Abstract/Notes: The research was conducted to determine if grace and courtesy lessons could increase the peer to peer reliance in a new community of 12 children ranging in age from thirty-three months to four years old at a private Montessori school in a metropolitan area. It is rare to experience starting a new community and only having 12 children of the same relative age in a Montessori school. The study was conducted with grace and courtesy lessons, given an average of three times a week, on how to ask other peers for help and how to offer help to others. Data was collected over a six week period. The collected data showed whether or not the language from the grace and courtesy lessons was being used between the children. The results showed that the children were not yet functionally independent in many of the tasks that they were being asked to help with and therefore still had to ask an adult for assistance. Future research could repeat this process in a year's time when there is a broader age range of children or could focus on grace and courtesy lessons on how to resolve conflicts and encounters with children through practiced language.

Language: English

Published: St. Paul, Minnesota, 2017

Abstract/Notes: The purpose of this action research project was to measure the effects of daily mindfulness practice with peer-support on teacher stress reduction. Nine female Montessori teachers participated in study and taught at private Montessori schools in suburban or rural settings. The participating teachers practiced a short mindfulness activity daily such as the body scan, sitting meditation, yoga, or mandala coloring and wrote reflections in their daily journal for four weeks. The teachers also participated in a weekly peer support group for community building and wrote reflections in their weekly journal. The teachers participated in a pre- and post- intervention stress questionnaire and attitude scale. A majority of the teachers in this study showed a decrease in teacher stress and an increase in positive attitudes towards colleague support and school climate. The majority of the teachers also shared mindfulness with their students, and the overall results were positive. Further studies should consider whether mindfulness or community building was the more effective intervention in reducing teacher stress.

Language: English

Published: St. Paul, Minnesota, 2018

Abstract/Notes: The purpose of this technology-integrated research is to understand the effects peer collaboration has on students writing skills on 2nd and 3rd graders in a virtual setting. The research took place over five weeks in a lower elementary classroom in a private Montessori school in New England area. The population included 18 students ages 8 to 9. Students participated in a 5-week intervention process, working in groups of 3 on peer collaboration, sharing ideas, and creating group written work. The findings indicate an overall beneficial effect on children’s attitude towards writing, leading to better writing skills and communication skills. Collaborative writing in a technology-integrated platform positively impacted students’ typing skills. Continued research is necessary to assess additional domains such as cognitive improvement, vocabulary effects, and students’ specific writing skills.

Language: English

Published: St. Paul, Minnesota, 2021

Abstract/Notes: How do we help children practice and retain the second language in a Dual Language program? We must find effective and fun ways, like Peer Tutoring and Cooperative Groups. This research was conducted with a group of 21 six and seven year olds in a Dual Language Immersion classroom in a Title 1 school. There was a mixture of boys and girls, Latinos, African-Americans and Caucasians. Data collection was done through surveys, observations, artifacts and narratives. The data showed that while these strategies did increase vocabulary, they did not inspire the children to speak more Spanish. They still reverted back to speaking in English. Based on my findings, students require more vocabulary and would benefit from more opportunities to practice it.

Language: English

Published: St. Paul, Minnesota, 2016

Language: English

Abstract/Notes: This chapter examines the extent to which the composition of classes affects learning outcomes. The aim is to explore peer effects when students are organized into classes on the basis of ability, ethnicity, or gender, as well as the effects of multigrade and multi-age classes and class size. The argument is defended that these composition factors affect only the probability that differential instruction and learning occur and that, at best, their influences are indirect. Teachers appear not to change their teaching activities when class composition is changed and most often the power of peer effects is rarely realized. Any direct effects of class composition are less related to learning outcomes and more related to equity and expectation effects by teachers and other participants (students, parents, and principals). Whether a school tracks by ability or not, reduces class sizes, implements multigrade/multi-age or single-level classes, or has coeducational or single-sex classes, appears less consequential than whether it attends to the nature and quality of instruction in the classroom, whatever the between-class variability in achievement. The learning environments within the classroom, and the mechanisms and processes of learning that they foster, are by far the more powerful. Good teaching can occur independently of the class configuration or homogeneity of the students within the class.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1016/S0883-0355(03)00015-6

