Mortarboard Review Jennifer D. Moss; Joel Parham
Journal of Montessori research,
05/2023, Volume:
9, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
This article is the first in a series of planned reviews to be published annually that highlight a selection of dissertations. Some aspects of the selection and review methodology may be adjusted in ...coming issues as the process is refined to maximize the value to the field. Twenty-three Montessori-related dissertations completed during 2021 and 2022 were identified that represented five broad categories based on topic or subject matter. Two dissertations were selected for inclusion in this review because they represent high-quality research in areas that are of particular relevance and value to the field at this time: (a) public Montessori education and issues of equity and intercultural competence and (b) teacher perspectives and technology.
•This meta-analysis examines the effects of ME on five dimensions of development and learning.•The effects of ME on development and learning are positive and range from moderate to high.•Directions ...for future research are proposed.•Implications for educators are proposed.
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.
While emotion recognition is shaped through social interactions from a child's early years through at least late adolescence, no emphasis has thus far been given to the effects of daily experiences ...at school. We posited that enriched, more diverse, and less competitive social interactions fostered by some pedagogical practices may contribute to emotion recognition processes in children. Here, we investigated differences in emotion recognition among schoolchildren experiencing the Montessori versus traditional practices. Children performed two tasks; one measuring the impact of social context on fear-surprise perception, and one measuring their bias toward happiness or anger. Results suggest that children experiencing traditional practices show a higher sensitivity to fear-recognition, while children attending Montessori schools show a higher integration of social cues and perceive expressions of happiness for longer durations. Such preliminary findings call for replication and further research to determine which pedagogical features from the Montessori method may explain these effects.
•Emotion recognition differ according to different pedagogical practices.•Traditionally-schooled children show higher fear recognition sensitivity.•Montessori schoolchildren integrate more social context and are positively biased.
Montessori education has existed for more than 100 years and counts almost 16,000 schools worldwide (Debs et al., 2022). Still, little is known about the implementation and fidelity of Montessori ...principles. Measuring implementations holds significant importance as it provides insight into current Montessori practices and because it is assumed that implementation might influence its effectiveness. In the Netherlands, it is especially important to measure fidelity because of the country’s history of flexible implementation of Montessori principles. No instruments currently exist that are specifically designed to measure Montessori implementation in the Dutch context. This study aims to validate a translated version of the Teacher Questionnaire for Montessori Practices, developed by Murray et al. (2019), within the Dutch early childhood education context. Additionally, it seeks to investigate the extent to which Montessori principles are implemented in Dutch early childhood schools. Data were collected from 131 early childhood Montessori teachers. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the Dutch dataset did not align with the factor structure proposed by Murray et al. (2019). Subsequent exploratory factor analysis led to the identification of a 3-factor solution, encompassing dimensions related to Children’s Freedom, Teacher Guidance, and Curriculum, which shows some similarities with Murray et al.’s (2019) factors. Implementation levels in the Netherlands varied, with the highest level of implementation observed in Children’s Freedom and the lowest in Curriculum.
•Overimitation refers to copying observed actions, even causally unnecessary ones. Here, we hypothesized that learning from a peer decreases this tendency.•We investigated whether (1) children would ...overimitate more adults than peers, and whether (2) pedagogy (Montessori vs. traditional) would impact overimitation rate of students.•We report that students’ overimitation rate is lower after watching a peer than an adult, replicating past studies.•However, Montessori-schooled students have a lower propensity to overimitate adults than traditionally-schooled students.
Children are strong imitators, which sometimes leads to overimitation of causally unnecessary actions. Here, we tested whether learning from a peer decreases this tendency. First, 65 7- to 10-year-old children performed the Hook task (i.e., retrieve a reward from a jar with tools) with child or adult demonstrators. The overimitation rate was lower after watching a peer versus an adult. Second, we tested whether experiencing peer-to-peer learning versus adult-driven learning (i.e., Montessori or traditional pedagogy) affected overimitation. Here, 66 4- to 18-year-old children and adolescents performed the Hook task with adult demonstrators only. Montessori-schooled children had a lower propensity to overimitate. These findings emphasize the importance of the teaching model across the school years. Whereas peer models favor selective imitation, adult models encourage overimitation.
