Applied Theories

APPLIED THEORIES
ON CHILD DEVELOPMENT
CENTERS

REVIEW OF THE
DEVELOPMENTAL
THEORIES

Theories
Related To The
Learner’s
Development
Erikson
8 Psycho-social
Stages of
Development
Freud
3 Components of
Personality
5 Psychosexual
Stages of
development
Piaget
4 Stages of
Cognitive
Development
Kohlberg
3 Stages and 6
Substances of Moral
Development
Vygotsky
• On Language
•Zone of Proximal
Development
Brofenbrenner
Bio-Ecological
System

FREUD PSYCHO-SEXUAL THEORY
 Freud proposed that there were 5
stages of development. Freud believed
that few people successfully completed
all 5 of the stages. Instead, he felt that
most people tied up their libido at one
of the stages, which prevented them
from using that energy at a later stage.

Stage Erogenous Zone Fixation
Oral (birth to 18
months)
Mouth Drinking , eating,
smoking or nail biting
Anal (18-32 months) Anus Anal retentive and anal
expulsive
Phallic (3 – 6 years) Genitals Oedipus Complex and
Electra Complex
Latency (6- puberty)
Genital (puberty +) Genitals

“The principle goal of education is
to create men who are capable of
doing new things ,not simply to
repeating what other generations
have done – men who are creative,
inventive and discovers”.
PIAGET’S STAGES OF
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Jean Piaget
Cognitive
Development Theory
 Children "construct" their
understanding of the world
through their active involvement
and interactions.
 Studied his 3 children to focus
not on what they knew but how
they knew it.
 Described children's
understanding as their
"schemas” and how they use:
 assimilation
 accommodation.

 Schema:
The term “schema” to refer to the cognitive
structures by which individuals
intellectually adapt to and organize their
environment.
 Assimilation:
This is the process of fitting a new
experience into an existing or previously
created cognitive structure or schema.
 Accommodation:
This is the process of creating a new
schema.

 Equilibration
Achieving proper balance between
assimilation and accommodation
Disequilibrium
this means there is a discrepancy
between what is perceived and what is
understood. We then exert effort through
assimilation and accommodation to
establish equilibrium once more.

PIAGET’S COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
STAGES
 Sensori-motor
 Ages birth - 2: the infant uses his senses and motor
abilities to understand the world
 Pre-operation
 Ages 2-7: the child uses metal representations of
objects and is able to use symbolic thought and
language
 Concrete operations
 Ages 7-11; the child uses logical operations or
principles when solving problems
 Formal operations
 Ages 12 up; the use of logical operations in a
systematic fashion and with the ability to use
abstractions

“ T H E P R I N C I P L E G O A L O F E D U C A T I O N I S T O C R E A T E M E N
W H O A R E C A P A B L E O F D O I N G N E W T H I N G S , N O T S I M P L Y O F
R E P E A T I N G W H A T O T H E R G E N E R A T I O N S H A V E D O N E - M E N W H O
A R E C R E A T I V E , I N V E N T I V E A N D D I S C O V E R E R S . ”
- J E A N P I A G E T
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive
Development

Jean Piaget (1896-
1980), Swiss psychologist,
best known for his pioneering
work on the development of
intelligence in children. His
studies have had a major
impact on the fields of
psychology and
education.

Piaget’s Stages of
Cognitive Development
Stage 1.
Sensory-motor Stage
Stage 3.
Concrete- Operational
Stage
Stage 2.
Pre-Operational Stage
Stage 4.
Formal Operational Stage
Back

Stage 1. Sensory-motor Stage
 The first stage corresponds from birth to infancy or
at the age of 2 years old.
Object permanence. This is the ability of the child
to know that an object still exists even when out of
sight.

Sub-stage 1.Simple Reflexes
 From Birth to 6 weeks.
 Three primary reflexes described by Piaget:
sucking of objects in the mouth, following the moving
and interesting objects with the eyes and closing of
the hand when an object makes contact with the palm
(palmar grasp).

Sub-stage 2. First reflexes and primary
circular reactions phase
 This covers from 6 weeks – 4 months
 Primary reaction because the action is focused
on the infant’s body. Circular reaction because
it is a repetition of an action that initially occurred
by chance.
 Ex. Infants might repeat the motion of passing
their hand before their face.

