Abstract/Notes: In questo lavoro di tesi sono stati delineati i tratti salienti dell’approccio educativo montessoriano, evidenziandone da una parte la profonda complessità nonché attualità che lo caratterizzata e dall’altra le numerose conferme sia dalla didattica considerata innovativa, sia dalle scienze psicologiche. È stato inoltre presentato un percorso di ricerca volto a monitorare la recente sperimentazione dell'approccio pedagogico montessoriano in alcune scuole primarie della provincia di Trento. La ricerca é stata condotta utilizzando sia strumenti di natura qualitativa (come una check list osservativa prodotta ad hoc per la ricerca), sia questionari standardizzati, con l'intento di confrontare i dati raccolti con un campione rappresentativo di una più vasta realtà scolastica. [In this thesis work, the salient features of the Montessori educational approach have been outlined, highlighting on the one hand the profound complexity and relevance that characterizes it and on the other the numerous confirmations both from the teaching considered innovative and from the psychological sciences. A research path was also presented aimed at monitoring the recent experimentation of the Montessori pedagogical approach in some primary schools in the province of Trento. The research was conducted using both qualitative tools (such as an observational check list produced ad hoc for the research), and standardized questionnaires, with the aim of comparing the data collected with a representative sample of a wider school environment.]

Language: Italian

Published: Trento, Italy, 2019

Abstract/Notes: Presented at NAEYC conference, November 11, 1977, Chicago.

Language: English

ISSN: 0277-9064

Abstract/Notes: This systematic literature review and content analysis was conducted to ascertain what research from different countries have found regarding the development of environmental awareness in the early years. Environmental awareness in the context of this study speaks to an understanding of the symbiotic relationship of the different entities coexisting within the environment. Research has shown that as children’s environmental knowledge increases, their personal attitudes are modified to more pro-environmental ways. Environmental awareness, over time, may also support children to develop a sense of identity that goes beyond the individual and encompasses how they see themselves as living cohesively as part of the environment through socialization and experience. This systematic literature review and content analysis explored what programs and practices exist in different parts of the world that engage children in various activities in biodiverse places, to support the development of their environmental awareness, which is based on their geographical location, culture, and socialization. To determine how children are supported as they develop their environmental awareness, this content analysis reviewed 80 articles from 15 countries. The findings of this systematic content analysis revealed that research from 15 countries across the world embrace the discourse of early childhood environmental education, but with different foci and objectives. These differences are sometimes determined based on social interactions, family values, community norms, national curricula, geographical locations, and culture. This systematic content analysis also revealed that young children can recognize interdependency and develop relationships with other-than-humans within the environment through programs such as nature schools, place-based education, forest schools, and other kindergarten programs. This recognition enables children to honour themselves as humans to survive and to become mindful of the needs of other entities within the environment and of the need to exist interdependently. Through programs and practices as revealed by the systematic content analysis children can deepen their environmental awareness, see themselves as part of the environment, and perhaps can then go on to participate in decision-making and action initiatives to sustain and support the environment.

Language: English

Published: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, 2022

Abstract/Notes: Der Forschungsstand zu Montessori-Schulen wurde gelegentlich so zusammengefasst, dass den Montessori-Schülern durch alle Schulstufen hindurch in den meisten Schulfächern ein Leistungsvorsprung attestiert wurde. Eine nähere Überprüfung ergibt, dass dies kaum evidenzbasiert ist, wurden doch in drei von sechs vorliegenden Studien keine wesentlichen bzw. keine konstanten Unterschiede zugunsten der Montessori-Schüler festgestellt, und auch in den anderen drei Studien konnten Leistungsvorteile für die Montessori-Schüler meist nur im mathematischen Bereich nachgewiesen werden. Dieser tendenzielle mathematische Vorteil wird oft mit dem Einsatz spezieller anschaulicher und sinnlich erfahrbarer Arbeitsmaterialien erklärt, die typischer Weise in der Montessori-Pädagogik Verwendung finden. Die Stärken der Montessori-Schulen scheinen aber insgesamt eher im Bereich des überfachlichen Lernens und der Gestaltung zufriedenstellender Lernsituationen zu liegen. Hier zeigen die Studien relativ übereinstimmend deutliche Vorteile zugunsten der Montessori-Schulen. [The state of research on Montessori schools has occasionally been summarized in such a way that Montessori students at all school levels were attested a performance advantage in most school subjects. A closer examination reveals that this is hardly evidence-based, as no significant or constant differences in favor of the Montessori students were found in three of the six available studies, and in the other three studies as well, performance advantages for the Montessori students could mostly only be proven in the mathematical field. This tendential mathematical advantage is often explained with the use of special, clear and sensual working materials that are typically used in Montessori pedagogy. Overall, however, the strengths of the Montessori schools seem to lie more in the area of ​​interdisciplinary learning and the design of satisfactory learning situations. Here, the studies show relatively consistent clear advantages in favor of the Montessori schools.]

