Language: English

Published: Medford, Massachusetts, 1957

Abstract/Notes: The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) requires schools to be held accountable for academic performance. It is believed the pressure of accountability will lead teachers to narrow the curriculum by engaging students in test preparation activities. The purpose of this two-phase, explanatory mixed methods study was to examine elementary teachers’ perceptions of the impact of the Stanford Achievement Test 10 (SAT-10) and the Alabama Reading and Math Test (ARMT) on classroom teaching practices from a sample of third-grade, fourth-grade, and fifth-grade teachers in three large school systems in Alabama. The purpose of the first, quantitative phase of the study, was to reveal teachers’ perceptions of the impact of high-stakes testing on curriculum and instructional approaches, the amount of time spent on critical thinking skills, the amount of time spent on test preparation activities, and the perceived impact of state tests on students and teachers by surveying 123 third-grade through fifth-grade teachers in three large Alabama school systems. In the second, qualitative phase of this study, purposeful sampling strategy and maximal variation sampling strategy were employed to interview nine teachers who responded to the survey in the first, quantitative phase of the study to explore the results from the statistical tests in more depth. Findings suggested urban teachers spent more time on critical-thinking skills than rural and suburban teachers, and low-socioeconomic, rural teachers experienced more stress caused by high-stakes testing than their geographical counterparts. All teachers independent of socioeconomic status or school geographical location reported they increased their focus on reading and math, which were the subjects assessed on high-stakes tests and de-emphasized subjects not tested such as social studies and science. Finally, most teachers reported they decreased the teaching of critical thinking skills due to the SAT-10 but increased the teaching of critical thinking skills due to the ARMT. Due to the lack of research regarding high-stakes testing in Alabama elementary schools, there was a need for teachers to discuss the specific impact of testing on classroom teaching practices because they work directly with students and are cognizant of the challenges that teachers face.

