Montessori education & civic engagement

1. Montessori education & civic engagement Sara ChoppMPS 593 Winter 2014

2. Introduction • The level of association between Montessori education and civic engagement must be explored in order to determine if significant differences exist between Montessori education and traditional education in terms of civic outcomes.  • The premise is that individuals who receive a Montessori education demonstrate higher levels of civic engagement.  • This is important because the findings may reveal feasible options for education reform and the development of civil society.

3. case overview • This is a case study on the Milwaukee Public School District, which provides students the opportunity to receive a Montessori education within the public education system based on a random lottery. The outcomes of this research could assist decision makers in fully implementing Montessori methods in the public education system. The assumption is that this method would be most effective in fostering civic engagement and improving academic achievement by closing academic and civic engagement gaps. The results could have positive outcomes on individual student lives, as well as on the surrounding community by empowering and mobilizing individuals and groups. This would improve the well-being of the Milwaukee population by working towards social justice in terms of quality educational opportunities, fair representation and equity. If feasible, this could be applied to school districts across the state of Wisconsin, as well as across the nation.

4. Literature review • Literature Review: • Three Voices of Civic Engagement: Civic, Electoral & Political (Andolina et al., 2002) • Three Pathways to Civic Engagement: Education, Parental Engagement & Organizational Involvement (Andolina et al., 2003) • Civic Education: Friere’s (2006) liberation pedagogy, Dewey’s (2004) view of school as a community & Cosmopolitanism (Hansen, 2010) • Civic Engagement Predictors: Civil Activity, Political Activity, Nonsport Extracurricular Activity, Conflict Resolution, Positive Character, Problem Solving & Civic Development (McIntosh, 2009)

5. Research Question • Is there a positive correlation between Montessori education and civic engagement?

6. Relevant theory • Theoretically, education and civic engagement have a strong, positive correlation. • As outlined in the literature review, open discussion and participation, service-learning opportunities, organizational involvement and parental engagement are predictors of civic engagement and serve as the dependent variables for this study. • It is my theory that the Montessori method, which serves as the independent variable, has a strong, positive relationship with all of the predictors and measures of civic engagement.

7. Hypotheses • My hypotheses for these theories that will be tested using quantitative analyses are as follows: • Hypothesis I. Students who receive a Montessori education demonstrate greater levels of civic engagement. • Hypothesis II. Students who receive a Montessori education demonstrate greater organizational involvement. • My hypotheses based on the exploratory research conducted during the literature review that will be tested using qualitative analyses are as follows: • Hypothesis III. Montessori teachers are more likely to encourage participation. • Hypothesis IV. Montessori teachers provide greater service-learning opportunities. • Hypothesis V. Montessori teachers foster greater parental engagement. • Hypothesis VI. Montessori teachers are more likely to encourage open discussion. • Hypothesis VII. Montessori teachers are more likely to encourage organizational involvement. • Future studies on this theory should explore the following hypotheses: • Hypothesis VII. Students who receive a Montessori education demonstrate greater academic achievement. • Hypothesis VIII. Students who receive a Montessori education demonstrate greater mobilization.

