Abstract/Notes: The purpose of this project is to determine the effects of group art on social closeness in the early childhood Montessori classroom. The study had nineteen participants ranging in age from three years to six years old and their parents. The data was collected by means of parent pre and postproject questionnaires, student feedback forms, observations and tallies, and reflective teacher journals. The intervention spanned over a six-week period in an established Montessori school in a rural area of Ontario, Canada where social connection and bonding had not been reached. In small groups, students completed a cohesive group art project each week. As the weeks progressed, the number of children feeling comfortable with their new teacher increased and the number of children who worked collaboratively increased. While these changes indicate subjects were becoming more comfortable in their classroom, it is difficult to determine whether social cohesion is attributed solely to the group art or some other factors. Further study over a more extended period of time is needed to determine the extent of the effectiveness of the intervention.

Language: English

Published: St. Paul, Minnesota, 2018

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: The purpose of this research was to determine the affect of peer teaching on the social and academic interactions of children in an early childhood setting. The research took place at a Montessori school with two classrooms containing 56 students ages three to six. The duration of the study was six weeks. During the study the data collected included number of peer interactions per week and overall number of children working at each half hour increment of the day. Data also included positive and negative behaviors during peer teaching interactions, and the children’s level of understanding during a peer presentation. Data was mostly inconclusive during this study except that the number of children distracted during the day decreased over the six-week period.

Language: English

Published: St. Paul, Minnesota, 2016

Abstract/Notes: This action research project examined the effects of social stories on the problem solving skills of preschoolers in a Montessori classroom. The classroom was in a private school in Arizona led by a lead Montessori trained teacher and an assistant teacher. The study spanned seven weeks and the subjects were 22 three to five year old children. Three stories were read to the children. Each story was read at circle time daily for a two week interval. Data collected included the observations of the lead teacher, observations of the assistant teacher, and one-on-one conversations with each child at the end of the study. The data showed an increase in the abilities of the children to solve problems without the need of an adult. Future research could be conducted on the effects on female versus male preschoolers to see if the stories affect the children differently depending on their gender. Future research could also be conducted using stories about different social issues.

Language: English

Published: St. Paul, Minnesota, 2016

Abstract/Notes: The distinctive objects designed by Dr Maria Montessori as the centrepiece of her approach to pedagogy are the topic of this study. The Montessori approach to pedagogy, celebrating its centenary in 2007, continues to be used in classrooms throughout the world. Despite such widespread and enduring use, there has been little analysis of the Montessori objects to evaluate or understand their pedagogic impact. This study begins by outlining the provenance of the Montessori objects, reaching the conclusion that the tendency to interpret them from the perspective of the progressive education movement of the early twentieth century fails to provide insights into the developmental potential embodied in the objects. In order to appreciate that potential more fully, the study explores the design of the objects, specifically, the way in which the semiotic qualities embodied in their design orient children to the meanings of educational knowledge. A meta-analytic framework comprising three components is used to analyse the semiotic potential of the Montessori objects as educational artefacts. First, Vygotsky’s model of development is used to analyse the objects as external mediational means and to recognise the objects as complexes of signs materialising educational knowledge. In order to understand how the objects capture, in the form of concrete analogues, the linguistic meanings which construe educational knowledge, systemic functional linguistics, the second component of the framework, is used to achieve a rich and detailed social semiotic analysis of these relations, in particular, material and linguistic representations of abstract educational meanings. Finally, the pedagogic device, a central feature of Bernstein’s sociology of pedagogy, is used to analyse how the Montessori objects re-contextualise educational knowledge as developmental pedagogy. Particular attention is paid to the Montessori literacy pedagogy, in which the study of grammar plays a central role. The study reveals a central design principle which distinguishes the Montessori objects. This principle is the redundant representation of educational knowledge across multiple semiotic modes. Each representation holds constant the underlying meaning relations which construe quanta of educational knowledge, giving children the freedom to engage with this knowledge playfully, independently and successfully. The conclusion drawn from this study is that the design of the Montessori objects represents valuable educational potential which deserves continued investigation, as well as wider recognition and application. To initiate this process, the findings in this study may provide insights which can be used to develop tools for evaluating and enhancing the implementation of Montessori pedagogy in Montessori schools. The findings may also be used to adapt Montessori design principles for the benefit of educators working in non-Montessori contexts, in particular, those educators concerned with developing pedagogies which promote equitable access to educational knowledge.