Language: German

Published: Wiesbaden, Germany: Springer, 2018

ISBN: 978-3-658-07491-3

Abstract/Notes: Cette bibliographie sans prétendre être exhaustive montre la densité croissante des recherches historiques sur Maria Montessori réalisées en Italie ces vingt dernières années. Il existe parmi nos collègues transalpins un réseau de chercheurs en la matière où les pionniers : Clara Tornar, Giacomo Cives et Paola Trabalzini, entraînent à leur suite une pléiade de chercheurs comme Fulvio De Giorgi, Renato Foschi, Tiziana Pironi ou Erica Moretti. D’où la variété des travaux qui laissent de moins en moins de zones d’ombre dans l’œuvre de la pédagogue et dans son action. La formation de Maria Montessori imprégnée du positivisme scientifique ambiant, ses liens, parfois contradictoires, avec l’Église catholique, la théosophie et la maçonnerie, son engagement social aux côtés des féministes et des enfants des classes pauvres, ses rapports à la psychanalyse, ses relations ambigües avec le pouvoir y compris fasciste, etc. sont passés au peigne fin. Cependant, tout n’est pas encore exploré concernant Maria Montessori et, surtout, le mouvement qu’elle a fondé. Les enfants qui bénéficièrent de la pédagogie montessorienne et leur devenir scolaire restent sous-étudiés, ainsi que la place du montessorisme dans l’école publique, question sensible pour les Français. Mais le travail de nos collègues italiens a largement ouvert la voie... [This bibliography, without claiming to be exhaustive, shows the increasing density of historical research on Maria Montessori carried out in Italy over the past twenty years. Among our transalpine colleagues there is a network of researchers in the field where the pioneers: Clara Tornar, Giacomo Cives and Paola Trabalzini, lead a host of researchers like Fulvio De Giorgi, Renato Foschi, Tiziana Pironi or Erica Moretti. Hence the variety of work that leaves less and less gray areas in the work of the pedagogue and in his action. Maria Montessori's training, steeped in the prevailing scientific positivism, her links, sometimes contradictory, with the Catholic Church, theosophy and Masonry, her social commitment alongside feminists and children from the poor classes, her relationship to psychoanalysis, her ambiguous relations with power, including fascists, etc. have been combed through. However, not everything has yet been explored concerning Maria Montessori and, above all, the movement she founded. The children who benefited from Montessorian pedagogy and their future at school remain under-studied, as well as the place of Montessorism in public schools, a sensitive issue for the French. But the work of our Italian colleagues has largely paved the way...]

Language: French

DOI: 10.3917/etsoc.175.0201

ISSN: 0014-2204

Abstract/Notes: Summary of research by Ian M. Harris.

Language: English

Abstract/Notes: The regulation of behavior is a major issue in early childhood development, with important implications for children’s adaptive and maladaptive developmental outcomes. Emerging research suggests that the degree of successful self-regulation depends upon the efficiency of the child’s attentional system and that the ability to focus and sustain attention supports emotional self-regulation throughout the lifespan. The neural networks that underlie the development of attention are beginning to be charted. Studies have shown that the executive attention network undergoes considerable development between the ages of 2 and 7. To support this development, research scholars have suggested the need to develop curriculum to promote focused and sustained attention in preschool programs. One hundred years ago, Maria Montessori observed that when the environment was designed to promote concentration, children went through a transformative process, which she referred to as normalization. Is normalization the same as self-regulation? This study was designed to examine whether Montessori’s theory of normalization can be considered an applied theory of self-regulation. This was accomplished by analyzing Csikszentmihalyi’s optimal experience theory and Ryan and Deci’s self-determination theory to provide the requisite guidance for developing curriculum capable of nurturing multiple aspects of self-regulation, which led to a conceptual framework for the comparison with Montessori’s theory of normalization. Montessori’s theoretical perspective is not readily available in published literature. Therefore this study used qualitative methods to conduct interviews with 12 Montessori teacher trainers. These individuals are considered the highest authority regarding Montessori theory and practice. Though Montessori’s contributions to the field of Early Childhood Education are often mentioned in university textbooks, the underlying theory (normalization) that guides her work receives little discussion. Without a clear understanding of Montessori’s theoretical perspective, research scholars are not able to isolate distinguishing characteristics that can assess self-regulation as an outcome of the curriculum nor can they adequately compare this approach with other forms of education. By introducing Montessori’s theory of normalization and analyzing it as a theory of selfregulation, this study has created a conceptual framework to articulate the governing characteristics and educational principles necessary to enhance practices that support the development of self-regulation in early childhood.

Language: English

Published: Corvallis, Oregon, 2008

Language: English

ISSN: 0009-4137

Abstract/Notes: This study sought to improve parent knowledge about the Montessori curriculum at a public Montessori school in British Columbia, Canada. Nineteen parents from a grade 1/2/3 class participated. Prior to six weeks of interventions, a parent question log was kept, and baseline data was collected from students and their parents. The teacher hosted one parent evening, three in-class observations for parents, started a Montessori magazine library, and featured a section on Montessori in the home and material use on the class blog. Data collection tools were used throughout the research to gain feedback from parents. Research concluded that parent knowledge improved, standard Montessori practices at home increased, and participants began asking deeper questions about Montessori philosophy. Parents chose the evening event and the blog as tools they would use in the future. Further research could be done over a longer period to see if participation could be improved by spreading out the events.

Language: English

Published: St. Paul, Minnesota, 2017

Language: English