Abstract/Notes: This study aims to bring clarity to the relationship between procedural mathematical work and abstracted math learning when carrying in addition and multiplication. To explore this relationship, researchers employed both quantitative and qualitative data tools that unearthed the nuances within this specific process of math learning. Participants in the study included twenty-nine students from two different schools in different mixed age groups including ages three-to-six-years-old and six-to-nine-years-old. Students participated in a six-week intervention process, working on dynamic addition and multiplication using conceptual mathematical language to support the process. The findings indicate an overall two-point increase across learning variables post intervention. The conclusion of this study implores the broader educational community to revisit systemic, procedural math learning processes. In the future, we must question the finality of manipulatives and their place in the continuum of authentic math learning.

Language: English

Published: St. Paul, Minnesota, 2019

Abstract/Notes: The goal of this research was to explore teachers' and university students' perceptions of material, cognitive and affective-motivational characteristics as well as the acceptance of didactic materials used in Montessori schools. It has been found that both teachers and university students are not familiar enough with alternative pedagogical concepts and believe there's an insufficient number of them in Croatia. While teachers prefer Cosmic Education and Mathematics materials, university students like Language Education materials more, although teachers show more willingness to use Language Education materials in teaching whereas university students use Cosmic Education materials more readily. Both university students and teachers find it most demanding to make Cosmic Education materials, but they also believe such materials to be most concrete. The results have shown that both university students and teachers are more willing to use in teaching such positively evaluated examples of Montessori didactic materials, which have been explored in this research, when they believe them to be valuable, desirable, necessary and useful.

Language: Croatian, English

DOI: 10.15516/cje.v17i3.1054

ISSN: 1848-5189, 1848-5197

Abstract/Notes: Montessori education was born in Italy more than a century ago and today it is widespread in at least 36 countries around the world. In Italy, from 2016 to 2021, the number of Montessori primary schools more than doubled. This explanatory and exploratory research is the most comprehensive evaluation of Montessori education ever conducted in Italy. We investigated: a) the impact of Montessori education on academic and socio-emotional outcomes; b) the profiles of Montessori primary school teachers and the extent to which they implemented Montessori education with fidelity. The longitudinal study on the academic outcomes was conducted on 2nd, 5th, 8th and 10th grade students in two separate cohorts. The results demonstrate that, depending on the grade and the cohort considered, Montessori students achieve similar or significantly higher scores than non-Montessori students. In some cases, they achieve more heterogeneous scores, especially in mathematics. More heterogeneous scores were expected according to the hypothesis that Montessori education aims to develop the characteristics of each one and not to standardize academic outcomes. The study on the socio-emotional outcomes was conducted on 8th grade students and it demonstrates that Montessori students achieve significantly higher scores on the empathy scale. The survey on the teachers permitted to delineate 3 different profiles of them, thanks to a cluster analysis. Only the first group of teachers, which made up half of the sample, managed to implement Montessori education with fidelity. These findings highlight two main requirements. The first is the need to continue monitoring and guiding the diffusion of Montessori education among Italian primary schools, to improve and maintain fidelity. The second concerns the reaffirmation of the value of educational practices and the principles of Montessori activism as possible answers that are still valid to the new needs of the Italian school.

Language: Italian, Spanish

Published: Roma, Italy, 2022

Language: English

Abstract/Notes: Fraction concept is one of the learning problems that often occurs in elementary students. Elementary student’s misconceptions can be caused by teacher’s misconceptions. PGSD students are teacher candidates, so they must have the correct concept then they can teach the concept of fractions correctly too. Learning must be an inspiration for students when they become teachers later. One medium that can be used to teach fraction concepts is media based on Montessori. Local culture can support the use of Montessori media. This study aims to design and validate the learning sequence of PGSD Students in using Montessori media, to develop design principles to teach fraction concepts in elementary school students. The approach in this research is design research which includes three phases, namely design, trial and assessment. In the design phase, researchers formulate students’ prior knowledge and learning objectives. This is used as the basis for the sequence of learning. This stage of learning is evaluated in a repeat trial phases, the hypothesis design principle is developed and from which the learning stages are redesigned. The results of the assessment phase, together with the experience of the previous cycle and research review, are used to perfect the design principles of the student’s learning sequences so they can teach the concept of fractions correctly. From: The 7th South East Asia Design Research International Conference (SEADRIC 2019) 25-27 July 2019, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Language: English

DOI: 10.1088/1742-6596/1470/1/012083

ISSN: 1742-6596

Abstract/Notes: The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of mindfulness-based interventions, such as the MindUP curriculum and Exercises of Practical Life, on primary and elementary aged students’ self-regulation skills. This study consisted of a sample size of 38 students from three different Montessori environments. The data was collected over a period of four weeks using a pre and post parent assessment, observational field notes and tally sheets, and a behavioral student self-assessment tool. Results show a connection between the mindfulness interventions implemented and the children’s ability to self-regulate their behaviors and emotions. The data shows positive effects on student self-regulatory skills and it can be integrated into the classroom to facilitate student academic achievement. Our recommendation for future research is to allow for more time to conduct the study.

Language: English

Published: St. Paul, Minnesota, 2019

Abstract/Notes: Prosocial behavior first appears in the second year of life. How can prosociality so early in life be explained? One possibility is that infants possess specialized cognitive and/or social capacities that drive its emergence. A second possibility is that prosocial behavior emerges out of infants' shared activities and relationships with others. These possibilities have motivated a number of current explanatory efforts, with a focus on two complementary questions. First, what is evolutionarily prepared in the very young child and how does it give rise to prosocial behavior? Second, how do proximal mechanisms, including social experiences, contribute to the early development of prosociality? The papers in this special issue represent some of the most recent work on these questions. They highlight a diverse array of new methods and bring them to bear on the nature and development of early prosocial understanding and behavior.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1111/infa.12004

ISSN: 1532-7078

Abstract/Notes: Positive behavioral supports (PBS) and the development of behaviorally oriented planning has become a ubiquitous paradigm in American schools. It is the preferred model for addressing behavioral issues with children as a means of preventing special education identification and placement. The effectiveness of this model has been well documented in peer-reviewed journals and shows an ability to change behaviors and improve academic achievement as measured by empirically designed assessments. However, the measurement of intellectual, moral and behavioral autonomy is seldom measured. Also, researchers from one perspective (Applied Behavioral Analysis) preclude other theoretical perspectives, to create the bulk of the evidence proving the usefulness of PBS as a viable model. It is the purpose of this paper to describe and support the contention that it is the concept of autonomy that is essential in measuring the success of behaviorally related interventions. This goal will be attained by deconstructing the PBS model. Further, it is an additional contention addressed in this paper that various Montessori methods and the theory’s fundamental theoretical concepts do a better job of addressing authentic change and the development of autonomy. This will result in internalized behaviors that behaviorally oriented methods can never demonstrate. A new theoretical model will be presented to illustrate the incorporation of autonomy into the rubric of successful behaviorally related interventions.

Language: English

ISSN: 1545-0473

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

Language: English

DOI: 10.3102/00028312029004757

ISSN: 0002-8312, 1935-1011