Abstract/Notes: This research explores principles from the Montessori method to inspire a guiding framework that can be employed to enhance the delivery of adult upskilling and re-skilling initiatives. Humanity is witnessing a technological revolution and recovering from the ongoing global pandemic that began in 2020. The effects of COVID-19 extended far beyond physical health, impacting labour market conditions and exacerbating stresses on labour shortages and labour skill gaps. This means that workforce innovation will be critical for economic recovery. Workforce innovation and development involves testing, sharing, and implementing new approaches to employment and training initiatives. More than 100 years ago, amidst the rapid social and economic change that was taking place across Europe, Maria Montessori envisioned a new kind of education that could play a part in a broad social innovation program. She opened the first Casa dei Bambini (Children’s House), aiming for the recovery of an entire community in San Lorenzo, Rome. At the time, San Lorenzo was known as the “shame of Italy”; with the introduction of the Montessori method, it soon became a beacon of hope for the community and the world. The Montessori Method was built on six primary principles: observation; freedom with limits; respect; hands-on learning; independence; and a prepared environment that is designed for children to choose freely from several developmentally appropriate activities. For Montessori, education (which she conceived of as active learning experience in the form of work) was integral to the growth of the child and the formation of a new world. This core philosophy is not restricted to children, however; Montessori’s core principles have been explored in adult learning; as part of designing and delivering healthcare programs for older adults around the world; and in language and social programs for adults at risk of social isolation in Europe. This major research project will focus on exploring how the core principles of the Montessori Method can be applied to support future-ready adult learning to inspire workforce innovation and development in Canada. With a goal of supporting upskilling and re-skilling design innovation, and of prioritizing skills-training and development offerings for groups who face the greatest number of barriers (including racialized women and skilled recent immigrant talent), this study uses a heuristic inquiry approach to explore the question of how employment and skills training programs might learn from, and leverage the core principles of, the Montessori method to respond to and meet the skills gaps and labour shortages in Canada. Through a literature review and Causal Layered Analysis (CLA), this research project offers a Montessori-inspired, principle-focused guide to supporting future-ready adult learning environments.

Language: English

Published: Ontario, Canada, 2023

Abstract/Notes: The purpose of this study was to develop the tool which evaluate the performance about the class life, sensorial ability, language, mathematics, social ability and art. Cronbach's α and reexamination number was used for credibility of the developed tool. Cranbach's α was over mean 0.90 and figures among the totol score. / 본 연구는 몬테소리 유아교육과정을 실시하는 기관에서 일상생활 연습, 감각, 언어, 수학, 사회, 과학, 미술의 7개 영역에 대한 유아의 수행능력을 구체적이고 객관적으로 평가할 수 있는 도구를 개발하고자 하는 목적으로 이루어졌다. 개발된 평가도구의 신뢰도를 알아보기 위하여 Cronbach's α과 재검사 계수를 산출하였다. Cronbach's α값은 평균 0.90이상으로 높은 문항내적 합치도를 보여주었다. 또한 본 연구자들이 개발한 수행평가의 7개 구인과 총점간 상관계수도 대체적으로 높게 나타났다.

Language: Korean

ISSN: 1226-9417

Abstract/Notes: This research was planned to inspect the difference of children's literacy development and socio-emotional development according to their genders and ages. The subjects of the study were 62 four to five year old children, 26 boys and 36 girls. The result of this study showed that according to the children's ages, their socio-emotional development had shown meaningful differences, especially in internal control, stabilitiveness in the institute, independence to teachers, peer interaction. Moreover children's socio-emotional development are different by their gender variance. To the five year old children, girls are more developed than boys in socio-emotional development. However there was no difference between 4 year old boys and girls. In literacy development, The difference was showed not by gender but by age variance. / 본 연구는 만 4,5세 유아의 성별과 연령별로 언어발달과 사회정서발달의 차이를 알아보는 데 그 목적이 있다. 연구대상은 만 4-5세 유아 62명이며 성별로는 남아 26명, 여아 36명이고 연령별로는 만 4세 32명, 만 5세 30명이다. 연구결과 연령의 증가와 함께 사회정서발달 특히 내적통제, 유치원에서의 안정감, 호기심, 교사에의 비의존성, 또래와의 상호작용에서 유의미한 차이가 있는 것으로 나타났다. 또한 유아의 성별에 의해서도 사회정서발달에 차이가 있는 것으로 즉, 만 5세 유아는 여아가 남아보다 사회정서발달이 높은 것으로 나타났다. 하지만 만 4세에서는 성별에 의한 차이가 보이지 않았다. 언어발달은 연령의 증가와 함께 언어능력도 차이가 있는 것으로 나타났으나 성별에서는 남아와 여아와의 차이가 나타나지 않았다.

