This brings me back to my pre-school Montessori days. At the beginning of the year many Montessori classrooms, are very bare. Very few didactic materials on the shelves. Minimal distractions. As the year progresses new materials are introduced and the children notice what is new or changed. By the end of the year the classroom is a symphony of color and shapes, but not distracting as all of the materials have been added and sequenced gradually enough for the children to absorb the changes. There seems to be a Cognitive Load Theory connection here.
Would you consider the gradual addition of displayed learning material a valid variable to consider in the non-Montessori classroom? Just a thought. Can a classroom go from desert to learning rainforest over the course of the year without taking away from learning?
Great question Dan! I think there would be too layers to consider here. Theoretically I can see how students would gradually habituate to things that are progressively added. But there is also some evidence that if things are very bright and eye catching that students are not necessarily able to ignore them. So I would recommend that such items are progressively developed but then also brought to front and centre when relevant and moved to the back of the room or ‘backstage’ when not relevant?
So I’d say a mix of progressively adding, then strategically removing just like in the theatre, would help to manage the load!
This brings me back to my pre-school Montessori days. At the beginning of the year many Montessori classrooms, are very bare. Very few didactic materials on the shelves. Minimal distractions. As the year progresses new materials are introduced and the children notice what is new or changed. By the end of the year the classroom is a symphony of color and shapes, but not distracting as all of the materials have been added and sequenced gradually enough for the children to absorb the changes. There seems to be a Cognitive Load Theory connection here.
Would you consider the gradual addition of displayed learning material a valid variable to consider in the non-Montessori classroom? Just a thought. Can a classroom go from desert to learning rainforest over the course of the year without taking away from learning?
Great question Dan! I think there would be too layers to consider here. Theoretically I can see how students would gradually habituate to things that are progressively added. But there is also some evidence that if things are very bright and eye catching that students are not necessarily able to ignore them. So I would recommend that such items are progressively developed but then also brought to front and centre when relevant and moved to the back of the room or ‘backstage’ when not relevant?
So I’d say a mix of progressively adding, then strategically removing just like in the theatre, would help to manage the load!
Makes sense. Montessori pre-school is very particular.