Abstract/Notes: An attempt is made in this study to gain a better understanding of a non-traditional early learning program in an orphanage school setting, located in Ladyville, Belize, Central America. The teaching staff of Liberty Children‘s Home (LCH) and Learning Centre (LLC) discovered innovative and strategic ways to differentiate traditional academic ways of early learning. The teaching approaches emulate a theoretical social-constructivist theory, implementing methodologies from Pikler, Montessori and Reggio Emilia. In 1996, a comprehensive literacy survey was conducted in Belize that indicated the functional literacy rate to be approximately 40 percent (Cornerstone, 2007). In addition, it is estimated one person in four in developing countries are illiterate (Terryn, 2006). This research site was approved and supported through Liberty Foundation, Ltd., charity of London, England and the Research Ethics Board (REB) from the University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada. This 17-week qualitative grounded theory (Glaser, 1997) study was conducted on site at LCH and LLC. Responses from the students and staff were documented and interpreted utilizing various anecdotal and observation field notes, journals, interviews, audio/DVD/video recordings and photography. The students and staff responded to the Belizean ways of implementing early learning curricula in the natural learning environment. The grounded theory study offers a rich description of cultural responses that extend early childhood education further from an institutionalized and international point of view.

Language: English

Published: Windsor, Ontario, Canada, 2010

Language: English

ISSN: 1071-6246

Abstract/Notes: El Boletin, Spring 2007

Language: English

ISSN: 1071-6246

Abstract/Notes: El Boletin, Winter 2008

Language: English

ISSN: 1071-6246

Language: English

ISSN: 1071-6246

Language: English

Published: [Illinois]: Illinois Montessori Society, 1963

Abstract/Notes: The complex history of Montessori’s Method spreading in the United States was signed by some misunderstandings connected with the reform of the american education system. The Method wasn’t understood in its specificity, but it appeared, in the same time, an alternative or an application of the tradition of Froebel’s Kindergarten. In those years the American pedagogical reflection tried to create an alternative to the continental tradition. For this reason the Progressive Education critized Montessori (i.e. Kilpatrick) for her spiritual and metaphysical premises but this movement couldn’t realize this project and it was inevitably connected with the tradition of European Activism.

Language: Italian

ISSN: 2039-4039

Language: English

ISSN: 1071-6246

Abstract/Notes: Maria Montessori's child-centered teaching method came to the United States in 1913 and became linked with an approach to progressive education and child rearing which many Americans considered permissive. During the post-World War II years, advocates of Montessori's method combined this permissive mode with elements of an authoritarian mode to produce an authoritative approach to teaching young children. Following this approach, educators at the Princeton Montessori School have developed and implemented a firm yet empathic teaching model for their classes. The social system which the teachers have developed in their classes respects children's intrinsic motivation in the form of a benign token economy, called a credit-debit system. In this system the rules of the classroom, and the rewards and sanctions attending the rules, are developed cooperatively between teacher and children. Teachers consider the small group as the basic unit of social organization for the presentation of lessons. Teachers present curricular subject areas in a sequence of steps which are numbered and which correspond to a set of materials preassembled by the teacher and directly accessible to the children. For each subject, students keep personal interactive journals which contain written and illustrated work for the whole year. Through these methods, teachers at the Princeton Montessori School demonstrate that they have understood the basic message of Montessori and imbedded that message in a culturally sensitive and appropriate form of schooling.

Language: English

Published: Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton Center for Teacher Education, 1992

Abstract/Notes: This research is a case study of African American parent involvement at a urban Montessori school in Minnesota. African American parents at this school have had limited involvement in conferences, PTSO meetings, school activities, and on the Site-Based Leadership Team. An examination of the literature was made to investigate the influences on African American parents when they make decisions about their parental involvement. This research covered the historical background, theoretical background, implications, racial barriers, and strategies that increased African American parent involvement. An ethnography was designed to gather data from 9 mothers of African American students. These parents provided information about their backgrounds and their experiences with the school. Staff at the school (6) were interviewed as to their experiences with African American parent involvement. The results of the study offer findings on attitudes, perceptions, needs and ideas for improving African American parent involvement at any school.

Language: English

Published: St. Paul, Minnesota, 2000