Training of undergraduate preschool teachers in Montessori education in Slovakia and the Czech Republic

Abstract

The paper presents a description and comparison of the undergraduate student teacher training and kindergarten teacher continuing education in the Montessori Method of Education encompassed in formal education in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The theoretical part of the paper aims at depicting Montessori education, still an attractive pedagogical direction in both countries, in a thorough, unconventional and innovative way. Even though Montessori education has been rooted worldwide for centuries, in Slovakia and the Czech Republic it presents relatively new alternative education, considering that an integrated school system, introduced in these countries in 1948 and lasting almost to the end of20thcentury, did not allow the use of other alternatives in addition to the mainstream education. A description of (preschool) education in both countries and an analysis of kindergarten teacher's personality and his/her lesson plans are included in the theoretical part of the paper. The empirical part contains pedagogical research of qualitative design, conducted in Slovakia and the Czech Republic in order to identify and map the current state, level and possibilities of formal education of pre-service and in-service teachers in Slovak and Czech kindergartens.

Between Chaos, Instability, Change and Antifragility. A Qualitative Study of Working Conditions and Everyday Reality of Polish Montessori Early Childhood Education Teachers

“…Andrisano Ruggieri et al, 2020;Aziz, Quraishi, 2017;Beatty, 2011;Christensen, 2016;Christensen, 2019;Efe, Ulutas, 2022;Ender, Ozcan, 2019;Malm, 2004;Siswanto, Kuswandono, 2020). It is undoubtedly a significant problem as it has the potential to -in Goffman's terms -"frame" experiences and practices (Bavli, Kocabaş, 2022;Damore, Rieckhof, 2021) not only with regard to ECE, but also in relation to the teacher trainees (Slovacek, Minova, 2021), high school Montessori education (Rathunde, Csikszentmihalyi, 2005) and other "alternative" pedagogies (Dodd-Nufrio, 2011). Although it has not yet been thoroughly investigated in Polish educational culture, the reports by Zdybel show teachers have unique epistemological personal theories (theories of knowledge <construction>) that may affect their practices (Zdybel, 2020).…”