1. By Carolina Herrera and Sarah Sirgo
Maria Montessori
By Carolina Herrera and Sarah Sirgo

2. Biography Montessori was born in Italy in 1870
In 1898, her son Mario was born
In 1901, she started to study psychology and philosophy
Died in Noordwijk, Holland in 1952
Her work is still carried out today by Association Montessori Internationale which was founded in Amsterdam, Holland in 1929

3. In 1896, at the age of 26, she became Italy’s first female physician
Her earliest work was with children who had learning disabilities
She analyzed how children learn, and she saw that children build themselves from what they find in their environment
She followed Seguin’s line of thinking to develop her own methodology
Montessori’s Career

4. In 1907, her school “Casa dei Bambini” opened, which followed the theory that “children teach themselves”
Traveled around the world to give teacher training courses and opened training centers
Written works include: The Absorbent Mind, The Discovery of the Child, The Secret of Childhood, and many more
Montessori’s Career

5. Montessori Theory Absorbent Mind: Sensitive Periods:
Independence: Allowing children to do things by themselves
Absorbent Mind:
Children under three absorb their environment by experiencing
Sensitive Periods:
Children are more inclined to learn a certain skill at different points in their development

6. Stages of Development
Infancy (birth- 6 years) - Absorbent Mind and Sensitive Periods which causes intense learning. First three years of life infants learn through their senses or the unconscious Absorbent Mind. The second three years children learn through experience when they do things on their own.
The Stages of Development are Infancy, Childhood, Adolescence, and Transition to Adulthood.
Infancy is a very intense learning period for children and this is the time when they are absorbing a lot of information. Children start out by learning through their sense and once they turn three they learn through experience.
In Childhood, children have grown out of the Absorbent Mind. At this stage children want to be interactive and they want to be socially accepted.
Childhood (6-12 years) - Grown out of their Absorbent Mind. Children want to understand their environment and how it works and why. The sensitive period is about social acceptance and the development of a value system.

7. Stages of Development
Adolescence (12-18 years) - Learning is about every-day living skills. Although Montessori never developed this stage into a practical learning system, she wanted to create schools which were self sustaining communities so adolescence were more able to adapt to the adult world.
Transition to adulthood (18-24 years) - Starts off with exploring careers. Once cognitive and social skills are developed stages then people can make the best career choice for themselves.
The Adolescence stage is very different the view most people have of Adolescence teaching. Montessori never developed this stage into a practical learning system, but Montessori wanted children to be self-sustaining so they can adapt to the adult world.
Transition into adulthood is exploring careers. When people have mastered cognitive and social skills then people can make the best career choice.

8. Normalization
When a child has mastered a sensitive period, that child has achieved normalization.
Normalization results in an incredible amount of concentration on the child’s part. The famous story of the young girl who was so engaged in her task that she did not notice Montessori and the other children parading around her, or even when Montessori lifted her chair up in the air with the girl still sitting in it. Her concentration was not broken until she had completed her work: which she then looked up from, sighing with contentment.

9. What’s Necessary For a Child to Achieve Normalization?
The Teacher: must be “a director of the spontaneous work of the children” (Montessori, 1964)
The Environment: must be a controlled one, designed to allow the child to independently work and learn
The Materials: must be the correct work for the child’s current sensitive period

10. “Normalization comes about through “concentration” on a piece of work
“Normalization comes about through “concentration” on a piece of work. For this we must provide “motives for activity” so well adapted to the child’s interests that they provoke his deep attention.”
–Maria Montessori

11. Our Questions:
Will the children at a Montessori school be more likely, less likely, or as likely to engage in a certain activity longer than children at a traditional school? Will gender play any role in the students ability to engage in a certain activity?

12. Hypothesis:
Montessori school children will be more likely to engage in a certain activity longer than children at a traditional school.
The girls will be more likely to engage in a certain activity longer than the boys.

