Language: English

Language: English

Published: Newcastle upon Tyne, England, 1969

Abstract/Notes: The introduction in 2011 of a universal free preschool year for all children in Ireland prior to attending primary school was heralded as a significant commitment to children and families. As a result of this policy initiative there are increasing numbers of young children accessing preschool provision. However, despite increased access and increased investment in ECEC provision, little is known about the quality of preschool children’s experiences, or the impact of the pedagogical approach on children’s levels of wellbeing and involvement in their learning. Equally there has been no evaluation of the quality or the effectiveness of the preschool provision in supporting children’s development of 21st century skills. This thesis explores how the preschool educator’s image of the child as a learner influences her/his pedagogical approach and how the educator’s pedagogical approach subsequently impacts on children’s levels of wellbeing and involvement in their meaning making processes. The study, an ethnographic comparative study, was conducted across three preschool setting types, Montessori, Play-based and Reggio inspired in the west of Ireland and Boston. The findings identify that children’s levels of wellbeing and involvement are high when their basic needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness are met in an autonomy supportive, child-centred learning environment. In comparison, when the learning environment is controlling and the approach to teaching and learning is didactic and adult-led, children’s levels of wellbeing and involvement are low. These findings have significant implications for policy and practice and provide a compelling argument for the evaluation of the quality of preschool provision in Ireland.

Language: English

Published: Galway, Ireland, 2020

Language: English

Published: Washington, D.C.: AMI-USA, 1989

Pages: 37-39

Abstract/Notes: In this study the author investigates the nature of compassion, ways of developing compassion within ourselves, and ways of bringing compassion into schools. The author sees an imbalance and disconnection in the current Ontario public school system, between education of the mind (to have) and education of the heart (to be). This is demonstrated in the heightening violence in schools, because violence in schools means that students do not feel connected to and are not happy in their schools. To accomplish this purpose, the author explores the different ways we can connect--within ourselves, with classroom subjects, with students in the school, and with the community at large--through life stories of four holistic educators, including herself. Three have taught in Buddhist, Waldorf, and Montessori schools, which all foster compassion not only through empathy, caring, and love, but also through emotional and moral components of heart education, such as intuition, creativity, imagination, joy (Miller, 2006), and moral education (Noddings, 1992). The enquiry uses qualitative research and narrative method that includes portraiture and arts-based enquiry. The findings in the participants' narratives reveal that compassion comprises spirituality, empathy, and caring. We can develop compassion through contemplation in an awareness of interconnection between the I and the Other. In conclusion, we can foster compassion in schools if we use holistic education's basic principles of balance, inclusion, and connection (Miller, 1981, 1993, 1994, 1999, 2000, 2006, 2007, 2010), and if we bring in different ways of fostering compassion that the author has explored through four holistic teachers' narratives in this study. By nurturing and connecting to students' hearts, rather than forcing knowledge into their heads, it is possible to create schools where students are happy and feel connected to their learning.

Language: English

Published: Toronto, Canada, 2011

Language: English

Abstract/Notes: "Oakland, Aug. 14 - Between 4000 and 5000 delegates, including some of the leading educators of the United States and several foreign countries, are in Oakland for the world's congress of education, which will be opened in municipal auditorium at 9 o'clock Monday morning. It is expected that more than ten thousand delegates will be in attendance at the general meetings and the sessions of the forty-three organizations affiliated with the National Education Association, under auspices of which the great convention is to be held. The sessions will close August 28. Many prominent educators are already in the city. David Starr Jordan, chancellor of Stanford University and president of the National Education Association, will arrive tomorrow. Among those already here are Miss Grace C. Strachan, district superintendent of schools for the city of New York, the woman who led and won the now famous fight for 'equal pay for equal work' and candidate for the presidency of the association; Dr. Maria Montessori of Rome; Ferdinand Buirsson, commander of the legion of honor of France; Dr. Jose Swain, president of Swarthmore College, Pa.; Ernesto Nelson, director of secondary education for Argentina; C. W. Crook, vice-president of the English National Union of Teachers; Ella Flagg Young, superintendent of schools of Chicago, and a score of others from all parts of the world. Every modern phase of the education of the youth of this and coming generations will be discussed at the congress. This is the third international congress of the National Education Association."

Language: English

Abstract/Notes: "...Among the speakers schedule for department addresses are scores of noted national, and world educators. Among these are: Mme. Maria Montessori, originator of the system child education bearing her name..."

Language: English

Abstract/Notes: A Montessori School, the first in California, and one of the first in the country, will open its doors in Los Angeles within the next few weeks, in one of the west-end schools not yet definitely decided upon.

Language: English

Language: English