对蒙台梭利教师教学行为的个案研究

通过对H市一所以蒙台梭利教育法为特色的幼儿园中的H教师的教学行为的个案分析发现,该教师的教学行为可分为缄默、等待、协调三类,体现了对幼儿的尊重。H教师的上述教学行为是符合蒙台梭利教育法的基本原则的。虽然蒙台梭利教育法尊重幼儿的基本原则值得借鉴,但在中国幼儿园实践蒙台梭利教育法仍需谨慎。     

Confucian revival and the hybrid educational narratives in contemporary China: a critical rethinking of scale in globalisation and education

ABSTRACT

Today China witnesses a renaissance of classical studies and Confucian Academies across the nation. With an estimated 10 million children attending Confucian kindergartens, classes, and schools, cultural heritage has increasingly become a new marker of social distinction. At the same time, Confucian tradition is often associated with excessive testing, competition, and academic burdens that continue to hinder China's educational innovation. Disenchanted with state-run schools, many urban middle-class families turn to alternative schools that use imported pedagogies such as the Waldorf, Montessori, and Reggio to cultivate a better future for their children. In reform-era China, Westernisation coexists with a return to tradition to produce a fascinatingly complex cultural-pedagogical terrain. This paper examines such curiously hybrid educational narratives to understand the idiosyncratic features of Chinese educational globalisation and offer a critical perspective to rethink the concept of scale in comparative education research.     

Silence as borderland: a semiotic approach to the “silent” pupil in nineteenth-century vocal education

Abstract

At the heart of the nineteenth-century educational soundscape lies a paradox. Whilst “modern” classrooms generally strived for orderly silence, the goal of its educational practices was the production of competent “citizens”. Middle-class boys in particular were expected to acquire a voice fit for business, the professions, or even (political) public speech whilst quietly listening to a teacher. This silence within the educational institution has generally been understood as an element of discipline. In this paper I want to examine the paradox of the silent classroom and the speaking citizen. I will focus specifically on those instances where the clear goal of education was vocal sound (i.e. fluent speech, civilised pronunciation, and song) and look at how silence was mobilised by educators. I will argue that the silences employed in these educational practices were not (only) tools of order and discipline, but rather means to create a “borderland” where the leap between childhood and its uncivilised noises, and adulthood and its rational speech, could be made.

I will draw upon the interpretations of silence as “in between” signs as it has been developed by semioticians to analyse a corpus of sources consisting mainly of French, German, and English pedagogical literature focusing on the development of children’s voices. Reframing the place of silence in “institutionalised” education allows us to delve deeper into the specific ways in which “discipline” (re)produced and articulated dichotomies of power.     

我国蒙氏教育中现存的误区和对策

在世界幼儿教育改革的大潮中,蒙台梭利教育法或成为许多国家重要的幼教模式,或被成功渗入到其教育模式之中,对当今世界各国幼儿教育的改革与发展有着重要的影响.同样,蒙台梭利教育法对我国幼儿教育的改革也具有借鉴意义.但是,必须正视我国蒙台梭利教育实践过程中存在的误区,以实现蒙台梭利教育法的中国化.     

Departments as Teams: Functioning,variations and alternatives

Complex, multi-dimensional and often conflicting reform has led in The Netherlands to a situation in which the management of schools is no longer seen as the exclusive preserve of senior management. In order to manage changes within schools it is deemed necessary to expand the management function to other levels of the organization. In this context teams are held increasingly responsible for carrying out the middle management function, in particular in the educational domain of schools. In this article the results of Dutch research into these teams, in particular subject departments, and the way they carry out the middle managment function are presented and compared to results of similar research in other educational settings. The article ends with a reflection on the desirability of departmentalisation. The functioning of departments will be compared with the functioning of teams within different contexts, in particular interdisciplinary teaming. Finally, suggestions for future research into departmentalisation and its alternatives are made.     