13. Some Limitations…
Both times we observed at the traditional school, we ended up having to actually engage with the children
Our observation hours were not even: at the Montessori school, a total of 6 hours was spent observing; while at the traditional school a total of 2 hours were spent observing
It was challenging to track the time each child spent on their tasks, so we ended up focusing a lot more on their off-task behaviors

14. RUBRIC: Student Number Gender Time Spent on a Single Task
Off-Task Behavior
Teacher Involvement
Other Student Interruption
Teacher Interruption
Additional information/Comments

15. Montessori Results (Pre-k 3)
Student Number
Gender
Time Spent on a Single Task
Off-Task Behavior
Teacher Involvement
Other Student Interruption
Teacher Interruption F1 F
N/A 1 2 M1 M 6 10 F2 11 3 F3 F4 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6 M7 4
TOTAL
1.5 (avg) 17 25 8

16. Montessori Results (Pre-k 4&5)
Student Number
Gender
Time Spent on a Single Task
Off-Task Behavior
Teacher Involvement
Other Student Interruption
Teacher Interruption F1 F
10, 12 3 1 2 M1 M 21 F2 16 F3
N/A M2 M3 M4 8
TOTAL
10 (avg) 11 7 4

17. Traditional Results (Pre-k 4)
Student Number
Gender
Time Spent on a Single Task
Off-Task Behavior
Teacher Involvement
Other Student Interruption
Teacher Interruption M1 M
N/A 7 4 2 F1 F F2 F3 6 M2 15 8 1 F4 F5 F6
10, 5 3 F7 10 M3
Total
5.5 (avg) 43 16 20 5

18. Traditional Results (Kinder)
Student Number
Gender
Time Spent on a Single Task
Off-Task Behavior
Teacher Involvement
Other Student Interruption
Teacher Interruption F1 F
2, 3 5 2 4 F2
2, 2 M1 M
15, 5 1 M2 20 10
TOTAL
12.25 (avg) 19 8

19. Comparison of Data (between schools)
Gender
Time Spent on a Single Task
Off-Task Behavior
Teacher Involvement
Other Student Interruption
Teacher Interruption
Montessori
Pre-k 3
7 males
4 females
(11 total)
1.5 17 25 8
Pre-k 4&5
4 males
3 females
(7 total) 10 11 7 4 3
Traditional
Pre-k 4
(10 total)
5.5 43 16 20 5
Kinder
2 males
2 females
(4 total)
12.25 19
0 (no teacher present)

20. Comparison of Data (between genders)
School
Gender
Time Spent on a Single Task
Off-Task Behavior
Teacher Involvement
Other Student Interruption
Teacher Interruption
Montessori
School & Traditional School M
(16 students)
11 min 48 34 21 5 F
7.9 min 42 22 30 3

21. Male Comparison M1 from Montessori pre-k 3
6 off-task, 10 teacher involvement
Teacher had to stand right beside him as he worked
A constant interruption to others
Exhibited self-corrective behavior
M1 from traditional school pre-k 4
7 off-task, 4 teacher involvement
Playing with his work
Throwing blocks at another student
Teacher had to step in and stop him

22. Male Comparison (part 2)
M2 from Montessori pre-k 4&5
1 off-task, frequent teacher involvement
Chooses only puzzles to work on: does each one quickly, but picks another one immediately after
Great deal of teacher guidance needed, but he is never in trouble
M1 from traditional school kindergarten
4 off-task, teacher involvement N/A
Sat quietly on his own, engaged in his book
Only spoke to the other students when they talked to him: he was interrupted, but never interrupted anyone else

23. Female Comparison F2 from Montessori pre-k 4&5
2 off-task, no teacher involvement
Did not pay attention for several minutes at a time
Distracted by everything: other students, her clothing, etc.
She seemed bored with her work
F1 from traditional pre-k 4
7 off-task, no teacher involvement
Very talkative
Disrupting anyone who sat by her
Was not even doing her work, but kept talking to anyone who would listen

24. Female Comparison (part 2)
F3 from Montessori pre-k 4&5
0 off-task behavior, no teacher involvement
She was working so quietly and diligently it was easy to forget she was there
She worked on the same work over and over again the whole time
F6 from traditional pre-k 4
3 off-task behavior, 4 teacher involvement
Working diligently, but the teacher and other students kept interrupting her
The teacher kept asking her questions about what she was doing, even though she was clearly hard at work

25. Conclusion:
Based off of the results the children at the Montessori school are more likely to engage in a certain activity for longer. Students at the traditional school may have spent more time on a task, but that was a result of frequent off- task behavior.
The girls exhibited a greater ability to concentrate. The boys had less interruptions, but still were more likely to engage in off-task behavior.

26. Nature- Nurture Line
Nurture
Nature