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Early Childhood Education Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Early Childhood Education

The Effects Of Collaboration On Teacher Empowerment, Brittany Kay Feinauer Dec 2017

The Effects Of Collaboration On Teacher Empowerment, Brittany Kay Feinauer

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

The purpose of this action research project was to measure the effects that collaborative curriculum planning had on three early childhood classrooms in a private Montessori school. The study population included six early childhood teachers who collectively designed a curriculum and helped collect data for the first seven weeks of the intervention. Each participant filled out a teacher feedback form which was based on Spreitzer’s (1995) psychological empowerment scale to measure changes in perceptions of four different aspects of empowerment: meaning, competence, self-determination, and impact. The primary researcher also analyzed data from individual teacher journals, notes from weekly discussions, and …


Practicing Freedom: Effects Of Personal Anti-Racist Engagement On A Montessori Educator's Experience, Maggie Mccaffrey Dec 2017

Practicing Freedom: Effects Of Personal Anti-Racist Engagement On A Montessori Educator's Experience, Maggie Mccaffrey

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

This self-study was designed to assess the effects of engagement with antiracist media on the work of a Montessori educator in the classroom. Conducted over eight weeks, the study used nightly readings, daily reflections, a tally of daily antiracist thoughts, and a scale of one through five measuring the participant’s optimism regarding the integration of antiracist pedagogy with Montessori philosophy and practice. The study was performed at a racially and economically diverse private Montessori school in a Midwestern metropolitan area in a class of twenty children ranging from 2.7 to 5 years old. The results indicated that, although the intervention …


The Effect Of Handwriting Without Tears On Montessori Four-Year-Olds' Handwriting Ability, Shelley B. Valdez Dec 2017

The Effect Of Handwriting Without Tears On Montessori Four-Year-Olds' Handwriting Ability, Shelley B. Valdez

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

The action research question for this study was, “What effect would the addition of a program by Handwriting Without Tears (HWT) called, Transition to Kindergarten, in a block everyday have on the development of handwriting skills of my four-year-old students?” Beyond utilizing the HWT program, the reviewed literature on handwriting instruction expounded on six major themes: brain benefits of handwriting, blocks of handwriting instruction (speed and legibility), name writing (gross & fine motor skills), the connection between writing and reading, and phonological awareness. This project was conducted in a private Montessori school in South Florida, where six preschool participants (age …


Anti-Bias Work On Self-Identity In A Primary Montessori Classroom, Lauren A. Tift Nov 2017

Anti-Bias Work On Self-Identity In A Primary Montessori Classroom, Lauren A. Tift

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

This research sought to determine the effect of implementing an anti-bias curriculum on the selfidentity of children in a private primary Montessori classroom. Twenty-two students aged three to six from a highly concentrated urban community in a northeastern coastal city participated in the study. Pre and post discussion questions, a running log of personal observations, visible child-produced artifacts, and an attribute checklists were the four tools used in this study. These tools determined the effect of the anti-bias work on each child’s ability to self-identify. The interactions and artifacts produced specific and traceable data on children’s thoughts and perceptions before …


Building Peer Independence Among Children, Sienna D. Kuhn May 2017

Building Peer Independence Among Children, Sienna D. Kuhn

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

The research was conducted to determine if grace and courtesy lessons could increase the peer to peer reliance in a new community of 12 children ranging in age from thirty-three months to four years old at a private Montessori school in a metropolitan area. It is rare to experience starting a new community and only having 12 children of the same relative age in a Montessori school. The study was conducted with grace and courtesy lessons, given an average of three times a week, on how to ask other peers for help and how to offer help to others. Data …


How Acts Of Kindness Facilitate Prosocial Behaviors In An Early Childhood Montessori Classroom, April L. Malley May 2017

How Acts Of Kindness Facilitate Prosocial Behaviors In An Early Childhood Montessori Classroom, April L. Malley

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

This action research project examined how the implementation of Kindness Guidelines affected prosocial behavior among Early Childhood students. The setting was a private Montessori school, with 18 children ages two to five-years-old. Guidelines were developed using child-generated ideas on how to be kind to themselves, others, and the environment, along with teacher-made materials that illustrated acts of kindness and emotional awareness. Implementation of the intervention lasted six weeks with 20 days of data collected during two 15-20 minute observations per day. Positive and negative behaviors were recorded using tally sheets and an observation journal. Use of teacher-made materials was tracked …


The Effects Of Montessori’S “Walking On The Line” Activity On Student Engagement And Concentration, Emily S. Leutgeb May 2017

The Effects Of Montessori’S “Walking On The Line” Activity On Student Engagement And Concentration, Emily S. Leutgeb

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

This paper investigates whether and to what degree Montessori’s “Walking on the Line” activity affected student engagement and concentration. This study took place in a private Montessori classroom serving twenty students, aged 33 months through five years. Data was collected using four tools on line usage, engagement, and concentration: a tally of how many times students walked the line, a tally measuring how engaged students appeared while working in the classroom, how long students concentrated following a lesson, and a professional journal. All but the line usage tool gathered baseline data five days before the intervention. Results were inconclusive. While …


