Her views would appear to be based on an unfortunate experience of working in an environment that does not, in fact, reflect contemporary Montessori principles or practice, and we should always be aware of the danger of making generalisations from limited experience.
In good Montessori practice the term 'work' is in every sense synonymous with 'play' - every activity the child does in a Montessori setting is freely chosen and controlled by the child. This is possible because everything available is developmentally useful in some way or another, and all activities are set within a framework of rules that protect the 'common interest'.
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