Abstract/Notes: This study was conducted in Kenya and focused on the use of instructional materials at the Early Childhood level. Purpose of the study was to establish the implications of instructional materials on oral skills among early childhood learners. The study adopted descriptive survey design. The target population comprised 42 head teachers, 126 teachers and 3180 leaners. It was found that that teaching using instructional materials improved the performance of learners in various learning activities such as repetition of letters, repetition of words and ability to write dictated words. The improved performance was in a range of 11% to 18%.

Language: English

DOI: 10.15739/IJEPRR.16.004

ISSN: 2360-7076

Abstract/Notes: Assessments provide teachers with essential information regarding children’s learning. Alternative education systems offer insight into ways that assessments can be redesigned to be developmentally appropriate to particular ages, including unique stances on what defines assessment, who should assess, and what should be assessed. We examined themes of early childhood assessment through a review of Reggio Emilia, Montessori, and Waldorf (also called Steiner). Each of these three alternative systems emphasize assessments designed to understand every child’s learning as unique. Many of the practices used align with the National Association for the Education of Young Children’s (NAEYC) current recommendations regarding developmentally appropriate assessment. There is a clear acknowledgement that engagement, not just specific knowledge, is particularly important to assess. To assess engagement, classrooms must be carefully constructed learning environments that implement individualized assessment techniques, such as observation. As children engage in developmentally appropriate experiences, teachers assess their individual learning patterns. Specific components of each system contribute to effective and informative assessment, for example collected artifacts and documentation from children’s work (Reggio), activities and materials designed to show children when an error is made (Montessori), and participation in classic stories (Waldorf). The increased focus these systems place on assessing during interactive learning experiences answered NAEYC’s current recommendations regarding assessment as well as on-going calls in education reform for a child-centered approach to learning.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1007/s10643-022-01353-y

ISSN: 1082-3301, 1573-1707

Abstract/Notes: This study aims to describe the inculcation of Islamic religious values ​​for early childhood through the Montessori method. The method initiated by Maria Montessori, Italy has its own challenges due to the different years and places. This research was conducted in a kindergarten with an Islamic Montessori curriculum in Yogyakarta. The method in this research is qualitative analysis with data sources from observation and in-depth interviews with informants. The results of this study indicate that the cultivation of Islamic religious values ​​is carried out in the Montessori learning process. The learning curriculum indirectly contributes to the model of inculcating Islamic values. The form of Islamic religious values ​​is instilled with habituation, collaborative lectures with fun activities for children, and in the provision of teaching materials and food served to children. This method was successfully implemented in kindergarten with the expected results. In addition, Montessori learning does not experience difficulties and is very easy to use to apply Islamic religious values ​​even though they are initiated from different places and distances.

Language: English

ISSN: 2503-3042

Abstract/Notes: This study tested the hypothesis that curriculum type (Montessori and constructivist) moderates the impact of temperament (specifically activity level and attention-persistence) on the classroom behavior of 3- to 5-year-old children. Mothers enrolled in Montessori and constructivist preschools filled out the Colorado Childhood Temperament Inventory. The children’s teachers filled out the Preschool Behavior Questionnaire and the Preschool Adjustment Questionnaire. A near-significant trend suggested that temperamentally active boys were more likely to be perceived by their teachers as having behavior problems if they were enrolled in Montessori programs than if they were enrolled in constructivist programs. There was no such trend for girls. There was no evidence that temperamental attention span persistence moderated the impact of curriculum type on either boys’ or girls’ behavior. The findings thus give modest support to the notion that parents should be advised to select constructivist early childhood programs especially for boys who are temperamentally predisposed to be highly modifying their teaching practices to better accommodate the needs of these children active. In addition, directors and teachers in Montessori programs may consider

Language: English

DOI: 10.1207/s15566935eed1102_3

ISSN: 1040-9289, 1556-6935

Abstract/Notes: Research Findings: This paper presents findings from an exploratory study to define associations between social–emotional teaching practices and teacher characteristics through a person-centered approach. The sample consisted of 97 teachers working in center-based early childhood education settings with young children ages 2–5 in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. We analyzed teachers’ observed classroom social–emotional teaching practices and self-reported Professional Development (PD) experiences, job attitudes (e.g., job-related stress, satisfaction, and commitment), and disciplinary efficacy to identify profile membership of teachers. A latent profile analysis revealed 4 profiles: (a) higher practice quality, higher PD experience, higher job attitudes, and higher disciplinary efficacy, (b) higher practice quality, mixed PD experience, lower job attitudes, and lower disciplinary efficacy, (c) lower practice quality, mixed PD experience, higher job attitudes, and higher disciplinary efficacy, and (d) lower practice quality, mixed PD experience, mixed job attitudes, and lower disciplinary efficacy. Practice or Policy: The results suggest that a person-centered approach to understanding classroom quality might provide multiple dimensions to consider for quality improvement. Additionally, a tailored and tiered professional development approach to support the early childhood workforce is needed that considers the complex connections between teachers’ practices, beliefs, and job attitudes.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1080/10409289.2020.1857215

ISSN: 1040-9289, 1556-6935

Abstract/Notes: The following article reflects on past theories and practices that still influence early childhood development and education today. The critical thoughts on how young children should be raised and educated by individuals such as John Locke, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Johann Pestalozzi, William Froebel, John Dewey and Maria Montessori and others are shared and discussed. Specific attention is given to their theories and practices relating to the following: the nature of children, how children come to learn, school curriculum, and instructional materials. The article concludes with an epilogue of influences which summarizes major influences of the past that still have relevance to programs for young children today. Some influences cited include: significance of proper care for the unborn, importance of exploration and play, involvement in self-directed activity, the family role in the education of the child, direct instruction should be second to real life experiences, and instructional materials should be designed with purpose.

