Abstract/Notes: Montessori schools use self-directed learning to foster reason, individualism, and freedom.

Language: English

Published: Dec 9, 2022

Abstract/Notes: Recognizing the inherent attention in examining how educational practices affect our future, there is little known about society's demands related to early childhood education. This paper aims to analyze the current preschool enrolment situation in the Euro-Western world and the demands of society, focusing attention on the characteristics needed in the prepared environment and in teacher training practices that inclusive education offers. Different socio-cultural theories have been analyzed, and practices regarding human development have been presented as they guarantee an integral development of the child, one which respects infant developmental stages and offers the right scaffolding and environment to stimulate a child's interest and potential. All these aspects are claimed in society, and are reflected in the Montessori Pedagogy principles, where thanks to the observation and knowledge regarding children's needs, educators can prepare stimulating environments that lead to personal formative development.

Language: English

DOI: 10.46328/ijres.1272

ISSN: 2148-9955

Abstract/Notes: Executive functions (EFs) in childhood predict important life outcomes. Thus, there is great interest in attempts to improve EFs early in life. Many interventions are led by trained adults, including structured training activities in the lab, and less-structured activities implemented in schools. Such programs have yielded gains in children's externally-driven executive functioning, where they are instructed on what goal-directed actions to carry out and when. However, it is less clear how children's experiences relate to their development of self-directed executive functioning, where they must determine on their own what goal-directed actions to carry out and when. We hypothesized that time spent in less-structured activities would give children opportunities to practice self-directed executive functioning, and lead to benefits. To investigate this possibility, we collected information from parents about their 6-7 year-old children's daily, annual, and typical schedules. We categorized children's activities as "structured" or "less-structured" based on categorization schemes from prior studies on child leisure time use. We assessed children's self-directed executive functioning using a well-established verbal fluency task, in which children generate members of a category and can decide on their own when to switch from one subcategory to another. The more time that children spent in less-structured activities, the better their self-directed executive functioning. The opposite was true of structured activities, which predicted poorer self-directed executive functioning. These relationships were robust (holding across increasingly strict classifications of structured and less-structured time) and specific (time use did not predict externally-driven executive functioning). We discuss implications, caveats, and ways in which potential interpretations can be distinguished in future work, to advance an understanding of this fundamental aspect of growing up.

