Abstract/Notes: An analysis of students’ academic and social scores compares a Montessori school with other elementary school education programs.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1126/science.1132362

ISSN: 0036-8075, 1095-9203

Abstract/Notes: Opening the issue of Pour l’ère nouvelle (January 1927), Adolphe Ferrière announced that L’Educazione Nazionale, directed by Giuseppe Lombardo Radice, would be the Italian partnership of the educational press officially committed with the New Education Fellowship. The strong relation between the two scholars was based on a shared vision of education as really focused on the release of children’s natural energies. The cultural mission of the Italian journal was not an easy one to accomplish, due to the increasingly heavy atmosphere characterizing the Italian public life, signed by the turning of Fascism into an authoritarian Regime. Up to the turning point of the thirties the review often tried to draw attention onto several themes and figures related to the progressive expansion of the New Education. Unfortunately, the involution of Fascism hindered the journal’s activity, finally forcing its closure in 1933.

Language: English

DOI: 10.24452/sjer.41.2.6

ISSN: 2624-8492

Abstract/Notes: Bu araştırmada, Montessori yönteminin beş - altı yaş çocuklarının alıcı dil becerilerine etkisiincelenmiştir. Araştırma, deneme modelinde gerçekleştirilmiştir. Araştırmanın çalışma grubunu,2008 – 2009 yıllarında Selçuk Üniversitesi Mesleki Eğitim Fakültesi İhsan DoğramacıUygulama Anaokulu’nda eğitim gören toplam 40 çocuk oluşturmaktadır. Veri toplama aracıolarak Peabody Resim-Kelime Testi kullanılmıştır. Araştırma sonucuna göre, Montessori yöntemiile eğitim alan beş - altı yaş çocuklarının alıcı dil becerileri ile Milli Eğitim BakanlığıOkul Öncesi Eğitim Programına göre eğitim alan beş - altı yaş çocuklarının alıcı dil becerileriarasında anlamlı bir fark bulunmuştur. / At this research, the effects of Montessori Method to receptive language skills of five-six aged children were examined. This research was carried out with essay form. Working group of research consists of totally 40 kindergarten children who received education between 2008- 2009 academy years in Ihsan Dogramaci Application Kindergarten, Faculty of Vocational Education, Selcuk University. Peabody Picture-Vocabulary Test was used as data collection tool. According to the result of research, a significant difference was found between receptive language skills of kindergarten children who receive education with Montessori Method and also education according to The Ministry of Education, Preschool Education Program.

Language: Turkish

ISSN: 2458-9071

Abstract/Notes: In the Netherlands the debate on the identity of a school is influenced by the long and dominant history of a close linking between religious traditions (mainly the Christian tradition) and the design of the national school system. For almost 100 years, most schools, formally speaking, are so called Christian schools. This is not an accidental adverb used to indicate some of the Dutch schools, but it has a strong juridical basis. In recent education a certain discrepancy is experienced between the formal corporate identity of a school and the actual identity of the school population. This discrepancy is the central matter of this article. We present two research projects by which this discrepancy is explored. The key issue seems to be that in Dutch education there is a strong need for a paradigm shift from a more deductive to a more inductive reflection on school ethos.

Language: English

ISSN: 0254-1807, 2305-445X

Language: English

DOI: 10.1002/sce.3730750204

ISSN: 1098-237X

Abstract/Notes: To be successful takes creativity, flexibility, self-control, and discipline. Central to all those are executive functions, including mentally playing with ideas, giving a considered rather than an impulsive response, and staying focused. Diverse activities have been shown to improve children’s executive functions: computerized training, noncomputerized games, aerobics, martial arts, yoga, mindfulness, and school curricula. All successful programs involve repeated practice and progressively increase the challenge to executive functions. Children with worse executive functions benefit most from these activities; thus, early executive-function training may avert widening achievement gaps later. To improve executive functions, focusing narrowly on them may not be as effective as also addressing emotional and social development (as do curricula that improve executive functions) and physical development (shown by positive effects of aerobics, martial arts, and yoga).

Language: English

DOI: 10.1126/science.1204529

ISSN: 0036-8075, 1095-9203

Abstract/Notes: In their education forum "Evaluating Montessori education" (29 Sept., p. 1893), A. Lillard and N. Else-Quest do not consider that differential peer influences between their test and control groups of students may contribute to the differences they observed. The authors controlled for parental effects by examining only students whose parents had entered a lottery for entry into a Montessori school. However, the students who were unable to attend the Montessori school because their parents "lost" the lottery were dispersed to traditional schools, where they would have been educated with a majority of peers whose parents did not enter the lottery at all. The differences they found in the academic and behavioral performance of students in Montessori and traditional schools may not reflect the superiority of the former educational approach, but the negative effect of peer relationships in the latter.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1126/science.315.5812.596b

ISSN: 0036-8075, 1095-9203

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