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Exploring the use of evolutionary principles in early childhood Montessori education

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Research Subject Categories::SOCIAL SCIENCES::Social sciences::Psychology
 Research Subject Categories::SOCIAL SCIENCES::Social sciences::Education
 Child psychology
 Montessori
 Educational psychology
 Evolutionary psychology
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Geher, Glenn, Gruskin, Kathryne, Wice, Matthew
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Fall 2024
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2024-12
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SUNY New Paltz Masters Theses Collection
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Griffin_Thesis.pdf
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http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12648/16018
Abstract
This study explores the evolutionary relevance of early childhood Montessori education by examining whether Montessori schools offer a more adaptive learning environment compared to traditional preschools. By surveying a sample of parents (n = 106), with over 85% of participants identifying as female and the average age of their children being 50 months, from both Montessori and traditional preschools, this research assesses children’s abilities across several developmental domains while also considering the evolutionary principles underlying the classroom environments. To account for confounding variables, such as socioeconomic status, educational level, and race, the study included relatively matched samples to ensure comparability between the groups. Results suggest that Montessori preschoolers experience more evolutionary-friendly class environments, as well as scoring higher on practical life skills. Correlational analyses revealed statistically significant relationships between the evolutionary relevance variable and certain developmental outcomes measures (See Table 2). This finding potentially supports the idea that Montessori education aligns more closely with evolutionary adaptive principles than traditional methods. Montessori environments may better support children’s innate developmental learning processes. The findings offer important implications for future research, particularly for understanding how to design educational approaches that better align with evolutionary principles to enhance children’s developmental outcomes.
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