Abstract/Notes: These findings suggest the following implications for teachers, administrators, teacher educators, and reformers. With growing interest in teacher collaboration within already over-burdened systems, understanding school identity is becoming more important to educators. Understanding schools as places where teachers learn to teach can prevent indoctrination. Greater awareness of situated notions about what constitutes good teaching makes implicit values more visible so that they may be examined and reformed. I argue that a search for essential characteristics of good teaching over-simplifies the complexity of teaching. Broadening notions of teaching to include work outside the classroom such as talk about teaching, peer observation, and joint problem setting and solving would enlighten teacher self-evaluation.

Language: English

Published: Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, 2006

Abstract/Notes: This study investigates the efficacy of Conscious Discipline’s teaching strategies to enrich social-emotional learning and establish a positive classroom climate in an early childhood Montessori classroom. Conscious Discipline is a written program, of instructional and behavioral strategies created by Dr. Becky Bailey (2011). The question throughout this research project was “Does teaching Conscious Discipline strategies enhance social-emotional learning in preschool aged children?” The study was conducted in a Montessori classroom, the participants being both boys and girls ranging in age from 3 to 4 years. For six weeks, Conscious Discipline strategies were being implemented on a day-to-day basis, when dealing with real-life incidents in the classroom, reading books purchased through Conscious Discipline and establishing a Safe Place. During this sixweek study data was gathered through observations, a pre-survey, and a standardized assessment, and analyzed to document the effects of Conscious Discipline. The data collected demonstrated an increase in social-emotional learning, an increase in the joy in teaching, a positive classroom climate, a decrease in aggressive acts, and an increase in student respect and responsibility in a social community.

Language: English

Published: St. Paul, Minnesota, 2014

Abstract/Notes: The purpose of this research was to determine whether a progress report that aligns the Montessori materials to child development benchmarks would increase parent understanding of the Montessori materials, as well as give teachers a means of reporting growth that is systematic and consistent. Trial reports were created aligning the toddler and early childhood practical life and sensorial curriculum areas to the state standards. Parents were asked to compare the current reports with the new reports. The postimplementation survey results suggested that 97% of parents better understood the alignment between the Montessori materials and child development and 100% of teachers affirmed the new reports made a clear association between the two. The new reports clarified the alignment between the Montessori materials and children’s development for parents and created a standard measurement tool for Montessori educators with the vernacular to explain the Montessori materials progression to parents.

Language: English

Published: St. Paul, Minnesota, 2015

Abstract/Notes: High-quality early childhood inclusion consists of providing access, participation, and supports to young children with disabilities (DEC/NAEYC, 2009). This case study examines how a public Montessori school provides early childhood inclusion to three, four, and five year olds with disabilities. Through interviews with Montessori teachers and administrators, classroom observations, and the administration of the Inclusive Classroom Profile (Soukakou, 2010), a number of supports and barriers to inclusion were identified. Supports included Montessori-unique practices, such as peer supports and multi-age classrooms which supported inclusion, and recommended practices in early childhood special education, such as teaming among professionals and offering accommodations and modifications. Barriers included restrictive systems-level special education policies.

Language: English

Published: Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, 2015

Abstract/Notes: This research study explored the effects of using nature-based space and materials on the children’s concentration levels in an early childhood Montessori environment. Nineteen 3-6-year-olds participated in the study for four weeks. The researcher designed and implemented two interventions, nature-based space and nature-based materials, inside an early childhood Montessori environment. The purpose was to holistically improve the children’s concentration levels by being exposed to a nature-based area and materials. The data collection process relied on four qualitative and quantitative data tools: tally sheets, general observational notes, rate sheets, and measurement notes. The data analyzed in this research study suggests exposing young children to both nature-based space and materials in the learning environment is beneficial to their concentration levels. Lastly, the researcher considers further investigation of the effects of being exposed to nature and technology on the children’s brain by using scientific devices to read and interpret the brain activity.

Language: English

Published: St. Paul, Minnesota, 2020

Abstract/Notes: This action research project examined how the implementation of Kindness Guidelines affected prosocial behavior among Early Childhood students. The setting was a private Montessori school, with 18 children ages two to five-years-old. Guidelines were developed using child-generated ideas on how to be kind to themselves, others, and the environment, along with teacher-made materials that illustrated acts of kindness and emotional awareness. Implementation of the intervention lasted six weeks with 20 days of data collected during two 15-20 minute observations per day. Positive and negative behaviors were recorded using tally sheets and an observation journal. Use of teacher-made materials was tracked using a materials log, and children expressed their ideas about kindness through drawings. Data analysis showed that positive behaviors increased and indicated the changes were related to the intervention. Ideas for further research include increasing emotional awareness in children and how the practice of observation affects children’s behavior.

Language: English

Published: St. Paul, Minnesota, 2017

Abstract/Notes: Penelitian ini dilatar belakangi oleh peserta didik yang perkembagan sosial emosionalnya kurang optimal. Hal ini terlihat pada jam pembelajaran ada sebagian anak tidak mau antri ketika berwudhu, tidak menjaga kebersihan kelas, dan hubungan dengan teman yang tidak solid. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menjelaskan implementasi metode Islamic Montessori  dalam mengembangkan sosial emosional anak usia dini melalui kegiatan practical life di TK IT Mutiara kecamatan Pariaman Tengah Kota Pariaman. Metode penelitian ini adalah penelitian deskriptif kualitatif. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa penerapan metode Islamic Montessori  dalam mengembangkan sosial emosional anak usia dini melalui kegiatan practical life di TK IT Mutiara sudah dilakukan mulai dari perencanaan pembelajaran, pelaksanaan, dan evaluasi pembelajaran. Lingkungan sangat berperan dalam membentuk dan mengoptimalkan perkembangan sosial emosonal anak usia dini. / This research is motivated by students whose social emotional development is not optimal. This can be seen in the learning hours where some children do not want to stand in line for ablution, do not keep the classroom clean, and do not have a solid relationship with friends. This study aims to explain the implementation of the Islamic Montessori method in developing social-emotional early childhood through Practical Life activities at IT Mutiara Kindergarten, Central Pariaman District, Pariaman City. This research method is a qualitative descriptive research. The results showed that the application of the Islamic Montessori method in developing Social Emotional Early Childhood through Practical Life activities at IT Mutiara Kindergarten had been carried out starting from lesson planning, implementation, and learning evaluation. The environment plays a very important role in shaping and optimizing the social-emotional development of early childhood.

Language: Indonesian

ISSN: 2614-3097, 2614-6754

Abstract/Notes: A BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROPRIATE PRACTICE By David Elkind Redleaf Press Paperback, $29.95 This new book, by Early Childhood expert David Elkind, trains its lens on 11 "Giants in the Nursery"-historical figures who played a major role in the evolution of developmentally appropriate practice (DAP).In the Prehistory chapter, there are oversimplifications and unclear writing: "Although the humanistic leaders of society tried to use the printing press to their own advantage, it could not put back in the bottle the cultural genie the printing press had released" (p. 15).The organizing theme of DAP is good, although some of Elkind's statements about it seem puzzling to me, such as "DAP provides the most integrated curricula of socialization, individualization, work, and play than does any other approach to education" (p. 5).

Language: English

ISSN: 1054-0040

Language: English

ISSN: 1054-0040

Language: English

ISSN: 1054-0040