Mary Clare Mulhern Mary Ryan Maria Montessori Mary Clare Mulhern Mary Ryan

Biography Born in Italy in 1870, Catholic. Influenced by Rousseau (1712-1778). At age 26, she became the first woman physician in Italy’s history. First worked (successfully) with developmentally delayed children. Founded the Casa Dei Bambini (Children’s House) in 1907 in the slums of Rome. In the 1960s, her ideas became popular again.

Key Terms Sensitive Periods: “The genetically programmed blocks of time during which the child is especially eager and able to master certain tasks” (Crain 66). Order, Details, Use of Hands, Walking, Language Example: Umbrella on table, baby cries Self-directed: “If the school environment contains the right materials…the children will enthusiastically work on them on their own, without adult supervision” (Crain 17). Montessori Classroom: Child-centered instruction rather than teacher-directed.

Purpose To compare the behavior of students and the satisfaction of the teachers in a Montessori school setting and in a traditional school setting.

Questions Are children in Montessori schools more likely to be self-directed in the classroom than are children in a traditional school setting? Are teachers more/less/equally satisfied with teaching in child-centered schools as in teacher- directed schools?

Hypotheses Montessori students will be more self-directed because of the nature of their classroom environment. Montessori teachers will be more satisfied because they teach in a child-centered school.

Methods We observed each classroom for one hour. We assigned a figure to each student (Examples: B1, B2, B3, and G1, G2, G3). We put a tally mark by the student’s symbol every time he or she interacted with the teacher. We asked the teachers to take the optional 10- question survey.

Montessori Observation G1 G2 G3 G4 G5 G6 G7 G8 G9 G10 G11 4 2 3 7 12 6 1 B1 B2 B3 G1 G2 G3 G4 G5 G6 4 3 5 2 1 TOTAL BOY INTERACTIONS (12) TOTAL GIRL INTERACTIONS (17) 52 61

Traditional School Observation G1 G2 G3 G4 G5 G6 G7 G8 3 2 1 B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 G1 G2 G3 2 11 3 9 7 8 6 4 B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 B7 B8 G1 G2 9 8 4 1 5 6 3 TOTAL BOY INTERACTIONS (18) TOTAL GIRL INTERACTIONS (13) 91 47

Comparison Montessori Chart: TOTAL BOY INTERACTIONS (12) TOTAL GIRL INTERACTIONS (17) 52 61 Traditional School Chart: TOTAL BOY INTERACTIONS (18) TOTAL GIRL INTERACTIONS (13) 91 47 Overall: MONTESSORI TRADITIONAL SCHOOL 113 138

Teacher Comments (Observation) MONTESSORI TRADITIONAL “Let me see it before you put it away, okay?” “Use your inside voice.” To each student: “Do you want to talk to us today?” To the class: “What do we say (to the student who brought snack today)?” To the class: “What are we going to make today?” “(Student), what do you think I need you to stop doing? You’re bothering the people at your table.” “Good job working so quietly. What a great group.” Child-centered Group-centered

Teacher Survey 1. How satisfied are you with the amount of time it takes you to prepare for class each week (make lesson plan, set up the classroom, etc.)? 2. How satisfied are you with the dedication of your fellow faculty members to help each individual student reach their full learning potential? 3. How satisfied are you with the curriculum you are required to teach? 4. How satisfied are you with parents’ reinforcing at home what you teach in the classroom? 5. How satisfied are you with your students' curiosity about subjects that go beyond what you teach them during class? 6. How satisfied are you with your students' work ethic (get their work completed on time, are eager to do what is asked of them. etc.)? 7. How satisfied are you with your students' interactions with each other (respectful, not rough, considerate, cooperative, etc.)? 8. How satisfied are you with the students' self-directedness in the classroom (they do what they're supposed to do without you having to tell them multiple times)? 9. How satisfied are you with your students' proficiency at using the materials provided for them (books, toys, art supplies, etc.)? 10. How satisfied are you with the general noise level in the classroom?

Our Evaluation Scale 1 = Could be improved 2 = Not strongly opinionated either way 3 = Satisfied 4 = Very pleased!

Overall…

Teacher Comments (Survey) MONTESSORI TRADITIONAL “I absolutely love the philosophy and psychology behind the Montessori method. The work calls out to the child, and a lot of the material is didactic within itself, so the child is able to work independently, with the guidance of the teacher, of course.” (Question 3—Curriculum) “Teaching is more than a full time job, but I enjoy finding and preparing activities for the children.” (Question 1—Amount of time it takes to prepare for class)

Limitations of the Study Difficult to record accurately how many times the teacher interacted with individual students. The classroom rotations at the traditional school shortened our observation of the same group of children. We only received 4 responses to the teacher satisfaction survey. We only observed at one Montessori and one traditional school.

Further Implications… For a child you care about, would you choose a Montessori or traditional school? How would the education you chose benefit your child more than the other school? What factors would you consider when choosing? As a future teacher, would this information influence your approach to teaching?

Nature_____*______|___________Nurture Montessori “The school must permit the free, natural manifestations of the child.” “All human victories, all human progress, stand upon the inner force.” “The method of observation is established upon one fundamental base—the liberty of the pupils in their spontaneous manifestations.”

Bibliography Crain, William C. Theories of Development: Concepts and Applications. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000. Print. Lillard, Angeline Stoll. Montessori: The Science Behind the Genius. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2008. Print. Montessori, Maria. The Montessori Method. New York, NY: Schocken, 1988. Print. Seldin, Tim. "An Interview With Angeline Stoll Lillard, Ph.D." Tomorrow's Child Fall 2006: 9-66. The Montessori Foundation. Web. 26 Nov. 2012.