Uncovering Meaning in Montessori Teachers' Lived Experiences of Cosmic Education as a Tool for ...

169 Pages·2017·1.14 MB·English

Stephen F. Austin State University
SFA ScholarWorks
Electronic Teses and Dissertations
Spring 5-13-2017
Uncovering Meaning in Montessori Teachers’
Lived Experiences of Cosmic Education as a Tool
for Social Justice
John Allen Branch
Stephen F Austin State University,
Uncovering Meaning in Montessori Teachers’ Lived Experiences of
Cosmic Education as a Tool for Social Justice
Creative Commons License
Tis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Atribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0
License.
Tis dissertation is available at SFA ScholarWorks: htp://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/etds/70
UNCOVERING MEANING IN MONTESSORI TEACHERS’ LIVED

EXPERIENCES OF COSMIC EDUCATION

AS A TOOL FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE

by

John Allen Branch, B.A., M.Ed.

Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of

Stephen F. Austin State University

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements

For the Degree of

Doctor of Education

STEPHEN F. AUSTIN STATE UNIVERSITY
(May 2017)
UNCOVERING MEANING IN MONTESSORI TEACHERS’ LIVED

EXPERIENCES OF COSMIC EDUCATION

AS A TOOL FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE

by

John Allen Branch, B.A., M.Ed.

APPROVED:

_________________________________________
Patrick M. Jenlink, Ed.D., Dissertation Chair

_________________________________________
Karen Embry Jenlink, Ed.D., Committee Member

_________________________________________
Brandon Fox, Ph.D., Committee Member

_________________________________________
Chance Mays, Ed.D., Committee Member

_________________________________________
Liz Vaughan, Ph.D., Interim Chair, Department of
Secondary Education and Educational Leadership

____________________________________________
Richard Berry, DMA
Dean of the Graduate School
ABSTRACT

This inquiry focused on the lived experiences of Montessori teachers in
implementing Montessori’s Cosmic Education as a tool for social justice in their
classrooms in order to more fully understand Cosmic Education’s meaning, purpose, and
practice. The researcher also sought to understand how Cosmic Education could be an
effective pedagogy of place, providing historical and social contexts in which students
may develop and grow. The study used a post-intentional phenomenological design
(Vagle, 2014), and was based on a series of interviews with five Montessori teachers
from different classroom age levels. The data were analyzed using poetic inquiry through
the form of found poetry. Emerging themes of Cosmic Education as a pedagogy of place
and how that pedagogy of place contributed to agency in social justice were identified.
iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I express my appreciation to Dr. Patrick Jenlink, my Committee Chair. His
knowledge, guidance, and questioning have been of immense help in crafting this study.
I also thank the other members of my Doctoral Committee: Dr. Karen Embry Jenlink for
her frequent encouragement; Dr. Brandon Fox for teaching me more about social justice
than I could imagine and encouraging me to push the limits of my understandings; and
Dr. Chance Mays for providing illumination of a path to phenomenological inquiry
through his own dissertation.
This study could not have occurred without the support of Sherry Herron and Dr.
Elisabeth Coe of School of the Woods, and the teachers who became co-investigators in
this study. The support and time afforded to me were essential. I must also recognize the
support of my coworkers and my students throughout this journey. Thank you.
Dr. Melissa Sampson Leigh participated in untold hours of conversations to and
from Nacogdoches over the three-year period. Your friendship, conversation, and proof-
reading were invaluable. Thank you to and your family: Quentin, Jordan, Eva, and
Sophia.
Finally, I offer gratitude to my parents, Alfred and Lenora, for their continual
support and unconditional love.
iv
DEDICATION

This study is dedicated to my companion of 24 years, Matthew Shane Henley. Without
your support, this would not have been possible. Thank you for everything.
v
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page
ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................... iv
DEDICATION...............................................................................................................v
LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................xi
CHAPTER
I. INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY.........................................................1
Statement of the Problem................................................................... 12
Purpose of the Inquiry........................................................................ 13
The Phenomenon of This Inquiry....................................................... 13
Significance of the Inquiry................................................................. 14
Research Design ................................................................................ 15
Co-investigators ........................................................................... 16
Data Gathering............................................................................. 16
Assumptions ...................................................................................... 17
Delimitations ..................................................................................... 19
Definitions......................................................................................... 19
Cosmic education......................................................................... 20
Curriculum of place ..................................................................... 21
Montessori credential ................................................................... 21
Summary ........................................................................................... 22
Organization of the Inquiry ................................................................ 23
II. LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................ 26
An Introduction to Montessori Philosophy ......................................... 27
Montessori and the Planes of Development .................................. 28
The First Plane of Development: The Absorbent Mind ........... 30
The Second Plane of Development: Uniform Growth ............. 31
The Third Plane of Development: Adolescence ...................... 31
Challenging Traditional Education Power Dynamics.................... 32
The Relationship Between Work and Play.................................... 33
Education and Creating Democracy ............................................. 35
Cosmic Education ........................................................................ 37
An Introduction to Montessori Pedagogy ........................................... 39
The Importance of a Child’s Search for Meaning ......................... 39
The Constructivist Classroom....................................................... 41
The Planes of Development in the Classroom............................... 42
The First Plane ....................................................................... 42
The Second Plane................................................................... 43
The Third Plane...................................................................... 43
Efficacy of the Methods ............................................................... 44
An Introduction to Montessori Culture............................................... 45
vii
The Preparation of a Montessori Teacher ..................................... 46
Student Construction of Identity................................................... 47
Montessori and Pedagogy of Place ............................................... 49
Cosmic Education Across the Planes of Development ................. 50
Summary ........................................................................................... 52
III. METHODOLOGY AND METHODS ..................................................... 54
An Overview of Phenomenology ....................................................... 54
Basic Concepts of Phenomenology............................................... 56
When to Use Phenomenological Inquiry....................................... 58
Post-Intentional Phenomenology.................................................. 59
Conducting Post-Intentional Phenomenological Research .................. 60
Phenomenology and Montessori ........................................................ 64
The Role of the Phenomenologist....................................................... 65
Phenomenological Method................................................................. 65
Bridling........................................................................................ 66
Co-Investigators........................................................................... 69
Data Gathering............................................................................. 70
Data Analysis............................................................................... 72
Summary ........................................................................................... 75
IV. BRIDLING PROCESS............................................................................ 78
Introduction ....................................................................................... 78
Bridling as Process............................................................................. 79
viii