Date of Award

5-2018

Document Type

Action Research Project

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Education

Department

Education, Montessori

First Advisor

Alisha Brandon

Department/School

Montessori Early Childhood

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine if creating strong student-teacher relationships through a program called Conscious Discipline decreased the number of physical conflicts and tantrums, therefore increasing self-regulation, in an early childhood classroom. This study took place in an early childhood Montessori classroom. There were 25 participants, mixed genders, ages 2.5 to 6 years old. The researcher taught and practiced connecting rituals from the Conscious Discipline program every day during the normal large group time. The researcher collected data by using tally marks to record every time a physical conflict, individual tantrum, or connecting ritual without adult encouragement took place, for a week before and a week after the intervention. The researcher also conducted interviews with each of the children before and after the intervention to determine if the connecting rituals created stronger relationships and feelings of safety in the classroom. The study determined that the results were not statistically significant, but the number of conflicts and tantrums decreased, and the relationship between the researcher and the students developed more fully and the feelings of safety increased. The data showed that further research is needed to examine if the length of conflicts and tantrums decrease with stronger student-teacher relationships.

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