Abstract/Notes: David Hutchison is an educator and ecologists. In this paper, he suggests how ecological vision can be translated into five aspects of educational practice: the interdisciplinary emphasis, eco-orientation to citizenship, inquiry learning, outdoors acclimatization, and social activism. These five levels of training constitute the holistic preparation for forging new levels of responsibility and sensibility for the natural world in the self-actualized adult. [Reprinted from "The NAMTA Journal" 28, 1 (2003, Winter): 207-218. This paper is adapted from a keynote address at the NAMTA conference titled "Montessori Education for Human Development: The Child in the Natural World," in Chicago, IL October 31-November 3, 2002.

Language: English

ISSN: 1522-9734

Abstract/Notes: This paper aims to focus on certain aspects of two education methods: one initiated in the first half of the twentieth century by Maria Montessori, and the other in the second half of that century by Matthew Lipman. The aim – neither comparative nor analytical – is to shed light on the connections and, more specifically, the elements of the Montessori Method that reflect on Lipman’s proposal. The question this paper aims to answer is: can P4C find fertile ground in schools applying the Montessori Method? The paper will focus, among other elements: on the importance to give space to thinking experience from childhood and on the recognition of the value of childhood. Both Lipman and Montessori have systematically observed children of different ages – the former in the first half, the latter in the second half of the twentieth century. Both characterized, gave value, and focused their scientific contributions on children’s ability to think and express their thoughts through languages (purposely in the plural form). As educational researchers and professionals know, children have the ability to think, but such ability has not always been (still isn’t) considered to exist. Even when it is evoked in words, educational choices and proposals seem – still today – to express mistrust towards children’s thought. The two mentioned authors have repeatedly highlighted the importance of an essential right: the right to think and to be given a space – even as children – to exercise thinking with others. In particular, both authors – though envisaging different educational paths – identified the same categories functional to exercising thinking. Their interconnection may guide the actions of teachers, educators, and learning process experts. In fact, P4C might play a role in educational contexts in which the class is already considered a community of inquiry, in which the teacher is assigned the same role as a facilitator

Language: English

DOI: 10.12957/childphilo.2020.46784

ISSN: 1984-5987

Abstract/Notes: In this paper a brief biographical introduction to Dr. Maria Montessori provides insight into the origin of her philosophy of early childhood education. Key concepts underlying the Montessori approach to education are then developed with special emphasis on their interrelationship. More details are included in the group discussion report which is included at the end of the section.

Language: English

Published: Zaria, Nigeria: Institute of Education, Ahmadu Bello University, 1983

Abstract/Notes: In our brief historical outline of educational conditions in Italy, we have seen that by far the greatest efforts over the past fifty years have been devoted to clarifying the theoretical issues of educational problems. We have been examining philosophical Systems that pretended to afford an unshakeable foundation to educational theory and to answer every problem raised by educational practice. They have been scrutinized and found wanting. The new Government Syllabus (1955) for the Italian elementary schools is thoroughly Catholic in spirit, humanistic in content and progressive in method. The author of the present paper feels, however, that too much theorizing is still blinding Italian educators. The canker of Transcendental Idealism is still gnawing at the efforts of all too many, also Catholic, thinkers. The “active schools” need renewed fervour, cogent Stimulation, and enlightened Inspiration from an integral Catholic philosophy of life. We must stop philosophizing and get down to realizing: experimentation and co-operative effort are badly needed, not less than clear ideas. Not words but deeds! Idealism had thought of itself being the all-inclusive answer to every problem. We must repeat Hamlet's word to the die-hard Idealist: “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy”.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1007/BF01423725

ISSN: 1573-0638, 0020-8566

Abstract/Notes: "Miss Helen Parkhurst, United States Montessori Director, gave the third of her lectures on the Montessori Method in Room 307 Philosophy Hall Wednesday afternoon. Miss Parkhurst explained the meaning of 'education through the senses' and gave the history of some of the experiments that led to the discovery of Dr. Montessori's didactic material. In closing she made a plea for the establishment of educational experimental laboratories throughout the country. A copy of Dr. Montessori's pamphlet, 'The Organization of Intellectual Work in the School,' was given to each of the attendants at the lecture. Miss Parkhurst will continue her lectures in Room 307 Philosophy Hall on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 5:00 o'clock throughout July. Admission in free."

Language: English

Abstract/Notes: This study indicates several areas in which the contributions of Piaget, Dewey, and Vygotsky appear to substantiate Montessori theory and practice. Historical information concerning the emergence and accessibility of developmental and educational theory is also provided. The work identifies similarities and differences in the theorists' views of the ways in which children learn, ways in which the learning process includes the social environment, and ways in which human beings perceive the world and learn from it. Topics addressed include characteristics of developmental stages, the nature of language acquisition, the construction of the self, the influence of social interaction and experiences with language on cognitive development, and the development of internal thought and consciousness. It is asserted that the Montessori method provides the means for the kind of social and individual growth that enables children to become "the heroes of their own lives," and leads to confident and responsible participation in a democratic culture. Concluding remarks focus on the importance of the concept of the "zone of proximal development" as a sign to teachers of a limit to their knowledge of children, and an admonition to teachers to be more observant and less directing concerning learning activities of the child.

Language: English

Published: [S.I.]: [s.n.], 1988

Series: Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) , ED304210

Language: English

ISSN: 1054-0040

Language: English

ISSN: 1054-0040

Abstract/Notes: This article argues that the Montessori method can be recast as a viable contemporary, constructivist programme for early childhood education. Montessori believed that children in the crucial years from birth to age six possess extraordinary, innate mental powers to "absorb" the environment. This view was typical of the now outdated zeitgeist within which Montessori developed her innatist account of learning in children and put forward the concept of sensorial activity. Critiques of Montessori along anti-innatist lines developed by both Piaget and Vygotsky in the 1930s provide the possibility of a break with static, innatist conceptions of learning. The suggestion here is that while Piaget and Vygotsky both held Montessori in high regard, they were unhappy with her construal of "sensory education". Each wanted to use her method and materials as a vehicle for the constructive activity that children engage in when they learn. The paper argues that Montessori's early notion of activity can be the basis for a contemporary reappropriation of her work in the terms of cognitive developmental constructivism.

Language: English

ISSN: 0258-2236

Abstract/Notes: This article is reproduced from the American Montessori Society Bulletin, v. 13, no. 3 (1975), p 1-15. This article was originally published in International Review of Education, v. 20, no. 1 (1974), p. 3–16. DOI: 10.1007/BF00599526

Language: English

Published: Lexington, Massachusetts: Ginn Custom Pub., 1983

Edition: 2nd ed.

ISBN: 0-536-04367-1