Abstract/Notes: Maria Montessori's work was initiated in 1898 as a result of her becoming acutely aware of deficient children's learning patterns, while working at the Psychiatric clinic of the University of Rome. The principles which dominate the system, however, did not spring in full panoply from Montessori. Indeed, her inspiration came largely from early and mid-nineteenth century writings of two French physicians, Itard and Seguin, who were Also involved in the teaching of deficient children. Extending on the ideas of these two educator-physicians, as well as the ideas of Froebel, Montessori innovatively brought the child's senses into contact with carefully selected didactic apparatus in a carefully structured and ordered environment. According to Montessori, the liberty of the child is a prerequisite for self-education and forms the first major pillar of her didactic theory, and thus becomes the focus of the first chapter dealing with her didactic approach (chapter three). Montessori believed that the function of education was to assist growth and if the individual child was given the liberty of movement within a prepared environment, a sense of competence would be achieved and the learning of the child would come about almost spontaneously. The principles of individuality and the training of the senses comprise the other two pillars, and form the basis for chapter four and five respectively. The principle of individuality is rooted in the belief that each child has a uniqueness which cannot be ignored without irretrievable damage to his personality. The current educational situation in South Africa, reveals a diversity of educational problems as a result of different ethnic and cultural groups all being thrust into a common educational system. The insidious pressures of conformity to a single standard of education must of necessity lead to a compromise of standards. The exposure of educational deficiencies inherent in such a move is characterised by learning impediments and deficiencies in the educational scenario. Research has therefore been undertaken in an attempt to extract those aspects that could provide meaningful pedagogic assistance to meet a present educational need.

Language: English

Published: Pretoria, South Africa, 1994

Abstract/Notes: This study investigates the dynamics of importing an innovative educational program across a cultural boundary. It is a case study of a particular Montessori School in Thailand that has practiced Montessori education for over sixteen years. The research's aim is to explore the process of adoption and adaptation as the program evolved, and to examine the cultural and social factors in Thailand that may be related to the adaptations. A combination of in-depth interviews and school/classroom observations was used in this study. The school was observed for a period of three months, and interviews were conducted with the director, twelve teachers, and eight parents. The method of triangulation and crosschecking were employed to ensure the validity and accuracy of the findings. The study explored in detail the various historical stages of the evolution of the school and analyzed them as involving different phases and types of changes, adaptations and conflicts. Much of the analysis relied on the perceptions of the director. These include her ideals and personal evolution with the program, her perceptions of difficulties as the program evolved, her perceptions of teachers' and 08 December 2012 Page 13 of 17 ProQuest parents' relationships to Montessori education, and her accounts of many decisions that she had to make. In addition, the teachers' feelings and attitudes regarding their work and the parents' perspectives and attitudes toward the school and education of their children also informed the analysis. The process of evolution of the imported educational method is conceptualized into four partially overlapping phases--Transportation, Translation, Transformation, and Nationalization. Aspects of program's implementation are classified into three features, representing three ways in which the existing cultural values and social expectations interacted with the program. These include adaptations to preserve the host's cultural values, adaptations to ensure the survival of the program, and conflicts of values and norms experienced by the teachers in their work at the school and by the parents in their vision of education for their children.

Language: English

Published: Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, 2002

Abstract/Notes: School design and operation are, at times, counter-productive to cultivating academic and personal success in all students. Teachers often lack adequate preparation time, and are pressed by class size and regulatory mandates. Thus, there is seemingly little time to focus on cultivating affective well-being or a supportive educational climate. This lack of support is linked to high drop-out rates, large numbers of academically unsuccessful students, and the disenfranchisement of many minority and English Language learners in our school system. The phenomenon of care, particularly as it relates to education, has been studied only briefly. Few comprehensive, qualitative descriptions regarding how students conceptualize care exist despite significant evidence that when students perceive teachers and schools as caring, they have higher and more sustainable levels of academic motivation. This research project endeavored to give children a voice regarding educational care through a qualitative study on the phenomenon of care from an adolescent perspective. The study employed multiple data collection methods including: interviews, art, and student writing with students ages 11-14 from two school environments. Data collected were analyzed using the vanKamm phenomenological method of analysis. Results indicated that the phenomenon of educational care was a complex set of actions and behaviors from the student vantage point. Five themes emerged including: (1) Relationships are a critical aspect of educational care, (2) Rules in educational settings should be simple and consistent within classrooms and institutions, (3) Students perceive some control of their learning environments as caring, (4) Educational environments and teacher behavior are both critical to care, (5) Basic safety and concern for physical space are necessary for educational care. Each theme is independently necessary but not sufficient when observed alone in educational contexts. Together these themes support Nel Noddings' ideal version of ethical caring, in that they involve motivated behaviors, reciprocal action, receptivity on the part of the students, and a sense of obligation to care in a manner above and beyond noticing the basic well being of the student. The themes indicated by the data demonstrated a multifaceted view of educational care previously undiscovered and provide useful fodder for educators to consider.

