Abstract/Notes: This article presents ideas about the importance of using Montessori education in the formation of creative abilities of preschool children. Recommended for use by educators and parents.

Language: English

ISSN: 2455-3662

Abstract/Notes: Introducing tangible user interfaces in the educational context is gaining attention in the Human–Computer Interaction research community. Numerous syntheses of research studies highlighted the potential impacts of tangible-based interaction on improving students’ knowledge gains, understanding, and collaboration. However, the existing literature lacks exploring the impacts that physical interaction with a tangible user interface might have on young students’ short-term retention skills and their user experience. This study set out to assess the effectiveness of tangible physical objects in empowering young learners’ short-term retention skills and their usability in an authentic educational context. The experimental study was performed at a primary school with 48 preschool students (aged 4–5) assigned to two groups to evaluate the educational potential of tangible interaction modality compared to a classical Montessori activity relying on non-augmented objects. The analyses were based on students’ responses to post-tests performed after 1 day after the learning session, and the System Usability Scale questionnaire conducted in the teacher’s presence. Results indicate the potential of interacting with the Montessori tangible user interface on supporting preschool students’ knowledge building. The usability questionnaire reveals that tangible physical objects are suitable for young learners’ use. It was found that the properties of the tangible interaction modality engaged young learners in the Montessori activity. The study contributes to the educational technology community by providing a better understanding of the potential of using tangible-based interaction modality within the classroom context to support young learners’ understanding, knowledge building, and learning engagement.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1007/s00779-022-01706-9

ISSN: 1617-4917

Abstract/Notes: Quality preschool programs that develop the whole child through age-appropriate socioemotional and cognitive skill-building hold promise for significantly improving child outcomes. However, preschool programs tend to either be teacher-led and didactic, or else to lack academic content. One preschool model that involves both child-directed, freely chosen activity and academic content is Montessori. Here we report a longitudinal study that took advantage of randomized lottery-based admission to two public Montessori magnet schools in a high-poverty American city. The final sample included 141 children, 70 in Montessori and 71 in other schools, most of whom were tested 4 times over 3 years, from the first semester to the end of preschool (ages 3 to 6), on a variety of cognitive and socio-emotional measures. Montessori preschool elevated children's outcomes in several ways. Although not different at the first test point, over time the Montessori children fared better on measures of academic achievement, social understanding, and mastery orientation, and they also reported relatively more liking of scholastic tasks. They also scored higher on executive function when they were 4. In addition to elevating overall performance on these measures, Montessori preschool also equalized outcomes among subgroups that typically have unequal outcomes. First, the difference in academic achievement between lower income Montessori and higher income conventionally schooled children was smaller at each time point, and was not (statistically speaking) significantly different at the end of the study. Second, defying the typical finding that executive function predicts academic achievement, in Montessori classrooms children with lower executive function scored as well on academic achievement as those with higher executive function. This suggests that Montessori preschool has potential to elevate and equalize important outcomes, and a larger study of public Montessori preschools is warranted.

Language: English

DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01783

ISSN: 1664-1078

Abstract/Notes: The paper presents a description and comparison of the undergraduate student teacher training and kindergarten teacher continuing education in the Montessori Method of Education encompassed in formal education in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The theoretical part of the paper aims at depicting Montessori education, still an attractive pedagogical direction in both countries, in a thorough, unconventional and innovative way. Even though Montessori education has been rooted worldwide for centuries, in Slovakia and the Czech Republic it presents relatively new alternative education, considering that an integrated school system, introduced in these countries in 1948 and lasting almost to the end of20thcentury, did not allow the use of other alternatives in addition to the mainstream education. A description of (preschool) education in both countries and an analysis of kindergarten teacher's personality and his/her lesson plans are included in the theoretical part of the paper. The empirical part contains pedagogical research of qualitative design, conducted in Slovakia and the Czech Republic in order to identify and map the current state, level and possibilities of formal education of pre-service and in-service teachers in Slovak and Czech kindergartens.