8. Research data and methods Dependent Variables Organizational Involvement: religious (Religious), educational (Educational), social (Social), political (Political), government (Govern), militant (Militant) and charitable (Charity) organization membership Perceptions of civic self: civically spirited (Spirited), literate (Literate), inquisitive (Inquisitive) and active (Active). Time allocation: gathering information (InfoGath), knowledge sharing (KnoShare), furthering their education (Education), self improvement (SelfImprov), relationship building (Relbuild), networking, entertainment (Entertain), shopping, paying bills (PayBills), professional development (ProfDev) and civic engagement (CivicEng). Civic voice (frequency): community problem solving (CommProb), volunteers for non-electoral organizations (VolNonElec), member to a group or association (MemGrAss), participates in run/walk/ride fundraisers (Runwalkride), and participates in other fundraisers for charity (Fundraising) Electoral voice (frequency): decides for whom to vote (VoteDec), persuades others to vote (VotePer), displays buttons, signs, or stickers (Display), makes campaign contributions (ContCamp), and volunteers for candidates or political organizations (VolPolOrg) Political voice (frequency): contacts officials (ContactOff), print media (ContactPrint), and broadcast media (ContactBC), protests (Protesting), petitions, boycotts (Boycott), buycotts (Buycott), and canvasses (Canvassing). The respondents are also asked the same questions regarding their parents (indicated by PAR) in order to measure the strength of their parents’ civic, electoral and political voices. • I used a purposive, availability sample to contact and survey MPS alumni who participated in a public Montessori program. I located individuals associated with MacDowell Montessori School via Facebook. • Causal diagram: Montessori education + civic engagement • Regression equation: Y (civic engagement) = b1(Montessori education in terms of years) + b2(Open discussion opportunities) + b3(level at which participation is encouraged) + b4(Service learning opportunities) + b5(Organizational involvement opportunities) + b6(Parental engagement opportunities) • Quantitative Analysis • Bivariate Analyses: Spearman’s rho correlation & Chi-Square Cross-Tabulation • Multivariate Analyses: MANOVA & ANOVA • Qualitative Analysis • Document Analysis: MacDowell Montessori School Program Information, News Letters & Calendars • Independent Variables • Quantitative: Years of Montessori Education Received (MontYrs), Montessori Education (Montessori) & Traditional Education (Traditional) • Qualitative: Open discussion opportunities, level at which participation is encouraged, service-learning opportunities, organizational involvement opportunities and parental engagement opportunities

9. Research instruments • Survey for Montessori alumni: • What is the purpose of this study? • What type of education did you receive? • How many years of Montessori education did you receive? • In which type of organizations are you involved? • What is your level of agreement to if you perceive yourself to be civically spirited, civically literate, civically inquisitive, and civically active? • What is the frequency at which you participate in community problem solving, volunteering for a non-electoral organization, membership to a group or association, participate in fund-raising (run/walk/ride), other fundraising for charity? • How often do you participate in deciding for whom to vote, persuading others to vote, displaying buttons, signs, stickers, campaign contributions, and volunteering for candidates or political organizations? • How often do you contact officials, the print media, and the broadcast media, protest, petition, boycott, buycott, and canvassing? • What percentage of your time do you spend on information gathering, knowledge sharing, education, self-improvement, relationship building, networking, entertainment, shopping, paying bills, professional development and civic engagement? • What is the frequency at which your parents participate in community problem solving, volunteering for a non-electoral organization, membership to a group or association, participate in fund-raising (run/walk/ride), other fundraising for charity? • How often do your parents participate in deciding for whom to vote, persuading others to vote, displaying buttons, signs, stickers, campaign contributions, and volunteering for candidates or political organizations? • How often do your parents contact officials, the print media, and the broadcast media, protest, petition, boycott, buycott, and canvassing? • Documents for analysis: • Program information for MacDowell Montessori School’s Children’s House (K3-K5), lower elementary (1-3), upper elementary (4-6), adolescent community (7-8) and high school (9-12) • MacDowell Montessori School’s newsletters • MacDowell Montessori School’s academic calendars

