Ritualizing Expertise: A Non‐Montessorian View of the Montessori Method

This article examines the practice of Montessori education through the lens of ritual. Anchored by description and analysis of a lesson in an elementary classroom, the lesson is viewed as a series of f ritualized interactions in which both teacher and student act out multiple layers of expertise within the cultural frame of the Montessori method. Analysis is grounded in frameworks drawn from ritual theory (Bell 1992; Douglas 1973; Turner 1969) and explores the role of ritual activity in delineating both the contours of Montessori practice and the boundary between Montessorians and non‐Montessorians.