Sub-stage 3. Secondary circular reactions
phase
 This comprises from 4-8 months
 There are three new abilities occur at this stage:
 Infants will intentionally grasp the air in the direction
of desired object.
 Secondary circular reactions or repetition of an action
involving an external object.
(Ex. Switching the flashlight on and off repeatedly.)
and;
 The differentiation between means and ends.

Sub-stage 4. Coordination of reactions stage
secondary circular
 This includes 8-12 months
 This stage is associated primarily with the
development of logic and the coordination between
means and ends.
 Piaget calls this as “first proper intelligence.”
 Also this stage marks the beginning
of goal orientation, the deliberate planning of steps
to meet an objective/goal.

Sub-stage 5. Tertiary circular reactions,
novelty and curiosity
 This covers 12-18 months
 This stage is associated primarily with the
discovery of new means to meet goals.
 Piaget describes the child at this point in time as
the “young scientist” because they
are discoverers of new methods of
meeting challenges.

Sub-stage 5. Tertiary circular reactions,
novelty and curiosity
 Ex. When a baby seems to enjoy dropping the spoon
over and over again in many different ways, a proof
of the creation of novel of variations in events.
 Baby then discovers a pattern that “objects fall down
– not up.”

Sub-stage 6. Internalization of Schemes
(invention of new means through mental
coordination)
 This covers 18-24 months
 Infants develop the ability to use primitive symbols
and form mental representations.
 This stage is associated primarily with the true
creativity. This marks the passage into the pre-
operational stage.

Stage 2. Pre-Operational Stage
 The preoperational stage covers from about two to seven
years old or the preschool years.
 This stage is highlighted by the following:
*Symbolic Function *Irreversibility
*Egocentrism *Animism
*Centration *Transductive
Reasoning

Stage 3. Concrete-Operational Stage
 This covers the ages approximately between 8-11 years
old or the elementary school years.
 The concrete operational stage is marked by the
following:
*Decentering *Conservation
*Reversibility *Seriation

Stage 4. Formal Operational Stage
 This stage covers ages between 12 and 15 years old where
thinking becomes more logical.
 This stage is characterized by the following:
*Hypothetical Reasoning *Deductive Reasoning
*Analogical Reasoning

ERIKSON'S STAGES OF
PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Stage Crisis Maladaptation Malignancy Virtue
Infancy Trust vs.
Mistrust
Sensory
Distortion
Withdrawal Hope
Early Adulthhood Autonomy vs.
Shame &
Doubt
Impulsivity Compulsion Will Power
Pre-school Initiative vs.
Guilt
ruthlessness Inhibition Purpose
School Age Industry vs.
Inferiority
Narrow
Virtuosity
Inertia Competence
Adolescence Identity vs.
Role
Confusion
Fanaticism Repudiation Fidelity
Young Adulthood Intimacy vs.
Isolation
Promiscuity Exclusivity Love
Middle Adulthood Generativity
vs. Stagnation
Over extention Rejectivity Care
Maturity Ego Integrity
vs. Despair
Presumption Disdain Wisdom

Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development
 Assessed moral reasoning by posing hypothetical
moral dilemmas and examining the reasoning
behind people’s answers
 Proposed three distinct levels of moral
reasoning: preconventional, conventional, and
postconventional
 Each level is based on the degree to which a
person conforms to conventional standards of
society
 Each level has two stages that represent
different degrees of sophistication in moral
reasoning

KOHLBERG’S STAGES OF MORAL
DEVELOPMENT

Socio-Cultural Theory
Lev Vygotsky

 Definition
 Sociocultural Theory results from the dynamic
interaction between a person and
the surrounding social and cultural forces.
3 CLAIMS OF VYGOTSKY
 a) Fundamentally shaped by cultural tools
 b) Functioning emerges out of social processes
 c) Developmental methods (Zone of Proximal
Development)

STRATEGIES TO UTILIZE THE
BENEFITS OF ZPD
a.)Scaffolding –requires demonstration, while
controlling the environment so that one
can take things step by step.
b) Reciprocal Teaching – open dialog between
student and teacher which goes beyond
simple question and answer session.