Language: Korean

ISSN: 1226-9417

Abstract/Notes: This study is aimed at determining the development of animal concepts by age in young children and suggesting a direction of biology education for young children accordingly. For this purpose, a survey using revised questionnaires on animal concepts based on previous research of animal concepts (Bo-young Rhee, 2009) was conducted among 56 young children ages 3 to 5 enrolled in early childhood education institutions in D city and analyzed to investigate changes in young children's animal concepts by age. The survey results found that animal concepts in young children are developed with advancing age. They also showed preconception on animals in young children such as the concepts on characteristics, life cycle and surrounding environment of animals. Therefore, these findings suggest that biology educational activities for acquiring concepts, value, and attitude should be organized along with perceptual observation when composing educational activities on animals in the field of early childhood education since ymmg children may have difficulty in getting correct concepts only from their perceptual experiences. / 본 연구는 유아의 연령에 따른 동물개념발달을 알아보고 그에 따른 유야생물교육의 방향올 제시 하는데 그 목적이 있다. 이를 위해 D시에 위치한 유아교육기관의 3·4·5세 유아 56명을 대상으로 이보영(2009)의 동물개념 연구에 기초하여 본 연구자가 수정 보완한 동물개념 질문지로 연령에 따른 유아들의 동물개념 변화를 분석하였다. 연구결과 유아의 연령의 증가에 따라 동물개념은 발달하는 것으로 나타났다. 또한 동물개념의 범주별로 분석한 결과 동물의 특징, 동물의 생활주기, 동물의 주변환경과의 관계에 대한 개념과 문항별 분석의 결과 유아들의 동물에 대한 사전개념올 알 수 있었다. 결과적으로 유아교육현장에서 동물올 주제로 교육활동올 구성 할 때, 유아들이 지각적인 경험만으로는 정확한 개념을 획득하기 어려운 부분이 있다. 따라서 유아의 생물교육을 위해서는 지각적인 관찰과 더불어 개념, 가치 그리고 태도 획득을 위한 생물교육활동을 구성하여야 하는 필요성을 시사해 준다.

Language: Korean

ISSN: 1226-9417

Language: Korean

ISSN: 1226-2722

Abstract/Notes: The views and claims of Piaget and Montessori on child language development are compared and studied in comparison with those of other scholars in linguistics and psycholingustics. Most of their views and claims are converging on the following points. First, language development is biologically determined, the linguistic environment having only a triggering effect for the activation of the innate capacity of language development. Second, language development has no direct effects but only indirect ones on intellectual development. Third, the critical period of language development is roughly between the ages of 2 and 10, and there appears an "explosive" period of language development between the ages of 2 and 3 These findings on language development are yet to be fully utilized in early childhood language education through extensive experimental researches.

Language: Korean

Abstract/Notes: This article examines the effects of Montessori music-movement activities on the development of the rhythmic abilities of 59 children from Montessori preschools, aged between 3 and 6 years. Children were deployed into two experimental groups (EG 1 (n = 20) & EG 2 (n = 22)) and a control group (CG) (n = 17). Our intervention consisted of introducing 15 to 20 min of unstructured movement time, either accompanied by a piano (EG 1) or recording (EG 2), three times a week for four months, whereas the control group carried on the usual Montessori program. We used a quasi-experimental nonequivalent groups design with pretest–posttest. Three tests for measuring rhythmic abilities were used: auditory discrimination of the rhythmic patterns, imitation of spoken rhythmic phrases, and determining the synchronization of movement with the rhythm of the music. The interventions had a positive effect on the development of the rhythmic abilities of children included in the study. The most significant effect was noticed in EG 1, while no effect of non-activity was detected in the control group.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1007/s10643-023-01459-x

