Abstract/Notes: In the Italian speaking canton of Tessin there has been a wide range of pedagogical methods used in pre-school education. Among those are: the «Asilo infantile», «kindergarten», the «Casa dei bambini montessoriana» and the «Scuola materna» models. In the last decade a further and newly defined model has been developed. It is called the «scuola dell’infanzia» or «Childhood school» which has been adopted in the official «Orientamenti prommatici» or «Education Program Guidelines» for the year 2000.The new model aims to combine and harmonise the most outstanding characteristics of the past models into an education process adequately designed to deal with the child’s needs inside the “Scuola dell’infanzia”. It takes into account the child’s verbal and non verbal com-munication, their emotional and affective life, their behaviour and cognitive sphere.The current work describes, through key questions, the steps taken and the reasons which lead to the current «Scuola dell’infanzia». A description of the strengths and a critical view of the still pending challenges is also reported to show where potential improvements are needed. Furthermore a specific list of observation points is given to describe how the school sees its capability to deal with many challenges. Among these challenges are the child’s needs including social needs, the ability of the teaching staff to be at the same wavelength as their educational tasks and the continuity of the education system between the «scuola dell’infanzia» and the Elementary school along with the specific pedagogical tools.

Language: Italian

DOI: 10.24452/sjer.25.2.4661

ISSN: 2624-8492

Abstract/Notes: In theory, STEM (interdisciplinary science, technology, engineering and mathematics) is cross-disciplinary and situated in real-world problem-solving contexts. In practice, STEM disciplines are often implemented separately using contrived contexts. This paper examines theoretical and empirical aspects of Montessori middle school science in the United States, and its alignment with the conceptual framework of integrated STEM. We selected Montessori adolescent environments because the Montessori philosophy involves interdisciplinary application contextualized in purposeful work and learning. Our research sought to investigate how Montessori middle schools have designed their science programs, and to situate these findings within the current landscape of STEM education and reform-based science. Based on the results of our survey of 96 U.S. Montessori middle schools, we argue Montessori offers an integrated educational approach that meaningfully situates academic disciplines to mirror local and global challenges, well supported by theory and literature on STEM and situated learning theories. We assert that integrated STEM happens organically in many Montessori middle schools, and takes place through authentic work in communities of practice. Our research communicates the value of looking outside traditional school settings to examine alternative formal education spaces, like Montessori classrooms where integrated STEM happens organically.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1111/ssm.12331

ISSN: 1949-8594

Abstract/Notes: This article examines the trajectory of a public Montessori education movement in Puerto Rico, which has grown the largest concentration of public Montessori schools in the Caribbean and the U.S. and legally established a Montessori Education Secretariat within the public system, a groundbreaking precedent for public Montessori education worldwide. For almost three decades, a grass-roots movement led by the non-profit organization Instituto Nueva Escuela has been implementing a school transformation model built on the cornerstones of collective governance, family engagement, and Montessori pedagogy. This study explores how the movement has unleashed the agency of disenfranchised school communities to radically reform traditional public education in Puerto Rico. In the wake of Hurricane María and facing extreme austerity measures, the movement empowered collective resistance to fight for and win some of its most significant achievements, and offers innumerous lessons for the future of education reform in the Caribbean and beyond. [Este artículo examina la trayectoria de un movimiento de educación pública Montessori en Puerto Rico, que ha creado la concentración más grande de escuelas públicas Montessori en el Caribe y los EE.UU. y estableció legalmente una Secretaría Auxiliar de Educación Montessori dentro del sistema público, un precedente innovador para la educación pública Montessori mundial. Durante casi tres décadas, el movimiento comunitario liderado por la organización sin fines de lucro Instituto Nueva Escuela ha estado implementando un modelo de transformación escolar basado en los tres pilares de la gobernanza colectiva, las familias y la pedagogía Montessori. El estudio explora cómo el movimiento ha desencadenado la autogestión de las comunidades escolares más marginadas para reformar la educación pública tradicional en Puerto Rico radicalmente. Después del huracán María y enfrentando medidas extremas de austeridad, el movimiento empoderó la resistencia colectiva para luchar y ganar algunos de sus logros más significativos, y ofrece innumerables lecciones para el futuro de la reforma educativa en el Caribe y más allá.]

Language: English

ISSN: 1060-5533

Abstract/Notes: In this study, occupational life histories of Montessori teachers in Sweden have been constructed in collaboration with a group of them. Data exploration and analysis have included journals, interviews, written reflections and conversations. Of interest has been to shed light on underlying values, ways in which professional roles reflect personal values and teachers' reflections on the present and future perspectives of Montessori education. Life histories make it possible for each individual teacher to be presented in the light of his/her own personal attributes and unique qualities as well as in relation to a wider (historical, cultural) context. The overall aim has been to come to a better understanding of what it means to be a Montessori teacher, by getting a group of Montessori teachers to reflect on their lives and work. Valuable insights have been gained concerning the changing roles of teachers in contemporary educational settings.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1080/0031383042000245799

ISSN: 0031-3831, 1470-1170

Abstract/Notes: In the period 1880-1940 the education system of italian-speaking Canton Ticino was seeing pedagogical transfers coming from Italy. In a first period, the peagogical élite although deied that these pedagocal ideas came from Italy, using the terminological (and ideological) construction of “Metodo intuitivo” (i.e. Pestalozzi and Girard as the only fathers of the method). After 1910 the pedagogical influence of italian New Education (Montessori, Lombardo-Radice) grew more because the general interest in Ticino for italian culture grew with the movement for Defence of Ticino’s italian identity. World war 1 and fascism brought the New Education fellows in Ticino into a deep dilemma: their pedagogical ideas and actions were accepted only if accompanied by a total distance from any official italian political position. This was very difficult and led at the end to a growing total distance from Italy, even if the pedagogical élite tried to avoid the complete end of any cultural contact with Italy. The end cames with Abyssinia war and World war II that led to a total isolation of Ticino from Italy.

Language: German

DOI: 10.24452/sjer.40.1.5052

ISSN: 2624-8492

Language: English

DOI: 10.1086/597653

ISSN: 1550-1175

Language: English

DOI: 10.1086/442839

ISSN: 0036-6773

Language: English

DOI: 10.33178/scenario.13.1.1

ISSN: 1649-8526

Language: English

DOI: 10.1080/09243453.2012.692696

ISSN: 0924-3453, 1744-5124

Abstract/Notes: "It seems to me that we have been wrong to discard Montessori altogether …," said Nadezhda Konstantinovna Krupskaia at a Moscow gathering of teachers of zero-level groups in 1931. It is worth recalling that Nadezhda Konstantinovna more than once drew the attention of preschool upbringing theoreticians and practitioners to the necessity of making a critical study of the pedagogical views and pedagogical experience of Froebel and Montessori. It was indisputable that they were engaged in "arch-bourgeois preschool upbringing"; nevertheless, it would be worthwhile to "borrow those things that are useful to us." But what is "useful to us" in the theory and practice of Montessori? This is the question that we will attempt to answer.

Language: English

DOI: 10.2753/RSS1061-1428330479

ISSN: 1061-1428