Making Sense of Montessori Teacher Identity, Montessori Pedagogy, and Educational Policies in Public Schools

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17161/jomr.v9i1.18861

Keywords:

Montessori, education policy, public schools, Montessori fidelity

Abstract

Montessori teachers in public schools navigate a system daily that often does not align with their pedagogy, and district policies push them to stray from high-fidelity implementation. Using Weick’s sensemaking theory and literature on Montessori teacher identity, I contend that Montessori teachers’ identity plays a crucial role in how, or if, they respond to educational policies that may not seemingly align with the Montessori Method. The overarching purpose of this study was to understand Montessori public school teachers’ experiences with policies that influence their pedagogy. Through qualitative interviews and a culminating group-level assessment session, three themes emerged as teachers shared their experiences with educational policies: (a) Montessori pedagogy is more than the materials, (b) districts often force district-wide requirements that are at odds with the Montessori pedagogy, and (c) Montessori teachers in public schools do not feel supported. This article concludes with a discussion of how to better support Montessori teachers in public school settings based on the study’s findings.

References

Abrams, L. M., Pedulla, J. J., & Madaus, G. F. (2003). Views from the classroom: Teachers’ opinions of statewide testing programs. Theory into Practice, 42(1), 18–29. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15430421tip4201_4

Akkerman, S. F., & Meijer, P. C. (2011). A dialogic approach to conceptualizing teacher identity. Teaching and Teacher Education, 27(2), 308–319. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2010.08.013

Anagnostopoulos, D. (2003). The new accountability, student failure, and teachers’ work in urban high schools. Educational Policy, 17(3), 291–316. https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904803017003001

Au, W. (2011). Teaching under the new Taylorism: High-stakes testing and the standardization of the 21st century curriculum. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 43(1), 25–45. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220272.2010.521261

Ball, S. J., Maguire, M., Braun, A., & Hoskins, K. (2011). Policy actors: Doing policy work in schools. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 32(4), 625–639. https://doi.org/10.1080/01596306.2011.601565

Beauchamp, C., & Thomas, L. (2009). Understanding teacher identity: An overview of issues in the literature and implications for teacher education. Cambridge Journal of Education, 39(2), 175–189. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057640902902252

Begin, J. (2014). Montessori early childhood education in the public sector: Opportunities and challenges. NAMTA Journal, 39(2), 61–90.

Beijaard, D., Meijer, P. C., & Verloop, N. (2004). Reconsidering research on teachers’ professional identity. Teaching and Teacher Education, 20(2), 107–128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2003.07.001

Berliner, D. (2011). Rational responses to high stakes testing: The case of curriculum narrowing and the harm that follows. Cambridge Journal of Education, 41(3), 287–302. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764X.2011.607151

Bevan, M. T. (2014). A method of phenomenological interviewing. Qualitative Health Research, 24(1), 136–144. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732313519710

Block, C. R. (2015). Examining a public Montessori school’s response to the pressures of high- stakes accountability. Journal of Montessori Research, 1(1), 42–54. https://doi.org/10.17161/jomr.v1i1.4913

Borgman, C. (2021). Enacting accountability in innovative schools: The sensemaking strategies of public Montessori principals [Doctoral dissertation, University of Virginia]. Archive, University of Virginia. https://libraetd.lib.virginia.edu/public_view/w95051224

Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa

Christensen, O. (2016). Proving Montessori: Identity and dilemmas in a Montessori teacher’s lived experience. Journal of Montessori Research, 2(2), 35–48. https://doi.org/10.17161/jomr.v2i2.5067

Christensen, O. T. (2019). Montessori identity in dialogue: A selected review of literature on teacher identity. Journal of Montessori Research, 5(2), 45–56. https://doi.org/10.17161/jomr.v5i2.8183

Coburn, C. E. (2004). Beyond decoupling: Rethinking the relationship between the institutional environment and the classroom. Sociology of Education, 77(3), 211–244. https://doi.org/10.1177/003804070407700302

Coburn, C. E. (2005). Shaping teacher sensemaking: School leaders and the enactment of reading policy. Educational Policy, 19(3), 476–509. https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904805276143

Cossentino, J. (2009). Culture, craft & coherence: The unexpected vitality of Montessori teacher training. Journal of Teacher Education, 60(5), 520–527. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487109344593

Culclasure, B., Fleming, D. J., & Riga, G. (2018). An evaluation of Montessori education in South Carolina’s public schools. The Riley Institute at Furman University. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED622145

Debs, M., de Brouwer, J., Murray, A. K., Lawrence, L., Tyne, M., & von der Wehl, C. (2022). Global diffusion of Montessori schools: A report from the 2022 Global Montessori census. Journal of Montessori Research, 8(2), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.17161/jomr.v8i2.18675

Dohrmann, K. R., Nishida, T. K., Gartner, A., Lipsky, D. K., & Grimm, K. J. (2007). High school outcomes for students in a public Montessori program. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 22(2), 205–217. https://doi.org/10.1080/02568540709594622

Ellison, S., Anderson, A. B., Aronson, B., & Clausen, C. (2018). From objects to subjects: Repositioning teachers as policy actors doing policy work. Teaching and Teacher Education, 74, 157–169. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2018.05.001

Hohmann, U. (2016). Making policy in the classroom. Research in Comparative and International Education, 11(4), 380–393. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745499916679561

Holmes, A. G. D. (2020). Researcher positionality: A consideration of its influence and place in qualitative research. Shanlax International Journal of Education, 8(4), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.34293/education.v8i4.3232