ISSN: 1573-1707

Abstract/Notes: This action research project was instigated to determine the effects of professional development (PD) for practicing Montessori teachers using the Montessori Language materials. The specific targeted materials included: vocabulary cards, sound analysis, sandpaper letters, moveable alphabet, pencil use, and reading. The research took place during a four week period in a large west coast Montessori school that serves children between 18 months and 12 years old. The teachers who participated in the study all worked with children between the ages of 3 – 6 years old. The data was collected using a provider journal (notes taken by the researcher during the PD sessions), questionnaires and weekly teacher logs. The researcher used available PD literature to plan and execute the study, which highlighted the importance of teachers participating in PD that was designed around participant identified content. The literature also provided guidance as to the content methods to incorporate into the PD sessions. At the conclusion of the study, findings revealed that the teachers benefited from support in all the language categories listed. They also became aware of the content delivery methods that best met their individual needs. Future research is needed to determine the content and delivery needs of teachers in different stages of their careers.

Language: English

Published: St. Paul, Minnesota, 2016

Abstract/Notes: Fostering creative minds has always been a premise to ensure adaptation to new challenges of human civilization. While some alternative educational settings (i.e., Montessori) were shown to nurture creative skills, it is unknown how they impact underlying brain mechanisms across the school years. This study assessed creative thinking and resting-state functional connectivity via fMRI in 75 children (4–18 y.o.) enrolled either in Montessori or traditional schools. We found that pedagogy significantly influenced creative performance and underlying brain networks. Replicating past work, Montessori-schooled children showed higher scores on creative thinking tests. Using static functional connectivity analysis, we found that Montessori-schooled children showed decreased within-network functional connectivity of the salience network. Moreover, using dynamic functional connectivity, we found that traditionally-schooled children spent more time in a brain state characterized by high intra-default mode network connectivity. These findings suggest that pedagogy may influence brain networks relevant to creative thinking—particularly the default and salience networks. Further research is needed, like a longitudinal study, to verify these results given the implications for educational practitioners. Research Highlights Most executive jobs are prospected to be obsolete within several decades, so creative skills are seen as essential for the near future. School experience has been shown to play a role in creativity development, however, the underlying brain mechanisms remained under-investigated yet. Seventy-five 4–18 years-old children, from Montessori or traditional schools, performed a creativity task at the behavioral level, and a 6-min resting-state MR scan. We uniquely report preliminary evidence for the impact of pedagogy on functional brain networks.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1111/desc.13389

ISSN: 1467-7687

Abstract/Notes: The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how Montessori middle school educators described the use of project-based and student-centered learning to teach social development to their adolescent female students in the southeast region of the United States. The theoretical framework providing a lens for this examination of project-based and student-centered learning and how teachers described how such learning exercised on their students’ social development was Vygotsky’s social learning and development theory. Two research questions were posed for this study. RQ1 asked: How do Montessori middle school educators describe the use of project-based learning to teach social development to their adolescent female students? RQ2 asked: How do Montessori middle school educators describe the use of student-centered learning to teach social development to their adolescent female students? The sample (N = 30) completed 30 questionnaires, 10 individual semi-structured interviews via Zoom, and a 3-member focus group via Zoom. The sampling strategy was purposeful sampling. All participants originated from the southeast region of the United States and represented one school. An open-ended questionnaire, semi-structured interviews, and a focus group were the sources of data. Thematic analysis with an inductive coding approach was performed to identify, analyze, and report patterns emerging from the data. Four key themes emerged: (a) promoting the construction of knowledge; (b) student voice and choice; (c) student ownership and agency; (d) construction of learning. The results highlighted the important role that Montessori middle school educators play when teaching adolescents girls.

Language: English

Published: Phoenix, Arizona, 2021