Social cohesion is achieved in a Montessori elementary classroom by ensuring multi-age groupings include students that are different: abilities, genders, personalities and developmental levels; this allows the classroom environment to function more like that of a community allowing all of the children to perform different aspects for the good of the whole. The structured freedom of the classroom environment invites students to look to their peers for: assistance performing difficult activities, the opportunity to practice newly acquired skills, recognition, socialization, and behavioural models.

The teacher’s role in ensuring social cohesion lay in their ability to introduce and consistently enforce a classroom social structure based on respect and productive behaviours. An effective teacher will use her role as an observer to monitor and respond to disruptions in the classroom social network. Social cohesion allows the students the opportunity to develop equally both their strengths and weaknesses through cooperation with others; interactions between students in this environment are mutually beneficial.

Social cohesion within the classroom allows elementary children the opportunity to independently develop their sense of responsibility for something other than themselves, the classroom community, and this knowledge can then be extended to a responsibility for the world and universe as a whole.