Language: English

Abstract/Notes: We investigated the role of three beliefs in predicting teachers’ motivating style toward students—namely, how effective, how normative, and how easy-to-implement autonomy-supportive and controlling teaching were each believed to be. We further examined national collectivism–individualism as a predictor of individual teachers’ motivating style and beliefs about motivating style, as we expected that a collectivistic perspective would tend teachers toward the controlling style and toward positive beliefs about that style. Participants were 815 full-time PreK-12 public school teachers from eight different nations that varied in collectivism–individualism. All three teacher beliefs explained independent and substantial variance in teachers’ self-described motivating styles. Believed effectiveness was a particularly strong predictor of self-described motivating style. Collectivism–individualism predicted which teachers were most likely to self-describe a controlling motivating style, and a mediation analysis showed that teachers in collectivistic nations self-described a controlling style because they believed it to be culturally normative classroom practice. These findings enhance the literature on the antecedents of teachers’ motivating styles by showing that teacher beliefs strongly predict motivating style, and that culture informs one of these beliefs—namely, normalcy.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1007/s11031-013-9367-0

ISSN: 1573-6644

Abstract/Notes: After showing discipline's centrality in Kant's pedagogy, I briefly highlight Montessori's alternative and then turn to three fundamental differences between Kant and Montessori that partly explain their divergent accounts. My goal is not to assess whether Kant or Montessori gets the role of discipline ‘right’, but to highlight broader stakes of their disagreement and ways deeper features of Kant's psychology and moral theory ground his emphasis on discipline.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1111/1467-9752.12599

ISSN: 1467-9752

Abstract/Notes: Research involving children, deemed to have difficulties with conventional means of communication, can perpetuate reductive forms of representation of children’s knowledges and experiences. This article focuses on the possibilities and opportunities that visual and creative methods can offer to researching with children. Children advance their views in and through spontaneous and concrete forms of participation. Autonomy in aesthetic acts is central to this methodology; to explore practices that produce and reproduce presuppositions deriving from societal attitudes affecting research with children, their agency and self-presentation. This cross-cultural study was conducted in Central Italy and North West England: children contributed their perspectives and experiences through participation in a series of creative encounters resulting in aesthetic and embodied outcomes of sociological and educational significance. The study contributes to the debate on children’s autonomy and the value and quality of participation through artistic practice. Examples from the corpus of data, which includes a series of artefacts and over 900 photographs from each geo-cultural context, are presented. The study shows that it is possible to harmonise power imbalances in spaces of creative freedom, in research and education, where children’s choices and agency are respected.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1080/13645579.2019.1672280

ISSN: 1364-5579

Abstract/Notes: More than a century before modern controversies over scripted instruction, the Froebelian kindergarten--the original kindergarten method designed by Friedrich Froebel--and Maria Montessori's pedagogy were criticized for rigidly prescribing how teachers taught and children learned. Today, scripted methods such as Direct Instruction and Success for All are condemned for limiting teachers' autonomy and narrowing students' learning, especially that of students from low-income backgrounds, for and with whom scripts are often designed and used. Proponents of scripted instruction counter that it is helpful for teachers and effective with students. Comparing historical and modern scripts offers an opportunity to explore teachers' reactions to this hotly debated approach to school reform and to think about some possible implications for teacher education. I examine how teachers reacted to four different models of scripted instruction. I chose to compare the Froebelian kindergarten, Montessori, Direct Instruction, and Success for All because of their longevity, wide use, and the amount of information available about them. I focus on the scripts' theory and research base and teacher training, and on teachers' assessments of the scripts' effectiveness, and ask how these factors might influence teachers' autonomy, fidelity, and resistance when using scripts. Research Design: Using historical methods, I summarize the history of scripted instruction; selectively survey research on teacher autonomy, fidelity, and resistance; and interpret primary and secondary sources on the Froebelian kindergarten, Montessori, Direct Instruction, and Success for All. Teacher autonomy, fidelity, and resistance varied in these four scripts. Froebelian kindergarten and Montessori teachers autonomously chose to receive scripted, lengthy, intensive, pre-service training and professional development in closed professional learning communities. Direct Instruction and Success for All teachers receive scripted, relatively limited pre-service training and ongoing professional development in schools in which teachers often do not autonomously choose to teach. Despite the scripted training, most Froebelian kindergarten teachers, and many Montessori, Direct Instruction, and Success for All teachers modified these scripts at the classroom level; some Froebelian and Montessori teachers made very overt, substantial changes when the social class backgrounds of the students changed. Many Froebelian and most Montessori teachers seemed to believe that these scripts helped their students learn. Direct Instruction and Success for All teachers express more mixed views of these scripts' effectiveness. Some say that the scripts "work "for their students but that as teachers they feel constrained, a situation I see as a professional dilemma. Anecdotally, some new teachers with little pre-service training say that they feel limited by scripts but daunted by the task of creating curricula and instruction on their own. My research raises questions about teachers' reactions to scripts. The examples of Froebelian kindergarten, Montessori, Direct Instruction, and Success for All teachers I studied suggest that there may be unpredictable contradictions in scripted instruction. Scripted, autonomously chosen, intensive training may strengthen teacher fidelity and resistance, by giving teachers a deep repertoire of pedagogical skills that some continue to use and others use to autonomously modify scripts in response to students' perceived needs. Scripted, externally imposed, less extensive training may give some teachers a sense of security but also create tensions between the scripts 'perceived effectiveness and the teachers' desires for autonomy, and, for new teachers, between autonomy and the difficulty of independently designing curricula and methods. I argue that these reactions suggest that educators in traditional pre-service teacher education programs may want to experiment with offering an autonomous choice of distinctly different instructional models, including scripted ones such as Direct Instruction and Success for All, in which teachers in training in professional learning communities may become deeply skilled. I also argue that script developers may want to experiment with giving teachers more explicit autonomy, both in choosing scripts and in modifying them, and more extensive pre-service training. I recommend more comparative research on teachers' reactions to scripts, especially on new teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Language: English

