Abstract/Notes: This study examines the differences between Montessori guides and public-school teachers regarding their knowledge and implementation of inclusive practices in the classroom using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). TPB claims that perceptions of attitudes, subjective norms, and behavioral control predict intentions to engage in a particular behavior. The present research utilized a mixed-methods approach to assess participants’ personal definitions of inclusive education and predict intention to perform inclusive practices from teachers’ attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. Because public-school teachers are required to attend training, they were predicted to be more knowledgeable than Montessori guides about inclusive practices. Sixty-six teachers participated, but contrary to predictions, definitions provided by both public-school teachers (n = 35) and Montessori guides (n = 31) indicated poor understanding of inclusion with no differences between groups. Analysis of the TPB variables revealed significant differences in attitudes with Montessori guides expressing more positive attitudes than public-school teachers. Qualitative analyses supported this result as Montessori guides used more positive emotional terms in their definitions than public-school teachers who used more neutral terms. Multiple regression analysis showed that the TPB model predicted intention to perform inclusive practices (R2 = .73) with only perceived behavioral control and past behavior statistically significant predictors. These results indicate that despite positive attitudes, participants may lack sufficient, concrete understanding of strategies that would allow them to carry out inclusive practices. Results revealed that training is needed to clarify the definition of inclusion and provide actionable tasks for implementing inclusion in the classroom.

Language: English

Published: Killeen, Texas, 2021

Abstract/Notes: Learning theories are important as beginning reading teachers strive to meet the diverse needs of many kinds of learners. This article explores the learning principles of three theoretical experts (a) Jean Piaget, (b) Lev Vygotsky, and (c) Maria Montessori. The paper demonstrates the application of these experts’ theories related to constructivism and pragmatism educational philosophies, and the process of teaching young children to read. It is concluded, decades of relevant learning theory and beginning reading research exist. It is now time for application of theory and research, bridging what we know into our classroom practice.

Language: English

DOI: 10.5296/ijl.v15i2.20909

ISSN: 1948-5425

Abstract/Notes: Goal Orientation Theory focuses on the types of goals that individuals pursue, and analyzes the influence of school structures on student motivation and learning. This research used the explanatory sequential design of mixed methods to identify the elements and teaching strategies present in the Upper Elementary classrooms of the Puerto Rico Montessori Public Schools Project used by their teachers that explain the perception of their students as environments that promote mastery goal orientation. In the quantitative phase, a questionnaire was administered to students of nine classrooms to identify their personal goal orientation and their perception of the goal structure of their learning environments. In the second phase of the study, the analysis of the quantitative data collected in the first phase of the study was used to identify three classrooms with varying degrees of mastery goal orientation structure. Through a qualitative approach, the elements and teaching strategies that promote a structure related to the mastery goal, as perceived by their students, were identified through individual interviews with their teachers. The findings point to the Upper Elementary classrooms as environments oriented mainly to the mastery goal and identify and describe strategies and elements in them that promote and reinforce this orientation in their students. Alternate abstract: La Teoría de orientación a la meta se enfoca en los tipos de meta que los individuos persiguen, y analiza la influencia de las estructuras escolares en la motivación y aprendizaje estudiantil. Esta investigación utilizó el diseño secuencial explicativo de métodos mixtos para identificar los elementos y las estrategias de enseñanza presentes en los ambientes de Taller II (9–12 años) del Proyecto de Escuelas Públicas Montessori de Puerto Rico utilizadas por sus guías que explican la percepción de sus estudiantes como ambientes que promueven la orientación a la meta de aprendizaje (mastery goal orientation). En la fase cuantitativa se administró un cuestionario a estudiantes de Taller II para identificar su orientación de meta personal y su percepción sobre la estructura de metas de sus ambientes. En la segunda fase del estudio se utilizó el análisis de los datos recopilados en la primera fase del estudio para identificar tres ambientes con distintos grados de orientación a la meta de aprendizaje. A través de un acercamiento cualitativo se identificó, mediante entrevistas individuales a sus guías o maestras, los elementos y las estrategias de enseñanza que promueven una estructura relacionada a la meta de aprendizaje. Los hallazgos señalan a los Talleres II como ambientes de aprendizaje orientados mayormente a la meta de dominio, e identifica y describe estrategias y elementos en ellos que promueven y refuerzan esta orientación en sus estudiantes.

Language: Spanish

Published: Río Piedras, Puerto Rico, 2022

Language: English

ISSN: 0140-0460

Language: English

ISSN: 0040-7887

Language: English

ISSN: 0040-7887

Language: English

Published: [Illinois]: Illinois Montessori Society, 1963

Abstract/Notes: "It seems to me that we have been wrong to discard Montessori altogether …," said Nadezhda Konstantinovna Krupskaia at a Moscow gathering of teachers of zero-level groups in 1931. It is worth recalling that Nadezhda Konstantinovna more than once drew the attention of preschool upbringing theoreticians and practitioners to the necessity of making a critical study of the pedagogical views and pedagogical experience of Froebel and Montessori. It was indisputable that they were engaged in "arch-bourgeois preschool upbringing"; nevertheless, it would be worthwhile to "borrow those things that are useful to us." But what is "useful to us" in the theory and practice of Montessori? This is the question that we will attempt to answer.

Language: English

DOI: 10.2753/RSS1061-1428330479

ISSN: 1061-1428

Language: English

ISSN: 0090-4155, 1943-3352

Language: German

Published: Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany: Herder, 2013

Edition: 3rd ed.

Series: Montessori-Praxis (Herder)