Vygotsky theorized that
human development is not something
that is fixed and eternal. It will
change as a result of historical
development.

CULTURAL INFLUENCES
a) Imitative learning
b) Instructed learning
c) Collaborative learning
PRINCIPLES
a) Cognitive development is limited to
a certain range at any given age.
b) Full cognitive development requires
social interaction.

5 MAIN POINTS
 a) Use of Zone of Proximal Development
 b) Interaction with other people is important
for cognitive growth
 c) Culture can make daily living more efficient and
effective.
 d) Advanced mental methods start through social
activities.
 e) Increase of the independent use of language and
thought during a child’s first few years of life.

The belief that
development can't be
explained by a single
concept, but rather by a
complex system.
DEVELOPMENTAL SYSTEMS
THEORY

Outline of 20th Century Theories
 Psychoanalytical Theories
Psychosexual: Sigmund Freud
Psychosocial: Erik Erikson
 Cognitive Theories
Cognitive Development: Jean Piaget
Socio-cultural: Lev Vygotsky
 Systems Theories
Ecological Systems: Urie Bronfenbrenner

LEARNING/THINKING STYLEs
-refer to the preferred way an individual processes
information.
- they describe a person’s typical mode of thinking,
remembering or problem solving.
SENSORY PREFERENCES
Individuals tend to gravitate toward one or two
types of sensory input and maintain a dominance in
one of the following types :
-Visual Learners
- Auditory Learners
- Tactile/ Kinesthetic Learners

VISUAL LEARNERS- tend to learn better
when a variety of visual aids are used.
Visual- iconic
-refers to those who are more interested in
visual imagery such as film, graphic displays,
pictures.
Visual- symbolic
- refers to those who feel comfortable with
abstract symbolism such as mathematical
formula or the written word.

AUDITORY LEARNERS- receive
information best by listening.
Listeners
-they remember things said to them and
make the information their own.
Talkers
- they are the one who prefer to talk and
discuss. ( auditory- verbal processors)

Tactile/ kinesthetic learners
- they tend to prefer learning
by doing/ experiencing things.

CHARACTERISTICS OF TACTILE LEARNERS:
- Is good at sports.
- Can’t sit still for long.
- Is not great at spelling.
- Does not have great handwriting.
- Like science lab.
- Studies with loud music on.
- Like adventure books, movies.
- Likes role playing.
- Takes breaks when studying.
- Builds models.
- Is involved in martial arts, dance
- Is fidgety during lectures.

GLOBAL–ANALYTIC CONTINUUM
Analytic- they tend toward the
linear, step- by- step processes of learning.
(tree seers)
Global- they lean towards non-
linear thought and tend to see the whole
pattern rather than particle elements.
(forest seers)

LEFT- BRAIN/RIGHT- BRAIN
CONTINUUM
Left- Brained Person- is portrayed as the
linear. (analytic)
Right- Brained Person- is viewed as non-
linear. (global)

Successive processor (left brain)
- details leading to a conceptual
understanding.
SIMULTANEOUS PROCESSOR
(RIGHT BRAIN)
- general concept going on to
specifics.

LEFT BRAIN( ANALYTIC) RIGHT BRAIN(GLOBAL)
Successive Hemispheric
Style
1. VERBAL
2. RESPONDS TO WORD MEANING
3. SEQUENTIAL
4. PROSESSES INFORMATION
LINEARLY
5. RESPONDS TO LOGIC
6. PLANS AHEAD
7. RECALLS PEOPLE’S NAME
8. SPEAKS WITH FEW GESTURES
9. PUNCTUAL
10. PREFERS FORMAL STUDY
DESIGN
11. PREFERS BRIGHT LIGHTS
WHILE STUDYING.
Simultaneous Hemispheric
Style
1. VISUAL
2. RESPONDS TO TONE OF VOICE
3. RANDOM
4. PROCESSES INFORMATION
IN VARIED ORDER
5. RESPONDS TO EMOTION
6. IMPULSIVE
7. RECALLS PEOPLE FACES
8. GESTURES WHEN SPEAKING
9. LESS PUNCTUAL
10. PREFERS SOUND/ MUSIC
BACKGROUND WHILE STUDYING
11. PREFERS FREQUENT MOBILITY
WHILE STUDYING

MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES
- is an educational theory, first developed by Howard
Gardner, that describes an array of different kinds of
intelligences exhibited by human beings.
Howard Gardner
- he believes that different intelligences may
be independent abilities and all of us possess the
intelligences but in varying degrees of strength and
skill.
- the theory was first laid out in Gardner’s
1983 book Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple
Intelligences and has been further refined in
subsequent years.

