Abstract/Notes: This action research was conducted in an early childhood Montessori Primary classroom using intentional teaching practices with core curriculum materials to engage students in creative thinking. In the form of questions or suggestions, an open-ended inquiry was given to the ten participants, aged three to six years old, as they worked with Montessori materials in academic areas, including science, math, and language. The research utilized mixed methods of collection in the forms of quantitative and qualitative data and demonstrated successful intervention with a steady increase in work times of the students. A longitudinal study would contribute to this theory and provide further information regarding the increase of student understanding through creative thinking endeavors. This study provided evidence that intentional teaching practices can engage children in creative thinking, problem-solving, and collaborative learning while extending working times with materials, which contribute to a deeper level of comprehension of the direct curricular aims.

Language: English

Published: St. Paul, Minnesota, 2021

Abstract/Notes: This study investigated the viability and implications of technology-assisted story writing with kinder year students. Seven kinder year students at a private Montessori school participated in the study. Pre- and post-study conferences and Likert scales determined story writing skills and attitudes. These were followed by one-on-one storywriting sessions using a variety of story-writing tools. Students were given the choice of story-writing method at each session. Individual sessions were evaluated and completed stories compared to a rubric of fundamental story-writing elements. Stories written by the students improved with the use of computer and iPad programs, but independent story writing was not achieved. Individual phonetic abilities proved pivotal to any success with technology-assisted story writing. The results of the study suggest introducing technology-assisted story writing when a child can successfully build words phonetically.

Language: English

Published: St. Paul, Minnesota, 2017

Abstract/Notes: Maria Montessori famously designed her own materials to support children’s development. Thus far, the literature which focuses on Montessori Sensorial education - and on creativity, problem solving and creative problem solving - has not investigated connections between these matters. This study investigated the effect of using the Montessori Method on children’s skills, especially in creative problem solving. This research examines the integration of Montessori materials into a social context to develop children’s creative problem solving, and analyses these data using the Creative Problem Solving (CPS) framework [Isaksen et al., 2000] and Rogoff’s model [1990] of social interaction. The study provides a new way of using the CPS framework, for data analysis, rather than as a way of training an individual or a group in solving problems creatively. The methodology combines a quasi-experimental design with a sample of qualitative cases. The research was conducted in one pre-school in Saudi Arabia, in the city of Riyadh, and involved twenty-four five-year-old children (12 boys, 12 girls) and four teachers. Six matched pairs of children were observed using Montessori sensorial materials (MSM) for one academic year. All the children were assessed on their problem solving capacities, in order to compare their development, using the British Ability Scale-II. The results from the quantitative analysis reveal significant differences between the experimental and control groups in their capacity to solve problems, using a pre-post-test of the four subscales of the BAS II. The qualitative analysis shows social interaction assists children in the “understanding of the challenge” component of the creative problem solving process while individual differences were identified in relation to the three creative skills. The results revealed the children’s different ways of framing and solving their own problems creatively through exploring different positions of the materials and applying them in creative solutions. The research also found that children’s own individual experiences with, and interests in, the material affected their creative problem solving.

Language: English

Published: Southampton, England, 2011

Language: English

ISSN: 0277-9064

Abstract/Notes: Creativity today is not just about art, originality, inventiveness—if we look deeper into the Montessori literature it is about the formation of the entire developmental continuum and the whole child.

Language: English

ISSN: 2215-1249, 2772-7319

Abstract/Notes: Another spontaneous form of expression is interpretive drama, where the child shows his self-expression through acting out meaning, history, readings, and human emotions as argued by Shyama Jain, who published in Around the Child, a journal of the Indian Montessorians, in 1969.

Language: English

ISSN: 2215-1249, 2772-7319

Abstract/Notes: This article follows Viennese teacher Lisl Braun and Trude Hammerschlag's contribution to the development of Montessori music pedagogy.

Language: English

ISSN: 2215-1249, 2772-7319

Language: English

Language: English

Language: English

ISSN: 0277-9064