Summary: | 碩士 === 國立新竹教育大學 === 幼兒教育學系碩士班 === 98 === Teacher-Children Interactions in Language Arts Activities in
a Montessori Classroom
Abstract
With a personal interest in language arts activities for young children and my experiences in the Montessori Methods, I was motivated to explore the instructional interaction in the language area of a Montessori classroom. My research questions are as follows:
1. What strategies do the Montessori teachers use to instruct young children in their language arts activities?
2. How do young children react to Montessori teachers’ instruction in their language arts activities?
3. What happens in the teacher-children interactions during Montessori language arts activities?
A qualitative research approach was adopted for this study. I collected data from the field through observations, interviews, and collecting related documents. Data analysis was done following the process of “grounded theory” approach.
Major findings include the followings:
1. Regarding teachers’ instructional strategies: In the contexts of language arts activities, the Montessori teachers demonstrated the following 13 instructional strategies: reminding, demonstrating, inviting, assisting, reassuring, utilizing body language, directing, giving hints, enquiring, demanding, restraining, encouraging, observing.
2. Regarding children’s reactions to instruction: There are 14 types of children reactions such as asking for assistance, inviting, refusing, hesitating, off-task behavior, concentrating on tasks, onlooker behavior, repetitive operation, reporting, sharing experiences, utilizing body language, creating, soliloquizing, attracting attention.
3. Regarding teacher-children interactions: Owing to the Montessori materials and teaching methods, instructional interactions in a Montessori classroom demonstrated certain unique characteristics.
Based on the above findings, the researcher has drawn eight conclusions and proposed several suggestions for future researchers and Montessori practitioners as well.
Keywords: Montessori methods, classroom interaction, instruction, children reaction
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