Language: German

Published: Freiburg, Germany: Herder, 1987

Language: English

ISSN: 0571-1142

Abstract/Notes: This thesis examines the Montessori music curriculum that was developed by Maria Montessori and her music consultant Maria Maccheroni. It introduces the most typical Montessori music instruments and equipment as well as exercises that go with them. It also explores the possibilities of combining Montessori music with today’s music teaching and early childhood music education. The material of this thesis is mainly based on literature about the Montessori Method and its music section, along with observations made while working at various Montessori preschools in Finland. Many of the Montessori method’s musical exercises are challenging and can be seen as old fashioned by today’s music education standards. Maria Montessori expected many things from her Montessori teachers. Montessori teachers were expected to be completely in charge of the children’s musical education. This may be difficult to implement nowadays because in order to properly understand the Montessori music curriculum, one needs a great deal of theoretical knowledge and understanding of music. However, there are plenty of positive aspects to the Montessori music education and its elements can be applied to modern day music teaching. The Montessori method is very child-centered and even though it was developed more than a hundred years ago, the main principles are still valid today. A children’s music lesson plan is included in this thesis. It combines Montessori music education with Finnish early childhood music education. Many music educators and Montessori teachers know little about the music part of the Montessori method. Not much literature can be found about it in Finnish. The goal of this thesis is to study Montessori music education and to give more information about it to music educators and Montessori teachers. / Opinnäytetyössäni tutkin Maria Montessorin ja hänen konsulttinsa Maria Maccheronin yli sata vuotta sitten kehittämää musiikkikasvatusmenetelmää. Esittelen tyypillisimpiä montessorimusiikkivälineitä sekä niihin liittyviä harjoituksia. Lisäksi pohdin miten montessorimusiikkikasvatusta olisi mahdollista soveltaa musiikinopetuksessa ja varhaisiän musiikkikasvatuksessa. Aineistoni perustuu ennen kaikkea montessoripedagogiikasta ja montessorimusiikkikasvatuksesta saatavilla olevaan kirjallisuuteen sekä montessorileikkikoulussa työni kautta tehtyihin havaintoihin. Monet montessorimenetelmän musiikkiosion työt ja harjoitukset ovat haastavia ja nykyisen musiikkikasvatuskäsityksen mukaan vanhanaikaisia. Maria Montessorin toivetta montessoriohjaajasta, joka opettaa musiikkia hänen menetelmänsä mukaisesti, voi olla vaikea toteuttaa, koska montessorimusiikkikasvatuksen hallitseminen vaatii runsaasti musiikin teoreettista tuntemista. Montessorimusiikkikasvatuksessa on kuitenkin myös paljon hyvää ja sitä voi soveltaa nykypäivän musiikinopetukseen. Montessorimenetelmä on erittäin lapsilähtöinen ja vaikka se kehitettiin yli sata vuotta sitten, monet sen perusajatukset ovat edelleen sovellettavissa. Opinnäytetyöni sisältää tekemäni muskarituntisuunnitelman, jossa sovellan montessorimusiikkikasvatusta varhaisiän musiikkikasvatuksen tunnille. Monet musiikkikasvattajat ja montessoriohjaajat eivät tunne tai tuntevat vain pintapuolisesti montessorimenetelmän musiikkiosion, ja montessorimusiikkikasvatuksesta on saatavilla vain hyvin vähän suomenkielistä tietoa. Opinnäytetyöni tarkoitus on tutkia montessorimenetelmän musiikkiosiosta ja antaa lisätietoa montessoriohjaajille ja musiikkikasvattajille.

Language: Finnish

Published: Helsinki, Finland, 2018

Abstract/Notes: This action research studied the impact of peace education and portions of the Positive Discipline curriculum in a three-six primary Montessori classroom. During five weeks of implementing the research, sixteen students participated in class meetings for twenty minutes a day. The peace table activities and wheel of choice lessons were conducted individually and as a whole class. The peace table activities included a set of mini dishes on a tray, a rain stick, and a peace rose. The wheel of choice consisted of pictures and words of examples of what students could choose to help them solve problems. A few examples are count to ten, apologize, ask for help, and write your name on the agenda. Implementing the presentations into the classroom environment became a work for the students to use if needed and did not occur daily. As a work choice, the previous activities were available on tables and children were allowed to choose the work as many times as they felt was necessary. The research began with baseline data collection through SWIS (School Wide Information System) referral records, student interviews, and student surveys. Sources of data obtained during the study included interviews, surveys, observation tally sheets, and a field journal. The results presented an increase in social awareness and problem-solving skills through the class meetings. Students began acknowledging problems and brainstorming solutions. Class meetings will continue daily to extend the positive problem-solving capabilities and mindfulness students developed in their classroom community.

