LAURA JAUREGUI AND

LINDSEY LANDGROVER

Maria Montessori: Self Regulation and

Independence

Biography

Montessori was born in Chiaravalle, Italy in 1870Moved to Florence three years later and then

once again to Rome in 1875Studied at the University of Rome and earned her

medical degree in 1892Began to look at the field of pediatrics and slowly

became interested in children with mental disabilities

Was one of the founders of Casa de Bambini where she applied her studies and methods to mentally normal children

Traveled around the world, sharing information about her educational method

Critical Terms

Concentration: Activity concentrated on a single work with movements of the body guided by the mind. Child is in deep engagement in an activity.

Cycle of Activity: Children repeat an activity which interests them for no apparent reason. Child only stops when inner need is satisfied.

  Independence: Not depending on another, most specifically the

teacher/directress.  Active Discipline: Act of will, develops gradually. As will develops through the

exercise of free choice, children begin to have the self-discipline necessary for obedience.

  Sensitive Periods: Child in a sensitive period exhibits spontaneous

concentration when engaged in an activity that matches a particular sensitivity.   Work: Children learning and experimenting in a relatively pressure-free

environment.

Goals and Purpose

The purpose of this research study is to compare and contrast the social and individual behaviors of children who are educated in Montessori classroom settings with the social and individual behaviors of children who are educated in more traditional classroom settings.

1. Are Montessori students more likely to demonstrate more self regulated behaviors than are students in traditional classrooms?

2. Are Montessori students more likely to receive fewer corrections from the teachers than are students in traditional classrooms?

3. How do the interactions between Montessori students and traditional students compare and contrast? Which students have more positive/negative interactions?

4. Are Montessori students more likely to demonstrate independent choices in their classrooms when compared to traditional students in their classrooms?

Hypothesis

Montessori students will demonstrate more independence and self regulation than the students in the traditional schools. Due to:

Higher percentage of positive teacher-student interactions

Higher percentage of postive student-student interactions

Definition: Independence

Independent choices: Any time that a student performs an activity of

their own volition without receiving specific instructions (The Discovery of the Child 57).

Teacher Impedes Independent Choices: Any time that the teacher (or directress) “waits

upon” or acts in such a way as to “suffocate [a student’s] own .. spontaneous actions” (The Montessori Method 95).

Definition: Self Regulation

Self-regulationStudent “regulate[s] his own conduct” in

such a way that is appropriate to the current situation (The Montessori Method 86).

Teacher impedes self-regulationTeacher does not allow the student’s

“inner efforts” to develop due to specific corrections or interruption of the work (The Discovery of the Child, 307).

Procedure

“Child Psychology can be established only through the method of external observation.” (MM 72)

Observe Holy Family (Kindergarten classroom) for 1 hour and record all observations

Observe St. Francis Montessori Primary classroom for 1 hour and record all observations

Data Collection Instrument

Postive/ Constructive

Negative/Criticism Notes

Teacher – Student

Compliments student or allows the student

to work independently

Corrects the student

Student – Student

Help each other during an activity

Distract each other from work or start

an unnecessary discussion

Classroom set up *St. Francis Montessori

Classroom set up *Holy Family( Traditional school)

Results (Student-Student)

 Holy Family

Student-Student

St. Francis Montessori

Student-Student

Positive 56% 60%

Negative 43% 40%

Results (Teacher-Student)

 

Holy Family

St. Francis Montessori

Student-TeacherStudent-Teacher

Positive 33% 63%

Negative 66% 36%

Hypothesis was correct regarding independence!

Independent choices Teacher impedes independent choices

Holy Family - Several students were singing a song “B-I-B-L-E” to themselves as they colored a page that had BIBLE written on it in block letters- When the students who took the survey walked back into the room they went and got markers to bring back to their table- A student plays by himself with the crayons, he pretends they are airplanes instead of drawing with them

- A student got out of her seat to get a different color marker and the teacher told her to sit back down, saying “Well, sit down and I will get one (a crayon) for you”

- When a student is confused, the teacher repeats the instructions numerous time on aone-to-one basis

St Francis Montessori

- Two girls cut up a paper and talked about making a tickets with the paper- When the boy left the singing circle, he picked his own activity to work on- Little girl doesn’t want to sing anymore so she starts to cut paper without beinginstructed to do so

Hypothesis was correct regarding self-regulation!

Self-regulation Teacher impedes self-regulation

Holy Family - Several students continued to work quietly while the teacher worked with the rest of the class- Student reminds another student not to throw objects-An angry student calms himself down and sits down with the rest of the classroom, buthis temper raises again and he decides to walk around instead of sitting on the carpetwith all the other students

- Girl has to leave the classroom because she was too loud and rowdy - Teacher writes names down on the board to show disapproval of a child’s behavior when they scream or speak out of turn - Teacher tells the students to be quiet 6 times in a row - Teacher calls all the students over to sing, so one student has to leave her work unfinished - Teacher tells a student that the drawing is “not his best work” and she knows that “he can do much better.”

St. Francis Montessori - An older student got her folder and notebook out and began to work without being prompted- A girl who is copying letters is being watched by a second girl. The second girl tried to trace the letter with her finger but the first girl swatted her fingers away, but a minute later invited the second girl to write her own letter.- Student was bothering another student, the student being bothered simply asked theperson to stop instead of starting a bicker- When students come in, they know they should sit on the carpet

- Little boy was asked to leave the singing circle due to misconduct

What went wrong?

NO consent forms from Montessori3 consent forms from Holy Family

Had to change our experiment to only observation, could no longer ask the children what they thought of the school or label the children

Visited schools at different times of the day

Only visited for an hour

Future research?

Longer time

Perform entire experiment

Older kids

Observe outside of the classroom

Nature / Nurture Line

Nature Nurture

Montessori

Bibliography

Cosgrove, Sara Anne, and Roger Ballou. "A Complement to Lifestyle Assessment: Using Montessori Sensorial Experiences to Enhance and Intensify Early Recollections."Journal of Individual Psychology, Vol. 62 Issue 1, P47-58, 12p. EBSCO, Spring 2006. Web. 11 Sept. 2012.

Montessori, Maria. The Discovery of the Child. New York: Ballantine, 1973. Print.

Montessori, Maria. The Montessori Method. Cambridge: Robert Bently, 1964. Print.

Reuter, Jeanette, and Gladys Yunik. "Social Interaction in Nursery Schools." Developmental Psychology. US: American Psychological Association, n.d. Web. 24 Sept. 2012. <http://dbproxy.udallas.edu:2053/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=7&hid=107&sid=3f021c19-b8ec-4558-80e0-ddf633454441%40sessionmgr110>.