Abstract/Notes: Maria Montessori’s approach, based on observation of and experimentation with children’s learning processes, remains one of the longest-standing and widely embraced forms of alternative education. Contemporary neuroscience research increasingly validates Montessori’s principles, yet a robust bridge between these two fields remains elusive. Factors such as differing goals, terminology and the lack of a collaborative framework hinder their synergy. This literature review explores the intersection between neuroscience findings and Montessori’s educational philosophy, structured into five key areas. The Perspective first presents various neuroscience insights: an exploration of aspects related to learning, brain development and cognition. Second, a brief background on Maria Montessori’s contributions: a historical overview of Maria Montessori's life, work and educational methodology. Third is the identification of the areas where neuroscience and Montessori principles intersect, including the importance of movement, emotional development, social learning, the role of the prepared environment, the transition from concrete to abstract concepts, self-regulation, sensitive periods and memory. Finally, while acknowledging the challenges and limitations in researching Montessori education, this review emphasises the growing evidence that supports the alignment of Montessori principles with neuroscience findings. This underscores the enduring relevance of Montessori’s holistic education approach and highlights the potential benefits of a deeper collaboration between these fields, to enhance educational practices and promote comprehensive learning experiences for children. / L'approche éducative de Maria Montessori, fondée sur l'observation et l'expérimentation de l'enfant, reste l'une des formes d'éducation alternative les plus anciennes et les plus largement adoptées. La recherche contemporaine en neurosciences valide de plus en plus les principes de Montessori, mais établir un pont solide entre ces deux domaines reste difficile. Des facteurs tels que des objectifs différents, une terminologie différente et l'absence d'un cadre de collaboration entravent leur synergie. Cette revue de la littérature explore l'intersection entre les résultats des neurosciences et la philosophie éducative de Montessori, structurée en cinq domaines clés : Premièrement, la présentation de quelques idées neuroscientifiques : Une exploration de divers aspects neuroscientifiques liés à l'apprentissage, au développement du cerveau et à la cognition. Deuxièmement, un bref historique des contributions de Maria Montessori : un aperçu historique de la vie, de l'œuvre et de la méthodologie éducative de Maria Montessori. L'identification des domaines où les neurosciences et les principes Montessori se croisent est ensuite présentée, notamment l'importance du mouvement, le développement émotionnel, l'apprentissage social, le rôle de l'environnement préparé, la transition des concepts concrets aux concepts abstraits, l'autorégulation, les périodes sensibles et la mémoire. Tout en reconnaissant les défis et les limites de la recherche en éducation Montessori, cette revue met l'accent sur les preuves de plus en plus nombreuses de l'alignement des principes Montessori sur les résultats des neurosciences. Cela souligne la pertinence durable de l'approche éducative holistique de Montessori et met en lumière les avantages potentiels d'une collaboration plus approfondie entre ces domaines, dans le but d'améliorer les pratiques éducatives et de favoriser des expériences d'apprentissage complètes pour les enfants.

Language: English

DOI: 10.26034/cortica.2023.4218

ISSN: 2813-1940

Abstract/Notes: There is now a broad international consensus that investing in early childhood education and care represents the highest “return on investment” in terms of economic and social development. The pursuit of the dual objective of efficiency and equity has resulted in a reorientation of preschool curricula towards preparation for compulsory schooling, emphasizing the acquisition of the “fundamentals” (reading, writing, and arithmetic) most useful for future academic success. The chapter offers first a comparative analysis of how this “schooling process” unfolded in French and Belgian nursery schools and in the Danish kindergarten. It attests to the persistence of specific cultural and political traditions relating to both the respective roles of the state and families in early childhood education, as well as of conceptions of childhood and relations between adults and children. Second, based on field research conducted in French-speaking Belgium, it discusses the idea that the search for children's well-being and performance at the same time creates tensions in the exercise of the teaching profession. It then shows that it is possible to understand the success of the discourse of cognitive neuroscience and so-called alternative pedagogical methods, including Montessori, because these discourses seem to propose a way to overcome these tensions.

Language: English

Published: New York, New York: Routledge, 2024

ISBN: 978-1-00-337720-7

Abstract/Notes: This article presents descriptions from seven schools of how they are applying research in neuroscience and the cognitive sciences to student learning. Braemar College, Woodend, Victoria implemented Fast ForWord with the knowledge of independently verified results in 2008 to assist students deemed to be at risk academically. Concordia College, Highgate, SA has implemented Brain Week since 2005. It aims to provide Year 8 students with the capacity to understand how their brain works ad to understand what happens to their brain when they learn. The Montessori International College, Buderim, Qld uses the Montessori curriculum to precisely trigger brain functions that are the building blocks of learning and personality. Ravenswood School for Girls Gordon NSW is reviewing its pastoral care program to provide an authentic program which will guide adolescents as they transverse the middle years and promotes student wellbeing, and which has at its base a deep understanding of the changes the adolescent brain is undergoing. St. Michael's Collegiate School, Hobart, Tas is using an executive function mindset to help all students in areas such as planning, organising, prioritising, initiating, sustaining, shifting and self monitoring. This, combined with focused effort, positive self concept, and strategic mindsets, are key to student success across all grades. Scotch Oakburn College, Launceston, Tas is considering brain based maths learning, which in beginning arithmetic takes advantage of the learner's number sense, subitising and counting strategies by making connections to new mathematical operations, so that multiplication tables become tools leading to a deeper understanding of mathematics, rather than an end unto themselves. With the wealth of research evidence growing about the plasticity of the brain, Wilderness School, Medindie, SA designed and implemented in 2011 a 'Thinking and Learning' unit for all Year 9 girls on mindsets.

