Children with Disabilities Attending Montessori Programs in the United States

Early childhood education plays a critical role in establishing positive social-emotional behaviors and promoting the development of skills needed to succeed in elementary school. Although inclusion of children with disabilities (CWD) in early childhood classrooms is increasing throughout the world, numerous social, logistical, and political factors continue to present challenges to full inclusion. The Montessori educational approach, established at the beginning of the 20th century and now applied widely throughout Europe and the United States, may present a highly suitable learning context for CWD, particularly given its historical basis in efforts to meet the needs of underprivileged and cognitively delayed children. On a theoretical level, the inclusion of CWD should be an accepted practice for Montessori programs yet reports of the number and characteristics of CWD attending Montessori programs are scarce. This paper reports upon the findings of a survey of U.S. Montessori early childhood programs’ current enrollment of CWD. The survey indicated that CWD represent 3.75% of the infant and toddler (0–3 years) population and 8.49% of the preschool/early childhood (3–6 years) population at responding institutions. Additionally, although school directors indicate that their teachers generally feel confident and competent including CWD in their classrooms, they expressed a need for ongoing professional development and additional support from special education experts to further empower the inclusion of CWD in all aspects of Montessori education

Children with Disabilities Attending Montessori Programs in the United States

Early childhood education plays a critical role in establishing positive social-emotional behaviors and promoting the development of skills needed to succeed in elementary school. Although inclusion of children with disabilities (CWD) in early childhood classrooms is increasing throughout the world, numerous social, logistical, and political factors continue to present challenges to full inclusion. The Montessori educational approach, established at the beginning of the 20th century and now applied widely throughout Europe and the United States, may present a highly suitable learning context for CWD, particularly given its historical basis in efforts to meet the needs of underprivileged and cognitively delayed children. On a theoretical level, the inclusion of CWD should be an accepted practice for Montessori programs yet reports of the number and characteristics of CWD attending Montessori programs are scarce. This paper reports upon the findings of a survey of U.S. Montessori early childhood programs’ current enrollment of CWD. The survey indicated that CWD represent 3.75% of the infant and toddler (0–3 years) population and 8.49% of the preschool/early childhood (3–6 years) population at responding institutions. Additionally, although school directors indicate that their teachers generally feel confident and competent including CWD in their classrooms, they expressed a need for ongoing professional development and additional support from special education experts to further empower the inclusion of CWD in all aspects of Montessori education

Towards optimal education including self-regulated learning in technology-enhanced preschools and primary schools

At the start of preschool, four-year-old pupils differ in their development, including the capacity to self-regulate their playing and learning. In preschool and primary school, educational processes are generally adapted to the mean age of the pupils in class. The same may apply to ICT-based pupil-monitoring systems. This norm-based factor undermines the potential of ICT to support the educational differentiation needed for pupils and increases the amount of daily work for teachers. A theoretical framework is sketched in which pedagogical-didactical, organisational, and ICT guidelines enhance differentiated, self-regulated playing and learning for each pupil within preschool and primary school. To develop and check such optimal education and ICT conditions in practice, a pilot and a randomised intervention study are carried out in integrated Dutch preschools/primary schools for pupils aged 4 – 12. Pilot results support the use of a procedure to screen each child’s characteristics at the start of preschool by parents and preschool teachers, and also the immediate relevance of criterion-based and norm-based ordering (‘double diagnostics’) of playing and learning materials. Intermediate results of the longitudinal intervention study empirically support the hypothesis regarding the positive effects of optimal education on the cognitive and emotional functioning of both cognitively gifted and other pupils. The discussion emphasises the need to assist schools in realising optimal education including learners’ self-regulation and adequate ICT to enhance optimal learning. Final attention is given to further development of optimal education in a European context

M-Learning for Elderlies: A Case Study

In this article a case study about m-learning for elderlies using mobile devices is presented. The study focuses on a practical study about language learning for elderly students that attend classes in the so-called Inter-university program for Elderly People. The recent surge of university programs for elderly people requires novel solutions related to learning methods, directed by the special needs of this sector of the society

A review of the evidence on the use of ICT in the Early Years Foundation Stage

This report reviewed existing evidence on the potential of technology to support the development of educational policy and practice in the context of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Reference is made to the use of ICT by young children from aged birth to five years and its potential impacts, positive and negative on their cognitive, social, emotional educational, visual and physical development

Joining up the Dots Employment Study

An Employment Study was recently completed in relation to the Grangegorman Development and the local area. It was carried out in conjunction with several public and community bodies to examine the job opportunities that will arise from the development