INTELLIGENCES
- an ability or set of abilities
that allows a person to solve a problem
or fashion a product that is valued in
one or more cultures.

9 DISTINCT FORMS
OF
INTELLIGENCE

1.VISUAL/ SPATIAL INTELLIGENCE
(PICTURE SMART)
- learning visually and organizing ideas
spatially.
2.VERBAL/ LINGUISTIC (WORD SMART)
- learning through the spoken and written
word.
3. MATHEMATICAL/ LOGICAL ( NUMBER
SMART/ LOGIC SMART)
- learning through reasoning and problem
solving.

4. BODILY/ KINESTHETIc ( BODY SMART)
- learning through interaction with one’s
environment.
5. MUSICAL (MUSIC SMART)
- learning through patterns, rhythms and music.
6. INTRAPERSONAl (SELF SMART)
- learning through feelings, values and attitudes.
7. INTERPERSONAL (PEOPLE SMART)
- learning through interaction with others.
8. NATURALIST (NATURE SMART)
- learning through classification,categories and
hierarchies.
9. EXISTENTIAL (SPIRIT SMART)
- learning by seeing the “big picture”

BEHAVIORISM:
PAVLOV, THORNDIKE,
WATSON, SKINNER

Behaviorist
Perspective
Pavlov,Thorndike,Watson,
Skinner
Behaviorism:

BEHAVIORISM
focuses on the study of observable and
measurable behavior.
It emphasizes that behavior is mostly
learned through conditioning and
reinforcement ( rewards and punishment )
It does not give much attention to the mind
, and the possibility of thought processes
occurring in the mind.
Contributions in the development of the
behaviorist theory largely came from Pavlov,
Watson, Thorndike and Skinner.

Ivan
Pavlov
•a Russian psychologist is
well known for his work in
classical conditioning or
stimulus substitution.
•Most renowned experiment
involved meat, a dog and a
bell. Measuring the dog’s
salivation in order to study
digestion.

•Stimulus Generalization- once the dog
has learned to salivate at the sound of the bell,
it will salivate at other similar sound.
•Extinction- if you stop pairing the bell with
the food, salivation will eventually cease in
response to the bell.
•Spontaneous Recovery- extinguished
responses can be recovered after an elapsed
time, but will soon extinguish again if the dog
is not presented with food.

•Discrimination- the dog could learn to
discriminate between similar bells and
discern which bell would result in the
presentation of food and which would not.
•Higher-order conditioning- once the dog
has been conditioned to associate the bell
with the food, another unconditioned
stimulus, such as a light may be flashed at the
same time that the bell is rung. Eventually the
dog will salivate at the flash of the light
without the sound of the bell.

Edward
Thornd
ike
•He explained that learning is
the result of associations
forming between stimuli and
responses. Such association or
habits become strengthened or
weakened by nature and
frequency of the S-R pairings.
•The main principle of
connectionism was that
learning could be adequately
explained without considering
any unobservable internal
states.

Theory of Connectionism
- stated that learning has taken place when a
strong connection or bond between stimulus and
response is formed.
THREE PRIMARY LAW
1.Law of Effect- S-R is strengthened when the
consequence is positive and weakened when the
consequence is negative.
2.Law of Exercise- when S-R bond is practice the
stronger it will become.
3.Law of Readiness- the more readiness the learner
has to respond to the stimulus, the stronger will be
the bond between them.

Principles derived from theory of
connectionism:
1.Learning requires both practice and
rewards (law of effect/exercise).
2.A series of S-R connection can be
chained together if they belong to the
same action sequence (law of
readiness).
3.Transfer of learning occurs because
previously encountered situations.
4.Intelligence is a function of the
number of connections learned.

