Abstract/Notes: A century on, as young children in Montessori classrooms around the world continue to engage with Sandpaper Letters, Metal Insets, Moveable Alphabets, and Reading Command cards, an accumulation of studies into how children learn to read from across a range ofdisciplines has generated an influential body of research evidence that has been dubbed the science of reading. The science of reading is currently being used to shape education policy and mandated curriculum documents, especially in the English-speaking world. For this reason, the comparative analysis of the Montessori approach and the science of reading presented in Powerful Literacy inthe Montessori Classroom: Aligning Reading Research and Practice will be welcomed by many Montessori educators.
Abstract/Notes: The purpose of this study is to synthesize Montessori’s writings on citizenship education to support the implementation of a Montessorian view. This synthesis demonstrates that Montessori was of the explicit conviction that a better world can be achieved through citizenship education, as it strives for a peaceful and harmonious society. We approach this topic through the Dutch context. Although schools in the Netherlands are required by law to promote active citizenship and social cohesion, this law does not stipulate which of the many different views on citizenship education schools must adhere to. Schools have the liberty to devise their own citizenship curricula if they can substantiate their views and choices. For Montessori schools, this requires insight into Montessori’s view on citizenship education. Although Montessori’s views are still largely appropriate in our time, an ongoing dialogue about citizenship education is required, as Montessori lived and worked in a specific geopolitical context. Based on our analysis, we have identified seven themes that characterize Montessori’s view on citizenship education: one common citizenship goal; preparation for independent thinking and action; image of the future citizen; adapted and critical citizens; humanity for harmony; knowledge as prerequisite, personality development as goal; and an ever-expanding worldview. The results of this study provide valuable insights for designing and teaching citizenship education through a Montessorian lens.
Abstract/Notes: Maria Montessori’s visit to California in 1915—her second visit to the United States—coincided with multiple events in the region: San Francisco’s Panama–Pacific International Exposition (PPIE), San Diego’s Panama–California Exposition (PCE), and the National Education Association of the United States (NEA) annual meeting in Oakland. Her visit also came at a time when the American Montessori movement was splintering, and the academic elite increasingly criticized her educational model. These circumstances made Montessori’s visit to California a potentially valuable opportunity to rekindle interest in Montessori education across the United States. Discussions of Montessori’s visit in 1915 have been framed around her training course and demonstration school at the PPIE. Based on information from primary sources (e.g., newspapers and archival materials), some of which have been overlooked, this article asserts that her visit to California had broader implications. While her eight months in California did have a positive impact on the growth of the Montessori movement, Montessori’s engagement with mainstream education had limited impact and it gave way to waning interest in Montessori education in the United States.
Abstract/Notes: According to the World Health Organization, there are currently more than 55 million people living with dementia worldwide, and this figure is expected to triple by 2050. Recent studies suggest that there may be a link between childhood trauma (which refers to exposure to overwhelmingly stressful experiences before the age of 18 years) and the onset of dementia in later life. Therefore, in communities caring for persons living with dementia, some residents may have been exposed to trauma in childhood. Currently, there is an increasing awareness of the negative impact of childhood trauma on later adult health and well-being, and a corresponding recognition of the need for services, including for dementia care, to be trauma-informed. In the last decade, the Montessori Method has become established as a legitimate approach to elder/dementia care. However, it has not yet been examined as a trauma-informed approach. The aim of this paper is to address that gap by (a) highlighting how Maria Montessori took steps to integrate interdisciplinary knowledge of trauma into her Method when she began to understand the potential of childhood trauma to adversely impact adult health and well-being, and (b) outlining how the Montessori Method, when applied to dementia care, incorporates many of the core principles of trauma-informed practice. This paper concludes that the Montessori Method for dementia care has the built-in capacity to be trauma-sensitive and trauma-responsive, but that its ongoing rollout should follow Montessori’s lead by specifically integrating knowledge about the neurobiology of trauma into its training programs.
