Abstract/Notes: Project Friends is a learning community based on our confidence in the multi-age classroom as a valuable and viable vehicle for teaching young children. Our three multi-age classrooms of kinder-garten, first- and second-grade children were the served as the setting for Project Friends. In this article, we share our beginnings, significant features and outcomes of the learning community, and our reflections on a year ended in Project Friends. Our experiences and the experiences of the children in the multi-age classrooms continue to provide rich contexts for teaching and learning in the elementary school.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1007/BF02354835

ISSN: 1082-3301, 1573-1707

Abstract/Notes: Research demonstrates that community-building in schools is an integral aspect of student success. Based on a foundation of research findings related to the importance of implementing community-building into all aspects of a school, community-building activities, including five specific classroom strategies (parent visits class to tell about child, weekly newsletter with interactive activities, bi-monthly open-house hour where children explain school work to parents, Valentine letters filled with true compliments, and a cultural celebration unit focused on Africa), were implemented in an urban magnet school. This school was moving toward racial integration as well as implementation of a Montessori education program. As predicted from research information, incorporating community-building strategies geared at creating a welcoming climate, at improving faculty interaction, at fostering collaborative classrooms, and towards on-going and open teacher/parent communication and collaboration resulted in positive outcomes in what could have otherwise been a difficult, negative or unproductive situation.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1007/s10643-008-0290-z

ISSN: 1082-3301, 1573-1707

Abstract/Notes: Project PACT (Partnerships, Action, & Collaboration, Together) (a pseudonym) is a multi-stakeholder partnership that reflects multiple goals, commitments, and priorities for early childhood education. PACT was informed by the literature on community-based research (CBR) and a commitment by partners to strengthen P–3 education where stakeholder assets contributed to reciprocal learning experiences in early childhood education. PACT stakeholders transformed two early childhood education classrooms into Montessori classrooms within a district public school. As one in a series of investigations, this research specifically examined partner commitments to a unique collaboration, the emergence of roles and responsibilities over time, and manifestations of innovation within a traditional public school setting. Data illustrate how stakeholders established a collaboration that allowed for flexibility, perspective-taking, and the opportunity to work together to reconsider and strengthen P–3 education through a model typically reserved for children of affluence. Beyond the operational demands of a startup initiative, findings also reflect the power of a collective through flexibility and a stance that values the assets of a community. The impact of this work demonstrates the potential to successfully impact quality education in early childhood settings through equity and opportunity.

Language: English

DOI: 10.54656/PPYY7979

ISSN: 1944-1207

Abstract/Notes: The Montessori Bibliography Online (MBO) makes information about Montessori education and the Montessori movement more accessible through an online interface that includes links to digitized source materials. Historically, Montessori bibliographies and indexes have been published in physical form and include references to other sources, but a direct link is absent. This database builds on previously compiled indexes to consolidate citations into a comprehensive repository with an intuitive user interface and a robust search capability. Additionally, the MBO provides hyperlinks to digitized source material. Although this type of tool is not unprecedented in the larger research and educational landscape, it is novel within the domain of Montessori education. This methodological essay discusses the steps I took to compile and develop the MBO. Beginning with a review of the literature and legal matters, the discussion describes the methods and processes employed. It concludes by outlining future directions for the MBO. The MBO is accessible at https://montessoribib.ku.edu.

Language: English

DOI: 10.17161/jomr.v8i1.16425

ISSN: 2378-3923

Abstract/Notes: Kohlberg's concept of a just community has been instituted, in varying degrees and at various levels, from the early elementary years upward. It is argued here that, although pre‐school children are developmentally unprepared for the in‐depth classroom discussions and reasoning called for by Kohlbergian theory, they are nevertheless capable of creating a just community in simplified, or embryonic, form. It is further argued that this pre‐school concept has been in existence since Maria Montessori established her first Children's House. A comparison of the Kohlberg and Montessori models is made showing their compatibility in both theory and practice. Further analysis shows that developmentally the two work well as a sequence for children's moral growth.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1080/0305724810110104

ISSN: 0305-7240

Abstract/Notes: In 2019, educators at Beehive Montessori School (Beehive) in Western Australia implemented their self-defined digital literacies framework. The framework guided their approach to, and use of, digital technologies in their classrooms. Doing so came out of a whole school action research project in which the school became a hub for inquiry and educators, and researchers worked together to identify issues and develop improvement processes. At the project conclusion, the educators and researchers had collaboratively defined a solution that met the mandated curriculum needs and fitted with the school autonomy. Most importantly the project and the solution empowered educators, as it aligned with the school-identified virtues and utilized the three-period lesson to teach it, all of which was consistent with Montessori pedagogy.

Language: English

DOI: 10.14324/LRE.18.3.03

ISSN: 1474-8460

Abstract/Notes: In the period 1919–1933 the experimental and community schools in Hamburg tried to put into practice a new model of schooling without a set curriculum that was based on providing a considerable amount of freedom for pupils and teachers. These experiences were introduced in the Netherlands by way of magazines published by the New Education Fellowship (NEF) or Dutch journals edited by educationalists and university professors. The Hamburg schools were also visited by Christian Anarchist teachers who were connected with new schools in the Netherlands and who already had experimented with new ways of life in small communities. In this article we describe their experiences in Hamburg. Their observation reports would not trigger a growing interest in a social community type of schooling; in general Dutch teachers, even the socialist ones, did not change their preference for the traditional classroom system of education. More individualistic methods from Montessori and Parkhurst (Dalton Plan), supported by university professors and inspectors of education, were considered to have more potential for changing the classroom system from within.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1080/00309230.2014.927513

ISSN: 0030-9230, 1477-674X

Abstract/Notes: Thayer-Bacon tells her story in a conversational tone that traces her personal and professional roots as she describes various chapters of her life: first as a philosopher, how she became involved in education, and then how that involvement became a career as a philosopher of education, in a large teacher education program, and now at a research institution. She sketches her philosophical contributions, as a pragmatist, feminist, postmodernist, and cultural studies scholar, to philosophy, philosophy of education, and education.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1007/s11217-011-9241-z

ISSN: 1573-191X, 0039-3746

Language: English

ISSN: 1071-6246

Abstract/Notes: This article describes practical strategies for promoting inclusion in religious programs. Strategies are provided for including children with mental disabilities, mild mental retardation, moderate mental retardation, and severe to profound mental retardation, and older students with mental retardation. Strategies are also provided for preparing peers and working with families.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1177/004005990103300508

ISSN: 0040-0599, 2163-5684