The Impact of a Service Learning Curriculum on Students in an Elementary Grade Montessori School

The Montessori Method and service learning relate in that both ideas center around the principle; that human knowledge is constructed and formed over time through the process of action and reflection from a certain experience. The purpose of this action research was to explore the social and emotional impacts of service learning when implementing a service-learning curriculum in an elementary 1st- 6th grade Montessori classroom setting over the course of a three-month period with eight participants. Data collection for this study included the use of oral interviews with parents, pre and post questionnaires with participants, post-service learning activity debriefs, and Montessori based teacher observations. There was no significant social or emotional improvement with implementing a service-learning curriculum within the Montessori elementary classroom for my students, however the research did give me insight to how service learning can make the students' education more successful.