Abstract/Notes: Action research is the term used for investigations done in the field, often by practitioners, and typically with a pragmatic rather than theoretical purpose (Willis & Edwards, 2014). This type of research is a key part of many Montessori teacher education programs, but the value of this important work is often lost to the field because the papers reside in separate institutional repositories with limited indexing. The Journal of Montessori Research is introducing a new annual review article series which features selected graduate student action research studies. The authors of this recurring series of articles represent Montessori teacher preparation programs and other university-based research roles. They will select studies that they believe are particularly high quality and relevant to the journal’s readers. We are calling this series of articles “Rediscovering the Child” to honor Maria Montessori’s seminal work and to acknowledge that all Montessori teachers engage in an ongoing process of rediscovering the children in their classrooms. When this process is formalized, action research is the result. This article is the first in the series and highlights six studies from University of Wisconsin-River Falls and St. Catherine University. In the coming issues, we will likely refine some aspects of our selection and review processes and expand the programs represented.
Abstract/Notes: Circle time is commonplace in traditional preschools, yet there are few references to the practice in Montessori’s writings or in major Montessori organizations’ and teacher education standards. This article investigates whether circle time is frequent in Montessori 3–6-year-old classrooms using data from a widely distributed Qualtrics survey. The results, from 276 respondents spanning all 50 states, provide insight into the circle time practices of United States-based preschool Montessori teachers, also known in Montessori classrooms as guides. We present novel information regarding circle time duration and frequency, types of circle time activities, Montessori guides’ circle time training and planning, whether children’s circle time attendance is free choice or compulsory, and the nature of circle time in programs associated with Association Montessori Internationale versus American Montessori Society. Results revealed that 92% of survey participants have circle time every day or most days; most participants hold circle time for 20 minutes or less; the most common circle time events were show-and-tell, calendar work, vocabulary lessons, Grace and Courtesy lessons, read aloud discussions, dancing and movement, snack time, general conversation, read aloud (stories), and birthday celebrations. We found that many of the most frequent circle time activities do not align with children’s preferences, teacher preferences, or Early Childhood best practices. Our work invites Montessorians to engage in the work of reconstructing the traditional practice of circle time to better align with Montessori hallmarks of choice, development of the will, and joyfulness.
Abstract/Notes: The focus of this research is the spiritual experience of young children in early childhood educational settings. Spirituality is included in the New Zealand early childhood curriculum, Te Whariki, but is a relatively unarticulated aspect of educational practice. In order to find out how spirituality is supported in early childhood educational contexts this qualitative case study research took place in three early childhood settings: a Montessori casa, a private preschool and a Steiner (Waldorf) kindergarten. The methods used in the research included participant observation, interviews and focus groups. The teachers were asked to make a video about spirituality to reflect their own context and photographs were taken in each setting.
The metaphor of spiritual landscape is used in this research. In this landscape everyday experience merged with the spiritual to form the concept of everyday spirituality. The cultural theories of everyday life supported a realisation that ordinary daily activity can become wonderful and mysterious when the spiritual dimension is realised. The themes that emerged from analysis of the case studies are conceptualised as transformative aspects of learning and relationships. They are aspects of everyday spirituality identified as spiritual withness; spiritual inbetweenness; and the spiritually elsewhere. Representing spiritual experience is challenging. The thesis is written in narrative form and contains core narratives as prose and poems. Using writing as a means of discovery made communicating spirituality through the medium of words a possibility.
Spirituality is proposed to be an inclusive concept that affirms a sense of connection and this thesis found that all pedagogical practices in early childhood settings have the potential to include a spiritual aspect. In Aotearoa New Zealand many children lead their everyday lives in the context of an early childhood environment that includes teachers and parents as part of that community. This thesis argues that when everyday spirituality permeates early childhood contexts that all aspects of the curriculum are realised and the spiritual experience of everyone connected to that setting is supported.