ISSN: 0883-0355

Language: English

Abstract/Notes: LEAD IT! is an app that enables persons with early and middle stage dementia to lead activities for their peers—i.e., other persons with dementia (PWD). An alpha version of the app was tested in a Phase 1 SBIR project. The alpha version included three Montessori-inspired activities. While PWD ostensibly view LEAD IT! as a set of enjoyable activities, it is actually an evidenced-based intervention aimed at reducing responsive behaviors and enabling PWD to fill meaningful social roles. A total of 24 PWD participated in the Phase 1 study: five leaders and 19 players. LEAD IT! Programming was implemented for six weeks, twice per week. LEAD IT! produced higher levels of positive engagement and affect, and lower levels of negative engagement, as compared to standard, baseline activities—i.e., non-digital activities led by staff. More specifically, when compared to baseline programming, players exhibited an 82% increase in Constructive Engagement (P=0.000), 80% increase in Passive Engagement (P=0.000), 60% reduction in Other Engagement (P=0.035), and 171% increase in Pleasure (P=0.000). One limitation of the Phase 1 study is that, at least insofar as the intervention is only implemented twice per week for six weeks, the positive outcomes seem to be limited to the period of time during which PWD are participating in the activity—i.e., changes on global measures, such as quality of life and depression were not detected. Still, the promising results of this study suggest that LEAD IT! is worthy of further development and evaluation in a planned Phase 2 study.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1093/geroni/igaa057.878

ISSN: 2399-5300

Abstract/Notes: This study explored the effects of peer interactions on kindergarten children’s construction of conservation and conflict resolution knowledge during storybook reading. Previous studies have identified that peer interactions can support the meaning-making processes of children in social relationships and problem-solving, but little is known about whether the interaction with mixed-age or more competent peers is more important in supporting knowledge construction. Sixty-four younger children in K2 and older children in K3 with similar socioeconomic backgrounds were recruited from a Montessori kindergarten in Kunming, China. An experimental design was applied to explore age group and conserver dominance effects on conservation and conflict resolution. Children were assigned randomly to eight groups in three 30-to-40-minute intervention sessions. Each session had a different theme for the children to learn about conservation and conflict resolution concepts and a hands-on activity to practice and discuss. ANOVAs were performed to test group effects, while multiple regression analyses were conducted to explore individual variations in age and pre-test scores in predicting post-test scores. Conservation knowledge was significantly better among children who differed in age groups in the post-test, but differences were not found in conflict resolution knowledge. Groups balanced with equal conservers and non-conservers improved the best, suggesting that peer social interactions can facilitate conservation and conflict resolution construction. These results provide new insights for early childhood educators to support peer interactions and children’s development. Implications, limitations, and future research are discussed.

Language: English

DOI: 10.3389/feduc.2024.1253782

ISSN: 2504-284X

Abstract/Notes: In this study, we examined communication in the family and peer systems in relation to children's sociometric status. Codes measured turn-taking skills and utterance types for 43 children (ages 24-60 months) with mothers, fathers, and peers. Communication differences in the family and peer systems were strongest for popular versus rejected status children and their parents, but differences were also found for controversial and neglected status children and their parents. Rejected status children demonstrated turn-taking styles that included irrelevant turns, interruptions, simultaneous talking, and noncontingent responding. Parents of rejected children used higher proportions of requests than parents of popular children but failed to allow their children time to respond to the requests. Popular status children were more likely to alternate turns, provide explanations to peers, and participate in episodes of cohesive discourse. Interaction patterns were examined for potential mechanisms of transfer between family and peer systems.

Language: English

DOI: 10.2307/1131204

ISSN: 0009-3920