Language: English

ISSN: 0013-1172

Abstract/Notes: The paper presents two Italian approaches to early childhood education: the Montessori method and the Reggio Emilia approach. Although they emerged in different historical periods and socio-political realities, these two approaches have a lot in common with regard to values like love and respect for children and their developmental rights. Moreover, they share a belief in the potential and boundless resources of the child as well as shifting the emphasis from a teacher’s activity to that of the child. In comparison to the Montessori method, the Reggio Emilia approach strongly highlights the importance of relations and interactions in the children’s learning process. Group work, which has been one of the fundamentals of the Reggio Emilia approach from the very beginning, is the main difference between these two approaches. The article presents the background of each pedagogical idea (the Montessori method – the beginning of 20th century, Reggio Emilia – the 1950s). The description of the ideas is based on such aspects as the image of a child, the image of a teacher and the role of environment in education. In the article, the authors refer mainly to the thoughts of Montessori, the creator of her own method, and Loris Malaguzzi, who was the leader of the educational experience in Reggio Emilia. / Szkic ten przybliża dwie włoskie koncepcje wychowania i edukacji dziecka w wieku przedszkolnym: metodę Montessori i podejście Reggio Emilia. Choć powstawały one w odrębnych okresach historycznych i realiach polityczno-społecznych, w odniesieniu do wartości, takich jak miłość i szacunek do dziecka czy respektowanie jego praw rozwojowych, obydwie koncepcje mają wiele wspólnego. Tym, co je łączy, jest wiara w potencjał i nieograniczone zasoby dziecka, a także przeniesienie akcentu z aktywności nauczyciela w stronę aktywności dziecka. W odniesieniu do metody Montessori, w podejściu Reggio Emilia silniej uwypuklony jest aspekt relacji i interakcji w dziecięcym procesie uczenia. Wspólnotowy wymiar, będący od początku istnienia przedszkoli Reggio Emilia podstawą ich funkcjonowania, jest jedną z najistotniejszych różnic pomiędzy zaprezentowanymi podejściami, i w związku z tym odmiennymi rozwiązaniami edukacyjnymi. W artykule przedstawiono podłoże powstania koncepcji M. Montessori (początek XX w.) i podejścia Reggio Emilia (lata 50. XX w.). W obydwu systemach zaprezentowano wizję dziecka i nauczyciela oraz istotę środowiska wychowawczo-edukacyjnego tworzonego dla dzieci w przestrzeni instytucjonalnej. Założeniem autorek tekstu było przywołanie myśli, rozważań i refleksji twórców oryginalnych włoskich teorii pedagogicznych.

Language: Polish

DOI: 10.14632/eetp.2017.13.47.121

ISSN: 1896-2327, 2353-7787

Abstract/Notes: The concept of domesticity plays out in early childhood educational settings and has a long tradition. Domesticity in its pre-domestic, domestic and post-domestic phases is used here as a site for reconsidering the role of Maria Montessori. The ideas put forward here are intended as a provocation and methodologically the device of constructing an assemblage of materials from various sources is used to enable different ideas to be brought forward. New possibilities emerged through a diffractive approach to this theoretically driven work. The ambiguities Montessori embodied in her life are revisited and by looking at her focus on the materials of ‘practical life’ a way to be intra-activelyengaged with regenerative forces became possible. Repositioning Maria Montessori as ‘domestic goddess’ tangles with contemporary ideas in order to unsettle her image. This analysis draws on new feminist materialist theoryto question what being domestic/ate/d means in terms of being a woman in a femin/ised/ist educational space.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1080/09540253.2017.1396293

ISSN: 0954-0253

Abstract/Notes: The objective of this small study was to elicit responses from early childhood teachers in India on mathematics learning strategies and to measure the extent of finger counting technique adopted by the teachers in teaching young children. Specifically, the research focused on the effective ways of teaching mathematics to children in India, and examined teachers’ approach to number counting. In India, children were taught by their parents or by their teachers to use fingers to count. The qualitative study conducted by the researcher further enriched the topic with first‐hand comments by the teachers. Although the finger counting method was not the only process that teachers would adopt, it was embedded in the culture and taken into consideration while infusing mathematics skills. The teachers confirmed adopting the Indian method of finger counting in their teaching strategy; some specified that the method helped children to undertake addition and subtraction of carrying and borrowing, as counting by objects could not be available all the time. Although the study is limited by its small sample to the unique mathematics learning experience in India, it provides readers with a glimpse of culturally responsive teaching methods and an alternative mathematics teaching strategy.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1080/09669760500446374

ISSN: 0966-9760

Abstract/Notes: "...In terms of instructional methodology, Belgium has had a particularly interesting history. It has gone through three distinct phases of education as far as pre-school is concerned. From 1890 until about 1927 Frobel was a very strong influence in Belgian pre-schools, and most of the training was done with his methods. From 1927 through 1950 the work of Montessori became particularly important. This is not to suggest that Frobel's teachings were discarded entirely, but only that Montessori's methods were more popular..."

Language: English

DOI: 10.1007/BF03176101

ISSN: 0020-7187, 1878-4658