The teacher is called directress because she directs the child rather than teaches him/her.  The role of the directress in a Montessori classroom is vital.  She does not teach in the traditional sense, but guides each child’s progress, helping him/her to help him/herself.  She is especially trained to observe, to respond to the needs of each child and to direct the whole group.  She is concerned with the total development of the child on all levels - physical, social, emotional and intellectual.  She will recognise a child’s readiness to move on and in this way acts as a link between the environment and the child’s needs.  She is responsible for the content and order of the environment.  Her authority is exercised mainly by her example.  She takes a positive approach and shows the child respect and courtesy.

No competition, prizes or punishments in education are used, not because they might not be efficacious, but because they deflect the learner from the true purpose of learning, i.e. learning for its own sake, from an inner drive or interest which makes it all meaningful.  The child learns to learn.