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Maria Montessori . Lucy Hellerman Kate McFall. Background. Maria Montessori lived 1870-1952 in Italy Degrees in engineering and medicine Found her passion for education after working with institutionalized children Founded Casa dei Bambini in early 1907
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Maria Montessori Lucy Hellerman Kate McFall
Background • Maria Montessori lived 1870-1952 in Italy • Degrees in engineering and medicine • Found her passion for education after working with institutionalized children • Founded Casa dei Bambini in early 1907 • Started teaching others her method in 1909 • Devout Catholic • Had a son named Mario in 1898
Montessori Theory “And so we discovered that education is not something which the teacher does, but that it is a natural process which develops spontaneously in the human being.” - Maria Montessori
Montessori Theory of Child Centered Learning Child-Centered Learning Vs. Teacher-Directed Learning
Montessori Theory of Child Centered Learning • Sensitive Periods • Normalization • Prepared Environment
Montessori Theory of Child Centered Learning Perceived Control • Free Choice • When a child is allowed to freely make decisions about which activities he/she will work on at any given time. • Directed Choice • When a teacher suggests an activity to a child while still allowing the child to believe that it is their own choice.
Nature versus Nurture Montessori Nature Nurture “Education is a natural process carried out by the human individual, and is acquired not by listening to words, but by experiences in the environment.” – Maria Montessori
Montessori Classroom • Child-sized furniture • Materials within a child’s reach • Nature brought indoors – plants and animals • Mats designate personal work space
Interview “you have to really understand that you are not a teacher. Knowledge is not just like throwing things in a sack. Everything is connected and you always build on schema. So you are more of a director, even if you are not called one.” “as a Montessori teacher you do a lot of it is observing. You really need to see where each child is at. You want them to pick what they are interested in, but you also need perceived choice to make sure they are covering all areas of study…it is a lot. Classroom management, making sure no one is hoarding snacks or playing with the materials, all while giving lessons and observing all the students to make sure they are getting something out of what they are learning. While you are giving a lesson you have to have eyes in the back of your head and are always making mental notes. You are multitasking a lot. Take a break and observing the class as a whole and their dynamics only happens about once or twice a day.” “A bad Montessori school is worse than the most horrific public school, because in a bad Montessori school, very little learning happens. But a well run, true Montessori school, well that is just about the best thing you can do for a child.” “The best benefit of Montessori education is allowing the child to develop at their own pace in all areas. Socially, academically, physically. You can be strong in math and need more support in language. You have an incredible amount of flexibility that you just can’t get in a usual classroom.” “a negative is that some children really need structure. Some Montessori people want to say it is perfect for everybody, there are some kids that struggle with that freedom.”
Observations in a Class Lily – the ideal Montessori student Molly – not a model Montessori student • She wandered around the room and never settled on one activity. • Did not put one activity away before starting another one. • Molly put the snack necklace on for fun while wandering around the room. She did not put it on and then eat her snack like she was supposed to. • She tried to take play-dough from another girl instead of getting her own. • She came in and immediately chose an activity and began. • Worked on one activity for an extended period of time until normalized. • When Lily decided to eat a snack, she put the necklace on, chose a snack, spent over 10 minutes peeling and slicing it, set a place at the table for herself, got a glass of water, then finally sat down to enjoy her snack. • Was not distracted by the children around her, always remained focused on her chosen task.
Why Montessori? • “the ordinary school not only denies the child every opportunity for using his will but directly obstructs and inhibits its expression” - Montessori • “It becomes increasingly obvious that traditional education, based as it is upon handing to the student the answers of another era, is no longer sufficient. If young people are to meet the challenge of survival that faces them today, it is imperative that their education develop to the fullest extent possible their potential for creativity, initiative, independence, inner discipline, and self-confidence. This is the central focus of Montessori education.” - Lillard
Our Study • Purpose: to compare the results of Maria Montessori’s method of child-centered learning to the teacher-directed learning found in traditional classrooms. • Our Questions: • Is there a noticeable difference in the results of child-centered learning as compared to teacher-directed learning? • Which method produces better results?
Hypothesis • That when comparing the results of child-centered and teacher-directed outcomes, there will be a marked difference. The child-centered students will demonstrate a more thorough understanding of the material than the teacher-directed students.
Our Study • Taught an introduction to Fractions Lesson to 12 first graders • 6 kids were taught using an AMI certified lesson plan and 6 using a Cscope lesson plan. • After the lesson we assessed their understanding using oral questioning with scores based on a rubric. • We returned the day after and assessed them two more times using the same questions.
Lessons Plans Montessori Lesson Plan Traditional Lesson Plan • Image/visual intensive • Started with hexagons, then moved to circles • Telling • Assigned activity • Modifications: • Added circles up to tenths. Manipulative intensive Solely focused on circle fractions Questioning Choice in activity Modifications: None made, followed the lesson exactly
Compare the Questions • Child-Centered (Montessori) Students • Take several units ( ½, 1/3, ¼ ) and separate the pieces slightly on the felt. What do I call pieces of a unit? • Clear the felt except for the 3rd family circle. Point to the unit on the felt. Are the pieces of this unit equal? • Have a unit and a black strip on the felt. Have the numbers in easy access to the child. What number would you place below the black strip for this unit? • Remove all families from the felt. Show a fraction on the black strip. What family does this fraction belong to? How many pieces are in that family? • Place the different family units on the felt and their written fraction. Can you match these written fractions with the correct family unit? Teacher-Directed (Traditional) Students • Show the child a picture of a circle separated into 2 or 3 parts. What are parts of a whole called? • Show the child a picture of a circle separated into 3 parts. Are the 3 parts equal? • Show the child a picture of a circle divided into 4 parts, with one part shaded. What number goes below the fraction bar for this fraction? • Show the child a written fraction. How many fractions of this size are needed to make a whole? • Have the child match 3 different fractions to their appropriate circles.
Sample Answers for Different Scores • Zero point answer: no concept, says they do not know or gives information they know but is not relevant. • “my shoe has a black strip” • One point answer: gets answer correct, but cannot explain what they know. • the use of the word circle instead of whole or unit. • “I just remember it” • “because you said so earlier” • Two point answer: explains the reason behind the answer, shows a real understanding of the concept being questioned. • “the thirds only has three pieces, so each piece has more space than the sixths.” • “two of the family of sixths fit in each piece of the family of thirds, so the thirds are bigger” • “1/4 goes with the family of fourths because there is a 4 in the fraction and 4 pieces in the family”
Findings • Montessori students started higher but remained stagnant. • Traditional students needed the additional repetitions to comprehend the lesson more fully, but were able to improve. • However, traditional student average scores never reached average Montessori scores.
Implications • Hands on, positive questioning, results in faster absorption of the materials • Giving children opportunity to experience real things rather than representations of things seems to foster increased understanding.
Places for improvement • The Montessori students were not given enough time to Normalize with the material • We are not Montessori certified nor traditional school certified, which might have changed the lesson. • Would have had more time with the students • Not enough students • Too small of a student pool – all in private school • We altered the tradition lesson plan to match the amount of information in Montessori
Conclusion • Although we couldn’t fully prove our hypothesis, there is at least some, if not a significant, difference between the Montessori and traditional students comprehension of the material.
Acknowledgements • Thanks so much to: • Mrs. Khirallah • St. Francis Montessori School • Amy Kremling • Holy Family of Nazareth School • Maria Montessori