Language: English

ISSN: 1324-2326

Language: English

ISSN: 0034-6543, 1935-1046

Abstract/Notes: Are there developmental pathways for learning that provide continuity from early learning through adulthood with measurable intervals for assessment and with transitions for learning that are understandable, stable, identifiable, communicable, flexible, and affordable to implement? If so, what are the foundations for learning that enable students to logically progress from more basic events to more complex constructs? This question is of particular importance to developmental science. Cognition is the term used for integrating life experiences into conscious meaningful events. The model for Cognitive Dimensions explored here shows promise as one approach to this problem, using data from narrative analysis and STEAM exercises as the basis for study.

Language: English

Published: Santa Barbara, California, 2022

Abstract/Notes: This paper lends insight into the fundamental postulates of Montessori pedagogyand definitions of contemporary educational neuroscience, focusing on the needsand solutions of contemporary didactic approaches. By presenting the results ofcontemporary researches, the paper connects the achievements of Montessoripedagogic methods and strategies with the scientific indicators of educationalneuroscience about the manners of positive impact on the development of anindividual. The results of the educational neuroscience research will corroborate thepostulates of Montessori pedagogy that state that understanding the developmentalstages of upbringing, individual competences, and specificities of each child areimportant for upbringing. Specific cases will be used to emphasize that, apartfrom the cognitive competence, it is essential to develop psychomotor and affectivecompetences, meaning that the development of these personality spheres isconnected and interdependent. By providing the pedagogic perspective, the paperpoints to the need for further deliberation on how to shape an optimal curriculum.The paper suggests that various social and technological changes are reasons toconsider pedagogic methods, strategies, and approaches of Montessori, which is alsosupported and substantiated by contemporary educational neuroscience.Key words: didactics; Montessori pedagogy; neurodidactics; neuroscience. - U ovom radu daje se uvid u osnovne postulate Montessori pedagogije i definicijesuvremene obrazovne neuroznanosti, orijentirajući se prema potrebama i rješenjimaza suvremene didaktičke pristupe. Prikazom rezultata suvremenih istraživanja radpovezuje dostignuća Montessori pedagoških metoda i strategija sa znanstvenimpokazateljima obrazovne neuroznanosti o načinima pozitivnoga utjecaja na razvojpojedinca. Rezultati istraživanja obrazovne neuroznanosti potkrijepit će postulateMontessori pedagogije da je za odgojni pristup važno razumijevanje razvojnih fazaodrastanja, individualnosti kompetencija i specifičnosti odgajanika. Specifičnimprimjerima naglasit će se da je uz kognitivne, bitno razvijati psihomotorne iafektivne kompetencije, odnosno da je razvoj ovih sfera ličnosti povezan imeđuovisan. Ponuđenom pedagoškom perspektivom rad ukazuje na potrebudaljnjega razmatranja kako pristupiti oblikovanju optimalnih kurikula. U radu sesugerira da je upravo zbog različitih društvenih i tehnoloških promjena potrebnorazmišljati o pedagoškim metodama, strategijama i pristupima Montessoripedagogije, što podržava i potkrepljuje suvremena obrazovna neuroznanost.Ključne riječi: didaktika; Montessori pedagogija; neurodidaktika; neuroznanost.

Language: English

DOI: 10.15516/cje.v22i4.3751

ISSN: 1848-5189, 1848-5197

Abstract/Notes: Existing learning techniques such as problem-based learning, project-based learning, or case study learning are learning techniques that focus mainly on technical details, but give no specific guidelines on learner’s experience and emotional learning aspects such as arousal salience and valence, being emotional states important factors affecting engagement and retention. Some approaches involving emotion in educational settings, such as social and emotional learning, lack neuroscientific rigorousness and use of specific neurobiological mechanisms. On the other hand, neurobiology approaches lack educational applicability. And educational approaches mainly focus on cognitive aspects and disregard conditioning learning. First, authors start explaining the reasons why it is hard to learn thoughtfully, then they use the method of neurobiological mapping to track the main limbic system functions, such as the reward circuit, and its relations with perception, memories, motivations, sympathetic and parasympathetic reactions, and sensations, as well as the brain cortex. The authors conclude explaining the major finding: The mechanisms of nonconscious learning and the triggers that guarantee long-term memory potentiation. Afterward, the educational framework for practical application and the instructors’ guidelines are established. An implementation example in engineering education is given, namely, the study of tuned-mass dampers for earthquake oscillations attenuation in skyscrapers. This work represents an original learning technique based on nonconscious learning mechanisms to enhance long-term memories that complement existing cognitive learning methods.

Language: English

Abstract/Notes: This chapter provides an overview of the ways in which Maria Montessori’s theories are being confirmed through technological advances in neuroscience that she could only have dreamed of so many years ago. The educational philosophy of Maria Montessori was rooted in her lifelong observation of children, which resulted in several strikingly accurate hypotheses on child development that predated related neuroscientific discoveries by decades. These hypotheses include: existence of critical periods of development, effects of a stimulating environment, importance of sensory affective stimulation, human capacity for acquiring language from the environment, and the role of embodied learning.

Language: English

Published: New York, New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2023

ISBN: 978-1-350-27561-4 978-1-350-27560-7 978-1-350-27562-1

Series: Bloomsbury Handbooks

Language: German

Published: Würzburg, Germany: Ergon, 1996

ISBN: 3-928034-90-1

Language: German