Language: English

Published: St. Paul, Minnesota, 2016

Language: English

Abstract/Notes: The current system of education in Kenya is the 8-4-4 structure, where children study for eight years of Basic (primary) education, four years of Secondary education and four years of University education. This system was introduced in 1985 to promote man-power capable of performing blue collar jobs, as compared to the former 7-6-3 system that targeted developing a local workforce to replace the British workforce who largely held white collar jobs in the new, independent Kenya. However, over the years, the 8-4-4 curriculum has been widely criticised for a myriad of reasons. The criticisms against this curriculum are that it is too heavily loaded with content, purely examinations-oriented, and generally violating the Rights of the Child by placing undue physical and psychological pressure on learners. In order to address this problem therefore, a new curriculum was hastily crafted and taken through a rushed pilot drive in April 2017 and is expected to replace the current 8-4-4 system by January 2018. Admittedly, this new education system addresses some of the weaknesses of the current 8-4-4 education system, since it is competency-based and focuses more on skills acquisition as opposed to a purely knowledge-based acquisition system. The issues addressed in this paper is how this new and hurriedly crafted curriculum (as well as the introduction of Free Secondary School Education) will be implemented by teachers who are yet to come to terms with the new paradigm shift of teaching and learning. The second issue addressed is whether the crafters of this system took into consideration children’s rights, or whether at all, the system was crafted from a child-centred perspective. The concerns are that apart from the manner in which this syllabus was been crafted and planned for implementation, if not reviewed comprehensively may not only violate the rights of future generations of children, but also enhance negative ethnicity from a linguistic perspective

Language: English

ISSN: 2394-9686

Abstract/Notes: Montessori system its impact can easily be seen in the field of pre-primary education in the European countries, U.S.A., India, China, Japan, African countries, Latin American countries and all through the world, This system has encouraged lovers of education to discover new methods of teaching young children. This system emphasized the necessity of study of children in order to educate them properly. As a result, education became child-centered. The construction of curriculum became oriented to the actual needs of life. It was considered necessary to provide a good environment in the school. The aims of education became oriented to individual development of each child. Hence emphasis was laid on the development of personality of each child. Proper training of teachers was considered necessary.

Language: English

ISSN: 2277-7377

Abstract/Notes: Maria Montessori’s vision of peace education includes a deep respect for integral human development where a focus on the whole child in the context of the larger community is the norm. Within Montessori education, children learn each part of the universe, living and non-living, play a role in the cosmic order of the world. Long before climate change became a mainstream concern and imminent threat, Montessori understood that ecoliteracy and a deep reverence for understanding how sustainability, sustainable living, respect for the environment, and a deep understanding of the means of production and exchange were essential to the development of a peaceful world. This chapter explores her philosophy of peace education, its relationship to environmental stewardship, and the implementation of these themes within the Montessori context.

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

Abstract/Notes: When critics consider utopian literature, they often claim that the utopian imagination is limited in its ability to provide practical instruction for societal reform. In Archaeologies of the Future, Fredric Jameson extends this critique by arguing that the utopian imagination only exists “to demonstrate and to dramatize our incapacity to imagine the future” (288-289). By returning to an early twentieth century utopian novel, Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s Herland (1915), we can put pressure on Jameson’s ideas about the ultimate function of the utopian imagination. By analyzing the education system in Herland, we are able to see how Gilman integrated the contemporary educational philosophy of John Dewey and methods of Maria Montessori to provide an intellectual and institutional foundation for her utopian education system. Therefore, Gilman provides a set of ‘instructions’ to suggest how we might reform current methods of education to fit within her utopian vision. Gilman’s Herland allows us to see how a highly imaginative utopian text can promote social change to build a ‘better’ future.

Language: English

Published: Carbondale, Illinois, 2016

Abstract/Notes: This qualitative case study explores how Montessori educators in a public charter Montessori school experience Montessori education for low-income Black children. Using the methodology of a qualitative intrinsic case study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with eighteducators (six teachers and two administrators). The participants are diverse in terms of age (26 to 54), race (three white, six African American), gender (two male and six female) and educational experience (2–25 years teaching). Education for Black children in the United States recounts histories of exclusion and segregation. Montessori education for children in the U.S. over the past 100 years shows a progression from exclusivity to inclusivity with the modern push for Montessori in the public sector. Neoliberal education reform is an important context to consider in the reproduction of injustice in American schools. This study’s findings show that participants are responding to this injustice. Negotiating tension, these educators draw onMontessori philosophy, culturally responsive teaching practices, and the tenets of an education for social justice to meet the unique needs of students who are impacted by trauma, inequity, and structural racism. Blending educational traditions to become more responsive to the conditions created by oppressive constructs has created a path through the tension. Prospect Montessori educators enact a hybrid Montessori program that focuses on relationships, communication, and social/emotional learning. This study’s educational implications stem from a call for Montessorieducation to examine its relevancy for under-served Black students.Keywords: Montessori, Neoliberal education reform, culturally responsive teaching, socialjustice

Language: English

Published: Chicago, Illinois, 2022