Skip to main content

Montessori Dental School

As I researched alternative teaching styles in graduate-level environments, I came across this fascinating approach to instruction. For many years, medical and dental schools around the world are have lead the educational community in experimenting with various styles of instruction.

For example, several medical schools in the Ukraine, Brunei, Denmark, Norway, the Philippines, Sweden and the United States, universities teach courses using problem-based and case-study learning rather than relying on the traditional "sage on the stage" lecture style.

Now, one dental school is breaking into a new frontier of instructional experimentation by applying the time-tested Montessori teaching strategy to their discovery-learning focused educational program.

“Inside the Montessori School of Dentistry, you won’t find any old-fashioned cotton swabs, or so-called periodontal charts, or even any amalgam fillings. That’s because at this alternative-learning institution, students are being encouraged to break away from medical tradition and discover their very own root canal procedures. “At Montessori, we believe dentistry is more than just the medical practice of treating tooth and gum disorders,” school director Dr. Howard Bundt told reporters Tuesday. “It’s about fostering creativity. It’s about promoting self-expression and individuality. It’s about looking at a decayed and rotten nerve pulp and drawing your own unique conclusions.” “In fact, here at Montessori, dentistry is whatever our students want it to be,” Bundt continued. Founded in 1981, and tailored after the teaching methods first developed by Italian-born educator Maria Montessori, the three-year academy offers a fresh and innovative approach to learning seldom found at more conventional schools of dentistry.”

Article Source: TheOnion

Comments

Post a Comment

Please share your thoughts.

Popular posts from this blog

Rummi-"CUB" vs. Rummi-"CUBE"

The "Rummikub" Pronunciation Debate Affirmative Constructive: "Cub" For years, I have been a firm advocate and defender of the pronunciation, Rummi-"CUB".  The game box I grew up with spelled it, Rummicub  on the box. However, other productions of the game have variant spellings: Rummykub , Rummy Kube , Rummy Tiles , etc.  Based solely on box spelling, the game's true pronunciation is open to interpretation. Therefore, Rummi"cub" is equally acceptable to any other given pronunciation. Negative  Constructive : "Cube" My opponents argue that since the game originated over seas, we ought to respect and maintain its original pronunciation. Affirmative Rebuttal: Americanization of the Term When the game was brought to America and given Americanized rules, its name was also Americanized. Pronunciation loyalists then counter my rebuttal with, "there are lots of adopted foreign words that have retained their original pron...

Werewolves: Variation on Mafia, the Group Game

I was first introduced to Mafia in 1995 at a Family Home Evening activity. With only 6-players in our family, we selected one Narrator, two Mafia gangsters (murder one person/night), one Detective (ask the narrator about the identity of one person/round), and sometimes we played with a Guardian Angel (who can save one person/round); everyone else were innocent citizens. THE WEREWOLVES OF MILLERS HOLLOW Review and Detailed Explanation Werewolves is essentially the same game. I played it on Monday night for an FHE activity as well. We played 2 games with 10 and 11 players respectively. Each game lasted about 10-20 minutes. IT WAS SOOO MUCH FUN! I can totally see my immediate family enjoying some of the new rules associated with Werewolves . Here is a list of differences between my family's version of Mafia and the way we played it last night. Three main differences 1. New Characters 2. Voting is performed by pointing. (Much more efficient.) 3. The game is pla...

Who's Got The Funk?

I am an amateur guitarist. I've got no funk. And I’m pretty crossed up about it. In my personal quest to discover the funk I came across this bit featuring Old Gregg from The Mighty Boosh. Old Gregg observed that some groups have it for a time, and when they do, they produce timeless hits. He identified that special  something as  The Funk ! But what exactly is The Funk ? Here is some dialogue from the show to help explain its origin and purpose: Disclaimer: This is weird. Old Gregg: You're a musician, yeah? Howard: Yes I am. Old Gregg: Butchya ain't very good, are ya? Howard: I'm one of the best in town. Old Gregg: Come on, I read your reviews. Hmm? You know what your problem is? Howard: What? Old Gregg: Ya ain't got the funk. You're all rigid. Hmm? You're like a breadstick. You got no rhythm. Howard: Yeah, well I've heard all this sort of stuff before thank you. Old Gregg: Well maybe I could help you. I got the funk. Howard: Yea...