Language: English

Abstract/Notes: The purpose of the study was to investigate the views of Montessori preschool teachers on inclusive education in Montessori approach. The views of 18 participants were examined in this study. All participants were selected from Ankara and İstanbul and they were investigated by a semi-structured interview protocol that was developed by the researcher based on the literature review. The protocol contained questions in three major parts; these were demographic questions about participants, questions about views on inclusive education and questions about views on inclusive education in Montessori approach and its advantageous and disadvantageous for children with disabilities. Phenomenology design was employed in the study and purposive sampling was used to reach the participants. According to findings of content analysis, Montessori teachers stated that they did not find themselves adequately educated and experienced in inclusive education but a large part of them thought that inclusive education is good for development of both disabled and non-disabled students. On the other hand, Montessori teachers expressed that enabling children to be independent and to encourage them to make their own decisions are the most important point of Montessori understanding. However, when considered in terms of disabled students, most teachers indicated that such liberal environment could constitute disadvantages for such students. Teachers stated that an educational environment which is structured and where influence of the teacher is more intensive would be better in terms of education of the disabled child, particularly when working with students with severe disabilities or students with attention deficit or autism. / Bu çalışma, Montessori anaokullarında çalışan okul öncesi öğretmenlerinin bütünleştirme eğitimi ve Montessori yaklaşımında bütünleştirme uygulamaları hakkındaki görüşlerini anlamayı amaçlamıştır. Çalışma 18 katılımcıyı kapsamaktadır. Tüm katılımcılar Ankara ve İstanbul ilinde Montessori okullarında çalışan okul öncesi öğretmenleri arasından seçilmiş olup, görüşmeler araştırmacı tarafından geliştirilen yarı yapılandırılmış görüşme formu ile yapılmıştır. Görüşme formu üç ana bölümden oluşmaktadır. İlk bölümde katılımcılar hakkındaki demografik bilgiler sorgulanırken, ikinci bölümde katılımcıların bütünleştirme eğitimi hakkındaki görüşleri ve son bölümde ise katılımcıların Montessori eğitimindeki bütünleştirme uygulamaları hakkındaki görüşleri sorgulanmıştır. Çalışmanın sonunda nitel analiz yapılmış olup bulgulara göre Montessori öğretmenleri bütünleştirme eğitimi konusunda kendilerini yeterince eğitimli ve deneyimli bulmadıklarını belirtmiş, ancak bütünleştirme eğitiminin hem engelli hem de engelsiz öğrenciler için faydalı olduğunu düşündüklerini ifade etmiştir. Öte yandan, Montessori öğretmenleri Montessori eğitiminin çocuğun bağımsız bir birey olmasında önemli bir rol oynadığını ifade etmiş, çocukların kendi kararlarını vermelerini teşvik etmenin Montessori anlayışının en önemli noktaları olduğunu belirtmiştir. Ancak engelli öğrenciler açısından değerlendirildiğinde öğretmenlerin çoğu bu özgürlükçü ortamın engelli öğrenciler için dezavantajlar oluşturabileceğini söylemiştir. Öğretmenler, özellikle ağır engelli öğrenciler ya da dikkat dağınıklığı olan ya da otizmli öğrenciler ile çalışırken öğretmenin etkisinin daha yoğun olduğu, yapılandırılmış bir eğitim ortamının çocuğun eğitimi açısından daha iyi olacağını ifade etmiştir.