John
Watso
n
• work with Pavlov's ideas
•Considered that humans are
born with a few reflexes and
the emotional reactions of
love and rage.
•Experiment on Albert and a
white rat
•His work did clearly show the
role of conditioning in the
development of emotional
responses to certain stimuli.

Burrhu
s
Frederi
ck
Skinner
• operant conditioning
•Reinforcement
+R-any stimulus
given or added to
increase the response.
-R- any stimulus
that results in the
increased frequency of a
response when it is
withdrawn or removed.

NEO BEHAVIORISM:
TOLMAN & BANDURA

 Basic Premise
 We learn behavior through observation
 Vicarious reinforcement: Learn through
observing consequences of behaviors of
others
 Modelling
 Observe behavior of others and repeat the
behavior
 Bobo doll studies (1963)
 Disinhibition: Weakening of inhibition through
exposure to a model
Albert Bandura:
Social / Observational Learning

*Characteristics of the models: similarity,
age, sex, status, prestige, simple vs.
Complex behavior
*Characteristics of observers: low self-
confidence, low self-esteem, reinforcement
for imitation
Reward consequences of behavior: directly
witnessing associated rewards
Factors Influencing Modeling:
Impact Tendency to Imitate

The Observational Learning Process: 4 Steps
 Attentional Processes
 Retention Processes
 Production Processes
 Incentive And Motivational Processes

Step 1: Attentional Processes
 Developing cognitive processes to pay
attention to a model- more developed
processes allow for better attention
 Must observe the model accurately
enough to imitate behavior

Step 2: Retention Processes
 To later imitate behavior, must remember
aspects of the behavior
 Retain information in 2 ways:
Imaginal internal representation: Visual
image Ex: Forming a mental picture
Verbal system: Verbal description of
behavior Ex: Silently rehearsing steps in
behavior

Step 3: Production Processes
 Taking imaginal and verbal representations
and translating into overt behavior- practice
behaviors
 Receive feedback on accuracy of behavior-
how well have you imitated the modeled
behavior?
 Important in mastering difficult skills
Ex: Driving a car

Step 4: Incentive and Motivational Processes
 With incentives, observation more
quickly becomes action, pay more
attention, retain more information
 Incentive to learn influenced by
anticipated reinforcements

Aspects of the Self: Self-reinforcement and Self-
efficacy
 Self-reinforcement: Rewards or punishments
given to oneself for reaching, exceeding or
falling short of personal expectations
Ex: Pride, shame, guilt
 Self-efficacy: Belief in ability to cope with life
Meeting standards: Enhances self-efficacy
Failure to meet standards: Reduces self-
efficacy

Self-Efficacy
 High self-efficacy
Believe can deal effectively with life events
Confident in abilities
Expect to overcome obstacles effectively
 Low self-efficacy
Feel unable to exercise control over life
Low confidence, believe all efforts are futile

Sources of Information in Determining Self-efficacy
 Performance attainment
Most influential
Role of feedback
More we achieve, more we believe we
can achieve
Leads to feelings of competency and
control

Sources of Information in Determining Self-efficacy
 Vicarious experience
 Seeing others perform successfully
 If they can, I can too
 Verbal persuasion
 Verbal reminders of abilities
 Physiological and emotional arousal
 Related to perceived ability to cope
 Calm, composed feelings: Higher self-efficacy
 Nervous, agitated feelings: Lower self-efficacy

Developmental Stages of Modeling and Self-efficacy
 Childhood
Infancy: Direct modeling immediately
following observation, develop self-efficacy
with control over environment
By age 2: Developed attentional, retention
and production processes to model
behavior some time after observation, not
immediately

 Adolescence
Involves coping with new demands
Success depends on level of self-
efficacy established during childhood

 Adulthood: 2 Periods
 Young adulthood:
Adjustments: Career, marriage, parenthood
High self-efficacy to adjust successfully
 Middle adulthood:
Adjustment: Reevaluate career, family life
Need to find opportunities to continue to
enhance self-efficacy

 Old age:
Decline in mental/physical function,
retirement
Requires reappraisal of abilities
Belief in ability to perform a task is
key throughout the lifespan

Application of Social Learning Theory: Behavior
Modification
 Fears and phobias
Guided participation: Observe and
imitate
Covert modeling: Imaginal
 Anxiety
Fear of medical treatment
Test anxiety

Assessment of Bandura’s Theory: Self-efficacy
 Age and gender differences
 Physical appearance
 Academic performance
 Career choice and job performance
 Physical health
 Mental health
 Coping with stress

Assessment of Bandura’s Theory:
Television and Aggressive Behaviors
 Relationship between watching violence and
imitating violence
ASSESSMENT OF BANDURA’S THEORY
 Strengths:
 Focus on observable behavior- research support
 Practical application to real-world problems
 Large-scale changes

The most
important
single factor
influencing
learning is what
the learner
already knows..