Language: English

Published: Birmingham, Alabama, 2010

Language: English

Abstract/Notes: One of the pre-school education programs widely implemented in our country is the Montessori education approach developed by Montessori. The impact of the Montessori approach, which places a lot of emphasis on the prepared environment, the materials that make up this environment, and the prepared adult instructor, on the classroom management practices of instructors, cannot be ignored. In order to determine the applications applied to classroom management by Montessori instructors working in early childhood classes where Montessori education approach is applied in public and private preschool education institutions in Turkey, this research was created in a qualitative research pattern by adopting a phenomenological approach. In educational settings, the phenomenological approach is used to make concrete the participants ' knowledge, perception, experience and feelings about the identified phenomenon. The phenomenon covered in this study is the classroom management practices of Montessori instructors who are working at the early childhood level within preschool education institutions in our country. The Working Group consists of 13 preschool teachers and master instructors who are Montessori instructors. The "criteria sampling" method was used to determine the Working Group. It is taken as criteria by the researcher that the instructors are employed in the kindergarten or kindergarten level of 3-6 years of early childhood, have received Montessori instructor training from a formal educational institution and have completed one-year internship periods and have earned the right to receive their certificates. All of the data were collected in the 2019-2020 school year. Personal data form and structured interview and follow-up interview were used as data collection tools. Interviews with participants were conducted individually and face-to-face. The data obtained; it is collected under four dimensions in the form of the regulation of the physical environment, communication and behavior management, time management, and plan and program studies. According to the results of the research, Montessori instructors ' applications for these four dimensions have similarities and differences with the studies that have been done, and they relate these practices to the three basic elements of classroom management: "prepared environment", "prepared adult" and "learning materials". The findings were discussed within the framework of the studies in the field. / Ülkemizde yaygın olarak uygulanan okul öncesi eğitim programlarından biri de Montessori tarafından geliştirilmiş olan Montessori yaklaşımıdır. Hazırlanmış çevreye, bu çevreyi oluşturan materyallere ve hazırlanmış yetişkin olarak adlandırılan eğitmene çokça vurgu yapılan Montessori yaklaşımının eğitmenlerin sınıf yönetimi uygulamalarına etkisi göz ardı edilemez. Bu araştırma Türkiye'de resmi ve özel okul öncesi eğitim kurumlarındaki Montessori eğitim yaklaşımının uygulandığı erken çocukluk sınıflarında görev yapmakta olan Montessori eğitmenlerinin sınıf yönetimine ilişkin başvurdukları uygulamaların ve bu uygulamaları sınıf yönetimiyle nasıl ilişkilendirdiklerinin tespit edilmesi amacıyla, fenomenolojik yaklaşım benimsenerek nitel araştırma deseninde oluşturulmuştur. Eğitim ortamlarında fenomenolojik yaklaşım, katılımcıların belirlenen fenomen hakkındaki bilgi, algı, deneyim ve duygularını somut bir hale getirmek için kullanılmaktadır. Bu çalışma kapsamında ele alınan fenomen, ülkemizde okul öncesi eğitim kurumları bünyesinde bulunan erken çocukluk kademesinde görev yapmakta olan Montessori eğitmenlerinin sınıf yönetimi uygulamalarıdır. Çalışma grubu, Montessori eğitmeni olan 13 okul öncesi öğretmeni ve usta öğreticiden oluşmaktadır. Çalışma grubunu belirlemek amacıyla "ölçüt örnekleme" yöntemi kullanılmıştır. Eğitmenlerin MEB'e bağlı anaokullarında veya anasınıflarında 3-6 yaş erken çocukluk kademesinde görev yapmaları, resmi olarak eğitim veren bir kurumdan Montessori eğitmen eğitimi almış ve bir yıllık staj sürelerini tamamlayıp sertifikalarını almaya hak kazanmış olmaları araştırmacı tarafından ölçüt olarak alınmıştır. Verilerin tümü 2019-2020 eğitim öğretim yılında toplanmıştır. Veri toplama aracı olarak kişisel bilgi formu ve yapılandırılmış görüşme ve takip görüşmesi formları kullanılmıştır. Katılımcılarla yapılan görüşmeler bireysel ve yüz yüze gerçekleştirilmiştir. Elde edilen veriler; fiziksel ortamın düzenlenmesi, iletişim ve davranış yönetimi, zaman yönetimi ve plan ve program çalışmaları şeklinde dört boyut altında toplanmıştır. Araştırma sonuçlarına göre Montessori eğitmenlerinin bu dört boyuta yönelik uygulamalarının yapılmış olan çalışmalarla benzerlikleri ve farklılıkları bulunmakta ve eğitmenler bu uygulamaları sınıf yönetiminin üç temel öğesi olan "hazırlanmış çevre", "hazırlanmış yetişkin" ve "eğitici materyaller" ile ilişkilendirmektedirler. Elde edilen bulgular, alan yazındaki çalışmalar çerçevesinde tartışılmıştır.

Language: Turkish

Published: Istanbul, Turkey, 2020

Abstract/Notes: Tagore started a school in 1901 and in 1918 he wrote, ‘…the Santiniketan School should form a link between India and the world…the epoch of narrow nationalism is coming to an end…. The first flag of victory of Universal Man shall be planted there’. This was the beginning of Visva-Bharati that finally encapsulated the school and university with its many programmes and courses under one unique integrated system. The university was a logical progression in his philosophy of education. The central idea of the university was for the east to offer to the west the best of its wealth and take from the west its knowledge. This was indeed a novel idea as the country was yet to have its own full-fledged universities. Tagore envisioned the university as the seat for research that would generate and also dispense knowledge. Tagore established the university in Santiniketan where he had founded his school. He wanted the university to offer education that was enmeshed with the Indian way of life so that knowledge grew out of the culture, society, history, literature, geography, economy, science and flora and fauna of the country. From this sense of nationalism, we see Tagore evolving into an internationalist based on equal terms of fellowship and amity between the east and the west. He shared his quest for such a centre of learning with the ideas of several noted international pedagogues. Tagore saw world problems and national interests as interrelated, and he felt that internationalism was the inner spirit of the modern age.

