Hamline University DigitalCommons@Hamline School of Education Student Capstone Theses School of Education and Dissertations Fall 2020 Concentration: A Pathway To Learning Habib Amini Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.edu/hse_all Part of the Education Commons Recommended Citation Amini, Habib, "Concentration: A Pathway To Learning" (2020). School of Education Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations.edu/hse_all/4506 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Education at DigitalCommons@Hamline. It has been accepted for inclusion in School of Education Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Hamline. For more information, please contact digitalcommons@hamline.edu, wstraub01@hamline.edu, modea02@hamline.
CONCENTRATION: A PATHWAY TO LEARNING by Habib Amini A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctorate in Education Dissertation Advising Committee Chair: Kimberly Hartung, Ed. Reader: Khuzana DeVaan, Ed. Reader: Judith A Blyckert, Ed. Reader: Michelle Berscheid, Ed.
Hamline University St. Paul, Minnesota November 2020 CONCENTRATION: A PATHWAY TO LEARNING 1 DEDICATION I dedicate this work to my children, Lyla, Reshad, and Ariana, whose lives from conception to now have inspired me to be better prepared for their different educational and developmental needs. And to my wife, Susan Bosher, whose help in editing and proofreading of my writing made this process more tolerable. Their love and encouragement gave me the strength to see the finishing line and not get discouraged by setbacks.
CONCENTRATION: A PATHWAY TO LEARNING 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thanks to the Faculty & Staff at Hamline University Dr. Johnson for leading me to the knowledge I needed to do this work. Trish Harvey, the EdD Program Director, for her assistance and consultations on creating my advising committee Mr. Evan Matson and Mr.
Mike Noreen for their organizational consultations and administrative support. Exceptional Thanks to My Advising Committee Dr. Kimberly Hartung, my chair, for her guidance, prudence, and caring through the many stages of this dissertation. I could not have done this work without her! Dr.
Khuzana Devaan, Dr. Judith A Blyckert, and Dr. Michelle Berscheidand, my readers, for their insightful contributions and feedbacks that helped me not lose focus and bring more clarity to the text in this work. CONCENTRATION: A PATHWAY TO LEARNING 3 EPIGRAPH The thirst for love, without love of learning, sinks into simpleness.
Love of knowledge, without love of learning, sinks into vanity. Love of truth, without love of learning, sinks into cruelty. Love of straightness, without love of learning, sinks into rudeness. Love of daring, without love of learning, sinks into turbulence.
Love of strength, without love of learning, sinks into oddity. (Confucius, Date: unknown, Kindle Loc. 568) CONCENTRATION: A PATHWAY TO LEARNING 4 ABSTRACT This study looks at the observable effects of influences on students’ concentration or engagement in learning in the classrooms of two publicly-funded and one private Montessori elementary schools. Using a phenomenological method of inquiry within the paradigm of qualitative research, the study explores literature and collects data through observations and interviews to determine the nature and origins of these influences in the above selected schools.
The findings show three sources of influence affecting students' concentration at varying degrees, depending on the type of the selected school: 1) the duality of objectives, caused by the phenomenon of applying Montessori method in synchrony with some demands of state and federal standards and assessment laws, 2) the Montessori affiliation features, and 3) the teachers’ qualifications and competences in coping with such duality of objectives and Montessori affiliation features in their classrooms. Findings show the effects of these influences as modifications in Montessori teaching practices and materials, management of classroom, and management of children’s individual work and groupwork. These effects are more observable in the school with no Montessori affiliation and to a lesser extent in the public Montessori school that is accredited by the American Montessori Society (AMS). In the private school, accredited by the Association Montessori Internationale (AMI), findings suggest that duality of objectives and affiliation features of the school do not significantly impact teacher’s competences and practices, are not major influences on students’ concentration and engagement in learning, and do not result in observable modification of Montessori materials, environment, and pedagogics.