- is a theory of learning based on
the idea that learner’s construct
knowledge for themselves.
Constructivism

TWO VIEWS OF CONSTRUCTIVISM
INDIVIDUAL CONSTRUCTIVISM
(COGNITIVE CONSTRUCTIVISM)
 - it emphasizes
individual, internal
construction of
knowledge.
SOCIAL
CONSTRUCTIVISM
 - it emphasizes that
knowledge exists in a
social context and is
initially shared with
others.

CHARACTERISTICS OF CONSTRUCTIVISM
1. Learners construct understanding.
2. New learning depends on current
understanding.
3. Learning is facilitated by social
interaction.
4. Meaningful learning occurs within
authentic learning tasks.

ORGANIZING
KNOWLEDGE
People store knowledge in
many different ways.
CONCEPTS
- is a way of grouping or
categorizing objects or events in
our mind.

Concepts As Feature Lists
- involves learning specific features that
characterize positive instance of the concept.
DEFINING FEATURE- characteristics
present in all instances.
CORRELATIONAL FEATURE- is one that is
present in many positive instances but not
essential for concept membership.

Concepts as Prototypes
prototype- is an idea or a visual
image of a “typical example”.
Concepts as Exemplars
exemplars- represent a variety of
examples.

SCHEMA
- is an organized body of knowledge about
something.
SCRIPT
- is a schema that includes a series of
predictable events about a specific activity
.

Dr. Maria Montessori
Maria Montessori was a brilliant figure
who was Italy's first woman physician.
Montessori reflected a late19th century
vision of mental development and
theoretical kin-ship with the great
European progressive educational
philosophers, such as Rousseau,
Pestalozzi, Seguin and Itard.
She was convinced that children's natural
intelligence involved three aspects from
the very start:
 rational
 Empirical - observation
 spiritual

The method represents an explicit
idealism and turn away from violence
towards peace and reconstruction.
During this period schools were being based
on the factory model of production and geared
towards assimilating immigrant children into
the American populous through a process of
“subtractive schooling” i.e. stripping away
there family, community and culture.

Friedrich Froebel applied his ideas to the
education of even younger children and began
the international movement towards universal
kindergarten, which continues today.
The kindergartens neglected to place the child
at the pedagogical epicenter and remained in
the tradition of teacher-centered education.

Montessori strongly believed that the
child's mind absorbs the environment,
leaving lasting impressions upon it,
forming it, and providing nourishment
for it. Montessori warned that
‘the quality of the environment could
greatly enhance a child's life or seriously
diminish it’.

Children’s House
Sensorial Language
Practical Life
Math Cultural
Using their hierarchy, the “Superordinate level” denotes the broad category, the “basic
level” describes a group category and subordinate categories are specific exemplars. In
other words, (broad) ANIMALS (basic) DOG (subordinate) German shepherd or
poodle.
In the Montessori classroom, the Superordinate Categories are: Practical Life, Sensorial,
Math, Language and Cultural.

Children’s House
Letter recognition/
Care of indoors
Math Cultural+ - x / sq- cubes
Sensorial
The five senses
Attributes of
geometry
Care of the person
Care of outdoors
Practical Life
Handwriting
Word building/ grammar
Language
Mathematics
1-10, 1- 9,999
Properties/ frac
Cultural
Arts, Sciences
Cultures,
Time
Cultural
Arts, Sciences
Cultures,
Time