Language: English

Published: St. Louis, Missouri, 2010

Abstract/Notes: The highlights of Montessori's accomplishments are embodied in her cosmic views and organized into a Cosmic Plan of Education while she worked in the hills of Kodaikanal, India. The fruition of these cosmic views came late in her life and appeared to be synonymous with the development of her relationships with the warm and accepting Indian people. During this periodi Montessori devoted her energies to understanding how children naturally unfold into purposeful, yet interdependent individuals. Through all the professional challenges that Montessori faced in her lifetime as an educator of young children, her focal point continued to be 'the child'. This was especially true in connection with children during their transitional stage of growth from five- to seven-years of age when the acquisition of social, spiritual and cultural values are so strong. Montessori not only shared her methods and ideas with the people of India, but these people, in turn, influenced her views significantly enough to have caused her to formulate The Cosmic Plan of Education. This plan was designed especially for the transitional-age children but incapsulated within it was Montessori's own new-found East-West Cosmology. Through primary sources such as interviews, unpublished books and lectures, the dissertation gives the historical backdrop of the emergence of Montessori's cosmic views in the beginning five chapters. A description of the operation of the Cosmic Plan of Education during its conception is given in Chapter Six. The final chapters deal with how these views weathered the changes within the Indian society over the period of forty years.

Language: English

Published: Manoa, Hawaii, 1984

Abstract/Notes: This descriptive study examined the nature and degree of autonomous behavior among Montessori elementary students. A further aim of the study was to elucidate those elements of the Montessori educational model which may affect the development of autonomy. The study employed direct observation and comparative analysis to examine the actual classroom experience of Montessori elementary students and traditional elementary students. Thirty third-year students from two accredited Montessori schools and thirty third-grade students from two public schools were included in the sample. The research hypothesis stated that the nature and degree of autonomous behavior was expected to differ between the two groups. The first stage of the investigation involved ethnographic observations of classroom environments, focusing upon physical space and furnishings, materials, procedures, social interactions, and the role of the teacher. The second stage of the study compared classroom behaviors of the student groups as recorded by independent observers using the Classroom Autonomous Behavior Checklist. The results of the ethnographic observations demonstrated clear distinctions between the Montessori and traditional classroom environments in all five elements examined. Results of the observations of student behavior indicated that the Montessori students demonstrated significantly higher levels of independence, initiative, and self-regulation, the three constructs used to define autonomy. The nature of autonomous behavior also differed between the two groups with Montessori students initiating more social interaction and employing a more varied approach to task completion and problem solving. The results of this study confirm the effectiveness of the Montessori method in assisting the development of autonomy among children. As such, this research makes an important contribution toward evaluation of the Montessori model and the validity of its methods. For educators concerned about the lack of motivation and initiative among students in our schools, this study highlights the role of education in the development of autonomy and suggests important considerations in restructuring our educational system to address those concerns.

Language: English

Published: Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1992

Abstract/Notes: The purpose of this study was to consider the philosophical and pedagogical approaches of Aurobindo Ghose and Maria Montessori as a way of engendering spiritual values in to the public educational system in the United States. Available from: Proquest Dissertations and Theses

Language: English

Published: Tempe, Arizona, 1975

Abstract/Notes: The purpose of this dissertation will be to survey and analyze American writings on Maria Montessori and her educational system, in order to show how the idea of Montessori education has interacted with some changing American ideas and social forces. These changes in social and intellectual currents can be likened to a shift from centrifugal to centripetal force; or to the expansion and then the contraction of a universe. The central metaphor is the same. It is applicable to, and illustrative of, much about the changing social and educational scene in America. The writings on Montessori, examined against this framework, should provide a new view on certain changes in American educational thinking.

