| N·A·M·T·A
J 0
Introducing
Three New
NAMTA
Projects |
| WHAT Is NAMTA?
The North American Montessori Teachers' Associa-
tion provides a medium of study, interpretation, and… |
| THE NAMTA JOURNAL
VoL. 31, No. 3 • SUMMER 2006
INTRODUCING
THREE NEW NAMTA PROJECTS
In affiliation with the Association… |
| INTRODUCING
THREE NEW NAMTA PROJECTS
INTRODUCTION… |
| INTRODUCTION
From time to time, NAMTA publishes brief but
important issues of its Journal to release the findings
of… |
| 2
The NAMTA Journal • Vol. 31, No. 3 • Winter 2006 |
| MONTESSORI: CHILDREN, NATURE, AND
GROWING UP GREEN
PREFACE TO "NATURE AND EMBODIED EDUCATION"
BY KEVIN… |
| As a Montessorian, I would say that the reciprocity between love
of the adult for the child, and child for adult, and their… |
| NAMTA's Center for Adolescent Studies (Project 2012) is initiat-
ing a new research study after its previous success with… |
| Rathunde, Kevin, & Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.
"Middle
School Students' Motivation and Quality of… |
| The NAMTA Journal
7 |
| Kevin Rathunde
8
The NAMTA Journal • Vol. 31, No. 3 • Summer 2006 |
| NATURE AND EMBODIED EDUCATION:
A KEY ROLE FOR MONTESSORI RESEARCH
by Kevin Rathunde
INTRODUCTION:
WHY Is NATURE IMPORTANT… |
| will probably not change many minds about the importance of putting
students in closer contact with the natural environment.… |
| This article represents my progress thus far in understanding
how flow theory and Montessori philosophy help to reveal the… |
| The central concept in optimal experience theory is flow, a state of
complete involvement that is seen as central to education… |
| thought. In fact, from Plato
through Descartes, and con-
tinuing in modern, positiv-
istic science, a link between
emotion… |
| combine affective and rational modes in their most productive work
(Csikszentmihalyi). They can be passionate or detached,… |
| An intrinsically motivated state of deep concentration is seen as
central to learning and is at the center of Montessori'… |
| In addition to these basic connections between the views of
Montessori and optimal experience theory, Montessori' s many… |
| situated in the way the human body interacts with the world it
inhabits. Even when we speak informally about being "… |
| Deeply engaging experiences in nature have
practical implications for education. Because of
their emotional force, lasting… |
| research? Three key ideas cut across the two perspectives: 1) a focus
on deep engagement that facilitates motivation and… |
| ...-------------------------------
--
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-
Do we find flow in the direct perception of nature? Here the answer
is obvious… |
| experiences are so deeply felt is partly explained in the following quote
from Abraham Maslow: "Perhaps [our]… |
| such an ethic is often heavy-handed preaching about the imminent
demise of the planet. Such information definitely has its… |
| beautiful and clear, striking
his imagination. Once this
love has been kindled, all
problems confronting the
educationist… |
| evolutionary framework and take a long view of human development.
Steven and Rachel Kaplan, two researchers who have been… |
| Students engage developmentally appropriate challenges that are
integrated with their past skills and offer new challenges… |
| point of view, nature provides the best fit with human processing and
attention because these very processes were formed… |
| life was precisely what Montessori was referring to in the earlier
citation on the importance of seeing real trees in a real… |
| school settings (e.g., extracurricular activities) that provide more
hands-on,
active, and exploratory
activities
(Rathunde… |
| ---
------------------------------
seeming independence from nature and our bodily existence. The first
Semitic aleph-beth… |
| more embodied use of language and evokes emotional reactions be-
yond the conceptual level of the poem.