On the Sensorial shelves, there are lessons for the 5 senses:
•Vision- these lessons are broken down into color recognition, identifying
shades of color, magnified vision, using binoculars (distance and depth
perception), etc.
•Auditory sense materials that teach pitch, scales, loud and soft gradation of
•Tactile (sense of touch) lessons that teach rough and smooth, stereognostic
memory bags (using “feel” to recognize items)….etc
•Taste Tasting solutions foods and drinks.
•Smell (olfactory) smelling bottles, environment, herbs, flowers, perfumes, ect
Once we have learned to recognize individual attributes, we use our senses to
experience LENGTH, WIDTH, HEIGHT, DEPTH, CIRCUMFERENCE, SHAPES,
VOLUME…
Under the basic category CULTURAL, you’ll find the subordinate categories of
Art and Art history, geography, Geology, Zoology, Botany, Biology, Cultures
(humanities) and Time, for example

1.Start with real life
2.Move to 2 dimensional representations
3.Provide interactive activities
4.Attach language with incrementally increasing
complexity

With all of those materials available to students, one might think the
classroom would cluttered or over-stimulating. But instead, the classrooms
are very homelike and quite cozy. There is a place for everything, and
everything in its place!

CHARACTERISTICS OF A MONTESSORI
CLASSROOM
Free Flow Movement - Areas Relating To Ages And
Stages
Materials Which Relate To Gardener’s 8 Core
Intelligences
Teacher As Observer And Director
Prepared Environment - Self Discipline - Work
Cycle
No Discrimination Between Work And Play

QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
QuickTime™ and a
decompressor
A Montessori classroom is a specially prepared learning environment designed to meet
the developmental needs of young children and to appeal to their diverse learning styles.
The Montessori environment is also prepared to foster independence, grace and courtesy
and a sense of personal responsibility.
Each classroom is organized into five curriculum areas:
Practical life, sensory education, language skills, math and the cultural subjects, which
encompass the arts and sciences.

Teaching Method:
• No text books
• Children study independently
• Children learn directly from the environment,
and from other children
• Teacher is trained to teach one child at a time, with
a few small groups and almost no lessons given to
the whole class.
•She is trained in the basic lessons of arithmetic,
language, the arts and sciences, and in guiding a
child's research and exploration, capitalizing on
interests and excitement about a subject.
The Colour Wheel
•Large groups occur only in the beginning of a new class, or in the beginning of the school year, and are
phased out as the children gain independence.
•The child is scientifically observed, observations recorded and studied by the teacher. Children learn
from what they are studying individually, but also from the amazing variety of work that is going on
around them during the day.

Montessori saw a child’s relationship
with the environment as the key to his or
her self-understanding.
Education is not acquired by listening to
words, but in virtue of experiences in
which the child acts on his environment.
(Montessori 1967)

Children need organized learning environments
and educational materials that provide enriching
meaningful experiences to support their cognitive
development.

Gardner, too, emphasizes the importance of the
environment on the development of human capabilities.
Gardner believes that
the "smarter" the environment and the more powerful the
interventions and resources, the more competent
individuals will become and the less important will be
their particular genetic inheritance.
He asserts that even individuals who seem gifted in a
specific intelligence will accomplish little if they are not
exposed to resources and materials that support that
intelligence.

Children are intrinsically motivated to learn
and they need the opportunities to explore
this. Children should not be forced to do or
learn something; the will and perseverance
should come from them.

Intelligence
Linguistic
Logical/Mathematical
Spatial/Visual
Bodily/Kinesthetic
Musical
Naturalist
Intrapersonal
Interpersonal
Characteristics
Play with words, enjoys stories, interest
in sounds of language (phonics)
Exploration of patterns, counting,
reasoning, problem solving
Visualization of concepts
Strong motor skills and coordination.
Learning through movement
Ability to produce and appreciate pitch,
rhythm. Understanding of musical
expressiveness
Classification of living things – plants,
animals, features of the natural world
Understanding of one’s self, ability to
discriminate and act on one’s feelings
Ability to understand others and work
well together. Availability of leadership
roles
Montessori Representation
LANGUAGE AREA: Sandpaper
letters, moveable alphabet, insets for
design, stories, writing
SENSORIAL/MATHS AREA:
Knobless cylinders, solid cylinders,
PRACTICAL LIFE: Order in the
environment. Specific place for each
material
ALLL AREAS OF CLASSROOM &
OUTDOORS CURRICULUM:
MUSIC AREA: Montessori bells,
songs, rhymes, music specialists
GEOGRAPHY & BIOLOGY AREA:
Geography and social studies
curriculum, care of indoor and
outdoor environment
Respect of personal spaces, ability to
choose to work alone

Each lesson leads to another in a
spiral of learning, with the
curriculum building carefully over
time.