蒙台梭利教育思想在近代中国——纪念蒙台梭利"儿童之家"创办一百周年

今年是伟大的儿童教育家蒙台梭利(Maria Montessori 1870-1952)博士创办“儿童之家”一百周年,国际蒙台梭利协会将在全世界范围内举行百年庆典,纪念这位人类历史上伟大的儿童教育家和改革家。其实,早在近一个世纪之前,蒙台梭利教育思想即被当时教育界导入中国,并进行了有益的试验。百年来蒙台梭利教育思想在中国的传播和实践给我们留下了宝贵的财富,在今天我国改革开放、广泛吸收借鉴世界各国先进教育文化的形势下,重温这份珍贵遗产,有着特殊的意义。     

The Role of School Exclusion Processes in the Re-Production of Social and Educational Disadvantage

ABSTRACT

English education policy has increasingly focused on the need to intervene in an intergenerational cycle of poverty and low attainment. The accompanying policy discourse has tended to emphasise the impact of family background on educational outcomes. However, as the capacity of parents to secure positive educational outcomes for their children is closely linked to the quality of their own education, low attainment is rather more closely connected to what happens in schools than this focus suggests. Pupils from groups known to be at increased risk of low attainment are also known to be at increased risk of involvement in the disciplinary processes of schools. This paper draws on the findings of a small-scale qualitative study to highlight some of the limitations in the educational provision accessed by Secondary age pupils involved in school exclusion processes. The assumptions and tensions at practice level that underpinned this provision are also discussed. In the conclusion it is argued that a much stronger focus on the learning of these pupils could improve their attainment and contribute to a reduction in social and educational inequalities in the future.     

Educational Gymnastics: The Effectiveness of Montessori Practical Life Activities in Developing Fine Motor Skills in Kindergartners

Research Findings: A quasi-experiment was undertaken to test the effect of Montessori practical life activities on kindergarten children's fine motor development and hand dominance over an 8-month period. Participants were 50 children age 5 in 4 Montessori schools and 50 students age 5 in a kindergarten program in a high-performing suburban elementary school. Children were pre- and posttested on the Flag Posting Test, an individually administered test of fine motor skill requiring children to place tiny flags mounted on pins into preset pinholes. Students in the Montessori treatment group demonstrated significantly higher accuracy, speed, and consistent use of the dominant hand on the posttest, adjusted for pretest differences and gender. Effect sizes were moderate for accuracy and speed (ds = .53 and .37, respectively) and large for established hand dominance (?R² = .35). Longitudinal research on the effects of early childhood programs emphasizing the reciprocal interplay of cognitive and physical aspects of activity is recommended. Practice or Policy: The findings argue for a balanced approach to early childhood education that maintains the importance of physical activity and fine motor development in conjunction with cognitive skills. Montessori practical life activities involving eye–hand coordination and fine motor skills can be integrated into programs.     

Playing to Learn: an overview of the Montessori Approach with pre‐school children with Autism Spectrum Condition

This article explores some of the literature concerning the effectiveness of the Montessori educational approach for children with ASC within an English school context. Firstly, there is a discussion, including a short historical review, regarding the ideology of inclusion and how it has impacted upon mainstream education. Also, how this can be facilitated using play‐based approaches such as Montessori. Secondly, various models of disability are identified in order to highlight how they have informed societal attitudes towards people with disabilities. There is a brief history of ASC detailing how a child with this disability may be affected on a daily basis and the effectiveness of alternative play‐based educational approaches such as Montessori in helping children with ASC to develop the appropriate skills they need in order to self‐regulate and thus modify their behaviour. Furthermore, the value of play‐based curriculums in supporting a child diagnosed with ASC throughout the learning process is also evaluated. The summary highlights the need for more evidence‐based studies to be undertaken in order to assess whether the Montessori approach is a valid alternative in teaching pre‐school children with ASC.     