Language: English

DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00593

ISSN: 1664-1078

Abstract/Notes: The article presents a study on the level of self-authorizing personality development conducted in 2013-2016 within a group of 69 adolescents, alumni of a Montessori school in Lublin then aged 16-21. The method for collecting empirical data was a POA questionnaire designed by K. Obuchowski, measuring 3 main dimensions of personality: subjectivity, being a person and individual valuation standards. The results proved that almost all of the graduates of Montessori classes had developed self-authoring characteristics at an optimum level. The average results of the three main dimensions of the author’s personality: subjectivity, being a person and taking an attitude are significantly higher than the theoretical average of the scale, which allows the determination of a high level of all areas of authorial personality and the co-occurrence of the aforementioned properties. The obtained values in the range of 14 differential categories of the author’s personality are significantly higher from the theoretical average of the scale and inform about the high level of all personality characteristics. There was no difference in the personality profile due to the sex of the graduates. According to Obuchowski’s observations, the respondents realize their needs and are able to distance themselves from them, develop themselves, guide the sense of their existence, positively assess themselves, their goals and the world around them. The ability of the subjects to generate a set of reasons that underlie the strongest subjective standard of valence (attitude) means not only the mastering and dominance of abstract operations, which condition the conscious creation of private knowledge, become independent of the control of a specific experience, create the opportunity for effective long-distance operation and enables them to make responsible choices. / Artykuł prezentuje badania nad poziomem rozwoju tzw. osobowości autorskiej, przeprowadzone w latach 2013–2016 na próbie 69 absolwentów szkoły Montessori w Lublinie, w wieku 16–21 lat. Do zebrania danych empirycznych posłużył opracowany przez K. Obuchowskiego kwestionariusz POA, mierzący trzy zasadnicze wymiary osobowości: podmiotowość, bycie sobą i indywidualne standardy waluacyjne. Wyniki przeprowadzonych badań pozwalają stwierdzić, że niemal wszyscy badani absolwenci szkoły Montessori rozwinęli w sobie właściwości autorskie na poziomie optymalnym. Średnie wyniki trzech głównych wymiarów osobowości autorskiej: podmiotowość, bycie osobą i ustosunkowanie są istotnie wyższe od średniej teoretycznej skali, co pozwala wnioskować o wysokim poziomie wszystkich obszarów osobowości autorskiej oraz o współwystępowaniu wspomnianych właściwości. Otrzymane wielkości średnich w zakresie 14 kategorii różnicowych osobowości autorskiej są istotnie wyższe od średniej teoretycznej skali i informują o wysokim poziomie ukształtowania wszystkich cech osobowości autorskiej. Nie odnotowano zróżnicowania profilu własności osobowości autorskiej ze względu na płeć i wiek indagowanych absolwentów. Zgodnie z obserwacjami K. Obuchowskiego, badane osoby uświadamiają sobie swoje potrzeby i potrafią się do nich zdystansować, rozwijają się, kierując sensem swojego istnienia, pozytywnie oceniają siebie, swoje cele oraz świat wokół siebie. Zdolność generowania przez badanych zestawu racji leżących u podstaw najsilniej odczuwanego podmiotowego standardu waluacji (ustosunkowanie), oznacza nie tylko opanowanie i dominację operacji abstrakcyjnych, które warunkują świadome tworzenie prywatnej wiedzy, uniezależniają od kontroli konkretnego doświadczenia, stwarzają szansę skutecznego działania na długi dystans, umożliwiają podejmowanie odpowiedzialnych wyborów.

Language: Polish

DOI: 10.14632/eetp.2017.13.47.105

ISSN: 1896-2327, 2353-7787

Abstract/Notes: School reform is an important national and international concern. The Montessori alternative school system is unique in that it is well-aligned with the science of healthy development and learning, has strong social–emotional and academic outcomes, is virtually unchanged in over a century, can be applied across all the school years, and still attracts considerable attention and allegiance—yet it remains Bon the margins^ (Whitescarver and Cossentino Teachers College Record, 110, 2571–2600, 2008) of the bulwark educational system, as often shunned as admired. Why does Montessori persist (and increasingly in the public sector) and why does it elicit such sharply contrasting reactions? This article reviews several reasons why it is admired, such as evidence of Montessori’s effectiveness, its alignment with educational psychology research, and its broad scope. The points of research alignment are presented as natural corollaries of Montessori’s central premise: independence, or self-determination. After discussing these extrinsic and intrinsic reasons why Montessori is admired, the article concludes with speculation as to why it is also shunned—namely its incommensurability with conventional education culture and what might be a consequence: frequent poor implementation. The incommensurability of evidence-based alternatives with the conventional system is also posed as a reason for radical school reform.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1007/s10648-019-09483-3

ISSN: 1040-726X, 1573-336X

Abstract/Notes: There are schools where educating the whole child was never a mere slogan and consequently has never gone out of fashion. Begun early in this century, these schools still thrive, providing evidence of the variety of ways in which holistic education takes form. This article takes a brief look at three such schools stemming from the thinking of, respectively, Maria Montessori, John Dewey, and Rudolf Steiner. I write from the vantage point of a teacher of young children for many years, and now a teacher of their teachers. My intention is to sketch out the connections as much as the contrasts among these three approaches and to trace their common heritage. When education has become as fragmented and meaningless for many children as life is for their families, a strong alliance is called for among holistic educators. We need to remind ourselves of the closeness of our basic beliefs even as we continue to enact them in varied and differing ways. The interconnections among these three approaches to education can themselves be traced to Johann H. Pestalozzi and Friedrich Froebel, and I will try to identify the roots these two pioneers shared...

