Browsing by Author "Kukkonen, Ada"

Objectives. The aim of education is to prepare the students with proper knowledge and skills for the unknown future. The academic field introduces the term 21st Century Skills as a response to the rapidly changing world. Definitions suggest that thinking skills are one of the main skills needed in the future. However previous study has not been able to deliver a solution on how these skills could be effectively taught and learned at the school level. Alternative pedagogues have offered alternative methods for the traditional school – methods that closely remind the objectives of the 21st Century Skills. Maria Montessori developed concrete materials in order to teach thinking skills to the children already in the 19th Century. The purpose of this study is to research on whether the Montessori materials could provide a solution on how the 21st Century Skills also known as future thinking skills can be taught and learned. Methods. The data was collected with a web-based questionnaire that was designed for the study from international Montessori network. The target group of this study was Montessori coaches (N = 39) and the majority of the responses came from North America (N = 21). The e-form consisted of a multi-choice questionnaire and open-ended questions. The quantitative data was analyzed with a factor analysis which helped the further data analysis. The qualitative data was analyzed with theory-based content analysis. Results and conclusions. The Montessori coaches agreed that Montessori materials support the development of thinking skills today. The results also indicated that Montessori Education is an entity and the materials work most effectively as part of the existing method of Montessori Education. As a conclusion, I present that Montessori materials are suitable tools for teaching thinking skills if the teacher has proper knowledge of the Montessori Education and its principles.