Maria Montessori and the ISD Model: Development of the Montessori Method
Summary
The paper I prepared begins with a description of the Montessori Method and a historical narration of the professional career of Dr. Maria Montessori. I also included some biographical information as to her origins and the identity of her parents. I then drew a comparison of her methods for developing the Montessori Method and her career to the ISD model. I compared significant events in her career to the analysis phase. Explaining that her experience with children lead her to develop her programs. Then I drew a comparison to her work with the design and development phases, citing her materials that she uses in her classrooms and the classrooms themselves. Finally I compared her implementation and subsequent discoveries to the implementation and evaluation phases in ISD. I concluded with my own personal opinion, that Maria Montessori was an innovator and mostly responsible for modern education. I used four directly quoted sources, one solely paraphrased, and one merely for research and background information.
Since the late Nineteenth Century, educators and medical professionals have been concerned with the physical and mental development of children between the ages of two and seven years. During the first part of the Industrial Revolution and through the beginning of the Twentieth Century, conditions in the cities and industrial centers were deplorable. Adult workers were forced to work long hours and under extreme conditions, likewise children were made to endure arduous working environments with little or no concern for their well being, short of their ability to contribute to the work force. In Upton Sinclair's book, The Jungle, he des...
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...ontessori, there is a distinct pattern to her development that is remarkably similar to those proposed by the ISD model.
References Works Cited
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Montessori, M. (1964). Dr. Montessori's own handbook. Boston: Robert Bentley, Inc.
Pines, M. (1967). Revolution in learning: the years from birth to six. New York: Harper and Row Publishers.
Sinclair, U. (1960). The Jungle. New York: The New American Library of World Literature.
Standing, E.M. (1962). Maria Montessori: her life and work. New York: The New American Library of World Literature. Other Sources
Braun, S. J. (1974). Nursery education for disadvantages children: an historical review. In Montessori in perspective. (pp. 7-24). National Association for the Education of Young Children: New York.
The Child Development Center of College of San Mateo provides early care and educational programs for children between the ages of 3 to 5 years old. Children are divided into classrooms with a “master” teacher, a “regular” teacher, and two or three “associate” teachers. Klara attended Classroom, “A,” a stimulating and well-resourced classroom. Klara was observed for two hours on Monday from 9 am to 11 am and for two hours on Wednesday from 9 am to 11 am. During these two hours, classroom activities consisted of “free time,” “story time,” and an outside “play time.” A “master” teacher, a “regular” teacher, and two “associate” teachers were present during observations. Additionally, a total of eighteen children were in attendance during the observed days.
Lee, B. G. (2008). Early Childhood Education: The Early Years. California : National Social Science Press .
Tejada, E. (2010). The Promise of Preschool: From Head Start to Universal Pre-kindergarten. Education Review (10945296), 1-6.
Williams, Leslie R. and Doris Pronin Fromberg, ed. Encyclopedia of Early Childhood Education. New York: Garland Publishing, 1992.
Early childhood education, although constantly evolving, was actually established and practiced as early on as the times of Ancient Greece and Rome. The foundation that early childhood education is based upon is to instill in children the skills needed to succeed later on in life, while making sure young children enjoy their time in schooling. Throughout chapter 3 in the textbook Who Am I in the Lives of Children, the reader is capable of evaluating just how greatly the methods for teaching today’s youth have evolved and changed for the better.
Morrison, G. S. (1976). Chapter 6: Early Childhood Programs APPLYING THEORIES TO PRACTICE. In Early childhood education today (10th ed., pp. 5-31). Columbus, Ohio: Merrill.
Cook, G., & Cook, J. L. (2010). The world of children. (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.
Preschool is a highly debated area of a child’s educational journey. One of the primary goals of preschool is to prep the child for traditional elementary school. There are various contemporary models of early education that have been constructed to help children develop their educational career. A few examples of these models are the Bank Street Approach, The Reggio Emilia Approach, The Montessori Approach, and the Head Start Program just to name a few. The Waldorf approach is the program of discussion in this particular paper. The Waldorf Approach was originated in 1919 with the basic analysis that children can learn traditional educational subjects through artistic activities. The assumption is that children should dictate the classroom curriculum, and that the material learned should benefit the child as a whole. There are four conditions that teachers focus on when using the Waldorf Approach. The four conditions are Aesthetic, Social, Symbolic, and Sensitive conditions. In a classroom setting these four conditions are put into practice by ...
...skills compared to a control group from the mainstream school system. The authors of the article came to the conclusion that “when strictly implemented, Montessori education fosters social and academic skills that are equal or superior to those fostered by a pool of other types of schools.”
The Montessori method began in the early 1900's by the first female doctor in Italy, Dr. Mary Montessori, as a way of educating mentally disabled children. Her ideas were so successful with these children that she began to apply her understanding of learning to study the potential of normally functioning children (Oalf, 2001). Dr. Montessori's approach to education stresses the importance of learning styles, independence and responsibility.
Maria Montessori was born in Italy in 1870 and influenced childcare massively in the 20th century. Montessori believed that children learn best through using their hands. She felt that one of the main factors that contributed to the child’s development was the ‘prepared’ environment. Children learn through exploration and the adult’s role is to create an environment where they can do
Dever, M. & Falconer, R. (2008). Foundations and Change In Early Childhood Education. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (p. 3-4, 12). 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ
My beliefs and values about early childhood education is based upon understanding that all children are unique individuals who need a caring, nurturing, and secure environment in which to grow and develop socially, emotionally, cognitively, and physically. Children under the age of three are in critical stages of development, it is my belief that a quality child care environment will have a positive impact on a child’s development and make a significant difference in the life of a child and his or her family. My philosophy of early childhood education and the elements I believe are necessary in developing a developmentally appropriate child care environment is rooted in my views and beliefs about experimentalism, progressivism, multiculturalism, and the influence of philosophers such as Dewey, Piaget, Montessori, and Vygotsky. Furthermore, I believe young children will thrive and grow in developmentally appropriate child care programs that possess the following elements: (1) teachers who see themselves as intentional, responsive and respectful facilitators of learning, (2) the ability to build a community of learners, (3) implement an effective curriculum that allow children to explore their natural curiosity about the world.
... such a manner that its curriculum framework is open to interpretation enough to be adapted to most if not all child-centered early years educational approaches. Montessori has a structured curriculum, which while not as flexible as High/Scope can still adapt to Aistear’s framework into their own set curriculum using already established Montessori exercises. In addition, Montessori and High/scope both share an emphasis on the importance of the prepared environment for the children, which is in accordance of Síolta, without which the Aistear framework cannot be successfully undertaken.
What Kids Really Learn in Preschool. Parenting. (Fall 99):Vol. 13 Issue 7, p 74. October