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 video emphasizes how the values of indigenous Australian culture mesh with Montessori philosophy as represented by projects and principal advocates in Cairns West, Redfern (Sydney), and Wadja Wadja (Woorabinda). The desire for Montessori education by aboriginal peoples is documented through interviews on location.

Runtime: 16 minutes

Language: English

Published: Burton, Ohio, 2005

Language: English

Abstract/Notes: Migalu or Migaloo is an Aboriginal Australian term for "a white person". Murri is the name of a specific group of Aboriginal Australian peoples (also known as Kamilaroi) which form one of the four largest Indigenous nations in Australia.

Language: English

Abstract/Notes: Nanette Schonleber makes a remarkable correlation as to why Hawaiian indigenous educators thrive with Montessori pedagogy. Compatible educators share values and goals, such as developmental learning, respect for parenthood, freedom of movement and independence, choice in learning, and specific individualized potential. Hawaiian language and culture-based educators view their work as a way of learning embedded in a way of life that integrates a cultural worldview and belief system, such as the child as a spiritual being, earth as living, and creation as interconnected. The author also finds congruency in land-based learning as being fundamental to indigenous learning and similar to the Erdkinder emphasis for the adolescent where interconnectedness and community roles arise out of farming. [This article is based on the author's 2006 award-winning doctoral dissertation titled "Culturally Congruent Education and the Montessori Model: Perspectives from Hawaiian Culture-Based Educators."]

Language: English

ISSN: 1522-9734

Abstract/Notes: One of the fundamental types of human rights concerns collective-developmental rights which allow minorities to use heritage languages and practices without external interference (Vašák 1977). The protected status of minority language rights is a critical part of language revitalization in which speakers of heritage languages, faced with the encroachment of more socially, politically, and economically dominant languages, embark on vigorous programs to ensure the survival and continued usage of their language. The Five Nations Iroquoian language, Seneca, has just a few remaining speech communities and a variety of ongoing language revitalization initiatives (Mithun 2012). To revitalize their traditional language, community classes through the Seneca Language Department and the Faithkeepers Montessori School Seneca Language Nest for young speakers have concentrated their efforts on preserving Onöndowa'ga:' Gawë:nö' the indigenous name for the Seneca language (Bowen 2020, Murray 2015). In the public sphere, a push by the Seneca Nation of Indians Department of Transportation fulfilling the intent of the federal Native American Tourism and Improving Visitor Experience (NATIVE) Act enacted in 2016, specifically included bilingual signs for state roads running through indigenous land in addition to other significant components (Figura 2016). In an area whose geographic names are strongly connected to Iroquoian languages including Seneca, these bilingual signs represent more public and visible Seneca language presence and stand as symbols of language revitalization. The place names and information that appear on the signs have considerable significance for community identity as well as linguistic and economic impacts, among others. Through oral histories collected from Seneca Nation members and language advocates in addition to a representative from the New York State Department of Transportation, this study pursues an analysis of the Seneca public usage of their heritage language and the various language revitalization efforts occurring among indigenous and minority communities internationally. As the COVID-19 pandemic threatens already vulnerable populations, heritage languages that have been historically oppressed face a global language crisis that disproportionately harms and disadvantages speakers of heritage and minority languages (Roche 2020). While the language of road signs may seem mundane, this study reveals how the Seneca bilingual signs play a significant role in awareness of indigenous territory and consequently stimulation of the local economy as well as supporting language learning, revitalization, and de-stigmatization. Primarily through the efforts of the Seneca community, the bilingual signs represent the expression of language rights in the public sphere and one part of the ongoing language revitalization.

Language: English

Published: Columbus, Ohio, 2021

Language: English

Abstract/Notes: Indigenous educators desire to use culturally restorative and decolonized pedagogies reflective of their own cultural values and beliefs in their science programs but have lacked models for how to start. They also often lack confidence in their ability to teach the sciences. This three-year qualitative case study used grounded theory methodology to discover (a) how Hawaiian language immersion (HLC) K–6 educators used Maria Montessori’s Cosmic Curriculum for the creation of a science program based on Hawaiian epistemology and cultural values and (b) why the Cosmic Curriculum appealed to the HLC educators. Five key themes emerged: (a) the notion of creation as interconnected and relational, (b) an epistemological similarity regarding how people learn, (c) using timelines as organizing cognitive structures, (d) a focus on the natural sciences, and (e) the use of storytelling and key lessons to engage students. Participants stated that they felt successful in creating science curriculum and teaching the sciences as they adapted the above aspects of Dr. Montessori’s Cosmic Curriculum. Future research should be conducted to discover if her Cosmic Curriculum can be adapted for use in other types of non-Montessori program and whether this kind of science program could encourage students to choose the sciences as a career choice.

Language: English

DOI: 10.17161/jomr.v7i2.15763

ISSN: 2378-3923

Language: English

ISSN: 1054-0040

Language: English

ISSN: 1054-0040