CONCENTRATION: A PATHWAY TO LEARNING 5 DEFINITIONS OF TERMS The definitions of some terms and concepts used in this paper are summarized below to clarify their intended meanings. I will be using the acronyms I have assigned to some of these terms throughout the content in this paper in order to reduce redundancy and increase conciseness of the text. Adults: This term is used interchangeably with the words “guide and teacher” and refers in this paper to a person or a group of individuals over the age of 18 in a public/private Montessori learning environment. It includes the main guides (the Montessori term for teachers) and their assistants, school administrators, parents, and all other caregivers and volunteers.
CAOSE (Children, Adults, Objects, Scenes, Events): CAOSE, is an acronym that is formulated in this paper to refer to all components of the learning environment, such as children, adults, objects, scenes, and events. The observable effects originating from anyone of these components can affect all the others. These effects are considered influences by this paper and are subjects for data collection. They include anything that one can touch, hear, see, or feel kinesthetically, such as children’s behavior working individually or in groups, preparedness of the adults (e., their qualifications and competences), the nature and quality of academic materials used in Montessori program for the elementary level), preparedness of the classroom environment, scenes (e., conflict resolution, visits by older students), and events, (e., CONCENTRATION: A PATHWAY TO LEARNING 6 Exercises of Practical Life, Cosmic Education, regular Montessori lesson presentations, lessons of grace and courtesy, and visits by specialists).
Concentration on Learning (COL): This term refers to a state of mind, or engagement in learning, during which a learner focuses his or her attention and energies entirely on learning or mastering some knowledge that the learner is seeking to attain by engaging voluntarily in some type of purposeful work or play. (See Chapter Two for cited literature on this term.) Influences: This term refers to qualities of all factors/components (Children, Adults, Objects, Scenes, Events) in any given learning environment. Both negative and positive qualities of any of these factors or components in the environment are referred to as “influences” on students’ ability to concentrate on finishing work. In-school Factors: This term refers to factors that are school-born and are within a school’s authority to control.
They originate from the components of a learning environment like the children, adults, objects, scenes, and events (see CAOSE for more information). Learning Environment: This term refers to all locations in a school where students engage in purposeful work or play. Classrooms, music labs, libraries, gyms, art rooms, etc. are examples of such learning environments, which are intended to lead students to learning.
Normalized: CONCENTRATION: A PATHWAY TO LEARNING 7 This concept in the learning environment of a Montessori school refers to a state of preparedness children reach in their growth, when they initiate work spontaneously and at their own free well. Normalized children no longer need to be told by the adults what to do (Montessori, 1983). Out-of-school Factors: Race to the Top, high-stakes testing, test-based accountability, competition, and school choice (charters and vouchers) in public education are examples of out-of-school factors that affect public school (Ravitch, 2013). These out-of-school influences, according to McNichols Chattin (2016), make it very hard for teachers and administrators to achieve good implementation of the Montessori method in a public school setting.
Purposeful Work: This term refers to any type of age-appropriate work or play in a Montessori learning environment that a student initiates at his or her own will, or undertakes at the suggestion of an adult that, when completed, results in the student gaining a certain desired knowledge or capturing an anticipated outcome. Unprepared: This is a Montessori term that refers to conditions of disarray in the learning environment. This term will be used interchangeably with the term “unqualified” when it refers to an uncertified or inexperienced adult(s) in the learning environment. Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD): This term refers to the space between what a learner can do unassisted and what the learner can do with assistance (Vygotsky, 1978).