"Effects Of Front-Loading Vocabulary For English As A Second Language Learners, Mandy L. Downs May 2017

"Effects Of Front-Loading Vocabulary For English As A Second Language Learners, Mandy L. Downs

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

This action research investigated the effects of front-loading vocabulary on four-year-old English as a second language learners (ESL). Fourteen 4-year-old children were included in the study. Two were native English speakers and the remaining 12 were ESL students. The sources of data included a daily log of the children’s attention during a read aloud, parent feedback, a personal field journal and pre and post intervention vocabulary assessments. Children with stronger English language knowledge displayed an increase in their vocabulary and participation. Due to the increase in vocabulary and participation in English speaking children, I will continue to front-load vocabulary while …


The Effects Of Music And Visual Cues On Transition Time In A Multi-Aged 3-5 Year Old Montessori Classroom, Jessica S. Brock May 2017

The Effects Of Music And Visual Cues On Transition Time In A Multi-Aged 3-5 Year Old Montessori Classroom, Jessica S. Brock

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

The purpose of this action research project was to investigate the effects of music and visual cues on transition times. This research took place in a Primary Montessori classroom with children ranging from 3-5 years of age in a public, partial magnet, urban K3-8th school. Data was collected for four weeks using a transition time log, behavior tally sheets, teacher journal, and student attitude scales. The results of the study showed a slight decrease in transition times, and a larger decrease in disruptive behaviors using both music and visual cues. Although the transition time decreases were less than expected, …


Storytelling And Emotional Response To Conflict, Angela K. Boris May 2017

Storytelling And Emotional Response To Conflict, Angela K. Boris

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

This research was conducted to assess the impact of daily oral storytelling and emotional response to conflict in preschool aged children. Research was done in a Montessori primary classroom with 23 students between the ages of two-and a-half and six years old. Quantitative data included tallies and averages of the total number of conflicts per week and per child and a conflict checklist to monitor any changes in language and behavior used in times of conflict. Qualitative data included observational field notes to evaluate children’s responses to and repetition of oral storytelling and a reflective journal to record any changes …


Grace And Courtesy In Living With Conflict In The Montessori Children’S House, Katie J. Gregoire May 2017

Grace And Courtesy In Living With Conflict In The Montessori Children’S House, Katie J. Gregoire

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

The purpose of this research was to determine in what ways increased role-play lessons of grace and courtesy affected conflict resolution in an early childhood classroom. This research study was conducted at a private Montessori school in a midwestern metropolitan area. The sixweek study was completed in a classroom with 29 children, ranging in age from thirty-three months to six years old. During the study, data was collected on the number of conflicts and grace and courtesy lessons. Data was also collected on levels of cooperation and use of respectful language among children, as observed and reflected on, by the …


Supporting Conflict Resolution In An Early Childhood Montessori Environment, Megan C. Andrews May 2017

Supporting Conflict Resolution In An Early Childhood Montessori Environment, Megan C. Andrews

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

The study aimed to determine in what way daily grace and courtesy lessons and more thoughtful, consistent adult intervention would affect children’s responses to conflict in an early childhood Montessori environment. There were 17 participants between the ages of three and six in an independent Montessori school in Northern Michigan. The researcher gave the children daily lessons on aspects of conflict resolution, used a scripted intervention strategy during conflict, and implemented three guided discussions throughout the course of the study. The researcher collected data by tallying number of conflicts, recording responses during guided discussions, recording details and language of each …


The Affects Of Nature Based Learning On Children’S Eco-Centric Attitudes, Nicolette A. Bidell Apr 2017

The Affects Of Nature Based Learning On Children’S Eco-Centric Attitudes, Nicolette A. Bidell

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

The purpose of this action research study was to discover if exposure to nature-based education would increase student’s eco-centric views of the environment. The intervention took place over a four week period at a private Montessori school in France. 11 students and their parents participated in the study. Students ranged in age from 2 to 3 years. Qualitative and quantitative data were both collected via a parent questionnaire, pre and post student surveys, daily observations, and a teacher reflection journal. Analysis of the data revealed that the more days a child participated in the nature-based lessons and activities, the more …


Goal Setting And Choice On Student Motivation, Donna K. Dodge Apr 2017

Goal Setting And Choice On Student Motivation, Donna K. Dodge

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

The purpose of this research is to determine what effect weekly conferences and goal setting opportunities have on the motivation of kindergarten children, in a multi-age (3-6 year-old) Montessori early childhood classroom in the Midwest. The goal was for children to become selfmotivated to choose and practice independent work that is developmentally appropriate. Data was collected before, during, and after the project using an observational checklist to determine the effectiveness of implementing goal setting and conferences with students. The research showed that writing goals in a journal was helpful for the majority of students. The students involved in the study …