.
General Responses
Below are Positive Discipline tools and principles – both proactive and responsive- that can be used to address disruptive behavior during a work cycle.
- Connection Before Correction – Disruptive children may receive a lot of adult interaction time, but that shouldn’t be confused with connection time. Take time to connect when the child is not disrupting – “fill their bucket”. It doesn’t have to take a long time, and children do better when they have a strong relationship with the adults!
- Wheel of Choice – Develop a Wheel of Choice for work choices or work partners during for morning work cycle. Identify interests and available work choices and create the wheel together. Hand the wheel to the child – without talking – when they are being disruptive.
- Meaningful Contribution – Make a list of the disruptive child’s strengths, and next to each, identify a meaningful task or contribution. Redirecting the child to these tasks when they are disruptive will help them find purpose, belonging and significance in the classroom community.
- Class Meetings – If the classroom is becoming disruptive during the morning work cycle, encourage one of the children to put the problem on the Class Meeting agenda, so everyone can be involved in solving it together!
- Manage Classroom with Presence, Warmth, and Silence (PWS) – Sit visibly where you can observe the entire classroom, bringing nothing else with you (no notebook, computer, or phone). Simply be fully present. Many disruptions are prevented simply because the adult is truly attentive and calm.
- Call and Audible – Borrowing a term from American football, an “audible” is an on-the-spot change of plan. If you sense a situation that might become disruptive, do something unexpected! For example, if you’re about to give a lesson on leaf shapes and Sarah has been disruptive all morning, change the plan and go outside to identify real leaves instead.
- Non-Verbal Signals – A lot can be said without talking! Simply giving a student a knowing look and motioning for them to walk can be a lot more effective and less disruptive than “cutting him off at the pass” and giving a verbal reminder – which he may ignore!
- Use Humor – Remember one of the most important rules of being a Montessori guide – enjoy yourself and your students. Embrace your sense humor. Children’s social and cognitive development is not linear. It’s a messy process, and there is a lot to laugh about in our day to day lives in the classroom, and a lot of wonderful stories to tell in the future. So, laugh when they laugh, and they will laugh when you laugh!
- Whisper – If you need to say something when a child(ren) is being disruptive. Drop your volume to a whisper. This sets the tone. Disruption is contagious and so is quiet and calm.
Mistaken Goal Responses
“A misbehaving child is a discouraged child.” (Dreikurs, 1964).
When children feel supported and encouraged in the classroom environment, and they know they belong (are loved) and feel significant (through responsibility and contribution), they thrive. With guidance, they develop kindness and respect for others and themselves and discover how capable they are.
When children feel discouraged, they misbehave, because they have a mistaken belief about how to belong and feel significant. As Rudolph Dreikurs observed children, he identified four mistaken goals that children adopt when they feel discouraged.
Below, you will find practical ideas for helping to support positive change for the behavior of disruption for each mistaken goal. Some of the General Responses, above, are included and aligned with mistaken goals.
Undue Attention (Notice Me, Involve Me Usefully): Children whose mistaken goal is Undue Attention engage in disruption to be noticed, keeping others busy with them, or getting special service (someone else doing for them that which they can do for themselves). Disruptive behavior during the work cycle may include talking loudly, running, testing known limits, teacher dependency, interruptions of adults and other children, and social conflicts.
Responses: Give a knowing smile and say nothing. Create special time. Write them a note and stand by while they read it. Invite them to help you with a “special task”. Set up a lesson quietly and conspicuously, then sit down and warmly motion for them to join you. Set up routines together. Use humor.
Misguided Power (Let Me Help, Give Me Choices) – Children with the mistaken goal of Misguided Power disrupt in an effort to stay in control, and to protect their personal power, agency and dignity. Disruption during the morning work cycle may present itself as refusing to work, power struggles, tattling, policing, or seeking to control things, situations or people.
Responses: Plan choices ahead of time with the student and then redirect to the plan as needed. Ask for help supporting other students with their strengths. Acknowledge that you can’t make them, but that you would appreciate their cooperation. Remove and redirect the audience. Use the Four Steps for Follow-Through. Ask them to put the problem on the Class Meeting agenda.
Revenge (I’m Hurting – Validate My Feelings) – A child whose mistaken goal is Revenge feel hurt easily and may disrupt others in attempt to hurt them – so as not to be alone. Disruptive behavior may include peer conflict, damaging materials, saying hurtful things, work refusal or lesson disruptions.
Responses: Take time to listen to the child’s perspective and priorities using Reflective Listening. Make amends if you have responded strongly. Avoid punitive responses, like staying in from recess or working in isolation. Problem-solve together when you are both calm. Take time to connect. Notice them when they are not disrupting. Teach them cooling down strategies like Positive Time-Out and deep breathing. Ask, “What’s on your mind?”, then listen and validate. Focus on repair vs. consequences.
Assumed Inadequacy (Don’t Give Up on Me – Show Me a Small Step) – When a child with the mistaken goal of Assumed Inadequacy they may engage in disruptive behavior as a way of giving up and convincing others to lower their expectations. Disruptive behavior may include saying, “I can’t do it!”, refusing to try or participate, demanding help, refusing to try, destroying their own work, exaggerating difficulty or discomfort, crying, or becoming passive.
Responses: Avoid lowering expectations. Break down lessons, tasks and follow-up work into bite-sized pieces. Take time to know the student and their actual abilities. Show understanding of the belief that they are not able and their overwhelm. Show faith in their actual ability. When the student experiences success, use Conversational Curiosity Questions to debrief their success. Avoid rescuing and criticism. Take time to identify their strengths and identify ways for them to use them to help others.
The Rest of the Story
Jaime absolutely loved adventure books and could easily spend half of his work time reading them if he wasn’t redirected to other work. So, Manny created a history follow-up activity that included choosing a historical fiction novel from a selection Manny had put together—each one reflecting the time period they were studying—and building a historically accurate diorama of the setting.
Manny knew Jaime would choose this work, and he took the “barometer approach,” preparing the environment around the student who was experiencing the greatest challenges.
“It changed Jaime’s trajectory in the classroom,” said Manny. “He was so engrossed in the project that he and I had to create an agreement to make sure he kept up with his other work. The diorama he created—and the presentation he gave to the class—were amazing. The other students were spellbound and full of questions during his presentation.
“It also gave me a real opportunity to get to know and understand Jaime in a positive way, because we would talk at length every morning about the book he’d chosen. He experienced real success with his work for the first time, and I think it changed the way he saw himself. I still needed to redirect Jaime during the morning work cycle after that, but things got progressively better. Something shifted in our relationship. We were on the same team!”
References
Dreikurs, R. (1964). Children: The Challenge. Hawthorn Books.
Kraft, M. A., & Monti-Nussbaum, M. (2021). “The Big Problem With Little Interruptions to Classroom Learning.” AERA Open, 7
Lloyd, K. M. (2008). An analysis of Maria Montessori’s theory of normalization in light of emerging research in self-regulation [Doctoral dissertation, Oregon State University]. Oregon State University ScholarsArchive.
Montessori, M. (1989). What you should know about your child. Oxford, England: Clio Press. P.
Montessori, M. (2013). The absorbent mind (C. A. Claremont, Trans.). Montessori-Pierson Publishing.
Nelsen, J., DeLorenzo, C. (2021). Positive discipline in the Montessori classroom, Parent-Child Press.
Shield, B., & Dockrell, J. (2008). The effects of environmental and classroom noise on the academic attainments of primary school children. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 123(1), 133–144.
©2025 Chip DeLorenzo