Language: English

Published: Ankara, Turkey, 2019

Language: English

Abstract/Notes: The purpose of this study is to determine whether teachers' attitudes towards family participation in preschool education institutions that adopt the approaches related to Montessori, Reggio Emilia and MEB education programs differ. In addition, teachers' level of education, age, type of institution, professional qualifications and professional experiences are also considered as variables. In addition, the opinions of pre-school teachers about family participation were examined comparatively. The sample of the study consists of 81 preschool teachers working in the educational institutions that adopt the approaches related to Montessori, Reggio Emilia and MEB education programs in Kadıköy, Maltepe and Ataşehir districts of Istanbul province in the 2018-2019 Academic Year. The Attitude Scale on Family Participation Studies for Teachers and the Personal Information Form containing open-ended questions for family participation were simultaneously filled in order to reveal the similarities and differences in family participation studies. According to the results of the study; the attitude points of the teachers who work in preschool education institutions which adopt the approaches related to Montessori, Reggio Emilia and MEB programs have shown a significant difference. In this context, it was determined that the scores obtained from the attitude scale differed according to the approaches.The attitude scores of the teachers working in preschool education institutions, which adopted the Reggio Emilia approach, was higher than the attitude scores of the teachers working in preschool education institutions that adopted the Montessori and MEB educational approaches. In addition, the attitudes of pre-school teachers towards family participation showed statistically significant differences according to age and category of the institution they served. However, it was determined that the attitudes of pre-school teachers towards family participation did not show a statistically significant difference between the professional title and professional experience categories. At the same time, it was concluded that preschool teachers' views on family participation reflect the educational approaches adopted by preschools. / Bu çalışmanın amacı, Montessori, Reggio Emilia ve Milli Eğitim Bakanlığı eğitim programlarına ilişkin yaklaşımları benimseyen okul öncesi eğitim kurumlarında aile katılımına ilişkin öğretmen tutumlarının farklılık gösterip göstermediğini ortaya koymaktır. Ayrıca öğretmenlerin öğrenim düzeyi, yaşı, görev yaptıkları kurum çeşidi, mesleki ünvanları ve mesleki deneyimleri gibi özellikler de değişken olarak ele alınmıştır. Ayrıca okul öncesi öğretmenlerinin aile katılımına yönelik görüşleri karşılaştırmalı olarak incelenmiştir. Araştırmanın çalışma grubunu 2018-2019 Eğitim Öğretim yılında İstanbul iline bağlı Kadıköy, Maltepe ve Ataşehir ilçelerinde bulunan Montessori, Reggio Emilia ve MEB eğitim programlarına ilişkin yaklaşımları benimseyen eğitim kurumlarında görev yapan 81 okul öncesi öğretmeni oluşturmaktadır. Çalışma grubunu oluşturan okul öncesi öğretmenlerine "Öğretmenler İçin Aile Katılım Çalışmaları Hakkında Tutum Ölçeği" ile aile katılım çalışmalarındaki benzerlikleri ve farklılıkları ortaya koymak amacıyla demografik bilgileri ve aile katılımına yönelik açık uçlu soruları içeren "Kişisel Bilgi Formu" eş zamanlı olarak doldurtulmuştur. Araştırmanın sonucuna göre; Montessori, Reggio Emilia ve MEB programlarına ilişkin yaklaşımları benimseyen okul öncesi eğitim kurumlarında görev yapan öğretmenlerin aile katılımına yönelik tutum puanları anlamlı farklılık göstermiştir. Bu bağlamda tutum ölçeğinden alınan puanların yaklaşımlara göre farklılık gösterdiği tespit edilmiştir. Reggio Emilia yaklaşımını benimseyen okul öncesi eğitim kurumlarında görev yapan öğretmenlerin tutum puanları Montessori ve MEB eğitim yaklaşlarımını benimseyen okul öncesi eğitim kurumlarında görev yapan öğretmenlerin tutum puanlarından yüksek çıkmıştır. Ayrıca okul öncesi öğretmenlerinin aile katılımına yönelik tutumları yaş ve görev yaptıkları kurum çeşidi kategorilerine göre istatistiksel olarak anlamlı farklılık göstermiştir. Ancak okul öncesi öğretmenlerinin aile katılımına yönelik tutumlarının mesleki ünvan ve mesleki deneyim kategorilerinin istatistiksel olarak anlamlı farklılık göstermediği tespit edilmiştir. Bununla birlikte okul öncesi öğretmenlerinin aile katılımına yönelik görüşlerinin görev yaptıkları anaokulları tarafından benimsenen eğitim yaklaşımlarını yansıttığı sonucuna ulaşılmıştır.

