montessori and fantasy michelle buntain christina norton christina norton
TRANSCRIPT
Montessori and Fantasy
Michelle Buntain Christina Norton
1st female physician in Italy
Taught mentally handicapped children
Started Casa dei Bambini (Children’s House)
Develops a new approach to education
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Maria Montessori
Similar to Rousseau’s ideas on child development
Children have inherent goodness and a love of work
Children learn best when they are allowed to explore and make mistakes
Child-centered education
A child’s mind is different from an adult’s mind
A child’s mind undergoes “predictable changes”
Four Planes of Development theory
“Three Levels of the Mind” theory
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Theory of Development
"Education should no longer be mostly imparting of knowledge, but
must take a new path, seeking the release of human potentialities.“
-Dr. Maria Montessori
Methods are based on the scientific observations of a child’s developmental needs
Values the development of the whole child
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Educational Approach
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Key Concepts
Independent Mastery
Indirect preparation
Free choice Normalization
“The process by which children achieve their true or normal state” (Crain)
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Freely chosen activity of interest
Concentration and repetition of activity
Inner peace and joy
Normalization
The Prepared Environment
The Teacher
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Key Components
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Thoughtfully and carefully designed by the teacher
Pleasant Appearance
Child-friendly
Montessori learning materials
Prepared Environment
A guide or director
Prepares the environment
Skilled observer
Passive roleChristina & Michelle 12/05/2014
The Role of the Teacher
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Cute Video: Process of Normalization
Pink Tower video 1
Pink Tower video 2
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Montessori on Fantasyo Disapproved of fantasy play and reading of fairy tales to children under
the age of seven
o Children are naturally credulous, and education should help children grow out of their credulity
o For imaginary play to be beneficial to children, they must be grounded in reality
o Extreme cases of credulity result in insanity
o Disapproved of stories about Santa Claus, other imaginary characters
In response to those who claim such stories are beneficial for the development of the imagination, Montessori wrote:
“How can the imagination of children be developed by what is, on the contrary, the fruit of our imagination? It is we who imagine, not they; they believe, they do not imagine.” (Spontaneous Activity in Education, 259)
But Bettelheim says…
“Fairy tales leave to the child’s fantasizing whether and
how to apply to himself what the story reveals about life
and human nature.” (The Uses of Enchantment, 45)
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Relevant Research
o Over 40 years of research addressing pretend play and its effect on development
o Many studies show methodological problems
• Correlational findings vs. causal findings
• Failure to replicate results
• Experimenter bias
o The available evidence does not show a causal relationship between pretend play and development
o Lack of evidence for the claim that pretend play helps child development
o More high quality research is needed
Purpose
The purpose of this research study is to test Montessori’s claim
that children under the age of 7 cannot adequately distinguish
between fantasy and reality.
This research study will compare the level of credulity - relevant
to fantasy - between children under the age of 7 and children
over the age of 7.
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Questions
o Are children under the age of 7 able to distinguish fantasy
from reality?
o Are children under the age of 7 able to articulate a moral
principle from a fairy tale?
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Hypotheses
The Kindergarteners will be able to partially distinguish fantasy
from reality in the story while the 4th graders will be able to fully
distinguish fantasy from reality in the story.
Both groups will be able to recognize a moral principle from the
story.
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Procedure
o Read the story of Pinocchio
o Showed visuals
o Interviewed each student individually
o Recorded answers with a sound recorder application
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Fantasy-Reality Questionso Pinocchio starts his life as puppet. What’s a puppet? Is
Pinocchio real at first? Explain.
o Have you ever seen a puppet talk and dance on its own?
o How does Pinocchio become real?
o Are fairies real?
o Have you ever seen a fairy?
o What do fairies do?
o What happens to Pinocchio when he lies? Does your nose grow if you lie?
o What happens to Pinocchio when he is bad? Do you think you will change into a donkey if you’re bad?
o How do you know if something is real or not?
o Do you think parts of this story are real? Which parts?Christina & Michelle 12/05/2014
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Moral Questions
o What did Pinocchio do that was wrong?
o Do you think it was bad that Pinocchio stopped at the puppet
show instead of going to school? Why?
o Should Pinocchio have told the truth to his fairy? Why?
o Was Pinocchio brave at some point in the story? How?
o Did you learn anything from this story? What did you learn?