The point of these… |
| experience. Even writing was taught through the use of sandpaper
letters to bring the hands into the process. The reason… |
| new meanings that are grasped can then be developed further by
reason. Both perspectives suggest, like Montessori, that a more… |
| alienation from nature presumably set in motion with advances
in written language and scientific thinking are magnified a… |
| The research design will allow direct
comparisons of the embodied and
disembodied approaches on a range of
variables that… |
| same week. Instructions given to the students in Group 1 will empha-
size an embodied engagement with nature (e.g., movement,… |
| ent groups, it will also be focused on students' experiences in other academic
activities. In other words, some of the… |
| When the website is completed, and if it is published, students
will have the chance to see the work done by fellow students… |
| perhaps in booklet form, and the project might be repeated at other
schools that did not participate in the original study.… |
| paper and pen to record his thoughts and sketch his passionate
observations of the Sierra Mountains. The process of writing… |
| Csikszentmihalyi, M., & B. Schneider. Becoming Adult: How
Teenagers Prepare for the World of Work. New York: Basic… |
| Louv, R. Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from
Nature-Deficit Disorder. Chapel Hill: Algonquin, 2005.
Martindale… |
| Psychology: Vol. 1. Theoretical Models of Human Develop-
ment. Ed. R.M. Lerner. Series ed. W. Damon. 6th ed. New
York: Wiley… |
| The NAMTA Journal
43 |
| 44
The NAMTA Journal • Vol. 31, No. 3 • Summer 2006 |
| QUALITIES OF A MONTESSORI SECONDARY
MATHEMATICS PROGRAM
by Christopher Kjaer, John McNamara, and
Michael W aski
The… |
| sively in the classroom, having mathematics "explained" to them by
the teacher. In a successful Montessori… |
| We want students to understand the
role that false starts and missteps
play in the learning process.
mathematical know ledge… |
| she does not become the center or focus of the student's work. Students
should not see the adult as the decider of what… |
| is an outcome in which few students ever master the material to the
point that they are allowed to apply their knowledge.… |
| and internalize the ideas themselves. Therefore, guides should not
ignore wrong answers and reward correct ones, nor should… |
| Students must see the
links between their studies
and the real world, and then
be allowed to use their own
experiences
to… |
| appropriate
time to students in need of individual
attention
and ensures the learning of every member of the class.
Data… |
| posed with a similar problem. This process supports the student by
reinforcing the process of discovery and gives the… |
| ideas and concepts. While the traditional approach to mathematics
limits the student to starting many concepts, our approach… |
| concept through an authentic experience, he or she is then able to
move on to the quantification of the experience and develop… |
| When examining a textbook, one notices a progression from easy
practice to more difficult practice and, finally, application.… |
| guage. An emphasis
on the expression of
ma thematic al ideas
orally and in written
language fosters the
student's… |
| tional school, knowledge is separated into several departments
(subjects) and each operates in isolation from the others. This… |
| 10. SELF-EXPRESSION ANO fuN
Mathematicians have always had to be creative, yet current ap-
proaches to mathematics education… |
| based study of geometry. These activities benefit the student over time,
because they are building the mental structures and… |
| class, one student's work serves as a jumping off point for new areas
of study for others in the class. Real work… |
| 62
The NAMTA Journal • Vol. 31, No. 3 • Summer 2006 |
| A BRIEF THEORETICAL NoTE AND ExEMPLA
DRAWINGS TOWARD A MONTESSORI
ARCHITECTURE
by John Wyatt
John Wyatt presents this… |
| If there is not an expansive theory of
architecture embracing Montessori
thought beyond the materials and
their placement in… |
| of timely supporting elements, including specific materials for devel-
opment coupled to the presence and keen perception of a… |
| Now specifically to attend to architecture, architects, and their
role within the spinning, intelligible world of Montessori… |
| natural world of which the student is fatally called to be an essential
part. A school is not a protection from what is.… |
| To continue, a Montessori building should also echo the supportive
and helpful words from the stories of "The Emperor… |
| In view of the principle of indeterminacy, Dawkins would readily
agree with the statement of Gregory the Great. Taking all… |
| In the end, nothing in a Montessori
space may be irrelevant to
Montessori's
conception of
education. Such a space… |
| a figure with inspiring results has brought order, symmetry, and an
effective insight into the knowable "nature… |
| courageous, generous habit of existence, free from the pull of fashion,
money, and power, driven by a relentless curiosity in… |
| In Montessori's time also stood a major figure in European and
British intellectual life: W. Somerset Maugham. He was… |