Case Study #3

Steph Groten
This case study focuses in on Fleetwood Bawden Elementary School in
Lethbridge, who takes on the idea of Montessori teaching. Montessori
teaching is a way of teaching children to be self-directed and independent as
this system looks at the development of the whole child. This way of
teaching assists children in absorbing fundamental concepts for language
and mathematical development while allowing them to explore history,
geography and elements of culture in which they live. Through Montessori
teaching, you are able to see clear progression of the child as they develop
by learning to be independent and become both self-motivated as well as
teacher motivated, as the teacher is giving reassurance and guidance to help
students accomplish their goals.
Montessori teaching is different than other ways of teaching because of the
change in delivery and philosophy of teaching. There is a shared learning
that takes place in the classroom where the teacher gives guided instruction
and allows the students to move right into self-guided, hands-on work. Goal
setting is a large aspect of Montessori teaching. This is a way for the
students to be responsible and in charge of their own learning by setting and
reaching their goals. The outcomes in Montessori teaching follow the Alberta
Curriculum; however, the students have more options and take more control
of their goals depending on where they are at individually. This allows the
students to self-assess themselves in order to see whether they are meeting
their goals or what they could change to meet these goals. The teachers are
able to assess the students using mainly formative assessment. By using the
triangulation method of observing the learning, communicating, and
collecting products, the teacher is able to gain a clear understanding of
where their students are at in their learning. As Davies suggests, when
evidence is collected from three different sources, the reliability and validity
of the classroom increases. The teacher is able to assess if the students are
completing their goals by constantly circulating around the room and asking
the children for explanations of what the student is doing and why they are
doing that in order to see their level of understanding.
The classroom in Fleetwood Bawden showed many open reading and writing
spaces. These spaces could be a place where students can work on their
language goals by viewing word walls for the students to refer to. I think that
through Montessori teaching, journals are a large aspect of assessing the
students in order to gain insight of where they are at and what goals they
have accomplished. The students also have access to computers and other
aspects of technology so the students would be able to do many hands on
projects; for example, video projects where the students could video

themselves reaching a goal in creative ways. These videos could be used as

both formative and summative assessment pieces.
After viewing this case study, I was able to gain insight into the Montessori
theory and the importance of independence for students. I think that any
classroom could take some of these principles and implement them into their
classroom as goal setting is a great tool for children to learn. Goal setting
teaches children to be responsible for their own learning which is a helpful
tool later on in life.