The Impact of the Montessori Approach in Supporting Children's Self-Regulation Skills

Abstract

Self-regulation ability is expressed as the ability to voluntarily restrict some behaviours, to activate others and the ability to focus and shift attention as needed (Blair & Razza, 2007; Liew, 2012; Smith-Donald et al., 2007). While pre-school children have difficulties complying with kindergarten class routines and rules without having self-regulation skills (Rimm-Kaufman, et al., 2009), preschool years are considered as a very important period in the development of these skills (Kochanska et al., 2000; Murphy et al., 1999; Güler Yıldız et al., 2014). For this reason, the teacher has to familiarise the children to the rules, to the routines and to the behavioural expectations of the class (such as waiting for his/her turn, raising finger, participating in structured activities). Children without this support are having difficulties in regulating their behaviour both during pre-school and during primary school transition (Degol & Bachman, 2015). This is supported by research findings that show that children are able to develop appropriate behaviour in the classroom (Blair & Razza, 2007; Howse et al., 2003; Liew et al., 2010; Valiente et al., 2011; Valiente et al., 2010) and that their self-regulation ability is effective in loving school in a positive way and achieving social adaptation (Eisenberg et al., 2001; Olson et al., 2005; Valiente et al., 2007).