{"id":44,"date":"2016-03-14T11:15:07","date_gmt":"2016-03-14T18:15:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/considered\/?p=44"},"modified":"2016-03-14T12:00:27","modified_gmt":"2016-03-14T19:00:27","slug":"inquiry-reflection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/considered\/2016\/03\/14\/inquiry-reflection\/","title":{"rendered":"Montessori and Teaching Coding"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n

The inquiry process began with the premise that a group of Montessori Students could do complementary inquiries – if we each provided some insight into our future practice in a different field, but did it in a coordinated way, then the collection of inquiries would be useful to us all. \u00a0This worked reasonably well, but in my case, I found myself drifting from my original choice – music – towards Computing. \u00a0The reasons for this drift were twofold. \u00a0Firstly, my practicum school has a music specialist, and so my opportunity to teach music is limited, and therefore my ability to achieve praxis in my inquiry was also limited. \u00a0Secondly, I have been deeply engaged in the Computing Science curriculum. \u00a0This stems both from my work in higher ed, and particularly with the Faculty of Applied Sciences at SFU, and also from the fact that I’ve been working on building Teacher Candidate competency in learning to teach coding at UBC, in concert with Yvonne Dawydiak, one of the Cohort Coordinators in the TeacherEd Program.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Montessori and Computing<\/strong><\/p>\n

Something\u00a0I’ve noticed is that there is a healthy skepticism about the use of technology in Montessori. \u00a0In the Montessori system, we have the amazing gift of the Montessori Materials, developed with meticulous observation and iteration by Montessori and her contemporaries. \u00a0The focus, especially in early years, is on tactile learning, and strongly on moving from the concrete to the abstract. \u00a0So, in a device that is, in essence a vehicle for abstraction, how do you stay aligned to Montessori’s philosophy?<\/p>\n

Computing isn’t just about using computers<\/strong><\/p>\n

The puzzle presented to Montessori educators, therefore is whether there are physical materials that can support learning about computing that follow a more familiar Montessori approach. \u00a0The fact is, there are many. \u00a0Computer coding, at its core is the confluence of mathematics and the philosophy of logic. \u00a0Logical thinking and algorithms sit at the core of how you understand the core concepts a programmer needs to master. \u00a0Through my inquiry, I realized that it is entirely possible to reconcile Montessori’s 8 principles and modern approaches to teaching coding to elementary learners. In particular, I used the work of Montessori scholar\u00a0Angeline Lillard<\/a>\u00a0and her tremendous book\u00a0that draws connections between\u00a0modern neuroscience and the central tenets of the Montessori Method<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In essence, one of the keys to being a computer programmer is understanding how computers want you to think. \u00a0You can do this by learning formal logic. \u00a0As you can see in the presentation linked below, we can start with concrete forms like coding cards and build students formal logic skills first and then build slowly towards the abstract, first through scaffolded tools like code.org<\/a>\u00a0and eventually, perhaps, into programming directly in python or another ‘real’ language.<\/p>\n

Check out\u00a0the presentation<\/a>\u00a0and let me know what you think! \u00a0How are you implementing technology education in your Montessori classroom?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Introduction The inquiry process began with the premise that a group of Montessori Students could do complementary inquiries – if we each provided some insight into our future practice in a different field, but did it in a coordinated way, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34642,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2955],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-inquiry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/considered\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/considered\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/considered\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/considered\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34642"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/considered\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/considered\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/considered\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44\/revisions\/51"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/considered\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/considered\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/considered\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}