ISSN: 0161-4681, 1467-9620

Abstract/Notes: This text presents a theoretical analysis of Maria Montessori’s concept of cognitive autonomy, defined as a process of gaining power and control over one’s own thinking and learning, building the ability to regulate its course and evaluate the results of learning. The main aim of the article is to present the cognitive potential included in M. Montessori’s pedagogical thinking, the undiscovered dimensions of her concepts, and the unusual actuality confirmed by the latest research results. The first part of the article presents the constructive nature of the learning process based on self-discipline, the internal ability to regulate one’s own impulses, and control them consciously. The second part of the article presents contemporary interpretations of Maria Montessori’s concepts, provided by researchers and teachers- practitioners from the perspective of new psychological and pedagogical achievements. The evolution in the thinking of Montessori teachers is seen here as being a sensitive balance, with the “purity” of Montessori’s original ideas on the one hand, and a critical reflection over one’s own personal teaching practice, and discovering problems or phenomena, which – although unnamed – are deeply rooted in the Montessori classroom environment. / Artykuł jest teoretyczną analizą montessoriańskiej koncepcji autonomii (samodzielności) poznawczej dziecka, rozumianej jako stopniowe zdobywanie kontroli nad własnym uczeniem się, budowanie zdolności do regulowania jego przebiegu i oceny efektów. Głównym celem jest ukazanie potencjału poznawczego zawartego w myśli pedagogicznej Marii Montessori, głębi jej koncepcji pedagogicznej, a zarazem zaskakującej aktualności założeń, które znajdują potwierdzenie w wynikach współczesnych badań nad uczeniem się. W pierwszej części tekstu ukazano uczenie się jako proces konstruktywistyczny, oparty na zdolności do samodyscypliny, wewnętrznego regulowania własnych impulsów, poddawania ich świadomej kontroli. W drugiej części artykułu ukazano współczesne interpretacje koncepcji M. Montessori, dokonywane przez badaczy i nauczycieli praktyków, pod wpływem najnowszych badań psychologicznych. Przedstawiona tu ewolucja poglądów nauczycieli charakteryzuje się z jednej strony dbałością o „czystość” montessoriańskiej idei, z drugiej zaś krytyczną refleksją nad własną praktyką edukacyjną i odkrywaniem w niej idei i problemów, które – choć nienazwane – tkwią głęboko zakorzenione w przygotowanym do samodzielnego uczenia się otoczeniu klasy Montessori.

Language: Polish

DOI: 10.14632/eetp.2017.13.47.89

ISSN: 1896-2327, 2353-7787

Abstract/Notes: En este artículo se profundiza en cómo se favorece la independencia en un aula Montessori y se complementa con ejemplos de casos vividos en el aula con niños y niñas de 0 a 3 años.

Language: Spanish

ISSN: 1577-5615, 2014-4628

Abstract/Notes: En este artículo se introduce el concepto de autonomía, uno de los pilares de la pedagogía Montessori, y se exponen algunos de los aspectos que intervienen en su desarrollo. El rol y la preparación del maestro, las características de los materiales educativos, así como la importancia del entorno aula son presentados y analizados en relación con el tema central del artículo.

Language: Spanish

ISSN: 1577-5615, 2014-4628

Language: English

Published: Albany, New York, 1988

Abstract/Notes: Stress and burnout among teachers are serious problems because of the negative consequences associated with them that have contributed to the current crisis in the American education system. Until the problems of teacher stress and burnout are understood and addressed, efforts to restructure American education cannot succeed. This study assessed the relationships among perceived autonomy, perceived transformational leadership style and burnout in public elementary teachers, and the moderating/mediatinginfluence of teacher orientation (Montessori and traditional) on burnout levels. An integration of Maslach’s multi-dimensional burnout theory, self-determination theory, and the theory of transformational leadership formed the theoretical foundation of the study. A nonexperimental correlational design was used with survey methodology. A convenience sample of 82 public elementary teachers were recruited via educator social media sites and professional associations. Participants completed an online survey viaSurvey Monkey. Multiple regression analyses determined strong negative relationships among the predictor variables and the three dimensions of burnout as well as the significant predictive power of the independent variables. Moderation analyses determined a significant influence of teacher orientation across these relationships. The mediation analysis determined that teaching autonomy was a significant mediator between teacher orientation and emotional exhaustion burnout. The results from this study may be used for positive social change by developing strategies to mitigate burnout in public elementary teachers, increase engagement, improve teacher retention, ultimately improving student achievement and engagement.

Language: English

Published: Minneapolis, Minnesota, 2022