10. Significant operational and conceptual definitions Electoral voice: Regular voting, persuading others to vote, displaying buttons, signs and stickers, campaign contributions, volunteering for candidate or political organizations and registering voters. Friere’s liberation pedagogy: Approach to education that focuses on awareness, open multi-directional communication, experiential collective learning and hands-on experience. Montessori education: Education method that focuses on hands-on, student-guided learning in a collective learning, orderly and independent environment. Nonsport extracurricular activities: Nonsport activities like student government, performing arts groups and voluntary community organizations. Organizational involvement: Student participation in organizations outside of academic institutions. Parental engagement: Parental involvement in child’s school community. Political activity: Participating in the voting process and freely expressing stances on current political or social issues. Political voice: Contacting officials, contacting the print media, contacting the broadcast media, protesting, email petitions, written petitions, boycotting, buycotting and canvassing. Positive Character: Character education that develops positive characteristics and skills. Problem Solving: Thought processes rooted in personal efficacy and willingness to contact political officials Service learning: School facilitated opportunities provided to students to work voluntarily in the community Traditional education: Education method that focuses on rote learning and memorization in an environment controlled by the teacher. • Academic gaps: Achievement disparities that exist between different socioeconomic groups • Civic Development: Instruction in law, history and democracy, in addition to offering active learning opportunities like student government and mock elections • Civic education: Education method that fosters communal and societal responsibility through the development of communal and societal roles. • Civic engagement: The level at which individuals participate in and are informed about communal, electoral and political processes • Civic engagement gaps: Civic participation and knowledge disparities that exist between different socioeconomic groups • Civic voice: Community problem solving, regular volunteering for a non-electoral organization, active membership in a group or association, participation in fund-raising run/walk ride, other fund-raising for charity, and running for political office. • Civil activity: Participating in community service and environmental conservation • Civil society: Nongovernment, public organizations • Conflict Resolution: An approach to interpersonal communication that focuses on taking another’s perspective. • Cosmopolitanism: Approach to education that focuses on multi-cultural education, mindful appreciation of differences and cross-culture collaboration • Dewey’s view of school as a community: Approach to education that focuses on molding behaviors of maturing members, meeting the standards of social activity, interdependence, and socially formed emotional, moral and mental dispositions

11. Preliminary findings Traditional Education and Civic Engagement Findings No correlation between Traditional and organizational membership except Negative, weak correlation with Social Positive, weak correlation with Political Negative, moderate correlation with Charitable Negative, weak correlation between Traditional and perceptions of civic self No correlation between Traditional education and civic, electoral or political voices Negative, moderate relationship between Traditional and VoteDec Negative, weak relationship between Traditional and Display Positive, moderate relationship between Traditional and Buycotting Multivariate Analyses statistically insignificant Even when controlling for parental engagement and organizational involvement Significant relationship between organizational involvement and civic engagement Significant relationship between organizational involvement and perceptions of civic self Significant relationship between Traditional and parental engagement in terms of political voice Significant relationship between MontYrs and political voice revealed • In general, no substantive or statistically significant relationships exist between Montessori education and civic engagement, organizational involvement or parental engagement • Positive, weak correlation between MontYrs & Runwalkride, VolPolOrg, Canvassing & Protesting • Negative, weak relationship between MontYrs and perceptions of civic self • Negative, weak relationship between MontYrs and measures associated with time allocation • Negative, weak relationship between MontYrs and organizational involvement, generally • Positive, weak relationship between MontYrs and Social and Charity • Montessori Education and Civic Engagement Findings • No correlation between Montessori and organizational involvement • Weak, positive relationship between Montessori and perceptions of civic self in terms of Inquisitive and Active • No correlation between Montessori and Spirited or Literate • No correlation between Montessori and the civic voice, except • Positive, weak correlation with VolNonElec and MemGrAss • No correlation between Montessori and the electoral voice • No correlation between Montessori and the political voice