Language: English

DOI: 10.5937/IstrPed2101137S

ISSN: 2217-7337, 2406-2006

Abstract/Notes: This study examined the effects of the Montessori Method on preschool children's readiness to primary education. The research group is composed of five-six year olds attending SU MEF Ihsan Dogramaci Application Nursery School in 2009-2010 school year in Selcuklu county of Konya. The participants composed of five-six year olds were unbiasedly chosen. A total of 50 children were included in the study, 25 being in the experimental group and 25 being in the control group. In the study, Metropolitan Readiness Test was used to determine preschool school children's school readiness levels, B form of PKBS Preschool and Kindergarten Behavior Scale was used to determine preschool children's social skills, FTF-K attention gathering skills test for five-year old children was used to determine preschool children's attention gathering skills. The tests were administered to children before and after experimentation, and it was applied to experimental group again six weeks later. Mann Whitney U test and Wilcoxon signed-rank test were used to analyze the data. The general conclusion of the results obtained is that The Montessori Method makes positive contribution to preschool children's readiness to primary school and is more efficient than current preschool education program.

Language: English

ISSN: 1303-0485

Language: English

ISSN: 0028-7571

Abstract/Notes: School readiness is an important concern for parents and teachers because it is a multifaceted process which encompasses all the developmental areas and various skills of children rather than only focusing on cognitive and literacy skills. In particular, preschool and first grade teachers experience the positive and negative sides of the process of school readiness. In this study, basic qualitative research was used to compare teachers' views about school readiness. The participants were 35 preschool and 35 first grade teachers and a semi-structured interview protocol developed by the researchers was used to collect data. Qualitative analysis was performed at the end of the study and according to the findings, the following five main themes were determined: definition of school readiness, the effective people and institutions in the school readiness process, preschool education for school readiness, the difficulties encountered in the school readiness process and suggestions for effective school readiness. Also, the findings showed that preschool and first grade teachers tended to have similar views related school readiness.

Language: English

ISSN: 1303-0485

Abstract/Notes: In this research, the effect of Montessori education approach on the creativity of pre - school children in visual arts lesson was investigated and the creativity developments in students were observed. 20 students between 48-66 months were applied the Montessori Education Approach and 60 students were applied the Ministry of National Education Teacher-centereted Approach program and these two were compared to each other. Equal units are applied in both programs. This research has tried to determine the effects of visual presentations on student's creativity, reflections of artworks in terms of originality and innovations, attitudes of liberated children to lesson and their effects on achievement. The results of the research show that in the classrooms where the Montessori Education Approach is applied, the cooperation is significantly increased, the students are participated to the lectures without any instruction, the creativity is developed in the positive direction and it was seen that the students learned the places of the materials and took it when they needed it. In the visual arts education courses implementated by the Ministry of Education Program Teacher Centered Approach, teachers use visual materials, sample models, narration and question-answer methods to guide the students and reach the result which limits original and new ideas. It has been observed that the limitation of the creativity of the students is the effect of the presence of the material cupboards in closed cupboards at the height that they can not reach. / Bu araştırmada, okul öncesi eğitim programında yer alan görsel sanatlar eğitimi ders konularının, Montesori Eğitimi Yaklaşımı programı uygulanarak, yaratıcılık gelişimlerine etkisinin nasıl olduğu belirlenmeye çalışılmıştır. 48-66 ay grubundaki 20 öğrenciye Montessori Eğitimi Yaklaşım programı, aynı yaş grubundaki 60 öğrenciye Milli Eğitim Bakanlığı Öğretmen Merkezli Yaklaşım uygulanmış ve iki yaklaşım karşılaştırılmıştır. Görsel sanatlar eğitimi dersi, Milli Eğitim Bakanlığı okul öncesi programı Öğretmen Merkezli Yaklaşım ve Montessori eğitimi yaklaşımı ayrı araştırma gruplarında eşit üniteler halinde uygulanarak işlenmiştir. Bu araştırma ile görsellerle yapılan anlatım sunumlarının öğrencilerin yaratıcılıklarına etkileri, sanat çalışmalarının özgünlük ve yenilik açısından yansımaları, özgür bırakılan çocukların derse karşı tutumları, öğrenci başarısına etkileri belirlenmeye çalışılmıştır. Araştırmanın sonuçları, Montessori Eğitimi Yaklaşımı uygulanan sınıftaki öğrencilerde yardımlaşmanın önemli ölçüde arttığı, çocuklara yönelik yönerge olmadan derslere kendi istekleri doğrultusunda katıldıkları, yaratıcılıklarının olumlu yönde geliştiği ve malzemelerin yerlerini öğrenerek ihtiyaç duyduklarında aldıkları görülmüştür. Milli Eğitim Bakanlığı Programı Öğretmen Merkezli Yaklaşım ile işlenen görsel sanatlar eğitimi derslerinde, öğretmenlerin görsel materyalleri, örnek modelleri, anlatım ve soru-cevap yöntemlerini kullanmaları öğrencileri yönlendirerek özgün ve yeni fikirleri sınırlardığı sonucuna ulaşılmıştır. Öğrencilerin yaratıcılıklarının sınırlanmasında malzeme dolaplarının ulaşamayacakları yükseklikte kapalı dolaplarda bulunmasının da etkisi olduğu gözlemlenmiştir.