Language: English

DOI: 10.1080/00131728909335517

ISSN: 0013-1725, 1938-8098

Abstract/Notes: Research Findings: This paper presents findings from an exploratory study to define associations between social–emotional teaching practices and teacher characteristics through a person-centered approach. The sample consisted of 97 teachers working in center-based early childhood education settings with young children ages 2–5 in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. We analyzed teachers’ observed classroom social–emotional teaching practices and self-reported Professional Development (PD) experiences, job attitudes (e.g., job-related stress, satisfaction, and commitment), and disciplinary efficacy to identify profile membership of teachers. A latent profile analysis revealed 4 profiles: (a) higher practice quality, higher PD experience, higher job attitudes, and higher disciplinary efficacy, (b) higher practice quality, mixed PD experience, lower job attitudes, and lower disciplinary efficacy, (c) lower practice quality, mixed PD experience, higher job attitudes, and higher disciplinary efficacy, and (d) lower practice quality, mixed PD experience, mixed job attitudes, and lower disciplinary efficacy. Practice or Policy: The results suggest that a person-centered approach to understanding classroom quality might provide multiple dimensions to consider for quality improvement. Additionally, a tailored and tiered professional development approach to support the early childhood workforce is needed that considers the complex connections between teachers’ practices, beliefs, and job attitudes.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1080/10409289.2020.1857215

ISSN: 1040-9289, 1556-6935

Abstract/Notes: This article explores the meaning of child-centeredness in Early Childhood Education (ECE), by shedding light on the nuanced tensions between teacher control and children’s freedom. While ECE professionals advocate the importance of children’s individual interests and needs in education, they diverge somewhat in their perspectives about the teacher’s role in education. This article manifests and tries to resolve this teaching dilemma through incorporating the related theories (Piaget, Vygotsky, Dewey, and Montessori) upholding and encompassing child-centeredness. The author contends that high teacher control and high children’s freedom are not exclusive of one another: children’s freedom is defined in an active way, as freedom to participate, rather than in a passive way, as freedom from any constrains. The paper concludes with a metaphor of “impressionist painting”, which may offer some insights helpful to those who have struggled with the tension between teacher control and children’s freedom in the context of progressive and critical pedagogy.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1007/s10643-007-0166-7

ISSN: 1082-3301, 1573-1707

Abstract/Notes: In large lecture courses, it can be challenging to imagine assessing student learning in ways other than multiple-choice exams and traditional point-based grading. Inspired by major pedagogical principles shared by Maria Montessori and Thomas Jefferson and supported by current understandings of effective teaching, assessment was reimagined in a large introductory-level child psychology course to allow for free choice and active engagement. Instead of exams, students created a short scientific essay each week on what most interested them; essays were assessed using a short rubric and sampling techniques. Instead of traditional point-based grading, specifications grading was used. These changes, dubbed the JeffMonte method, were associated with better student performance, were received positively by students, and increased instructor satisfaction.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1080/87567555.2022.2140097

ISSN: 8756-7555

Abstract/Notes: Overcoming challenges to quality early education in developing nations, TEACH Rwanda, one high-performing education system, offers a model of childhood learning through sensitive teacher dispositions, child-centred play, and culturally relevant materials. This manuscript provides a unique window into the practices of a quality early childhood system in Rwanda and articulates how these high-quality approaches to early childhood education can be executed successfully in developing nations with limited resources. The guidelines for practice and illustrations from real classrooms are relevant for a range of educators around the world. One key to success is the programmes’ homegrown professional development approach featuring Rwandans teaching Rwandans, which builds capacity within the system. The professional development description encourages administrators and directors to establish such programmes which can successfully build capacity and sustainability within their schools.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1080/03004430.2019.1578760

ISSN: 0300-4430, 1476-8275