The choices for public school education in the United States have evolved to include Montessori programmes. As a result, special education practices have become visible in Montessori, making ...collaboration essential. The exploration of how Montessori and special education teachers collaborate through the identified constructs of (a) shared planning, (b) frequent communication, (c) shared vision, (d) mutual respect, and (e) joint trust despite the evident philosophical differences is important for students in inclusion. Data sources included in-depth interviews with teachers to identify patterns related to collaboration in Montessori public schools. Findings indicated that there is a need to establish a clear plan for connecting philosophies and for collaboration for students in inclusion, not only in the context of United States public Montessori programmes, but for Montessori practitioners in other regions and school settings. Recommendations include using a terminology comparison activity in teacher professional development and implementing an Inclusion Professional Learning Community to address the barrier of time to proactively create deep collaborative relationships built upon the established collaborative constructs.
A large city 'gives birth' to groups of carriers of certain ideas, values, and attitudes, who seek each other out. Parents choose schools that appear closer to their own values, where the methods of ...transmitting these values and the forms of classes seem more preferable and coherent. Schools 'attract' those parents whose basic life attitudes align and correlate with the school's mission, values, and strategy. The study aimed to identify factors influencing the development of alternative education in large cities. To achieve this, information was collected and analyzed on 667 private alternative educational projects in the five largest cities of Russia (Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Kazan). In each city, five leaders of private alternative educational projects were identified and interviewed in-depth. Interviews and focus groups were also conducted with experts in alternative education. The study revealed that the concentration of maximum professional, infrastructural, economic, cultural, religious, political-ideological, and social diversity in large cities is a precondition for the development of alternative school education. Stimulating factors for the development of alternative education in large cities include overcrowded schools and the quality of education not meeting parents' expectations. The factor of parents plays a significant role: their age, involvement in their children's education, high level of information, etc. The lifestyle of city dwellers is a formative factor. Here, two strategies can be identified: the 'all inclusive' strategy and the strategy of education connoisseurs. At the same time, in a large city, there are also limiting factors for the development of alternative education: a complex transport system and logistical component, expensive rent and/or cost of buildings.
The purpose of this study is to observe the relationship between the partial or total use of Montessori education (ME) and academic (literacy, numeracy) and developmental (executive functions) ...outcomes in 105 French Kindergartners (children in preschool’s final year, M = 5.53 years, SD = 0.29). We conducted a quasi-experimental study comparing three groups. The first group (n = 4818 girls, M = 5.53 years, SD = 0.29) used a conventional teaching method, the second group (n = 4021 girls, M = 5.56 years, SD = 0.28) partially used the ME in addition to the conventional method, and the third group (n = 17 7 girls, M = 5.42 years, SD = 0.29) fully implemented the ME. Equivalence between the experimental and control groups has been verified in terms of age, gender, overall cognitive ability, and socioeconomic background. We assessed children’s competencies in early literacy, early numeracy, and executive functions. Results show better outcomes in the numeracy and inhibition control tests in the fully ME group, followed by the partial ME group. The group of children who had received conventional education obtained the lowest results. Finally, the differences in literacy scores were not significant.
This study aims to contribute to the evaluation of Montessori education in Italian primary schools, examining a) its impact on academic and socio-affective outcomes; b) teacher profiles and the ...fidelity of their implementation. The results show that Montessori students, depending on grade and cohort, achieve similar or significantly higher scores than other students. Additionally, in some cases the distributions of math scores have a significantly higher standard deviation. Regarding socio-affective characteristics, Montessori students score significantly higher on the empathy scale. These results, combined with the fact that only half of Montessori teachers have a more orthodox profile, highlight how the Montessori model conflicts with some features of the Italian primary school system. This raises some questions concerning evaluation, limits to children’s freedom of choice and movement, individualization, organization of work time, and multi-age classrooms.
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