Date of Award
12-2019
Document Type
Action Research Project
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Education
Department
Education, Montessori
First Advisor
Alisha Brandon
Second Advisor
Olivia Christensen
Department/School
Montessori Early Childhood
Abstract
This study sought the effects of educating parents on Dr. Maria Montessori's first plane of development in a mixed-age kindergarten classroom in Southern California, USA. Students withdrawing before completing the Montessori kindergarten year formed the basis for tailoring an action research project that informs parents about the importance of Montessori's first plane of development through the lens of Parent Development Theory. The researcher first explored past action research on relevant Montessori parent education studies. Next, twenty-five parents from a mixed-age Montessori kindergarten class participated in a six-week study. The research concluded that parents' understanding and valuing of the Montessori kindergarten year or final year in their students' early childhood education increased based on pre-and-post parent surveys and hands-on parent education experiences. The increase in parent knowledge resulted in the participants utilizing tailored information to make informed decisions about their student's kindergarten year on whether or not to keep their students enrolled for the full three-year period of the Montessori program. The researcher developed a more streamlined, focused, and comprehensive parent education plan than before the study began.
Recommended Citation
Pickard, Marie Evelyn. (2019). "Parent Education: The Effects of Educating Montessori Parents on the First Plane of Development in the Kindergarten Year in a Mixed-Age Classroom". Retrieved from Sophia, the St. Catherine University repository website: https://sophia.stkate.edu/maed/334