Sensorial Education - Multi Sensory
Materials
Montessori’s approach was far
in advance of the general
psychological understanding
of her time. Montessori
developed materials and a
prepared environment for the
intellectual training through
sensory motor modalities for
children aged three to six
years of age.

Look At The Child
Dr. Montessori discovered the
child’s true nature by accident
while observing young children in
their free, self directed activity.
Building on Seguin’s work and
materials, Dr. Montessori found
that young children came to
acquire surprising new outward
qualities of spontaneous self-
discipline, love of order, and a
perfect harmony with others.

I Do And I Understand
According to Montessori the
understanding of the sensory
motor nature of the young
child’s intelligence stemmed
from acute observations of
children. Up until then the
idea of intelligence was
based on verbal development
and the manipulation of
visual images and ideas.

LOOK AT THE CHILD
Both Montessori and
Piaget’s discoveries and
insights into the mind of
the child were achieved,
not by what Piaget
described as
‘adultmorphic’ thinking
(seeing the child as a
miniature adult), but by
unbiased, astute, direct
observations of the child.

Piaget and Montessori
emphasized the necessity of
active interaction between
learner and the environment.
Piaget and Montessori also
emphasised the child’s
relationship with peers as the
principal means to
overcoming egocentrism in
learning.
The Quality of the Environment Can Help or Hinder a Child’s
Development

The Montessori method encourages
accommodation to external reality
rather than assimilation to the
personalized motives and fantasies of
the child (spontaneous play).
Montessori and Piaget observed that
certain conditions were necessary for
optimal cognitive growth. Among
these conditions is the creation of
learning situations that involve
particular kinds and qualities of
autonomy.
Autonomous Environments Work

The child in the Montessori
classroom is allowed to learn
autonomously, which they
receive from the teacher. It is a
very special relationship based
on the teacher’s trust in the
child to reveal their true nature.

In conclusion, one could argue that Montessori is beginning this century as
she did at the start of the nineteenth century. Her ideas and pedagogy are
being revisited, validated and included in the challenge to the contemporary
construction and conceptualization of childhood. Montessori’s principles
could be seen as pre-empting concepts and thinking that are considered
‘cutting edge’ today; principles that place a child’s wellbeing as central to her
or his experience.

“The greatest sign of success for a
teacher...is to be able to say, "The
children are now working as if I did not
exist."”
Dr. Maria Montessori

These principles are based on
the factors that affect transfer
of learning.

Conditions/ factors
affecting transfer of
learning
Principle of transfer Implication
Similarity between two
learning situations
The more similar the two
situations are, the greater
the chances that learning
from one situation will be
transferred to other
situation
Involve students in
learning situations and
tasks that are similar as
possible to the situations
where they would apply
the task
Degree of
meaningfulness/
relevance of learning
Meaningful learning leads
to greater transfer than
rote learning
Remember to provide
opportunities for learners
to link new material to
what they learned in the
past
Length of instructional
time
The longer the time spent
in instruction, the greater
the probability of transfer
To ensure transfer, teach a
few topics in depth rather
than many topics tackled
in a shallow manner

Conditions/ factors
affecting transfer of
learning
Principle of transfer Implication
Variety of learning
experiences
Exposure to many
examples and
opportunities for practice
to encourage transfer
Illustrate new concepts and
principles with a variety of
examples. Plan activities
that allow your learners to
practice their newly
learned skills
Context for learner’s
experiences
Transfer of learning is
most likely to happen when
learners discover that what
they learned is applicable
to various contexts
Relate topic in one subject
in one subject to topics in
other subjects or
disciplines. Relate it also to
real life situation
Focus on principles rather
than task
Principles transfer easier
that facts.
Zero in on principles
related to each topic
together with strategies
based on those principle s.
Emphasis on
metacognition
Student reflection
improves transfer of
learning
Encourage students to take
responsibility for their own
learning and to reflect on
what they learned.

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