Language: English

DOI: 10.1177/105345127200800101

ISSN: 0001-396X

Language: English

ISSN: 1071-6246

Language: Japanese

ISSN: 0913-4220

Abstract/Notes: Teaching at pre-school in Saudi Arabia can involve the use of many types of teaching methods, and the Montessori educational system is one approach that can be used. Over time, this method has gained value and popularity due to its promotion of a self-learning strategy. This current study aims to explore the perceptions of Montessori teachers working in Saudi Arabia about their role in supporting a self-learning strategy for pre-school children. The research sample comprised Montessori teachers working at three schools in Saudi Arabia. Data was collected by undertaking qualitative semi-structured interviews and using an unstructured questionnaire. The interviews was piloted in advanced. The findings show that most of the Saudi pre-school teachers who participated are knowledgeable about teaching the Montessori system in the classroom, and have knowledge of applying the self-learning strategy. However, in practice, their role in supporting children to achieve self-learning is affected by various factors, including: the overall ethos of the Saudi education system, the Ministry of Education’s perceptions about teaching pre-school children using the Montessori system, the teacher’s background and their years of experiences working with pre-school children, and the use of individual education plans for each child.

Language: English

ISSN: 2617-9563

Abstract/Notes: The development of self-care skills in children is a part of the Core curriculum for preschool education. The contents regarding formation of such skills include shaping hygiene practices, goodhabits and developing motor skills. Maria Montessori drew attention to the development of selfcare skills and functional independence. In her concept of preschool child education, Maria Montessori developed practical life activities which were intended to serve the development of specificskills and their application to everyday life. Therefore, the aim of the research was to identify thelevel of self-care skills in 4-year-old children attending selected kindergartens located in MińskMazowiecki and Siedlce. The research was conducted on 200 children from Non-public CreativeActivity Montessori Kindergarten ‘Zameczek’ in Siedlce, Non-public Montessori Kindergarten‘Delfinek’ in Mińsk Mazowiecki and 6 traditional kindergartens — 2 of which were located inMińsk Mazowiecki and 4 located in Siedlce. The obtained research results indicated a varied levelof self-care skills depending on kindergarten the children attended.

Language: Polish

ISSN: 2353-7140, 2353-7159

Abstract/Notes: A widely advocated idea in education is that people learn better when the flow of experience is under their control (i.e., learning is self-directed). However, the reasons why volitional control might result in superior acquisition and the limits to such advantages remain poorly understood. In this article, we review the issue from both a cognitive and computational perspective. On the cognitive side, self-directed learning allows individuals to focus effort on useful information they do not yet possess, can expose information that is inaccessible via passive observation, and may enhance the encoding and retention of materials. On the computational side, the development of efficient “active learning” algorithms that can select their own training data is an emerging research topic in machine learning. This review argues that recent advances in these related fields may offer a fresh theoretical perspective on how people gather information to support their own learning.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1177/1745691612454304

ISSN: 1745-6916, 1745-6924

Abstract/Notes: The current international landscape shows that the most common alternative for the continuity of formative learning processes during the coronavirus pandemic has been the use the of e-learning to support children’s learning in environments outside of school. This forced change in teaching methods has consolidated the recognition that the digital skills of teachers are a relevant factor for the sustainability of education, both during the pandemic and in a future post-pandemic period or in other emergencies. In this sense, the objective of this study carried out between May and September 2020 was to determine the perceptions of 427 teachers from 15 countries about their digital competences in working with m-learning in primary education using a Montessori approach. The results of the questionnaire showed that teachers perceive their digital competences as inert and not very effective for innovation compared with the subsistence of traditional pedagogical practices, to deal with unpredictable situations or to generate differentiated adaptations for an inclusive education. The results of this study also serve as empirical support for establishing four training dimensions that can be considered priorities for the construction and implementation of a teacher training model that contributes to the sustainable development of education.

Language: English

DOI: 10.3390/su13010343

ISSN: 2071-1050

Abstract/Notes: In research focused on self-efficacy it is usually teacher-related phenomena that are studied, while the main aspects related to pupils are rather neglected, although self-efficacy itself is perceived as a belief in one’s own abilities. Evidently, this strongly influences the behavior of individuals in terms of the goal and success in mathematical problem-solving. Considering that alternative teaching methods are based on the principle of belief in one’s own ability (mainly in the case of group work), higher self-efficacy can be expected in the pupils of teachers who use predominantly the well-working pupil-centered pedagogies. A total of 1133 pupils in grade 5 from 36 schools in the Czech Republic were involved in the testing of their ability to solve mathematical problems and their mathematical self-efficacy as well. Participants were divided according to the above criteria as follows: (i) 73 from Montessori primary schools, (ii) 332 pupils educated in mathematics according to the Hejný method, (iii) 510 pupils from an ordinary primary school, and (iv) 218 pupils completing the Dalton teaching plan. In the field of mathematical problem-solving the pupils from the Montessori primary schools clearly outperformed pupils from the Dalton Plan schools (p = 0.027) as well as pupils attending ordinary primary schools (p = 0.009), whereas the difference between the Montessori schools and Hejný classes was not significant (p = 0.764). There is no statistically significant difference in the level of self-efficacy of pupils with respect to the preferred strategies for managing learning activities (p = 0.781). On the other hand, correlation between mathematical problem-solving and self-efficacy was confirmed in all the examined types of schools. However, the correlation coefficient was lower in the case of the pupils from the classes applying the Hejný method in comparison with the pupils attending the Montessori schools (p = 0.073), Dalton Plan schools (p = 0.043), and ordinary primary schools (p = 0.002). Even though the results in mathematical problem-solving are not consistent across the studies, the presented results confirm better performance of pupils in some constructivist settings, particularly in the case of individual constructivism in the Montessori primary schools. The factors influencing lower correlation of self-efficacy and performance in mathematical problem-solving ought to be subject to further investigation.

Language: English

DOI: 10.3390/su122310215

ISSN: 2071-1050

Abstract/Notes: Book Review of Mario M. Montessori's 'Education for Human Development'

Language: English

DOI: 10.1080/0098559780040209

ISSN: 0098-5597

Abstract/Notes: Performance monitoring (PM) is central to learning and decision making. It allows individuals to swiftly detect deviations between actions and intentions, such as response errors, and adapt behavior accordingly. Previous research showed that in adult participants, error monitoring is associated with two distinct and robust behavioral effects. First, a systematic slowing down of reaction time speed is typically observed following error commission, which is known as post-error slowing (PES). Second, response errors have been reported to be automatically evaluated as negative events in adults. However, it remains unclear whether (1) children process response errors as adults do (PES), (2) they also evaluate them as negative events, and (3) their responses vary according to the pedagogy experienced. To address these questions, we adapted a simple decision-making task previously validated in adults to measure PES as well as the affective processing of response errors. We recruited 8- to 12-year-old children enrolled in traditional (N = 56) or Montessori (N = 45) schools, and compared them to adults (N = 46) on the exact same task. Results showed that children processed correct actions as positive events, and that adults processed errors as negative events. By contrast, PES was similarly observed in all groups. Moreover, the former effect was observed in traditional schoolchildren, but not in Montessori schoolchildren. These findings suggest that unlike PES, which likely reflects an age-invariant attention orienting toward response errors, their affective processing depends on both age and pedagogy.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1111/desc.13045

ISSN: 1467-7687