Abstract/Notes: Whole systems thinking is a framework for seeing the whole picture, for establishing interrelationships and understanding phenomena as an integrated whole. Systems thinking may be contrasted with fragmentary thinking, which is viewing phenomena in their separate parts and focusing only on narrow specialisations. In an education for sustainability (EfS) context this means emphasising relationships: relationships between all the systems on planet Earth, and at different systems levels, as they relate to the environment, economics, government, health, and so on. Values and goals are also important aspects of these relationships. Sterling argues that: 'We are educated by and large to compete and consume rather than to care and conserve'. Furthermore, the same author maintains that because of the imposition of managerial and economic values on education we have lost touch with the social values and real-life contexts of authentic education. With these ideas in mind, this paper briefly examines the application of whole systems thinking on an EfS program at a small Montessori primary school in the metropolitan area of Perth, Western Australia. [Author abstract, ed]

Language: English

ISSN: 0156-7608

Abstract/Notes: While Montessori has flourished in small private schools in Puerto Rico since the 1950s, in 1994, the island’s first public school implemented the pedagogy as a vehicle of social transformation to provide high-quality, student-centered education in which teachers, parents, and community leaders play central roles. The success of Juan Ponce de León school ignited a thirty-year-long public Montessori movement which established Montessori programs in 45 public schools (5% of Puerto Rico’s total), created a local training center, and institutionalized a Montessori Secretariat within the Department of Education. This public movement’s achievements in transforming traditionally marginalized communities through education have influenced debates on public education, democratization, and social justice in Puerto Rico and abroad.

Language: English

Published: New York, New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2023

ISBN: 978-1-350-27561-4 978-1-350-27560-7 978-1-350-27562-1

Series: Bloomsbury Handbooks

Language: Korean

ISSN: 1226-9417

Language: English

ISSN: 1054-0040

Abstract/Notes: More than 11 countries in the Middle East region offer early childhood programs that have adopted Montessori and Montessori-inspired practices. Through a case study of Saudi Arabia, this chapter explores Montessori as an imported pedagogy brought to Saudi Arabia by expatriate residents in the 1960s and the culturally specific adaptations made for an Islamic educational environment as Montessori has expanded across private early childhood programs in Saudi Arabia since the 1990s. There is considerable variability in Montessori implementation in Saudi Arabian schools, especially given the international cachet of the Montessori method, suggesting challenges to maintaining fidelity and quality as Montessori-inspired kindergarten programs grow in number.

Language: English

Published: New York, New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2023

ISBN: 978-1-350-27561-4 978-1-350-27560-7 978-1-350-27562-1

Series: Bloomsbury Handbooks

Abstract/Notes: Montessori education was developed over 100 years ago, and persists as a marginal ‘niche reform’ of the standard model. Here I discuss two unresolved dichotomies in early childhood education – the tension between work and play, and between structure and freedom. I explain how Montessori collapses and thereby resolves the dichotomies, and does so in a contemporary theoretical frame – one that is dynamical rather than linear. I next describe the origins and functioning of Montessori preschool environments, outcomes from the most methodologically sound studies to date, and impediments to Montessori’s more widespread adoption. I also show how Montessori is a culturally responsive pedagogy, and conclude by return to the dichotomies and how Montessori makes sense for the modern era.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1080/03004430.2020.1832998

ISSN: 0300-4430, 1476-8275

Abstract/Notes: Montessori educators view inclusion as an integral component of the method, as Maria Montessori’s first classrooms were designed to provide sensory stimulation and learning experiences for students deprived of these opportunities due to perceived disabilities. Much has been written on how Montessori’s work began with disabled children and work is underway in Montessori education to include disabled children more seamlessly. This chapter traces the chronology of inclusion in Montessori pedagogy and practice beginning with its historical underpinnings and continuing with a discussion of contemporary practice with a focus on Early Childhood (ages 3 to 6).

Language: English

Published: New York, New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2023

ISBN: 978-1-350-27561-4 978-1-350-27560-7 978-1-350-27562-1

Series: Bloomsbury Handbooks

Language: French

Abstract/Notes: We explore the use of video and photo elicitation in a research study undertaken to understand the way in which preschool teachers perceive and construct their provision of children’s educational experiences. We explore the value of visually elicited interviews based on video footage and photographs captured during teaching and learning in four classrooms in two preschool settings in Kenya. Through visually elicited interviews, both the teachers and the researcher constructed meaningful conversations (interviews) to explore preschool teachers’ practical experiences and their beliefs, understanding and interpretation of developmentally appropriate educational practices. This paper targets the possible value of and contribution made by visual data generation procedures, as well as their inherent challenges, in order to add to the body of knowledge on visually elicited interviews.

Language: English

DOI: 10.15700/saje.v32n4a661

ISSN: 2076-3433

Abstract/Notes: Third Convention Lecture, Adyar, 28 December 1941. For the first time Dr. Montessori spoke in deliberate but expressive English throughout the whole of her lecture.

Language: English

ISSN: 0972-1851