12. Preliminary findings

13. Preliminary conclusions • When looking at the strength of respondents’ civic voices, I did not expect to find a negative relationship between the associated variables and Montessori education. There is a positive, weak relationship between MontYrs and Runwalkride, which may be a result of the emphasis Montessori education places on physical activity throughout all stages of development. The open discussion environment and encouragement of critical analysis throughout the Montessori planes seems to have fostered a relationship between Montessori education and persuading others to vote and displaying political stickers, buttons, etc. The positive, weak relationship between MontYrs and the electoral voice in terms of volunteering for political organizations may be attributed to the great number of service opportunities alumni participated in during K-12 years. This may also explain the positive, weak relationship that exists between MontYrs and canvassing. In general, Montessori alumni do not appear to be politically active except in terms of protesting. This could be an outcome of their relatively developed sense of justice. • I was surprised to see that there was not a stronger correlation between Montessori education in terms of years received and organizational involvement. I predicted that students who receive a Montessori education would be provided greater opportunities for organizational involvement because the Montessori approach seems to focus on partnership and community involvement. It is possible that respondents are involved with a plethora of organizations but do not seek membership. • I would have also assumed that those who received a Montessori education would have a stronger perception of their civic selves, but it was found that the reverse was true. • When considering the results of how Montessori alumni allocate their time, I would have expected to see that Montessori education would have a positive correlation with the majority of the associated variables. I found that the opposite is generally true. • When using the dichotomous questions regarding whether the respondent received a Montessori education, the relationships between Montessori education and organizational involvement did not change significantly. However, Montessori alumni did produce a more positive perception of their civic selves in terms of being civically inquisitive and active, but no correlation was found in terms of being civically spirited or literate. • When using cross-tabulations to explore the relationship between Montessori and the civic voice, there was generally no correlation found except for positive, weak relationships in terms of volunteering for non-electoral organizations and memberships to groups and associations. • During these analyses, no relationship was found between Montessori education and electoral or political voice strength. • The multivariate analyses proved to be statistically insignificant. This is not a surprise, considering the bivariate analyses were generally substantively and statistically insignificant or weak. These relationships were not significantly affected when controlling for organizational involvement and parental engagement, which is not what I expected considering their inferred relationship with civic engagement. However, organizational involvement did support previous studies in revealing the significant relationships between organizational membership and civic engagement in terms of the civic voice, as well as with respondents’ perceptions of their civic selves. • When conducting a multivariate analysis of MontYrs and the political voice, a significant relationship was found to exist. • When exploring the qualitative relationships between Montessori education and civic engagement, it was interesting to see how each plane of development builds upon the previous one. It is clear that the Montessori approach is designed to provide a solid foundation for education, as well as for civic engagement. It is easy to see the patterns and how they progress throughout the stages of development. MMS offers a great number of parental engagement and organizational involvement opportunities that span in variety. In the future, it would be important to survey alumni regarding their participation in these specific organizations and clubs, as well as to survey the parents of alumni directly to measure their engagement more accurately.

14. Preliminary next steps • Recommendations. In future studies, it would be important to further elaborate on each of the measures within the survey. These measures should be broken down into more variables in order to get an accurate depiction of respondents’ views and behaviors. It would be beneficial to survey a Montessori teacher associated with each program in order to gain insight into the reality of the classroom curriculum and activities. This would also help to gauge the level of parental involvement from the teachers’ perspective. Teachers should be asked questions regarding all of the measures represented in the qualitative charts to clarify how these are applied in the classroom. Interviewing teachers would also help gain further insight into Montessori education in the context of the public education system. It seems that there are major differences in the outcomes in comparison to private Montessori education. This was to be expected, but these differences should be explored further in future studies. Gaining access to alumni parents would provide a more accurate picture of parental engagement in terms of the three voices, as well as within the community of the school. Future studies should also explore the impact of Montessori education on academic achievement and mobilization.

15. summary • It is evident that Montessori education practices are rooted in the theories associated with civic education. These measures are present at each stage of development. Dewey’s view of school as a community does not seem to be present in K3-K5, but this perception could have be changed with a productive interview process. I was able to conduct one interview with a retired paraprofessional for a primary classroom (K3-K5), who emphasized the sense of responsibility that was developed in older children with regard to the younger children especially in sharing experiences, assisting with actions and modeling behaviors. It is interesting that each program contains many of the civic engagement predictors defined by McIntosh (2009), especially considering this study was focused on the urban high school environment. This leads me to believe that Montessori education is more proactive in establishing a foundation for civic engagement, guiding students through self development, providing opportunities for organizational involvement, fostering environmental appreciation and creating a thorough understanding of our civics systems. When measuring for variables associated with each civic voice, I should have considered McIntosh’s (2009) study more in depth. I should have considered the variables that McIntosh (2009) found to have an association with different civic outcomes. This would have allowed me to build upon already existing research while taking what is already known into consideration in my design.