Jackson, J. R. (2022). Maintaining the Montessori method in Louisiana public schools: A qualitative descriptive study [Doctoral dissertation, Grand Canyon University]. Grand Canyon University ProQuest Dissertations Publishing. https://www.proquest.com/docview/2686240438?pq-origsite=gscholar&fromopenview=true

Levatino, A., Parcerisa, L., & Verger, A. (2023). Understanding the stakes: The influence of accountability policy options on teachers’ responses. Educational Policy. https://doi.org/10.1177/08959048221142048

Lillard, A. S. (2012). Preschool children’s development in classic Montessori, supplemented Montessori, and conventional programs. Journal of School Psychology, 50(3), 379–401. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2012.01.001

Lillard, A., & Else-Quest, N. (2006). Evaluating Montessori education. Science, 313(5795), 1893–1894. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1132362

Lillard, A. S., & Heise, M. J. (2016). An intervention study: Removing supplemented materials from Montessori classrooms associated with better child outcomes. Journal of Montessori Research, 2(1), 16–26. https://doi.org/10.17161/jomr.v2i1.5678

Lillard, A. S., Heise, M. J., Richey, E. M., Tong, X., Hart, A., & Bray, P. M. (2017). Montessori preschool elevates and equalizes child outcomes: A longitudinal study. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01783

Lillard, P. P. (1972). Montessori: A modern approach. Schocken Books.

Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1986). But is it rigorous? Trustworthiness and authenticity in naturalistic evaluation. New Directions for Program Evaluation, 1986(30), 73–84. https://doi.org/10.1002/ev.1427

Lipsky, M. (2010). Street-level bureaucracy: Dilemmas of the individual in public service. Russell Sage Foundation.

Malm, B. (2004). Constructing professional identities: Montessori teachers’ voices and visions. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 48(4), 397–412.

März, V., & Kelchtermans, G. (2013). Sense-making and structure in teachers’ reception of educational reform. A case study on statistics in the mathematics curriculum. Teaching and Teacher Education, 29, 13–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2012.08.004

Maynard-Moody, S., & Musheno, M. (2003). Cops, teachers, counselors: Narratives of street-level judgment. University of Michigan Press.

Montessori, M. (1964). The Montessori Method. Schocken Books.

Montessori, M. (1989). Education for a new world. The Clio Montessori Series.

Montessori, M. (1995). The absorbent mind (Rev. ed.). Henry Holt.

Montessori, M. (2012). The absorbent mind (Vol. 1). Montessori-Pierson Publishing Company.

Montessori Public Policy Initiative. (2015). Montessori essentials. https://montessoriadvocacy.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/MontessoriEssentials.pdf

Murray, A., & Peyton, V. (2008). Public Montessori elementary schools. Montessori Life, 20(4), 26–30.

Murray, A. K., & Daoust, C. (2023). Fidelity issues in Montessori research. In A. Murray, E. M. T. Ahlquist, M. McKenna, & M. Debs (Eds.), The Bloomsbury handbook of Montessori education (pp. 199–208). Bloomsbury Publishing.

Perryman, J., Ball, S. J., Braun, A., & Maguire, M. (2017). Translating policy: Governmentality and the reflective teacher. Journal of Education Policy, 32(6), 745–756. https://doi.org/10.1080/02680939.2017.1309072

Read, B. L. (2018). Serial interviews: When and why to talk to someone more than once. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 17(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406918783452

Rom, N., & Eyal, O. (2019). Sensemaking, sense-breaking, sense-giving, and sense-taking: How educators construct meaning in complex policy environments. Teaching and Teacher Education, 78, 62–74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2018.11.008

Sachs, J. (2005). Teacher education and the development of professional identity: Learning to be a teacher. In P. Denicolo & M. Kompf (Eds.), Connecting policy and practice: Challenges for teaching and learning in schools and universities (pp. 5–21). Routledge.

Scott, C. M. (2017). Un-“chartered” waters: Balancing Montessori curriculum and accountability measures in a charter school. Journal of School Choice, 11(1),168–190. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15582159.2016.1251280

Valli, L., & Buese, D. (2007). The changing roles of teachers in an era of high-stakes accountability. American Educational Research Journal, 44(3), 519–558. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831207306859

Vaughn, L. M., Jacquez, F., Zhao, J., & Lang, M. (2011). Partnering with students to explore the health needs of an ethnically diverse, low-resource school: An innovative large group assessment approach. Family & Community Health, 34(1), 72–84. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44953574

Vaughn, L. M., & Lohmueller, M. (2014). Calling all stakeholders: Group-level assessment (GLA)—A qualitative and participatory method for large groups. Evaluation Review, 38(4), 336–355. https://doi.org/10.1177/0193841X14544903

Weick, K. E. (1995). Sensemaking in organizations (Vol. 3). Sage.

Whitescarver, K., & Cossentino, J. (2008). Montessori and the mainstream: A century of reform on the margins. Teachers College Record, 110(12), 2571–2600. https://doi.org/10.1177/016146810811001202

Williamson, P., Bondy, E., Langley, L., & Mayne, D. (2005). Meeting the challenge of high-stakes testing while remaining child-centered: The representations of two urban teachers. Childhood Education, 81(4), 190–195. https://doi.org/10.1080/00094056.2005.10522271

Downloads

Published

2023-05-24

How to Cite

Gerker, H. E. (2023). Making Sense of Montessori Teacher Identity, Montessori Pedagogy, and Educational Policies in Public Schools. Journal of Montessori Research, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.17161/jomr.v9i1.18861