Is this your best work?
“ Is this your best work?” This is a common question throughout Montessori education. Before receiving my Montessori Adolescent training I saw this as a cop-out phrase used as a sort-of “you gave it your best try,” mindset. During my training I was constantly asked, “is this your best work,” with no outside measurement, rubric or comparison to others, just the unbounded, unrestrained use of your capabilities is quite an undertaking if you truly internalize it. It creates an actualization and self-trust that is paramount in development. A rubric or comparison is an external ceiling, a stopping place, where it's “good enough.” The problem is that rubrics do not work in the real world. The rubric is a simulation that only works in the classroom. In the real world, success isn’t measured by a criteria, it's measured by utility, impact and function. It is measured through meaningful work. Meaningful work : labor that possesses a clear purpose, connects the individual to a larger community, and fosters personal growth. It is work where the effort expended directly correlates to a tangible, significant outcome that matters to both the worker and the world around them.
One of my favorite Montessori terms is valorization- the process by which adolescents develop a deep inner sense of their own worth, capability, and purpose through meaningful work and effort. You cannot achieve valorization if you are constantly measuring yourself against others. That just breeds anxiety. You only achieve valorization when you look at a hard piece of work, ask yourself, "Is this my best?", and can honestly answer "Yes." Meaningful work provides the perfect canvas for this. When a teen prepares a community meal for 30 people, they can't hide behind a rubric. They have to face the community. The internal drive to do their best work comes from a desire to contribute meaningfully, not to get a higher grade than the kid sitting next to them.
When rubrics and competition are the focus, we are relying on compliance just to satisfy someone in authority . When we are truly asking “Is this your best work?” we are relying on contribution. It changes the mindset to “what am I truly capable of contributing to this project?” The fact that an adolescent can meaningfully contribute to their community through their efforts and their input creates There is a lot of great information in a textbook or on google, but that isn’t where the real impact comes from. The impact comes from taking knowledge and figuring out where and how you can contribute to society and your community. Where your place is. Where you fit. You take the knowledge and cook a meal for 30 people, or know how to administer the correct dosage of medication to your goat, or measure, design and build a structure. That is the real world. That is the foundation for self-trust. Self-trust is very different from self-esteem. It is deeply rooted in your own reliability and competence. It is the internal relationship with yourself.
Self-trust isn't a magical feeling you wake up with; it is built evidence by evidence. When an adolescent takes on a meaningful piece of work—like organizing a community trip or managing the school's beehives—and relies on their own internal standard to do it well, they accumulate tangible proof of their own competence.
Every time they ask "Is this my best?,” push through a hard moment, and see a positive real-world result, they add a brick to their foundation of self-trust. They look at the thriving beehive or the successful trip and think: “I figured that out. I can trust my mind and my hands to handle hard things.”
Written by: Lisa McKenzie, Farm School KC lead guide