The Montessori Experiment in Rhode Island (1913-1940): Tracing Theory to Implementation over Twenty-Five Years

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17161/jomr.v3i2.6590

Keywords:

Clara Craig, Montessori Method, Rhode Island Normal School, first-wave Montessori, first international Montessori training course

Abstract

This article highlights archived documents pertaining to a 25-year experimental classroom implemented by Clara Craig, then supervisor of training at the Rhode Island Normal School. Craig is notable as she was the only participant in the first International Montessori Training Course in Rome, Italy, in 1913, to gain approval from the Rhode Island Board of Education to study the Montessori Method. Her administrative position at the Rhode Island Normal School provided her with a rare opportunity to influence both teacher preparation and classroom curriculum upon her return. The article traces implementation of the Montessori Method and its Americanized revision, serving as one of the earliest longitudinal examples (1913–1940) of a state-sanctioned Montessori classroom, well beyond the acknowledged first-wave era (1911–1917). Craig’s experience provides a historical perspective that can inform current Montessori initiatives working within complex education and policy contexts.

Author Biography

  • Susan Zoll, Rhode Island College

    Assistant Professor, Education

    Director, Institute for Early Childhood Teaching and Learning

    Rhode Island College

References

American Montessori Society. (2008). AMS issue paper: Montessori and state-funded pre-kindergarten. Available from American Montessori Society: https://amshq.org/-/media/Files/Publications-and-Research/Research-Library/Position-and-White-Papers/Position-Papers/Issue-Paper-Montessori-State-Funded-Pre-K.ashx?la=en

Ayer, D. (2017). It’s all about choices: A history. Montessori Public, 1(2), 3–4.

Bicknell, T. W. (1911). A history of the Rhode Island Normal School: 1852–1865...1871–1911. Providence, RI: T. W. Bicknell. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/2027/pst.000021769931

Bird, G. E. (1930). A successful experiment in child education. The Elementary School Journal, 30(7), 539–546. https://doi.org/10.1086/456450

Browne, R. B. (1939). A critical evaluation of experimental studies of remedial reading (Master’s thesis). Graduate School of Education of Harvard University, Boston, MA.

Browne, R. B., & English, J. W. (1969). Love my children: An autobiography. New York, NY: Meredith Press.

Carbone, H. R. (1971). The history of the Rhode Island Institute of Instruction and the Rhode Island Normal School as agencies and institutions of teacher education, 1845–1920 (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Connecticut, Storrs.

Christiansen, E. (2016). Rhode Island College: Meeting the state’s needs through time. Providence: Rhode Island College.

Coleman, K. (2011). The Montessori Method in America: Montessori schools in New York and Rhode Island from 1910–1940 (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from http://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss_6mos/2

Craig, C. E. (1913). The Montessori system of child culture: A report by Miss Clara E. Craig presented to the state board of education. Providence, RI: Department of Education.

Craig, C. E. (1919). The beginnings of reading and writing in the Rhode Island Normal School. Providence: Rhode Island Normal School.

Debs, M. (2016). Diverse parents, desirable schools: Public Montessori, fit and conflict in the era of school choice (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Yale University, New Haven, CT.

Dr. Montessori visits this city. (1913, December 14). The Providence Daily Journal, p. 4.

Gutek, G. L., & Gutek, P. A. (2016). Bringing Montessori to America: S.S. McClure, Maria Montessori, and the campaign to publicize Montessori education. Birmingham: University of Alabama Press.

Inventor of child training system and R.I. woman who studied it. (1916, November 6). Providence Journal Evening Bulletin, pp. 3–4.

Kramer, R. (1976). Maria Montessori: A biography. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

Lillard, A. S. (2012). Preschool children’s development in classic Montessori, supplemented Montessori, and conventional programs. Journal of School Psychology, 50, 379–401.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2012.01.001

Lillard, A. S., & Heise, M. J. (2016). Removing supplementary materials from Montessori classrooms changed child outcomes. Journal of Montessori Research, 2(1), 16–26.

Lopes, M. (2003, August 18). Phenomenal females: The women of RIC. What’s News at Rhode Island College, pp. 26–27.

Lopes, M. (2007). This wonderful institution: Teaching and learning at Rhode Island College, 1854–1958. Issues in Teaching and Learning, 5. Available from Rhode Island College:

http://www.ric.edu/itl/pages/lopes.aspx

Marzzacco, P. (1994) Feminism without fanfare: Women of the Rhode Island State Normal School 1854–1920 (Master’s thesis). Rhode Island College, Providence.

