Date of Award
5-2015
Document Type
Action Research Project
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Education
Department
Education, Montessori
First Advisor
Amanda Perna
Department/School
Montessori Elementary Education, Elementary Education, Montessori Early Childhood
Abstract
Laminack and Wadsworth (2012) “believe the single most important thing we can teach our children is kindness” (p. 1). I hoped to teach kindness characteristics to students in my first, second and third-grade classroom, as well as, lessen students’ frequency of unkind behaviors. I utilized Laminack and Wadsworths’ (2012) curriculum Bullying Hurts: Teaching Kindness through Read Alouds and Guided Conversations as my action research focus. Throughout my study, I used a tally chart and observation journal to track the frequency and types of behaviors students demonstrated. Also, students completed a behavioral self-assessment before and after implementation to assess their opinions of their behaviors. Finally, students completed a kindness assessment to demonstrate their views on the effectiveness of the curriculum. Data results show kindness lessons decreased frequency of unkind behaviors and improved students’ personal opinions of themselves. Given the results of my study, kindness curriculum may improve student behaviors in other classrooms.
Recommended Citation
Leifeld, Molly A.. (2015). Character Education Using Literature and Discussions. Retrieved from Sophia, the St. Catherine University repository website: https://sophia.stkate.edu/maed/108
Included in
Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons, Educational Methods Commons, Educational Psychology Commons