16. Key references • Andolina, M.W., Jenkins, K., Keeter, S. & Zukin, C. (2003). Habits from home, lessons rom school: Influences on youth civic development." PS: Political Science and Politics, 36(2), 275-80. Retrieved October 6, 2013 from http://www.apsanet.org/imgtest/PSApr03Andolina.pdf • Andolina, M., Jenkins, K., Keeter, S., & Zukin, C. (2002). The Civic and political health of the nation: A generational portrait. New Jersey: The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement. Retrieved October 6, 2013 from http://www.civicyouth.org/research/products/Civic_Political_Health.pdf • Bowman, C., Collopy, R. & Taylor, D. (2012).The educational achievement gap as social justice issue for teacher educators. Catholic Education. Retrieved October 12, 2013 from http://content.ebscohost.com.ezproxy2.lib.depaul.edu/pdf29_30/pdf/2012/1IIJ/01Sep12/89040400.pdf?T=P&P=AN&K=89040400&S=R&D=ehh&EbscoContent=dGJyMNHX8kSep7A4zdnyOLCmr0uep7FSr664SbSWxWXS&ContentCustomer=dGJyMPGsr0u1qLBNuePfgeyx44Dt6fIA • Broome, J. (2011). Examining adolescent civic engagement in an alternative learning environment. Retrieved October 12, 2013 from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy1.lib.depaul.edu.ezproxy2.lib.depaul.edu/docview/893840636/fulltextPDF?accountid=10477# • Cohen, A., Pope, A. & Stolte, L. (2011). Closing the civic engagement gap: The potential of action civics. Social Education, 5(75), 267-270. Retrieved October 12, 2013 from http://www.generationcitizen.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Pope-Stolte- • Cohen-2011-Closing-the-Civic-Engagement-Gap-Social-Education-copy.pdf • Crittenden, J. & Levine, P. (2013). Civic education. Retrieved September 20, 2013 from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/civic-education/#SerLea. • Dewey, J., 2004 [1916]. Democracy and Education, Mineola, NY: Dover Publications. • Else-Quest, N. & Lillard, A. (2006). The early years: Evaluating Montessori education.Science 29, 313(5795), 1893-1894. Retrieved October 17, 2013 from http:/www.sciencemag.org/content/313/5795/1893.full • Friere, P., 2006/[1970]. Pedagogy of the Oppressed, New York: Continuum. Retrieved October 12, 2013 from http://www.users.humboldt.edu/jwpowell/edreformFriere_pedagogy.pdf • Grazzini, C., (1995). The four planes of development. The NAMTA Journal, 1(29), 27-61. RetreivedOctober 12, 2013 from http://www.montessori-namta.org/PDF/4planesofdevelopment.pdf • Hansen, D. (2010). Cosmopolitanism and education: A view from the ground. Teachers College Record, 1(112), 1-30. Retrieved October 12, 2013 from http://www.tcrecord.org.ezproxy2.lib.depaul.edu/library • Kanter, M. (2012). Civic learning for democracy’s future. Liberal Education, 98 (3). Retrieved October 12, 2014 from http://www.aacu.org/liberaleducation/le-su12/kanter.cfm • McIntosh, H. (2009). Predicting civic engagement in urban high school students. Journal of Research in Character Education. Retrieved October 6, 2013 from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy1.lib.depaul.edu/ehost/detail?vid=4&sid=02ab11ea-6146-4110-86ed-2c8efcbf0f15%40sessionmgr113&hid=113&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=eric&AN=EJ888508 • North American Montessori Teachers’ Association. (2013). The Montessori elementary program. Retrieved September 20, 2013 from http://www.montessori-namta.org/Index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=85

17. Key appendices • Appendix A: Survey • Appendix B: Interview Guide • Appendix C: Documents for Analysis • Appendix D: Appendix Significant operational and conceptual definitions