The Best Weapon for Peace: Maria Montessori, Education, and Children's Rights

The Italian educator and physician Maria Montessori (1870-1952) is best known for the teaching method that bears her name. She was also a lifelong pacifist, although historians tend to consider her writings on this topic as secondary to her pedagogy. In The Best Weapon for Peace, Erica Moretti reframes Montessori's pacifism as the foundation for her educational activism, emphasizing her vision of the classroom as a gateway to reshaping society. Montessori education offers a child-centered learning environment that cultivates students' development as peaceful, curious, and resilient adults opposed to war and invested in societal reform.

Using newly discovered primary sources, Moretti examines Montessori's lifelong pacifist work, including her ultimately unsuccessful push for the creation of the White Cross, a humanitarian organization for war-affected children. Moretti shows that Montessori's educational theories and practices would come to define chilren's rights once adopted by influential international organizations, including the United Nations. She uncovers the significance of Montessori's evolving philosophy of peace and early childhood education within broader conversations about internationalism and humanitarianism.


Author: Erica Moretti
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
Published: 10/11/2022
Pages: 346
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.10lbs
Size: 8.98h x 5.98w x 0.94d
ISBN13: 9780299333140
ISBN10: 0299333140
BISAC Categories:
- Biography & Autobiography | Educators
- History | Europe | Italy
- Education | Philosophy, Theory & Social Aspects

About the Author
Erica Moretti is an assistant professor of Italian at the Fashion Institute of Technology-SUNY.