Language: Turkish

DOI: 10.14582/DUZGEF.1902

ISSN: 1305-0060

Abstract/Notes: Pretend play is a quintessential activity of early childhood, and adults supply children with many toys to encourage it. Do young children actually prefer to pretend, or do they do it because they are unable to engage in some activities for real? Here we examined, for nine different activities, American middle-class preschoolers' preferences for pretend and real activities. The 100 children we tested (M = 58.5 months, range 36 to 82 months) overwhelmingly preferred real activities to pretend ones, and this preference increased from age 3 to age 4, then remained steady through age 6. Children provided cogent justifications for their preferences. The results are discussed with reference to other domains in which children show reality preferences and with respect to the content of preschool curricula.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1111/desc.12582

ISSN: 1467-7687

Abstract/Notes: Purpose The purpose of this paper is to propose the activity‐based focus group as a useful method with which to generate talk‐in‐interaction among pre‐schoolers. Analytically, it aims to illustrate how transcribed talk‐in‐interaction can be subjected to a discourse analytic lens, to produce insights into how pre‐schoolers use “Coca‐Cola” as a conversational resource with which to build product‐related meanings and social selves. Design/methodology/approach Fourteen activity‐based discussion groups with pre‐schoolers aged between two and five years have been conducted in a number of settings including privately run Montessori schools and community based preschools in Dublin. The talk generated through these groups has been transcribed using the conventions of conversation analysis (CA). Passages of talk characterized by the topic of Coca‐Cola were isolated and a sub‐sample of these are analysed here using a CA‐informed discourse analytic approach. Findings A number of linguistic repertoires are drawn on, including health, permission and age. Coca‐Cola is constructed as something which is “bad” and has the potential to make one “mad”. It is an occasion‐based product permitted by parents for example as a treat, at the cinema or at McDonalds. It can be utilised to build “age‐based” social selves. “Big” boys or girls can drink Coca‐Cola but it is not suitable for “babies”. Originality/value This paper provides insight into the use of the activity‐based focus group as a data generation tool for use with pre‐schoolers. A discourse analytic approach to the interpretation of children's talk‐in‐interaction suggests that the preschool consumer is competent in accessing and employing a consumer artefact such as Coca‐Cola as a malleable resource with which to negotiate product meanings and social selves.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1108/17473610911007148

ISSN: 1747-3616