Language: Turkish

Published: Istanbul, Turkey, 2019

Abstract/Notes: The purpose of the study was to investigate and compare teachers’ and parents’ beliefs about children’s self-care behaviors considering child (age, gender, having sibling), parent (socioeconomic status) and teacher-related (teaching experience) characteristics and to investigate and compare the beliefs about the self-care implementations. Explanatory mixed-methods design was used. The data was gathered from 208 early-childhood educators in nine central districts of Ankara and 531 parents whose children were educated in these teachers' classrooms. Quantitative data were collected with the “The Beliefs on Young Children’s Self Care Behaviors Survey” and “demographic information form”. Then, semi-structured interviews were done with 10 preschool teachers and 11 parents on a voluntary basis. According to results of the study, teachers believed the development of self-care behaviors as children grow, despite no dramatic changes in their observations according to age. The parents also had similar beliefs, and their observations about the certain behaviors changed. Considering children’s gender, the participants believed girls having better self-care skills, despite no dramatic differences in their observations. Considering the “having sibling”, parents’ observations differed in certain behaviors unlike teachers’ observations. Participants believed positive impact of having sibling on self-care. Moreover, as considering SES, teachers’ observations did not change according to SES unlike parents’ observations. Participants had different beliefs about the effect of SES on self-care. Besides, according to teaching experience, the observation of “self-protection from accidents” behaviors increased systematically. Additionally, some problems were encountered in self-care implementations. The participants’ belief about the factors negatively effecting the implementations were similar.

Language: English

Published: Ankara, Turkey, 2022

Abstract/Notes: In sociological investigation, Weber (1968) believes that concrete historical events can be interpreted in terms of social action. These patterns of action differ from historical accounts, which explore the importance of causal explanation of individual events. Entwistle and Alexander (1993) contend that sociologists of education have paid little attention to patterns of class interaction and inequality in preschools. Adding to Hartley's (1993) work on nursery schools in Scotland, and using an organizational model with a sociohistorical standpoint, this ethnographic case study helps to bridge that gap by concentrating on the historical and ecological contexts of (1) a Laboratory school; (2) a Montessori school; and, (3) a Head Start center. The central problem of the study seeks an answer to the question "If inequalities in preschools exist, what do they look like?" This study assumes that historically educational systems have exerted a form of social control over children in order to transmit cultural values. Part I of the study examines ancient and modern societies, their cultures and their philosophical grounding to reveal the values and trends that contribute to social change in the early education of children. Part II adds a triangulation strategy to explore the ecology (environment and culture) of the three schools in the study. These strategies include archival content analysis of the preschool organizations, nonparticipant observation of the classrooms (Bell, 1993), intensive interviewing of the staff and administration members and a brief survey of the preschool parents. This study draws from the sociology of Weber's "ideal bureaucracy," Berger's "bureaucratic cognitive style," Elias' "civilizing process," Bernstein's "visible and invisible" pedagogy, Bourdieu's "cultural capital" and Anyon's "biased ideological messages." In this exploratory study, the data analysis uses a descriptive methodology, not to draw conclusions, but similar to Glaser and Strauss' "grounded theory" to introduce questions to be explored further by researchers. A final section on policy recommendations is included.

Language: English

Published: Boston, Massachusetts, 2000

Abstract/Notes: In this study, 173 preschool teachers (80 non-Montessori teachers and 93 Montessori teachers) were given a survey at two early childhood professional conferences that examined their beliefs about Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP). The purpose of this study was to (a) investigate preschool teachers' beliefs about Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) and Developmentally Inappropriate Practice (DIP); (b) discover the similarities and differences in the factor structures of the Teacher's Beliefs Scale (TBS) between the study conducted by Charlesworth, Hart, Burts, Thomasson, Mosley, and Fleege in 1993 and the current study about DAP; (c) discover the similarities and differences of Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP) and Developmentally Inappropriate Practice (DIP) beliefs between Montessori teachers and preschool teachers; and (d) investigate the factors that are related to teachers' beliefs about DAP and DIP. The Teacher Beliefs Scale (TBS) was used to assess preschool teachers' beliefs about DAP and DIP. Factor analysis was used to support the validity of TBS in the current study. Multiple t-tests were used to identify the differences in developmental appropriate/inappropriate beliefs between Montessori and non-Montessori teachers. Multiple regression analyses were used to explain the relationship between variables of 173 Montessori and non-Montessori preschool teachers. Results of the study showed that a majority of preschool teachers agreed with 22 Developmentally Appropriate Practices (DAP) and 12 Developmentally Inappropriate Practices (DIP). Responses to seven items were different from the original study (Charlesworth et al., 1993). There was a significant difference on Inappropriate Activities and on Appropriate Child Choice between non-Montessori and Montessori teachers. There was a relationship between teachers' beliefs about DAP and teachers' educational backgrounds, teaching experiences, ethics, and DAP understanding level in the current study.