Language: English

Published: Kent, Ohio, 1973

Language: English

Published: New York City, New York, 1925

Abstract/Notes: The focus of this research is the spiritual experience of young children in early childhood educational settings. Spirituality is included in the New Zealand early childhood curriculum, Te Whariki, but is a relatively unarticulated aspect of educational practice. In order to find out how spirituality is supported in early childhood educational contexts this qualitative case study research took place in three early childhood settings: a Montessori casa, a private preschool and a Steiner (Waldorf) kindergarten. The methods used in the research included participant observation, interviews and focus groups. The teachers were asked to make a video about spirituality to reflect their own context and photographs were taken in each setting. The metaphor of spiritual landscape is used in this research. In this landscape everyday experience merged with the spiritual to form the concept of everyday spirituality. The cultural theories of everyday life supported a realisation that ordinary daily activity can become wonderful and mysterious when the spiritual dimension is realised. The themes that emerged from analysis of the case studies are conceptualised as transformative aspects of learning and relationships. They are aspects of everyday spirituality identified as spiritual withness; spiritual inbetweenness; and the spiritually elsewhere. Representing spiritual experience is challenging. The thesis is written in narrative form and contains core narratives as prose and poems. Using writing as a means of discovery made communicating spirituality through the medium of words a possibility. Spirituality is proposed to be an inclusive concept that affirms a sense of connection and this thesis found that all pedagogical practices in early childhood settings have the potential to include a spiritual aspect. In Aotearoa New Zealand many children lead their everyday lives in the context of an early childhood environment that includes teachers and parents as part of that community. This thesis argues that when everyday spirituality permeates early childhood contexts that all aspects of the curriculum are realised and the spiritual experience of everyone connected to that setting is supported.

Language: English

Published: Palmerston North, New Zealand, 2007

Abstract/Notes: A large percentage of the population in Peru is located in rural areas, such as the community of Chillaco, in the Lurín river basin, in Lima. The closest school to the town is far away for children, especially preschoolers; consequently, many of the local families have to educate their children at home or during their farm work. These children do not know the educational experience of an optimal cognitive learning, because they skip the kindergarten studies, the age where cognitive abilities of the pre-operational stage are developed; Executive functions are one of these essential skills for human beings to learn to learn. Taking as a reference the Reggio Emilia and Montessori educational methods, based on the autonomy of the kid during learning together with playful tools with the same purpose, the innovation gap focuses on the little attention for the cognitive learning of children in vulnerable contexts and without adult guardianship. From here we pose the following research question: How through the design of an educational toy the pre operational cognitive development of executive functions of children between 3 and 5 years of preschool age in the rural community of Chillaco in Lima is favored? Finding the opportunity to merge methodologies, tools, games and design in a favorable result for children's cognitive learning, Puyu was designed, a portable, friendly and accessible educational toy focused on learning executive functions while their parents work on the farm. DCH, etnographic methods, telephone records and literature review were used as methodology. Interviews were conducted with users, farmers and experts in pedagogical, sociological and psychological fields. The results showed that the children accepted the design proposal, showing interaction and curiosity to discover different and new ways of using it. The parents confirmed their approval and desire to experiment with at home and in the farm. In conclusion, the pertinence and relevance of an educational toy in rural contexts for cognitive development is reaffirmed, the same levels of enthusiasm are expected in the presentation of the final product. / Un gran porcentaje de la población peruana se ubica en zonas rurales, como la comunidad rural de Chillaco, ubicada en la cuenca del río Lurín, en Lima. La escuela más cercana al pueblo es lejana para los niños, sobre todo preescolares; en consecuencia, muchas de las familias del lugar educan a sus hijos en sus casas o durante sus labores en la chacra. Estos niños no conocen la experiencia educativa de un óptimo aprendizaje cognitivo al no cursar el preescolar, edad donde se desarrollan habilidades cognitivas de la etapa pre-operacional. Las funciones ejecutivas son una de estas habilidades indispensables para que el ser humano pueda aprender a aprender. Contemplando métodos educativos basados en la autonomía del niño durante el aprendizaje, como Reggio Emilia y Montessori, la brecha de investigación se enfoca en la poca atención para el aprendizaje cognitivo de los niños en contextos vulnerables y sin tutela adulta. Desde aquí se plantea ¿Cómo a través del diseño de un juguete educativo se favorece el desarrollo cognitivo pre operacional de funciones ejecutivas de niños de 3 a 5 años de edad en etapa pre escolar de la comunidad rural de Chillaco en Lima? Como respuesta, se diseñó Puyu, un juguete educativo portátil, amigable y accesible enfocado en el aprendizaje de funciones ejecutivas de los niños mientras los padres laboran en la chacra. Se usó la metodología Diseño Centrado en el Humano (DCH), métodos etnográficos, registros audiovisuales y revisión de literatura; se entrevistó a usuarios, campesinos y expertos en campos pedagógicos, sociológicos y psicológicos. Como resultado, los niños y padres aceptaron la propuesta de diseño demostrando interacción y curiosidad por el acto de descubrir, junto a nuevas formas de uso; además, de experimentar en casa y la chacra. En conclusión, se reafirma la pertinencia y relevancia de la implementación de un juguete educativo en contextos rurales para el desarrollo cognitivo, Puyu demostró elevar las respuestas cognitivas de los niños frente a situaciones básicas, las cuales se replican indefinidamente en la vida diaria, dando paso a un incremento positivo en el aprendizaje cognitivo de los usuarios.

Language: Spanish

Published: Lima, Peru, 2022