Abstract/Notes: This study uses qualitative research methods to examine the role of school counselors in three public Montessori elementary schools. Through the process of interviews and site visits, the data collected are compared against the American School Counseling Association's guidelines for a balanced and comprehensive guidance program. Data are also evaluated to see if philosophical and pedagogical elements of Montessori are integrated into each school's guidance program. The findings show that all three schools have programs that provide intervention services at a much higher rate than preventative services, and they have difficulty integrating Montessori pedagogy into their counseling programs. However, the opinions of the counselors at all three schools are favorable toward Montessori, and there seem to be possibilities for Montessori/counseling integration that could provide a very strong balanced and comprehensive guidance program.

Language: English

Published: Raleigh, North Carolina, 2003

Language: English

ISSN: 0277-9064

Language: English

Published: Eagan, Minnesota, 2007

Abstract/Notes: In a Boston Globe Sunday Magazine feature, the school was described as a "a scrubbed oasis," in a neighborhood of vacant lots and empty buildings, overseen by Gadpaille, "an angel priestess in red oxfords and a blue smock." Though she started her teaching career at private, predominantly White Montessori schools, including Rambusch's Whitby School, and as the founding director of Lexington Montessori School, Gadpaille's Montessori Family Center was designed for Roxbury's working-class Black families, offering full-day year-round childcare with half of the children attending tuition free through Head Start funding. Gadpaille envisioned a community of 150 Black-owned homes centered around a Montessori school serving ages birth to 18, and she recruited famed architect R. Buckminster Fuller, noted for his space-age geodesic domes, who skipped part of his Harvard reunion to volunteer the design.

Language: English

ISSN: 1054-0040

Abstract/Notes: In 2002, Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS) adopted a policy committing itself to develop all schools in the district as community learning centers. In Pleasant Ridge, one of Cincinnati's most racially and socio-economically diverse neighborhoods, the community set itself to the task of rebuilding what had been a failing school that reflected little of the neighborhood's diversity. After-school programming to provide extracurricular opportunities emerged as a top priority, as did health and wellness services. Another priority was the development of the Pleasant Ridge school facility as an environmentally sound and sustainable "green" building. Yet, despite the promise of an environmentally cutting-edge school and partnerships ranging from the YMCA to various health providers, all of this was not sufficient to attract new families to the school. And so, just as the environmental enthusiasts were leading a grassroots effort to dramatically change the plans for the physical facility, a group of young parents became involved in challenging the academic program. This group, mostly parents of infants and toddlers, asked themselves, "What would it take for us to send our children to this new school?" Their collective answer was a conversion to a Montessori program.

Language: English

ISSN: 1054-0040

Language: English

ISSN: 1054-0040

Language: English

Abstract/Notes: Public Montessori elementary schools have two challenges: They strive to achieve a child-centered Montessori environment and must also address the demands of state and federal requirements developed for more traditional educational settings. This study analyzes how schools were operating on both fronts. On the one hand, the study measured the degree to which schools reported they were living up to the ideals of establishing truly Montessori environments within public schools (based on characteristics identified by the American Montessori Society as essential for the success of Montessori schools in the public sector). On the other hand, the study also gauged public Montessori elementary school leaders' perceptions of the greatest challenges facing their schools. This study incorporates public Montessori elementary school leaders' descriptions of their schools on several dimensions. First, participants provided basic school characteristics, such as admission criteria, enrollment information, and enrollment trends. They followed with Montessori practices and attitudes, outlining teacher background and classroom structure. Next, testing practices and attitudes toward standardized testing were described. Finally, they enumerated the greatest challenges facing their schools. (Contains 5 tables and 3 figures.)

Language: English

ISSN: 1054-0040

Language: English

ISSN: 0277-9064

Abstract/Notes: When children enter preschool or kindergarten, they often seem to bring a spirit of wonder, great curiosity, and a spontaneous drive to explore, experiment and manipulate playfully and originally. Learning environments have been perceived to have the dual role of promoting as well as killing creativity. This has been attributed to the fact that as a child progresses through school years, teaching and learning become more dominant as play and self-exploration are stifled. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between play and creative drawing in Kenyan preschool children. A comparative study of the Montessori and the traditional public school system was carried out 48 preschool children between the ages of 4 and 6. Half were enrolled in Montessori while the other half in public schools Kenya. Through a qualitative design by the use of the Test of Creative Thinking Drawing Production (TCT-DP) (Urban & Jellen, 1996), and Rubin’s (2001) Play Observation Scale analyses were carried out. Independent sample t tests, Pearson product moment correlations and stepwise hierarchical multiple regressions were computed to determine whether interactions and differences in social play, cognitive play and creative drawing performance were apparent between Montessori and traditional public preschools. Statistically significant results were obtained indicating that Montessori children engaged in cognitive play more than public preschool children and had higher scores on creativity than public preschool children. In addition, age differences in social play as well as in creativity scores were found. However, no gender differences were apparent in social play, cognitive play or in creativity scores.

Language: English

Published: Munich, Germany: Herbert Utz Verlag, 2013

ISBN: 978-3-8316-4284-7