What Do Children Choose to Do? An Observational Study of Children in Montessori Classrooms

• In Event: AERA Poster Session 11
  In Poster Session: Montessori Education SIG Poster Session

Abstract

Montessori classrooms are characterized by student choice. A common concern when giving children free choice is that they will not do their academic work. This study thus seeks to answer the question of what children choose to do in Montessori classrooms. We observed 110 students, about 3-6yrs old (M = 4.45yrs) from 10 different classrooms for the entire morning and assessed what children did during this time. We found children spend about half their time working on academic materials individually, followed by wondering the classroom, and doing group activities. When doing individual work, children mainly engaged with practical life activities, art, and language materials. These results indicate that when given the choice, children do choose to do academic work.

Authors

• Ian Becker, University of Virginia

• Abha Basargekar, University of Virginia

• Angeline S Lillard, University of Virginia