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Have you ever seen a puppet talk and dance on its own?• All students answered “No”
Does your nose grow (like Pinocchio’s) if you lie?• All students answered “No”
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Are fairies real?
o Kindergarteners
• Students 1,2,3,5 answered “No”
• Students 4&6 answered “Yes” both referencing the tooth fairy
o Fourth Graders
• Students 1&3 answered “No”
• Students 4&6 answered “Yes,” both referencing the tooth fairy.
• Student 2 answered “Yes,” but did not give a explanation.
• Student 5 answered “Yes,” referencing the tooth fairy and said there are other
kinds of fairies too.
• Student 3 answered “I don’t think so because usually fairies don’t come to my
house.”
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Analysiso Tooth Fairy- most common reason for belief
• Kindergarten vs. fourth grade
• Parental influence
• Student 3- unique answer
Montessori did not like parents imposing such ideas onto their
children. She believed it was not good for the development of
the child’s imagination.
• “How can the imagination of children be developed by what is, on
the contrary, the fruit of our imagination?” (Spontaneous Activity,
259)
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How Do You Know Something is Real?
o Kindergarten
• All answered “I don’t know”
o Fourth Grade
• Student 1: “I can just tell because like, there is no such thing as talking puppets. That’s all I can know.”
• Student 2: “I don’t know.”
• Student 3: “You can compare to real life, what would happen in real life.”
• Student 4: “If it’s real it would probably talk to you.”
• Student 5: “Looking at it closely or something. Asking questions about it.”
• Student 6: “If you’re flying they aren’t real, but if you’re walking to school that is real.”
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Analysis
Five of the Fourth Graders described an individual understanding of
reality
“In order to develop the imagination it is necessary for every one
first of all to put himself in contact with reality.” (Spontaneous
Activity in Education, 250)
“If, then, the true basis of the imagination is reality, and its
perception is related to exactness of observation, it is necessary to
prepare children to perceive the things in their environment exactly,
in order to secure for them the material required by the
imagination.” (Spontaneous Activity in Education, 254)
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Do you think it was bad that Pinocchio stopped at the puppet show instead of going to school? Why?
o Kindergarten
• Students 1,2,5 answered “Yes” with no reason
• Students 4&6 answered “Yes” because he needed to learn
• Student 3 answered “I don’t know”
o Fourth Grade
• Students 1,3,4,5,6 answered “Yes” because he needs to learn
• Students 1,4,5 added that he was told to go to school and so should have gone
• Student 2 answered “Yes” with no reason
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Should Pinocchio have told the truth to his fairy? Why?
o Kindergarten
• Four students 1,3,5,6 answered “Yes” with no reason
• Student 2 said “Yes, so you don’t get in trouble”
• Student 4 said “Yes, so his nose wouldn’t grow long”
o Fourth Grade:
• All students answered “Yes”
• Student 2 did not provide a reason
• Students 1&5 gave the reason that his nose would grow if he lied.
• Student 5 added “then he could just tell the truth and he wouldn’t be like in trouble or anything.
• Student 3 said “It’s part of following the Ten Commandments, but also lying doesn’t get you anywhere good.”
• Student 4 “Because lies are not good, because then you’ll get into the habit of it”
• Student 6 said “Because the truth’s better than a lie”
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What did Pinocchio do that was wrong?
o Kindergarten
• Students 1&4 did not know
• Students 2,3,5 said he lied
• Student 6 answered “He didn’t do what they telled to do”
o Fourth Grade
• Students 1,5,6 said that he didn’t do what he was told to do
• Students 2,3,4,5 said that he lied
• Student 1 added that he should not have gone with strangers
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Was Pinocchio brave at some point in the story? How?
o Kindergarten
• All said “Yes” because he saved his father
o Fourth Grade
• Students 1,3,4,6 said “Yes” because he saved his father
• Student 3 said “…he was actually brave when the cat and the wolf,
to go with them, not to run away because they would probably follow
him…”
• Student 5 said “…he got on the stage in front of a lot of people”
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Did you learn anything from this story? What did you learn?
o Kindergarten
• Students 1&4 answered “I don’t know”
• Students 2, 5, 6 answered “No”
• Student 3 answered “I know not to lie”
o Fourth Grade
• Students 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 answered “Don’t lie”
• Student 2 answered “No”
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Analysis
o The fourth graders were much more capable of giving reasons for their answers regarding moral questions.
o Some of the students gave answers that directly related to the story rather than a moral principle.
