Maria Montessori and her many disciples believed that children are, in their essence, methodical, self-directed beings with a strong work ethic. Her prophetic pedagogy was developed in the early 20th century with the least powerful in mind—she worked with children who were poor, or traumatized, or who lived in Rome’s ghastly asylums. And yet, today, there are only a few hundred public Montessori schools in the U.S. “The obvious irony of Montessori’s crusade on behalf of the poorest and least powerful in society is that its most visible legacy is selective private schools for the élite,” Jessica Winter writes. Read about why Maria Montessori’s approach still resonates today—and how it became so exclusive: