Abstract/Notes: In this paper, we report the results of a qualitative study examining the development of leadership competencies as Montessori school leaders gain experience using a coaching protocol with their teachers. Extending previous work, the emphasis is on the school leaders’ specific roles as instructional supervisors leading reflective practices. National standards, both traditional and Montessori, are a foundation to investigate a group of Montessori school leaders’ development in reference to articulated competencies, specifically for the school leader to tend to their own learning and effectiveness through reflection, study, and improvement, and to empower teachers to the highest levels of professional practice and to continuous learning and improvement. After the use of a prescribed coaching protocol, 12 Montessori school leaders from 6 schools across the United States were interviewed using a set of semistructured questions. The study results support that reflective practices lead to both improvement of practice with this group of Montessori school leaders and their respective teachers. We conclude that self-reflection is critical to a Montessori leader’s success, empowering them to model and influence reflective practices, with direct impacts on teacher reflection and school improvement. This conclusion becomes relevant as we observe our Montessori school leaders assuming numerous and complicated administrative roles, from management and teacher evaluation to instructional supervision, mentoring, and coaching teachers.

Language: English

DOI: 10.17161/jomr.v7i1.14832

ISSN: 2378-3923

Abstract/Notes: Researchers who study any intervention must rule out potential alternative explanations for their results by establishing that the program being investigated is implemented with fidelity. Various instructional practices are attributed to the Montessori Method because the term is not legally protected, meaning any school can say it is Montessori regardless of the degree to which it adheres to practices generally understood to represent Montessori education. Researchers have used a variety of tools to measure the fidelity of Montessori environments they study, but most of these tools lack an extensive psychometric foundation or are labor intensive, requiring in-person observation. The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of instruments that were developed to measure Montessori implementation through Early Childhood (EC) and Elementary (EL) teachers’ reported instructional practices. Findings supported three hypothesized dimensions of Montessori implementation (structure, curriculum, and freedom), which worked fairly well in describing practices. While the properties of these instruments are promising and provide preliminary supporting evidence, results of this analysis suggest further refinement of the items in these instruments is necessary with larger and more diverse samples. While we do not suggest that these are finalized tools, we believe they provide a valuable starting point that is a vast improvement over the requirement of investigators to develop their own instruments as part of each Montessori study they design. The authors hope other researchers will incorporate these instruments into their studies to help build a robust body of evidence supporting their use.

Language: English

DOI: 10.17161/jomr.v5i1.9797

ISSN: 2378-3923

Abstract/Notes: If the purpose of an educational system is to guide pupils towards achieving independence, then certain conditions about the design and conduct of that system must be met. In this paper, those conditions are formulated from a socio‐cultural perspective on learning and development. This paper examines the extent to which those conditions were fulfilled by teachers judged ‘good’ by their pupils and by school management in a case‐study in two Montessori secondary schools. Because discourse is assumed to play a central role when pupils work on assignments with the teacher assisting them, dialogues occurring in various teaching‐learning situations were analysed. The types of language genre used by the teachers and pupils were found to be important characteristics of the ongoing dialogues. The main results were that ‘good’ teachers excel in the adoption of a personal approach to pupils, but they work much more intuitively than systematically or deliberately to stimulate pupils' development of higher mental functions.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1080/00220270903079237

ISSN: 0022-0272

Abstract/Notes: The purpose of this qualitative case study was to investigate why the Montessori approach has been viewed as a culturally congruent educational model by some Hawaiian language immersion and culture-based (HLIC) educators and how aspects of it have been used in HLIC classrooms. Data collection included semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with 40 Hawaiian educators, document analysis, and visits to 12 school sites. Using grounded theory methodology, similarities in core teaching strategies based on shared values and worldview emerged. Challenges and nuanced distinctions were also revealed, along with an emerging and uniquely Hawaiian pedagogy. Findings indicate that educators and researchers should take worldview and beliefs into account when designing programs and creating both preservice and inservice training opportunities.

Language: English

ISSN: 0021-8731

Abstract/Notes: The study described below compares the goals, beliefs, practices and training of early childhood educators from three different origins: Montessori, Traditional and the Association of Playgroups (PPA), and reports practice of a research in progress. The information was gathered by means of a questionnaire which was sent to early childhood practitioners and which covers various subjects such as reading, writing, arithmetic, free choice, accessible activities, scoring, role played and commitment of parents. There was consensus on the main goals of early childhood practitioners, but many differences emerged between groups for beliefs, practice and training. The importance of high quality training for early childhood practitioners has been demonstrated. The Traditional group appeared to have the highest level of training and the practice is more often than not to maintain contact with current research more than the other two Montessori and PPA groups.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1007/BF03174924

ISSN: 0020-7187, 1878-4658

Abstract/Notes: The following article reflects on past theories and practices that still influence early childhood development and education today. The critical thoughts on how young children should be raised and educated by individuals such as John Locke, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Johann Pestalozzi, William Froebel, John Dewey and Maria Montessori and others are shared and discussed. Specific attention is given to their theories and practices relating to the following: the nature of children, how children come to learn, school curriculum, and instructional materials. The article concludes with an epilogue of influences which summarizes major influences of the past that still have relevance to programs for young children today. Some influences cited include: significance of proper care for the unborn, importance of exploration and play, involvement in self-directed activity, the family role in the education of the child, direct instruction should be second to real life experiences, and instructional materials should be designed with purpose.

Language: English

ISSN: 0013-1172

Abstract/Notes: This paper attempts to open out investigations in ECEC by working beyond anthropocentric accounts of gender. Drawing upon feminist new materialist philosophies we ask whether it might be possible to reconfigure ideas about gender that recognise it as produced through everyday processes and material-affective entanglements. In order to do this, we work with Montessori materials, spaces and practices to grapple with the ways that gender is produced through human-material-semiotic encounters. By focusing on familiar Montessori objects, we follow diffractive lines of enquiry to extend investigations and generate new knowledge about gender in ECEC. This shift in focus allows other accounts about gender to find expression. We argue gender can be encountered as more than an exclusively human matter; and we go on to debate what that might potentiate (i.e. that if gender is fleeting, shifting, and produced within micro-moments there is freedom to break free from narrow framings that fix people, such as ‘the Male Montessorian’, in unhelpful ways). An approach that foregrounds affect and materiality makes a hopeful, generative and expansive contribution to the field.Abbreviation: ECEC, Early Childhood Education and Care

Language: English

DOI: 10.1080/09575146.2019.1620181

ISSN: 0957-5146

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

Language: English

DOI: 10.1007/BF01559367

ISSN: 0045-6632, 2377-0767

Language: English

ISSN: 1071-6246