CONCENTRATION: A PATHWAY TO LEARNING 8 CONCENTRATION: A PATHWAY TO LEARNING 9 Table of Contents DEDICATION 184 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 185 EPIGRAPH 185 ABSTRACT 186 DEFINITIONS OF TERMS 5 CHAPTER ONE 187 Introduction 13 Story of my Schooling 188 Statement of the Problem 188 Rationale for this Study 189 Research Questions 189 The Main Research Question 189 Secondary Research Question 191 Significance of the Study 28 Summary 29 CHAPTER TWO 195 Review of the Literature 30 Concentration 196 Learning 197 Behaviorist View on Knowledge and Learning 37 Constructivist View on Knowledge and Learning 39 Early Childhood Education and Learning 44 Rote Memorization vs Constructivist Learning 44 Montessori Method and the Public Montessori Concept 46 Converging Rote Memorization and Constructivist Learning Methods 49 Summary 55 CHAPTER THREE 57 Methodology 57 Introduction 57 Research Approach 57 CONCENTRATION: A PATHWAY TO LEARNING 10 Data Collection Methods 58 Classroom Observations 59 Interviews 62 Other Documents 64 Role of the Researcher 64 Data Collection Sites (Participants) 65 Data Collection Instruments 67 Data Collection Tools (DCT) 72 Data Analysis Tools (DAT) 72 Data Interpretation Tools (DIT) 72 Summary 72 CHAPTER FOUR 74 Results 74 Introduction 184 Definition of Terms 185 Data Analysis Process 79 Organizing the Data 186 Coding the Data 81 Reducing the Data 82 Analyzing and Dispersing Data 83 Analyzing and Dispersing Observation Data 84 Analyzing and Dispersing Interview Data 89 Pre-triangulation Results From Observations 91 Results of Observations in Table 1 92 Results of Observations in Table 2 100 Results of Observations in Table 3 106 Pre-triangulation Results from Interviews 194 Results from Teachers’ Responses to Interview Questions 109 Common Themes in Teachers Responses 128 Summary 131 CHAPTER FIVE 133 Conclusion 133 Introduction 133 Conclusions of Study 136 Effects of Structural and Montessori Affiliation Features in Selected Schools 136 CONCENTRATION: A PATHWAY TO LEARNING 11 Effects in School Amicus 136 Effects in School Amsdale 139 Effects in School Noah 140 Overarching Effects of Dualities Experienced by All Participant Teachers 142 Modifications Resulting from Dualities 143 Other Shared Themes 146 Summary 148 Limitations of the Study 186 Possibilities for Future Research 152 Closing Statement 153 REFERENCES 156 APPENDICES 165 APPENDIX A: HU-IRB Human Subjects Research App. Not attached 165 APPENDIX B: Request for Research Approval: Not attached 165 APPENDIX C: Informed Consent Letters: Not attached 165 APPENDIX D 167 Semi-Structured Questions 167 APPENDIX E 169 Classroom Observations of Influences of In-School Factors (CAOSE) on Students’ COL 169 Table 1 170 Observable Influences of CAOSE as In-School Factors on Students’ COL 170 APPENDIX F 173 Observable Influences of Preparations for Standardized Tests (PST) 173 as an Out-of-School Factor on Students’ COL 173 Table 2 174 Observable Influences of Preparations for Standardized Tests (PST) as Out-of-School Factor on Students’ COL 174 APPENDIX G 176 (Supplement to Students’ Concentration on Learning in Appendix E) 176 CONCENTRATION: A PATHWAY TO LEARNING 12 Classroom Observations of Students’ Concentration in Individual and Group Work 176 Table 3 177 Observation of Students’ Concentration and Engagement in Individual and Group Work 177 APPENDIX H 179 Analysis of Teachers’ Qualifications and Competences 179 Sought Through Open-ended Interview Questions 179 Table 4 180 Results of Teachers’ Qualifications and Competences from Each Interviews 180 Figure 10 181 Interpretations of Teachers Responses on the Effects of their Competences 181 Figure 12 198 Influences of the Adults Relating to their Qualifications and Competencies 198 CONCENTRATION: A PATHWAY TO LEARNING 13 CHAPTER ONE Introduction This chapter starts with some glimpses of my schooling experiences and personal life growing up because they parallel certain aspects of traditional schooling experiences of my children in the U. and some characteristics of their experiential learning when they were attending private Montessori schools in their early childhood years.