蒙台梭利与卢梭的消极教育观比较

消极教育一经法国启蒙思想家卢梭提出,给思想界带来了巨大的震撼,也为西方科学教育学的发展带来了全新的思路。蒙台梭利与卢梭消极教育思想的共同特征是推崇内发论,强调生命的自由生长,要求教育按照自然法则和儿童心理特征进行,强调儿童体验式学习,并认为早期儿童重要的是感觉教育。同时,两位教育家关于消极教育实施观点则不尽一致:在教育环境方面,卢梭强调消极教育的环境是自然环境,蒙台梭利主张要为儿童创设有准备的环境;在学习内容和形式上,卢梭消极教育的内容是自然学习,蒙台梭利认为儿童可以进行文化学习,但要采取"工作"方式进行;关于消极教育中教师角色方面,卢梭认为教师应是儿童自然成长的导师,蒙台梭利认为教师要承担好观察者的角色。卢梭和蒙台梭利的消极教育理论对于科学认识儿童、守护童心,推进科学教育学的进一步发展,实施科学的教育工作,特别是科学实施早期教育有着重要的意义。     

Un-“Chartered” Waters: Balancing Montessori Curriculum and Accountability Measures in a Charter School

More than 6,000 charter schools exist in the United States, and of these 120 are Montessori charter schools. When studying charter school practices, researchers often examine issues such as performance accountability measures and effectiveness of charter school curricula. In doing so, the outcomes often overlook the challenges for teachers as they attempt to blend the demands of being a charter school with performance accountability and charter school philosophies, such as the Montessori philosophy. In this longitudinal case study, I examined the ways in which teachers in a charter Montessori school used professional development to help balance the demands for standardized testing performance and Montessori goals. The findings illustrate that significant challenges exist for teachers blending multiple educational goals but that professional development can aid teachers in filling in gaps in their existing curricula. This study encourages (1) researchers to question the ways in teachers can be supported through professional development to meet accountability measures and (2) stakeholders to consider how accountability measures focused solely on student performance can have detrimental effects on charter school curricula implementation and teacher retention.     

科学运用蒙台梭利早期教育思想

玛丽亚.蒙台梭利的早期教育思想19世纪传入我国,她的儿童观、教师观及环境教育的原则对我国的学前教育产生了积极的影响。科学运用蒙台梭利早期教育法,必须正确领会蒙台梭利教育思想的精髓,科学培训蒙台梭利教师,理论与实践相结合,以实现蒙台梭利教育本土化、科学化。     

Leading the small rural primary school: The challenges of headship

This paper is intended to describe the roles and responsibilities of the small school head and is based on the personal experiences of a serving headteacher. It seems an accepted element of academic discourse that recent governmental initiatives have impacted on the leadership and management of educational institutions in such a way that they have offered both opportunities and challenges for school leaders. It is the central contention of this paper that the impact of these opportunities and challenges has nowhere been greater than in the leading of small schools.     

Making schools inclusive? Educational leaders' views on how to work with children in need of special support

Educational leaders have a comprehensive responsibility for how preschools and schools work with children in need of special educational support. The aim of this research is to study how educational leaders (a) explain why children have problems in schools, (b) consider how preschools/schools should help children in need of special support and (c) the role they believe that Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOs) should have in such work. Educational leaders (N = 45) working in preschools and regular compulsory schools in a Swedish municipality responded (100%) to a questionnaire. According to the results of this study, this group seems to view difficulties in schools as being caused primarily by individual shortcomings. Educational leaders often advocate solutions that are closely linked to the work of special educators. The educational leaders believe SENCOs should work with supervising staff and focus on documentation and evaluations. Preschool leaders attribute children's need of special support to teachers more often than their colleagues in compulsory schools.     