Language: English

Published: Greeley, Colorado, 2003

Abstract/Notes: A social skills intervention was implemented at two suburban preschools. The purpose of the intervention was to develop subjects' empathic and social problem-solving skills to test whether this training would increase prosocial behavior in class. In addition, the study compared the effectiveness of two teaching methods in promoting cognitive and affective skills: training using role playing and discussion-based training. The subjects were 45 children of both sexes between the ages of four-and-one-half to five-and-one-half years. At each school, teachers led one of three training groups: empathy and problem-solving using role playing; the same training using discussion; home and outdoor safety training, which served as an attention-control group. Training sessions were conducted for 15 to 20 minutes, three times a week for six weeks. Pre- and post-intervention empathy, role-taking, problem-solving scores, observational behavior ratings, and teacher ratings using the Devereux scales were administered. Results of pre-testing revealed expected, significant associations between cognitive and affective skills and between these abilities and subjects' social behavior, with empathy showing the strongest associations. Responses to affective measures, however, did not prove to be consistent across emotions. Empathic and role-taking responses to anger and fear stimuli were unrelated to responses to happiness and sadness stimuli, yet were associated most strongly with observed and rated social behaviors. No significant differences in gain scores emerged across the three treatment groups on outcome measures, although gains in cognitive and affective skills correlated significantly with behavioral improvement. The most likely reasons for this lack of training effects across groups were: all children were from a higher SES background and displayed fewer behavioral problems than subjects used by many other studies in this area; children at one setting (a Montessori program) were much less receptive to a group social skills approach; the small sample size provided insufficient statistical power to assess small effects. Implications of the study's findings for future measurement and training of empathy and social problem-solving skills were discussed.

Language: English

Published: Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1983

Abstract/Notes: This study describes and evalutes the first year of a bilingual Montessori early childhood program implemented at two sites in central Texas. In-depth descriptions are provided of two program components--oral language development and classroom management. Hypotheses related to changes in students' language proficiency and classroom behavior were tested, using the James Language Dominance Test to measure comprehension and production of Spanish and English, and the Coping Analysis Schedule for Educational Settings to assess changes in students' behavior. The description of the oral language development component of the program includes instructional activities for vocabulary enrichment, isolating the sounds of language, and clarifying the functions of words. Adaptations of the Montessori method for implementation in a bilingual setting are presented, along with the discussion of two unexpected findings--the inhibition of the use of Spanish by many Mexican American children, and the association of one language or the other with a particular set of materials. The description of the classroom management component of the program includes the preparation of the environment, observation and record-keeping practices, the basic techniques for presenting materials, and "grace and courtesy lessons." Maria Montessori's views on the nature of education, the role of the teacher, and the concept of discipline and behavior change are discussed and compared to more modern theorists. The results of the formative evaluation reveal that children made significant improvements in English and Spanish comprehension and production. Behavior changes observed included positive shifts in percentage of time spent in self-directed activity, in paying attention to the task at hand, and in positive social interaction. The results of the study are basically descriptive, since only the children in this program were tested and observed. The results indicate that the program goals for the first year were met, and point to a number of possible changes for program improvement, including the use of more Spanish, the recruitment of more Spanish-dominant students, the development of separate sets of materials for Spanish and English instruction, and the sharing by teachers of their particular classroom management strategies.

Language: English

Published: Austin, Texas, 1980

Language: English

Published: Nashville, Tennessee, 1976