http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1793/95650 Thu, 16 Apr 2026 14:38:44 GMT 2026-04-16T14:38:44Z http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1793/96539 Exploring Young Adolescents’ Lived Experience of Motivation and Engagement in the Classroom Celeste, Natalie M. This interpretive qualitative study explored the connection between student motivation and engagement from the student perspective. Focus groups with 7th - 10th grade students previously enrolled in Montessori elementary programs sought to capture young adolescents’ conception and experience of motivation as well as the instructional experiences which nurtured or inhibited their engagement in the classroom and shaped them as learners. The main theories framing this study were critical theory, self-determination theory, Montessori pedagogy, and the pedagogy of student voice. Data analysis indicated a consistent pattern: students’ motivation and engagement were highly context-dependent and varied by class, activity, and teacher behaviors. Across focus groups, students described hands-on, challenging, and relevant content, autonomy-supportive practices, and caring relationships as primary motivators. In contrast, power struggles, lectureheavy instruction, and high-stakes testing pressures were repeatedly cited as inhibitors. The testimonies of the students in this study indicated that autonomy, competence, and connection were positively correlated with intrinsic and autonomous motivation and engagement. Further, they affirmed Montessori’s directive to adults to adapt our methods to conform to the child’s developmental sensitivities, as well as her warning that controlling instruction and performative learning objectives would lead to children’s indifference to learning. Findings emerging from this study have implications for educators, educational leaders, and future research, encouraging teachers to adopt autonomy-supportive practices; attend to developmental differences; diversify instructional practices; design for relevance, novelty and challenge; center relational pedagogy; and minimize external controls. Additionally, policy recommendations from this research were: rebalance accountability; leverage Montessori as a living laboratory; and institutionalize student voice. A paradigm shift --from the adult-centric controlling motivators, currently in many conventional public schools, to student-centered instruction—would be required. Educational leaders would also need to shift strategic priorities from measuring progress on standardized assessments to whether instruction is nurturing autonomy, deep learning, and competence. Lastly, the pedagogy of student voice reminds us that students’ testimonies in this study are not ancillary anecdotes; they are analytic evidence and moral imperatives. If we are to maintain public schools as a place of learning instead of doing, we must engage and listen to young people and follow their lead. Montessori, EdD. Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1793/96539 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1793/96309 Cardinal Virtues in Practice: A Mixed-Method Study Grounded in Virtue Ethics and Montessori’s Theory of Normalization Van Fleet, Stephanie This mixed-method study explores how the cardinal virtues—prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance—are expressed, perceived, and interpreted within Montessori elementary classrooms ( ages 6–12). The Montessori method emphasizes independence, self-directed activity, and learning through carefully prepared environments. The cardinal virtues are classical moral qualities central to virtue ethics and foundational to human flourishing. A convergent parallel mixed-methods design integrated classroom observations, student surveys, and teacher interviews to address three research questions concerning student behaviors, student perceptions, and teacher interpretations of the virtues. Observations identified demonstrated behaviors, narratives, and artifacts that suggest prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. Survey findings indicated students perceived themselves as possessing moderate to high levels of the virtues, particularly justice. Interviews revealed how Montessori guides interpret and support students’ virtue development within the Prepared Environment. The findings suggest that two primary elements of the Montessori pedagogy, the roles of the Prepared Environment and that of the Montessori guide (teacher) together serve as a promising model for supporting moral development and point to the continued relevance of classical virtue theory in contemporary educational contexts. Montessori EdD Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1793/96309 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1793/95891 Investigating the Influence of a Montessori-Based Basketball Program on Positive Skill Development in Children: An Exploratory Study French-Adams, India R. This study employed a qualitative exploratory design to critically examine the role of a Montessoribased basketball program in fostering skills that promote positive personal growth in children aged 6 to 12 years who attend Montessori schools. Data was obtained through interviews with players and parents to explore the lived experiences and perceived outcomes of students involved in a Montessoribased basketball program. The study examined findings to detect evidence of the development of key virtues, including agency, character, intellectual love, reflective deliberation, patience, quickness, solidarity, obedience, embodied ethics, and abstraction. These virtues served as themes for assessing the program's effectiveness. By integrating PYD principles, the Sport Education Model (SEM), and Montessori philosophy into the theoretical framework, this research investigated whether applying Montessori methods to basketball effectively fostered these developmental outcomes. Montessori EdD Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1793/95891 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1793/95890 The Intersection of Translanguaging and Montessori in Early Childhood Classrooms: An Instrumental Case Study of Supporting Multilingualism Barton DiBernardo, Lindsay Mary The number of multilingual learners in U.S. classrooms is steadily increasing, yet dominant monolingual norms often marginalize these students and constrain both academic and identity development. Translanguaging pedagogy offers a transformative alternative by encouraging learners to use their full linguistic repertoires to engage in meaning-making and social connection. This instrumental case study explores the intersection of translanguaging and Montessori pedagogy in early childhood education. Guided by a theoretical framework integrating sociocultural theory and culturally sustaining pedagogy and grounded in a critical theory lens informed by Freire and Giroux, this study examines how Montessori educators perceive the alignment between translanguaging practices and Montessori philosophy. Data were collected through interviews, classroom observations, and reflective journals from early childhood teachers working with multilingual learners. Findings indicate that educators view translanguaging not as an add-on or intervention, but as a natural extension of core Montessori principles—student agency, freedom within limits, the Prepared Environment, and respect for the whole child. Participants employed strategies such as differentiation, scaffolding, modeling, family engagement, and exposure to multicultural content. This study contributes to research connecting multilingualism with developmentally responsive, justice-oriented education. It offers implications for early childhood policy, teacher preparation, and curriculum design, and invites further exploration into how Montessori environments can support linguistically inclusive, identity-affirming learning spaces. Montessori EdD Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1793/95890 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z