Turbulence in St. Louis County: School Transfers,Opportunity Hoarding,and the Legacy of Brown

ABSTRACT

In the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education case, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled segregated schools unconstitutional, and the process of school desegregation fell mostly to Black children. For over 35 years, Black families in St. Louis City have been using school transfers to cross boundaries in order to send their children to higher performing, predominately White schools in suburban St. Louis County in search of “a better education.” Relying on turbulence theory and Critical Race Theory (CRT), this study uses a media framing analysis to examine how newspaper articles described school transfers to the broader public between 2007 and 2017. Findings indicate that the articles described Black and White school districts as being affected by varying levels of turbulence and conflict. Findings also outline examples of opportunity hoarding by White schools and districts. The original focus of the Brown case was the lack of equitable resources in Black schools, and this study reignites questions about exclusion, privilege, and the choices made by Black families to receive educational equity.     

Towards a spiritual pedagogy of pastoral welfare and care

Abstract

This paper considers the role of spirituality in the practice of pastoral welfare and care in English state schools. Set against an educational landscape of increasingly aggressive neoliberal interests combined with growing public disquiet over the mental welfare of young people, the author examines how spirituality might in response contribute to a pedagogy of pastoral welfare for pupil well-being. The paper begins by foregrounding the policy contexts for pastoral education in England and the challenges presented by the increasingly performative cultures that schools, children and young people have become subjected to. Highlighting concerns around the well-being of children and young people, the paper advances a spiritual pedagogy in pastoral care predicated on pivotal interrelated attributes of intrapersonal transcendence, care and educational practice. The paper then considers the possibilities presented by the spiritual realm in pastoral welfare and the positioning of this as an educational pedagogy and practice.     

简介蒙台梭瑞(Montessori)教育及其在美国的组织发展状况

蒙台梭瑞教育是意大利教育学家玛利亚·蒙台梭瑞在对孩子童真天性的科学研究中发展而来的被目前世界上公认的最优秀的幼儿教育模式之一。蒙台梭瑞认为遵从孩子自然个性而进行教育的原则是注意观察、尊重个性、迁就环境。目前在美国有许多蒙台梭瑞组织,各蒙台梭瑞组织间能够相互协调与全面合作。     

Performance of Montessori and traditionally schooled nursery children on tasks of seriation, classification, and conservation

It was hypothesized that the Montessori curriculum accelerates the acquisition of a number of concrete operational skills. To test this, eighty 4-year-old children were given three Piagetian problems—seriation, classification, and conservation. Half of the subjects were from Montessori schools, and the other half were from more traditional nursery settings. Within each type of school, half of the children were first year and the other half were second year enrollees. Results showed that significantly more Montessori than traditional children seriated and classified objects like concrete thinkers but that there were no differences on the conservation problem. Year of enrollment did not influence performance on any of the tasks. It was concluded that the hypothesis was confirmed and that the failure to find acceleration of conservation performance was due to its advanced nature relative to the other problems and/or the tangential manner in which Montessori exercises deal with the critical concepts that underly it.     

Implementing the Code of Practice for Special Educational Needs

Abstract

This article explores the provenance and features of the new Code of Practice for special educational needs and then reports on research on the implementation of the Code in one Local Education Authority. It is argued that the Code has managerial, curricular and consumer dimensions, all of which have a number of implications for policy and practice, for both LEAs and schools. In particular, the Code can be seen as a mechanism for controlling and targeting resource allocation as well as a means of increasing accountability in relation to provision and partnership with parents. The Code is also closely linked to the changing role of LEAs and is therefore likely to affect the relationship between LEAs and schools.     

国际蒙台梭利教育协会(AMI)的历程、特点与趋势

AMI是由蒙台梭利本人亲自创建的蒙台梭利组织,经过91年的发展,已经成为国际上蒙台梭利教育界最富权威的机构,在蒙台梭利教育运动中发挥着引领和标杆性的作用。AMI有自己的课堂教学标准和认可层级制度,在教育实践中产生了良好的教学效果,形成了自己的教育特色。在长期教育实践中,AMI以恪守蒙台梭利教育思想原意而著称,被视为蒙台梭利教育中的守成派或旧派。但近些年该组织的发展规划和行动表明,发展与创新成为该组织的主旋律。AMI将在坚守与创新中继续发挥它在蒙台梭利教育界不可或缺的重要作用。