Language: English

ISSN: 1071-6246

Language: English

ISSN: 1071-6246

Abstract/Notes: Using concepts from cognitive science, this dissertation explored changes in perception among Montessori education leaders and traditional education leaders. Although Montessori education programs have grown as an option in the public school sector, their unique features in mainstream environments have brought to the fore serious challenges in understanding and communication between decision makers at the institutional level of public education and among Montessori academies. Nationally, Montessori education entities have fostered a strong momentum for improvement at the state policy level. However in some states, including California, differing perceptions still hinder inclusive decision making, resulting in lack of teacher credential recognition, denial of eligibility and funding. My study implemented a communication intervention through which an iterative conversation between both sides aimed to address perceptions and language and provide shared understandings. Using the challenge between Montessori and traditional public education and framed under the cognitive theories of mental models, framing, schemas, metaphors and embodiment, this intervention addressed whether perceptions can begin to shift when one is more fully informed at a deeper cognitive level. Incorporating a workshop intervention involving several modalities, my findings suggested a shift in perception which seemed to persist over time. The effects in shifting actors’ perceptions of Montessori education were statistically significant and modest in terms of magnitude. I also found a weaker perceptual shift among traditional educators in California compared with peers in other states. I obtained specific suggestions for future iterations of kinesthetic learning, along with how to best share perspectives between Montessori and traditional leaders, along with possible collaborations between these pedagogies.

Language: English

Published: Berkeley, California, 2016

Abstract/Notes: This study was undertaken in order to investigate the activities which took place in Irish pre-schools other than those within the formal school system. The principle focus of the research concerned the degree to which the pre-school children were being 'cognitively stretched' by the curriculum in which they were engaged. The social, linguistic, physical and creative development of these children was also considered.An historical review of the theory of play and recent research in this area was undertaken.Twenty-three pre-schools were taken at random from the membership list in Cork city and county of the Irish Pre- School Playgroups Association. One pre-school which was not a member was added. Prior to embarking upon the study, a history of the I.P.P.A. was given.The ethnographic research strategy was found to be the most suitable method of assessing empirically the nature and frequency of play in the pre-school. This study, which took place between 1986 and 1990, was therefore eclectic in nature, employing a multi-faceted approach encompassing a target child observational schedule, interviews, a study of classrooms, a questionnaire and an interaction analysis system.Briefly, the results showed that the 157 children engaged in this study were being cognitively stretched for approximately one quarter of the time if they were in a playgroup and approximately one half of the time if they were in a Montessori setting. Social and linguistic behaviour was limited by the actions of the pre-school leaders and physically or creatively challenging behaviour was rarely observed. The fact that the children played alone for half of the total time spent in the pre-school was most striking.The most important finding to emerge from the study of language in the twenty-four pre-schools was the fact that the children rarely communicated verbally. Dialogue was almost non-existent and children's questions were very sparse. In order to place the above in a National context, a questionnaire was sent in 1990 to a random sample of one hundred I.P.P.A. members in the 26 counties of the Republic of Ireland. Unfortunately, only 39 responded. However, of note was that approximately 25% of playgroup leaders had degrees and four-fifths of them were mothers in their mid-thirties. They strongly disagreed with the teaching of the 3Rs and felt that much more government money should be devoted to playgroups and in-service training for their personnel.

Language: English

Published: Hull, England, 1993

Language: English

Published: Moraga, California, 1994

Language: English

ISSN: 1071-6246

Language: English

Published: New York City, New York, 2016

Abstract/Notes: Previous research on Montessori preschool education is inconsistent and prone to analytic flexibility. In this preregistered study, disadvantaged preschoolers in a French public school were randomly assigned to either conventional or Montessori classrooms, with the latter being adapted to French public education. Adaptations included fewer materials, shorter work periods, and relatively limited Montessori teacher training. Cross-sectional analyses in kindergarten (N = 176; Mage = 5–6) and longitudinal analyses over the 3 years of preschool (N = 70; Mage = 3–6) showed that the adapted Montessori curriculum was associated with outcomes comparable to the conventional curriculum on math, executive functions, and social skills. However, disadvantaged kindergarteners from Montessori classrooms outperformed their peers on reading (d = 0.68). This performance was comparable to that of advantaged children from an accredited Montessori preschool.

Language: English

DOI: 10.1111/cdev.13575

ISSN: 0009-3920, 1467-8624

Abstract/Notes: Two important aspects of teaching and caring for children were explored using a questionnaire: communication preferences for talking to children and assumptions about how children think about specific things in various situations. Forty parents and teachers from Montessori Schools and forty parents and teachers from Milwaukee Public Schools completed a questionnaire concerning four social situations and one factual situation. Parents and teachers ranked responses to each situation from 1 to 5 or wrote an alternative response if none of those given were appropriate. Parents and teachers also predicted what they would actually do in each situation and described their ideal response in each case. In the second part of the questionnaire parents and teachers gave their views on how children understood ideas relating to time, another's point of view, and play. The responses to the questionnaire by parents and teachers tended to reflect the basic philosophy of Montessori education, which is based upon a cognitive constructivist model in which rational authoritative and distancing strategies rank higher than diversion, normative authoritative, and direct authoritative strategies. Moreover, the beliefs and behaviors of Montessori parents and teachers tended to support this conclusion. A difference was found in the diversion strategy whereby both groups ranked diversion high in the first and second social situations and very low in the fourth and fifth social situations. These differences were likely due to the particular type of situation described. The majority of subjects, both teachers and parents, responded with more cognitive reasons than social reasons to the five situations. They also responded more frequently with active answers than passive answers. Finally, it was found that public school teachers and parents who were from upper middle class districts and professionally educated tended to use the same strategies as the Montessori teachers and parents. In fact, there were no significant differences between the ideal ranking of these five situations by these two groups.

Language: English

Published: Madison, Wisconsin, 1982

Language: English

ISSN: 1071-6246