Abstract/Notes: Kindergartens are socio-spatial organizations with their social and cultural as well as their spatial structures which prepare children to be responsible members of the society. In the ear ly years of the twentieth century, the issue of how to raise new generations was one of the primary research areas of many educational scientists, especially in Europe, and therefore different progressive pedagogical methods were generated. Among these views, the Waldorf pedagogical approach developed by Rudolf Steiner, Montessori pedagogical approach developed by Maria Montessori, and Reggio Emilia pedagogical approach developed by Loris Malaguzzi became prominent. Although these three pedagogical approaches have a common view that the child should be accepted as an individual with his/her rights, each of them involved different physical environment requirements in the context of their educational philosophies. The projects obtained in an architectural design studio course constitute the focus of this paper and it aims to decipher the semantic and syntactic characteristics based on twelve student projects. The semantic dimension of the study was revealed by coding the related themes through students' project reports while the syntactic dimension of the study demonstrated the prioritized social interaction area through isovist area and variance values. Considering the semantic results, it was revealed that the students not only comprehended the spatial requirements of a specific educational pedagogy but also grasped the transformative power of the methods, in terms of physical, social, and natural characteristics. Considering the syntactic results, the fact that the mean isovist area value was higher in Reggio Emilia schools showed that the piazza dominates the physical setting. The fact that the school cluster with the highest variance value emerged in Montessori draws attention to the changeability of isovist perimeter value within the interiors to orientate the individuals to the classroom units.

Language: English

Published: Bergen, Norway: Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, 2022

Pages: 25 p.

Abstract/Notes: This paper analyses the importance, role, and methods of cooperation between parents and preschool institutions through the different concepts of preschool education and different educational approaches and formal frameworks. Through educational approaches, the authors analyse how cooperation affects the implementation of preschool education in alternative educational approaches, such as the Waldorf, Montessori, and Reggio Emilia approaches, and Slovenian public preschool institutions. They envisage that different educational approaches in preschool education perceive the importance and role of cooperation with parents differently and conclude that there are various models of cooperation, which can be demonstrated through a theoretical analysis of the aforementionedalternative preschool approaches. In their view, partnership promotes a shared commitment to the quality realisation of educational goals; it also develops understanding and an ethos of openness in the relationship between all actors in the process of care and education ofpreschool children.

Language: English

DOI: 10.26529/cepsj.372

ISSN: 2232-2647, 1855-9719

Abstract/Notes: Preschool education is an important and much studied topic in developed countries, and of growing importance in the third world. Studies exploring preschool experience have noted positive effects when comparing children with access to preschool versus children without access, and effects of particular curriculum approaches over the length of primary schooling. This study adopts a focused sample, cross‐sectional design to explore the types of preschool experience available (denoted by types of preschool activities which equate broadly to curriculum approaches) and whether variation in preschool experience affects core curriculum (English, science, mathematics) performance and classroom behaviours throughout the years of primary schooling in Trinidad and when children complete their primary education in the form of a national ‘common entrance examination’ for entry into a stratified secondary school system. Results show that a large majority of the sampled children attended preschool and that most of the preschool experience was traditional and teacher centred. Neither child centred or teacher centred preschool activities affected academic performance in the core subjects during the primary school years or at the end of their primary school career. Type of preschool activity did affect teacher perception of behaviour in class. Child centred experience facilitated a social/peer orientation in children. High levels of teacher centred experience detracted from later relationships with teacher. Results were confounded by social class, with middle class children having most access to (the limited amount available) child centred preschool experience and performing at the highest academic and behavioural levels in the classroom although in limited numbers. The discussion questions the appropriacy of the various preschool activities for pupils within a cultural orientation of traditional upbringing and primary schooling practices.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1080/0300443941030103

ISSN: 0300-4430, 1476-8275

Abstract/Notes: This article is based on a study of an ‘English-medium’ preschool programme for underprivileged children. The diverse linguistic backgrounds of the teachers and students prompted an enquiry into how multiple languages would be negotiated in the setting and how comprehension, learning and communication would occur given that none of the children came from English-speaking homes. The article identifies and interprets key features of verbal language that were observed in the setting and articulates implications for educational practice.

Language: English

DOI: 10.5958/2231-4555.2019.00009.3

ISSN: 2231-4547, 2231-4555

Abstract/Notes: The study investigated the effectiveness of the Montessori way of teaching preschoolers in Akwa Ibom and Abia states in Nigeria. A correlational survey design was employed, and 200 preschoolers were selected using stratified sampling. A structured questionnaire called the Montessori Way of Teaching Preschoolers and Effective Learning Questionnaire (MTPELQ) was used for data collection. Face and content validation of the instrument was carried out by an expert in test, measurement, and evaluation. The reliability coefficient obtained was 0.83. The researcher subjected the data generated for this study to appropriate statistical techniques such as descriptive statistics and simple regression analysis. The test for significance was done at 0.05 alpha levels. The results showed that the Montessori method, particularly the "Prepared environment," had the highest percentage value among the different teaching approaches. Furthermore, there was a high extent of learning observed as a result of the Montessori way of teaching. The study also revealed a strong to perfect relationship between Montessori teaching and effective learning. The calculated F-value indicated a significant effect of Montessori teaching on learning. The study concluded that the Montessori approach is beneficial for all children, fostering their natural curiosity and respect for knowledge. One of the recommendations was that the integration of Montessori principles and methodologies into the preschool curriculum in Akwa Ibom and Abia states to enhance active engagement and comprehension of subjects.