Language: English

Published: Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing, 2014

ISBN: 978-3-319-00837-0

Series: SpringerBriefs in Education

Language: English

ISSN: 0277-9064

Language: English

Published: New Delhi, India, 2022

Abstract/Notes: Maria Montessori's work is intimately grounded in her detailed teaching practices and the logic of their sequence, along with their underlying ideas and values, particularly in the area of language arts. There are no studies, however, which comprehensively analyze her language arts curriculum for children from three to seven as it was applied by the practitioners who fostered, interpreted, and promoted her work in America in periods of its popularity: 1909-1921 and 1953-1963. This lack of comprehensive analysis blurs the fundamental identity and contextual coherence of Montessori's work and obscures the significant and ongoing contribution made to American education through her language arts curriculum. An analysis of Montessori's published work and those written about her was made in order to achieve a description of her language arts curriculum for the purpose of comparing her work to that of her American sponsors. To determine how Montessori's curriculum was interpreted and applied, the literature on the history of the Montessori movement was reviewed and five leaders were identified: Ann George, Alexander Graham Bell, Clara Craig, Helen Parkhurst, and Nancy McCormick Rambusch. Their writings and other primary sources were analyzed with reference to Montessori's curriculum. In some cases interviews were conducted and Montessori classrooms were observed over an extended period of time. The analysis of the activity of the leaders, within their contemporary social and educational settings revealed how Montessori's curriculum became detached from her original experimental context and was reshaped because of lack of understanding or of agreement with the systematic purpose of her educational material in the development of language arts skills, and because of varying intentions and views on how and what children should learn. The findings of the study also contribute to existing studies on the reasons for the decline of Montessori's practices by the end of the first period, and for success in the revival of her work in the second period. In addition, conclusions contribute to the unified body of knowledge needed to thoroughly identify the Montessori educational model practiced and researched by educators.

Language: English

Published: Durham, North Carolina, 1984

Abstract/Notes: To address pervasive opportunity and achievement gaps in the U.S. education system, some researchers are looking to progressive pedagogies,[1] such as Montessori and Waldorf, that may have the potential to meet children’s unique learning and socio-emotional needs.[2] In particular, the number of Montessori programs within public schools has increased significantly. Most public Montessori pre-K programs (those serving children ages 4 or younger) admit students through a lottery because the demand for available slots typically exceeds the supply. However, certain enrollment policies or practices may create barriers to access, as flagged in the Brady Education Foundation Montessori Initiative Network’s initial research on public Montessori in 2017...

Language: English

Published: Mar 29, 2021

Abstract/Notes: The purpose of this study was two-fold: 1) to examine the relations between pre-kindergarten (pre-K) teachers' characteristics, belief in developmentally appropriate practices (DAP), and DAP classroom practices and 2) to examine the relations between principals' characteristics, DAP and testing beliefs, and preferred pre-K classroom practices. Sixty-six principals and 63 pre-K teachers from public schools in small districts (districts with only one elementary school) in Oklahoma participated. Principals and teachers completed questionnaires containing DAP, demographic, and time allocation information. Data were analyzed using correlations and regressions.Findings and Conclusions: In the study of teachers, number of child development courses taken (r=-.29) and number of years experience teaching pre-K (r=.30) were related to DAP beliefs. The relation of DAP beliefs to DAP classroom practices was moderated by teacher's beliefs in the importance of obedience; DAP beliefs and practices were positively related for teachers with lower belief in the importance of child obedience. In the study of principals, principals' ECE courses taken (r=.36), ECE state test certification (r=.59), elementary certification (r=.34), number of years as a principal (r=-.25), years teaching preschoolers (r=.35), experience teaching 4th to 6th grades (r=-.35), and years teaching 4th to 6th grades (r=-.30) were related to principals' beliefs in DAP. Principals' ECE state certification (r=.41), ECE courses taken (r=.27), and years teaching 4th to 6th grades (r=-.33) were related to preferred DAP classroom practices and experience teaching 1st to 3rd grades (r=-.29) was related to use of workbooks and worksheets. DAP beliefs (r=.60) were significantly related to preferred DAP classroom practices. Testing beliefs were not related to principal characteristics or preferred classroom practices. The relation between the number of early childhood courses taken by principals and preferred DAP classroom practices was mediated by principals' beliefs in DAP.

Language: English

Published: Stillwater, Oklahoma, 2010