Language: English

Published: Sydney, Australia, 2007

Abstract/Notes: It is a very difficult task to provide adequate education in the United States for children living in an inner-city environment, with problems of poverty, minority status, drugs, crime, gangs, suicide, despair, and many single-parent households. This is a Case Study of how one Arizona inner-city poverty community has risen to answer these educational demands for its children through a Montessori theory-based Charter Pre-12 school. The 650 student population served in this school is approximately 80% Hispanic American, 12% African American, and 8% Native, Asian and European American. Data were gathered from extensive interviews, observations, and document analysis. They were analyzed and evaluated in three ways: first, according to a literature review of the educational theories of Maria Montessori, then according to those of Paulo Freire, and lastly, according to a review of Charter school books, articles, and government documents available up to January of 2000. The results were an in-depth description of first, the history of this community's needs, its struggle to establish and fund the school, then the resulting educational program which it developed and implemented, and lastly, the community's positive evaluation of it's efforts. The curriculum described had extensive use of ESL and cultural appreciation programs, hands-on student initiated and student-implemented programs, integrated curriculum and critical thinking programs, job-skills related programs, self-esteem and character development programs, and Sustainable Systems Ecology Education demonstration programs. All these findings were presented in a manner which could be useful to other Administrators, who might desire to use this school's example to begin or to improve their own programs for a similarly disadvantaged inner-city population. Conclusions were that after five years of operation, this community empowerment school has indeed found methods, curriculum and programs that have successfully helped to meet the emotional, cultural, moral, and educational needs of the children in this particular poverty community. Conclusions were also that this community's experiences are valuable and appropriate for examination by other prospective Charter school Administrators from similar communities.

Language: English

Published: San Francisco, California, 2000

Abstract/Notes: a "The underlying motives of school choice emerged as major courses of action to offer parents opportunities for education in the free market enterprise and to limit the racial desegregation of public schools. This policy became known as "freedom of choice." Historically, parental choice of schools was the option of parents who could afford the tuition of private or parochial schools. The first options for public school choice appeared during the 1960's. Today, magnet schools are the most popular form of school choice. Montessori schools have become a well-liked preference of magnet school options. Fifteen years ago, there were approximately 50 public Montessori schools in the United States. Today, there are between 250 and 300 public Montessori schools. While research has been accumulating on why parents choose a particular type of school (parochial, private, magnet, charter, or local public school) far less is known about why parents choose a particular curriculum. The purpose of this dissertation is to explore how parents navigate school choice decisions and why they choose Montessori schools over other available options. This dissertation further examines if parents' educational choices correspond to their reasons for selecting Montessori schooling and the impact family income and ethnicity have on their preference for Montessori. The methodology of this study utilized a mixed methods research medium. The mixed methods approach blended two different research strategies, qualitative and quantitative. Recognizing the overlap between qualitative and quantitative research methods, the data from self-report surveys were supplemented with semi-structured interviews. Three hundred surveys were distributed to the parents of the Montessori school and interviews were held with ten parents of the same school. Of the original 300 surveys, 132 were returned and comprised my final sample. The quantitative findings indicate that parents who choose the Montessori school use... OCLC Record: 866942318

Language: English

Published: Greensboro, North Carolina, 2007

Abstract/Notes: This inquiry focused on the lived experiences of Montessori teachers in implementing Montessori’s Cosmic Education as a tool for social justice in their classrooms in order to more fully understand Cosmic Education’s meaning, purpose, and practice. The researcher also sought to understand how Cosmic Education could be an effective pedagogy of place, providing historical and social contexts in which students may develop and grow. The study used a post-intentional phenomenological design (Vagle, 2014), and was based on a series of interviews with five Montessori teachers from different classroom age levels. The data were analyzed using poetic inquiry through the form of found poetry. Emerging themes of Cosmic Education as a pedagogy of place and how that pedagogy of place contributed to agency in social justice were identified.

Language: English

Published: Nacogdoches, Texas, 2017

Abstract/Notes: Montessori education emphasizes the development of prosocial skills, which are correlated with positive educational and behavioral outcomes in both middle-class and low-income school environments. Two recent studies document the effectiveness of the Montessori approach in this area. Historically, the Montessori method, developed in Italy in 1906, became widespread in American independent schools in the 1950s. With the advent of charter school legislation, the number of public Montessori schools serving lower income children has been increasing over the last decade. The purpose of this study was: (a) to observe and describe how Montessori teachers foster prosocial skills, and (b) to explore whether and how this differs in public and private Montessori schools serving students of different backgrounds/SES. Five mixed-age (first-third grade) Montessori classrooms (two private, three public) were observed and videotaped on two occasions between December 2006 and February 2007. An observation tool developed for non-Montessori classrooms was used to record teacher behaviors linked to prosocial skills development. Similar teacher strategies to promote prosocial skills were recorded in both the public and private schools. These similarities were apparent despite vastly different student and school characteristics. A number of teacher strategies typically associated with the promotion of prosocial skills which were emphasized in the observation tool were not observed in either school. The findings of this study raise questions about the use of observation tools outside of the context in which they were developed. This finding may also be attributed to the timing of the observations (in winter), as the teacher behaviors are more likely to be exhibited during the first few months of school. Interviews with teachers and principals also revealed different leadership needs of a start-up school as opposed to an established school.

Language: English

Published: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2007

Language: English

Published: Nashville, Tennessee, 1976