Abstract/Notes: The complex history of Montessori’s Method spreading in the United States was signed by some misunderstandings connected with the reform of the american education system. The Method wasn’t understood in its specificity, but it appeared, in the same time, an alternative or an application of the tradition of Froebel’s Kindergarten. In those years the American pedagogical reflection tried to create an alternative to the continental tradition. For this reason the Progressive Education critized Montessori (i.e. Kilpatrick) for her spiritual and metaphysical premises but this movement couldn’t realize this project and it was inevitably connected with the tradition of European Activism.

Language: Italian

ISSN: 2039-4039

Abstract/Notes: Published by Cleveland Montessori Association (Cleveland, Ohio). Reprinted from "American Montessori Society Bulletin" (vol. 1, no. 1).

Language: English

Abstract/Notes: In sociological investigation, Weber (1968) believes that concrete historical events can be interpreted in terms of social action. These patterns of action differ from historical accounts, which explore the importance of causal explanation of individual events. Entwistle and Alexander (1993) contend that sociologists of education have paid little attention to patterns of class interaction and inequality in preschools. Adding to Hartley's (1993) work on nursery schools in Scotland, and using an organizational model with a sociohistorical standpoint, this ethnographic case study helps to bridge that gap by concentrating on the historical and ecological contexts of (1) a Laboratory school; (2) a Montessori school; and, (3) a Head Start center. The central problem of the study seeks an answer to the question "If inequalities in preschools exist, what do they look like?" This study assumes that historically educational systems have exerted a form of social control over children in order to transmit cultural values. Part I of the study examines ancient and modern societies, their cultures and their philosophical grounding to reveal the values and trends that contribute to social change in the early education of children. Part II adds a triangulation strategy to explore the ecology (environment and culture) of the three schools in the study. These strategies include archival content analysis of the preschool organizations, nonparticipant observation of the classrooms (Bell, 1993), intensive interviewing of the staff and administration members and a brief survey of the preschool parents. This study draws from the sociology of Weber's "ideal bureaucracy," Berger's "bureaucratic cognitive style," Elias' "civilizing process," Bernstein's "visible and invisible" pedagogy, Bourdieu's "cultural capital" and Anyon's "biased ideological messages." In this exploratory study, the data analysis uses a descriptive methodology, not to draw conclusions, but similar to Glaser and Strauss' "grounded theory" to introduce questions to be explored further by researchers. A final section on policy recommendations is included.

Language: English

Published: Boston, Massachusetts, 2000

Language: English

Abstract/Notes: The chapter addresses how the relationship between Maria Montessori and Helen Parkhurst redirected the Montessori movement in the United States. In 1915, Parkhurst was an assistant to Maria Montessori who was lecturing at the Panama–Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. Parkhurst designed and served as directress of the highly popular glass-walled Montessori demonstration classroom exhibit at the Exposition. Supplanting the Montessori Educational Association, Montessori established the Montessori Promotion Fund to publicize her method, manufacture and market her materials, and finance her travel to America. When Montessori returned to Europe, she designated Parkhurst to supervise all aspects of Montessori education in the United States, overseeing all Montessori schools, and establishing college programs to prepare Montessori teachers for certification in public school systems. Parkhurst worked as Montessori’s American surrogate for four years but in 1919 decided to pursue her own independent career path. She devised a progressive innovation featuring instruction in education laboratories which became known as the Dalton Plan.

Language: English

Published: Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, 2020

ISBN: 978-3-030-54835-3

Series: Historical Studies in Education

Abstract/Notes: This article was originally published in American Montessori Society Bulletin, v. 15, no. 2 (1977).

Language: English

Published: Lexington, Massachusetts: Ginn Custom Pub., 1983

Edition: 2nd ed.

ISBN: 0-536-04367-1

Language: English

Language: English

Published: New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1968

Language: English

ISSN: 0148-8414

Language: English

Published: Chicago, Illinois: W. H. Sadlier, 1934