Observing and Interacting with Professionals and Colleagues

My fieldwork was performed in a Montessori Toddler Program in Suburban Northwest, Illinois.  What I learned in the Montessori Toddler program is that professionals who work in Montessori Programs, tend to be life- long advocates for this concept of education.  They even call themselves Montessorians which typifies a conversion to the philosophy that emanates from Montessori Schools.  My teacher colleagues indicated that most public and private schools make their State Standards a guiding light to educational ideas and concepts.  Montessori makes State standards secondary to the child’s interest and pace of learning. The Montessori Philosophy advocates that all children can learn well, and that the standards for education should automatically be met, if not exceeded, if the Montessori educational concept is administered properly.

One insight that I gained concerning this philosophy is that any standardized assessment comparing a child with norms would not be applicable.  Montessori relies on daily observations of each child to make determinations on how children are progressing, and what direction they should be taken – particularly for the 0- 3 age group.  Assessments at this age do not seem to be a priority as with those who primarily follow State Standards.

 

Early assessments which are a crucial part of the documentation for early intervention then do not align philosophically with the Montessori educational theory.  This raises the question of how then is the development of a child viewed if the child does not adapt to developmental benchmarks and milestones within a time that may be considered medically normal development? How does this philosophy that considers child pace and interest primary, over developmental standards, impact the window for a child who would otherwise be eligible for early intervention services before age 3?  Are both positions valid to a certain degree?  Some children do experience development for certain areas later what is considered normal, and should not be compared to another child (It is said that Einstein didn’t talk until he was 5). However, I do not think we would want any child to miss out on such an important service, albeit a diversity in educational theories.  Would the solution be to extend the cutoff for early intervention services from 0 – 3 to 0 – 5, to ensure children have the greatest opportunity to receive services designed to help them succeed?

Interview of Two Professional Colleagues

Building a Professional Learning Community starts with initiatives such as interviewing professional colleagues in the field.  The following individuals were part of an initial professional interview, and included a recent early childhood program director for an early learning center (0-5), and a state certified pre-primary early childhood teacher as participants of this interview.

 The teacher expressed her most significant concern over the timeliness in which professionals integrate child assessment results in collaboration with Early Intervention Services, particularly because children age out of EI services at age 3, and it impedes the child's ability to receive the full benefit of intervention.   Additionally, the child forfeits opportunities available to them during the critical zero-to-three window. The teacher said. "when children age out of these services, it makes it even more difficult to work within the bureaucracy of local school districts to gain the appropriate support services for them.  The teacher seemed to be very passionate about the success of the child, and in helping to ensure that the child has the proper opportunities to grow and develop.

The director had several concerns, but her greatest concern centered on how extremely important it is for parents to understand that teaching begins at home, and that they are their child's first teacher, and it is critical for them to understand what implication this has on the overall academic results of the child. The Director said she continued to be concern over whether parents had the proper tools to act effectively as their child's first teacher -- particularly in the area of literacy, which she had been informed was the topic area of interest.  She said "sometimes in economically oppressed areas, families have to learn how to break the cycles of the past, and this requires them to have the right tools and forums."

Both the teacher and the director both expressed how the knowledge of the classroom teacher, and continued professional development plays a critical role in establishing instructional and classroom management strategies that support the development of early literacy.

The teacher felt that sometimes administrator's views are very different from their own, especially if they are of the an older regime of educators.  The teacher felt that in many cases creativity is stifled because some administrators insist on teaching based on older methodologies that research now shows is not effective, and discourage newer teacher's attempts to embrace the things they have learned in their degree programs.

test

I made it.