• Example: Pinocchio should tell the truth because his nose will grow (Student 1, 4th grade)
Although the students may not have displayed a complex understanding of the moral principle of honesty, we think the story was still beneficial for moral development because it gave the students an opportunity to practice identifying moral concepts.
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Data Evaluation Method
o We analyzed the students’ answers to the questions discussed in this presentation and determined whether or not they were capable of:
• Distinguishing between fantasy and reality
• Recognizing a moral lesson
o We then added together the “right” answers and divided by what would be considered a perfect score.
o So, a “right” answer had to show either:
• An ability to distinguish between fantasy and reality
• An ability to recognize a moral lesson
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Fantasy Questions Considered in Data Evaluation
o Have you ever seen a puppet talk and dance on its own?
o Does your nose grow (like Pinocchio’s) if you lie?
o Are fairies real?
o How do you know something is real?
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Were the students capable of distinguishing between fantasy and reality?
Kindergarten
Yes No
Fourth Grade
Yes No
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Moral Questions Considered in Data Evaluation
o Do you think it was bad that Pinocchio stopped at the
puppet show instead of going to school? Why?
o Should Pinocchio have told the truth to his fairy? Why?
o What did Pinocchio do that was wrong?
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Were the students able to recognize a moral lesson in the story?
Kindergarten
Yes No
Fourth Grade
Yes No
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Conclusion
Both the Kindergarteners and the Fourth Graders were partially able to distinguish fantasy from reality. However, we hypothesized that the Fourth Graders would be capable of fully distinguishing between fantasy and reality. The Fourth Graders’ belief in fairies took us by surprise.
While all of the students showed an ability to recognize a moral principle, not all of the Kindergarteners showed this ability on every moral question. The Fourth Graders were more consistent and more capable of giving reasons for their answers to the moral questions.
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Limitations
o Convenience sample
o The number of subjects
o Student Disposition
o Lack of interest/ Distraction
Improvements
o Clearer or more specific
questions
o Less complicated story
o More engaging visuals
o Questions that are more
relevant to the hypothesis
o Interviewer’s influence on
responses
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Further Research Ideas
o Is there a difference between the fantasy beliefs of boys
and girls?
o How do different cultures promote fantasy (Santa Claus)?
o Peer vs. Parent influence on fantasy beliefs
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Michelle’s Favorite Quotes
“Religion is not a product of fantastic imagination, it is the
greatest of realities, the one truth to the religious man.”
(Spontaneous Activity in Education, 266)
“When an apostle seeks to win a soul to religion… he
appeals to understanding, not to imagination, for he knows
that his task is not to create something, but to call aloud to
that which is slumbering in the depths of his heart.”
(Spontaneous Activity in Education, 267)
Bibliography
• http://ami-global.org
• http://amshq.org
• http://www.montessori-namta.org
• http://www.montessori.org.uk
• http://montessoriconnections.com
• http://www.montessori.edu
• http://montessorihomes.blogspot.com/p/what-is-montessori.html
• http://www.inspiremontessoriconsulting.com
• http://montessorischools.org
• http://puddletownschool.com/what-is-montessori/introduction-to-montessori/
• http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2242722/The-Pinocchio-effect-If-dont-tell-truth-nose-really-away.html
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Bibliography (Cont’d)
• The Uses of Enchantment, by Bruno Bettelheim
• Theories of Development: Concepts and Applications by William Crain
• The Montessori Controversy by John Chattin-McNichols
• Montessori: The Science Behind the Genius by Angeline Stoll Lillard
• Spontaneous Activity in Education by Maria Montessori
• “The Impact of Pretend Play on Children’s Development: A Review of the Evidence” by Angeline S. Lillard, Matthew D. Lerner, Emily J. Hopkins, Rebecca A. Dore, Eric D. Smith, and Carolyn M. Palmquist