Montessori, M. (1913, August 10). Montessori schools [Letter to the editor]. The New York Times, p. 10.

Montessori Public Policy Initiative. (2015). Montessori essentials. Retrieved from

https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/6e8b98_d567dc867e114111a9b448464fdceac5.pdf

National Association for the Education of Young Children. (n.d.). Power to the profession. Retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org/profession/overview

National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector. (2014). Growth of public Montessori in the United States: 1975–2014. Retrieved from http://www.public-montessori.org/white-papers/growth-of-public-montessori-in-the-united-states-1975-2014/

Nienhuis Montessori. (2017). Nienhuis Montessori history: Then and now. Retrieved from http://www.nienhuis.com/about-nienhuis-montessori/nienhuis-now-and-then/

O’Neil, J. F. (1937). C.E. Craig’s adaptation of the Montessori Methods at the Rhode College of Education (Master’s thesis). Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of the Catholic University of America, Washington, DC.

Rhode Island Board of Education. (1911). Forty-first annual report of the state board of education together with the sixty-sixth annual report of the commissioner of public schools of Rhode Island. Providence, RI: E. L. Freeman Co.

Rhode Island Board of Education. (1914). Forty-fourth annual report of the state board of education together with the sixty-ninth annual report of the commissioner of public schools of Rhode Island. Providence, RI: E. L. Freeman Co.

Rhode Island Board of Education. (1916). Forty-sixth annual report of the state board of education together with the seventy-first annual report of the commissioner of public schools of Rhode Island. Providence, RI: E. L. Freeman Co.

Rhode Island Board of Education. (1917). Forty-seventh annual report of the state board of education together with the seventy-second annual report of the commissioner of public schools of Rhode Island. Albany, NY: Hamilton Press. Available from

https://hdl.handle.net/2027/coo.31924101114795

Rhode Island Board of Education. (1918). Forty-eighth annual report of the state board of education together with the seventy-third annual report of the commissioner of public schools of Rhode Island. Albany, NY: Hamilton Press. Available from https://hdl.handle.net/2027/coo.31924101114738

Rhode Island College. (1920). Rhode Island College of Education Bulletin, 1920. Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.ric.edu/ca1920s/1

Rhode Island College. (1921). Rhode Island College of Education Bulletin, 1921. Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.ric.edu/ca1920s/2

Rhode Island Historical Society. (1991). American Citizenship Campaign Committee records, 1917–1919 (Manuscripts division, catalog no. MSS 257). Rhode Island Historical Society, Providence.

Rhode Island Normal School. (1914, May). Rhode Island Normal School Bulletin. Available from https://issuu.com/digitalinitiatives/docs/1914_fullsize

Standing, E. M. (1998). Maria Montessori: Her life and work. New York, NY: Plume.

Stearns, P. N. (1998). Why study history? Retrieved from American Historical Association: https://www.historians.org/about-aha-and-membership/aha-history-and-archives/archives/why-study-history-(1998)

Tsering, T. (2010). Profile of Rose Butler Brown. In A. Rutherford (Ed.), Psychology’s Feminist Voices Multimedia Internet Archive. Retrieved from http://www.feministvoices.com/rose-butler-browne/

Wagner-Martin, L. (1994). Telling women’s lives: The new biography. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

Warburton, E. (2012). A history of named places and architectural development: Rhode Island College, 1958–2012. Providence: Rhode Island College. Retrieved from

http://digitalcommons.ric.edu/college_architecture/1

Whitescarver, K. (2017). Public Montessori and the charter debate. Montessori Public, 1(2), 6. Retrieved from

http://www.montessoripublic.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/MP-V1N2%E2%80%93Apr11-FINAL-150.pdf

Whitescarver, K., & Cossentino, J. (2008). Montessori and the mainstream: A century of reform on the margins. Teachers College Record, 110, 2571–2600.

Wilcott, P. (1968). The initial American reception of the Montessori Method. The School Review, 76(2), 147–165.

Downloads

Published

2017-11-15

How to Cite

Zoll, S. (2017). The Montessori Experiment in Rhode Island (1913-1940): Tracing Theory to Implementation over Twenty-Five Years. Journal of Montessori Research, 3(2), 39-54. https://doi.org/10.17161/jomr.v3i2.6590