Date of Award
5-2016
Document Type
Action Research Project
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Education
Department
Education, Montessori
First Advisor
Irene Bornhorst
Department/School
Montessori Early Childhood
Abstract
“ What is this picture?” “This arrow is missing.” Montessori teachers hear these questions daily. These requests, while valid, often come at inopportune times, interrupting the adults work. This study aimed to see if children could gain independence through problem solving thus decreasing interruptions. 26 children and 4 adults were in this experiment. The intervention had two aspects. The first, a series of Grace and Courtesy lessons to help the children problem-solve common work related issues. The second was incorporation of a waiting necklace that the children would wear if they required an adult. Effectiveness was measured by evaluating the number of interruptions received for ten days prior and following the intervention. The results revealed the overall number of interruptions decreased from 71 to 53 and little to no change in the children’s problem-solving habits. This leads to the question, if the experiment was augmented would the results differ?
Recommended Citation
Hamilton, Elizabeth G.. (2016). Fostering Self-Sufficiency through Problem-Solving. Retrieved from Sophia, the St. Catherine University repository website: https://sophia.stkate.edu/maed/159
Included in
Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons, Educational Methods Commons, Educational Psychology Commons