Poster #27 - Social-Cognitive Understanding in Narrative Stories: An Analysis of Montessori and Public School Students

• In Event: 21.063 - MTCC Poster Session Three
  In Poster Session: 21.063-2 - Social and Cognitive Influences on Academic Performance

Abstract

Narrative storytelling involves identification of the plot and basic themes, in addition to an abstract understanding of characters’ motivations thoughts, which is constantly updated according to the character’s physical space and time. Traditional Montessori school curricula focus on developing a number of these requisite cognitive skills. This study examined whether students attending a Montessori school demonstrated higher narrative scores than students from a public school. Narratives were coded for overall quality and comprehension of the social-cognitive elements of the story. Results demonstrated that there was not a significant difference by school in narrative quality. There was a significant difference in social cognitive comprehension by school, as Montessori students made more references to the characters’ mental states and intentions.

Authors

• Stephanie Buono, University of Toronto

• Tina Waring, University of Toronto