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Article
Happiness in the Private World
Available from: University of Connecticut Libraries - American Montessori Society Records
Publication: Public School Montessorian, vol. 18, no. 2
Date: Winter 2006
Pages: 21
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Language: English
ISSN: 1071-6246
Article
Manipulating Happiness: Maria Montessori
Available from: IJW website
Publication: International Journal of Wellbeing, vol. 1, no. 2
Date: 2011
Pages: 214-225
Maria Montessori - Biographic sources, Montessori method of education - Criticism, interpretation, etc.
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Abstract/Notes: Maria Montessori is best known for her legacy as an educator. She is the founder of a system of schools that has achieved worldwide success. Instrumental to her teaching method is the idea of fostering engagement by offering children individual choice and harnessing intrinsic motivation. For this reason, she is nominated as a noteworthy felicitator or happiness-enabler. In this article, I discuss Montessori’s life with a special emphasis on her teaching philosophy and methods. I briefly discuss psychological research as it relates to choice-related topics such as perceived personal control and autonomy. I also discuss some limitations of choice as an avenue toward happiness.
Language: English
DOI: 10.5502/ijw.v1i2.4
ISSN: 1179-8602
Article
Psychic Conditions of Social Happiness
Available from: Springer Link
Publication: Synthese, vol. 6, no. 3/4
Date: Mar 1947
Pages: 182-188
Article
Happiness-Oriented Parents: An Alternative Perspective on Privilege and Choosing Schools
Available from: University of Chicago Press
Publication: American Journal of Education, vol. 129, no. 3
Date: Feb 2023
Pages: 145-176
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Abstract/Notes: Research on privileged parents, defined here as those with the economic, social, and educational resources to navigate school choice processes to their advantage, often depicts such parents as anxious about maintaining social mobility, leading them to “opportunity hoard” desirable or academically competitive schools in ways that exclude other families. In contrast, we identify a subset of privileged parents in urban settings that we term “happiness-oriented parents” who seek schools that prioritize their child’s social-emotional happiness. Using a qualitative meta-analysis combining seven studies conducted by the authors in New York City; Hartford, Connecticut; and a small East Coast city between 2012 and 2021, we reanalyzed interview data from semistructured interviews with 106 privileged parents who have the ability to access and navigate a range of school choice options. We found a happiness orientation in a diverse group of privileged parents (40% identified as Black, Latinx, Asian American, or multiracial, and the remaining 60% were white). Although these parents were choosing a range of school options in different contexts and they identified different criteria as important to cultivating happiness, they consistently (1) centered happiness, (2) chose for social-emotional and noncompetitive academic factors, and (3) saw this choice as different from the norm. In identifying this repeated but understudied phenomenon, we consider that happiness-oriented parents’ choices might affect a range of education policy changes and outcomes. In the case of our studies, we examine the potential of these parents as allies in school integration efforts.
Language: English
DOI: 10.1086/723066
ISSN: 0195-6744, 1549-6511
Doctoral Dissertation (Ph.D.)
Romancing Children into Delight: Promoting Children's Happiness in the Early Primary Grades
Available from: Queen's University
Comparative education, Happiness, Kindergarten (Froebel system of education), Montessori method of education, Waldorf method of education, Wellbeing
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Abstract/Notes: Happiness should be a fundamental aim of education. This philosophical assertion raises the practical question of how teachers generate happiness in their classroom programs while operating under the current paradigm of educational accountability. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the perspectives of early primary teachers, students, and parents on what makes a happy classroom. Data were collected through interviews of 12 teachers from public, independent, Waldorf, Froebel, and Montessori schools; over 72 hours of observation in eight early primary classrooms; interviews with 23 students (ages 3 to 8), drawing and photography with 64 students (ages 3 to 8); 66 parent surveys, and eight teacher exit interviews. Four cycles of analysis, including descriptive and conceptual approaches, resulted in the identification of five core conditions of happy classrooms: (a) relational pedagogy, (b) embodied learning, (c) pedagogical thoughtfulness (d) an ethos of happiness, and (e) an ethos of possibility. These five conditions were supported by 17 facets, which describe practical and conceptual ways to support pedagogical thinking and decision-making about children’s happiness in the complex worlds of busy classrooms. Five of the facets are spotlighted: (a) kids need to play, (b) stepping in stepping out, (c) sounds shape feelings and experience, (d) rhythms and routines, and (e) romancing children into delight. In addition, student and parent participants identified that play, positive friendships, time outdoors, experiences involving the arts, and experiences of positive feelings make children happy at school and when they are learning. The discussion centers on the role of teachers in establishing the tone of happy classrooms, considers the notion of strong pedagogy, discusses the generation of happiness in early primary classrooms in the form of lessons to be learned from different pedagogical traditions, and argues that, above all, children’s interests, needs, and development should be a teacher’s first point of consideration for all decisions about instruction and learning in the classroom. The discussion concludes with implications for teaching professionals and offers suggestions for future research.
Language: English
Published: Ottawa, Canada, 2013
Article
Happiness in Education; Dr. Montessori on Her Method
Publication: The Times (London, England)
Date: Jun 7, 1923
Pages: 23
England, Great Britain, Maria Montessori - Biographic sources, Maria Montessori - Philosophy, Montessori method of education - Criticism, interpretation, etc., United Kingdom
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Language: English
ISSN: 0140-0460