Language: English

ISSN: 2630–7290

Abstract/Notes: The purpose of this study was to compare and contrast teacher roles in two early childhood education settings—a U.S. Montessori preschool and a traditional Saudi public preschool—and to examine the philosophical, cultural, and theoretical influences on those roles. Cognitive constructivism, social constructivism, and multi-cultural theories were used as a research framework. Data was collected from the two teacher cases in their respective settings through classroom observations, in-depth interviews, and lesson plan/student assessment documents. The study’s findings showed that the roles of a U.S. Montessori preschool teacher and the roles of a Saudi traditional preschool teacher are generally much the same. Though the contexts and the surrounding national cultures and educational philosophies contrast significantly, the work of an early childhood teacher can be summarized in five categories which were consistent between data contexts: academic instruction, relationship with students and other adults, personal and professional development, behavioral management, and environmental preparation. Complementing this general role similarity between contexts, however, was the contrast in aspects of these roles between the two case teachers: the degrees of their attention to their roles, their efforts to perform these roles with excellence, and their application of their philosophies within their particular preschool settings and national cultures. Internationally, ECE programs need clarity about teachers’ responsibilities and a greater awareness of the cultural and philosophical influences on preschool teachers’ work.

Language: English

Published: Kent, Ohio, 2017

Language: English

Published: Arlington Heights, Illinois: American Association of University Women, 1983

Abstract/Notes: When children enter preschool or kindergarten, they often seem to bring a spirit of wonder, great curiosity, and a spontaneous drive to explore, experiment and manipulate playfully and originally. Learning environments have been perceived to have the dual role of promoting as well as killing creativity. This has been attributed to the fact that as a child progresses through school years, teaching and learning become more dominant as play and self-exploration are stifled. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between play and creative drawing in Kenyan preschool children. A comparative study of the Montessori and the traditional public school system was carried out 48 preschool children between the ages of 4 and 6. Half were enrolled in Montessori while the other half in public schools Kenya. Through a qualitative design by the use of the Test of Creative Thinking Drawing Production (TCT-DP) (Urban & Jellen, 1996), and Rubin’s (2001) Play Observation Scale analyses were carried out. Independent sample t tests, Pearson product moment correlations and stepwise hierarchical multiple regressions were computed to determine whether interactions and differences in social play, cognitive play and creative drawing performance were apparent between Montessori and traditional public preschools. Statistically significant results were obtained indicating that Montessori children engaged in cognitive play more than public preschool children and had higher scores on creativity than public preschool children. In addition, age differences in social play as well as in creativity scores were found. However, no gender differences were apparent in social play, cognitive play or in creativity scores.

Language: English

Published: Munich, Germany: Herbert Utz Verlag, 2013

ISBN: 978-3-8316-4284-7

Abstract/Notes: There is now a broad international consensus that investing in early childhood education and care represents the highest “return on investment” in terms of economic and social development. The pursuit of the dual objective of efficiency and equity has resulted in a reorientation of preschool curricula towards preparation for compulsory schooling, emphasizing the acquisition of the “fundamentals” (reading, writing, and arithmetic) most useful for future academic success. The chapter offers first a comparative analysis of how this “schooling process” unfolded in French and Belgian nursery schools and in the Danish kindergarten. It attests to the persistence of specific cultural and political traditions relating to both the respective roles of the state and families in early childhood education, as well as of conceptions of childhood and relations between adults and children. Second, based on field research conducted in French-speaking Belgium, it discusses the idea that the search for children's well-being and performance at the same time creates tensions in the exercise of the teaching profession. It then shows that it is possible to understand the success of the discourse of cognitive neuroscience and so-called alternative pedagogical methods, including Montessori, because these discourses seem to propose a way to overcome these tensions.

Language: English

Published: New York, New York: Routledge, 2024

ISBN: 978-1-00-337720-7

Abstract/Notes: This meta-analysis examines the effects of Montessori Education (ME) on five dimensions of development and learning in preschool and school-age children. It includes data from 33 experimental or quasi-experimental studies comparing ME with other pedagogical approaches (268 effect sizes; n = 21,67). These studies were conducted in North-America, Asia and Europe, and published between 1991 and 2021. Effect size estimated using Hedges’ unbiased g, and a 3-level multilevel meta-analytic approach applied due to the dependency among the effect sizes obtained from the same study. Results showed that ME’s effects on development and learning are positive and vary from moderate to high, depending on the dimension considered: cognitive abilities (g = 0.17), social skills (g = 0.22), creativity (g = 0.25), motor skills (g = 0.27), and academic achievement (g = 1.10). Analyses of different moderators did not reveal differences by school level, type of publication and continent.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1016/j.cedpsych.2023.102182

ISSN: 0361-476X