Impact of a Garden on the Social Skills of Montessori Elementary Students

The purpose of this action research project was to determine the influence of gardening on the social development of students in Montessori Lower Elementary. Participants were observed in the garden and kitchen to gather information over the course of the one-month study. The project included a pre- and post-survey to establish where each participant started and ended. In addition, the participants were interviewed during the data collection period to further gauge leadership and responsibility skills. Lastly, participants were given writing journal prompts that gave specific, direct, and personal accounts of leadership, responsibility, and kindness. Gardening was found to be a very positive, and to enhance skills of leadership, responsibility, and kindness in Montessori Lower Elementary.

Running head: GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS Impact of a Garden on the Social Skills of Montessori Elementary Students Madison Dru Gillen A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement of the degree of Master of Education Westminster College Salt Lake City, Utah May 2019 1 GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 2 Acknowledgements Thank you to my advisor, Nathan, for reading through each draft and giving me useful and meaningful feedback. He was also helpful when discussing ideas for the data collection process, the IRB forms, and creating flow for the thesis. Thank you to Kalani, the class instructor, for her prompt responses and her supportive attitude. Several times through the process I felt that I could not continue. She helped keep my spirits up and gave me support when it was most needed as well as being my advocate throughout the entire process. A special thank you to my wonderful grandparents who helped me revise and edit my final draft. Countless hours were spent in syntax, grammar, and word choice to make the final product more succinct and correct. Thank you to my parents who were supportive. My mother, Mindy, gave me several ideas to consider and helped to outline the thesis. My father, David, continued to give me supportive pep talks to help me see the best parts of the research project. Thank you to my partner, Jake, who spent countless hours looking through literature with me and who picked up my slack when I was too busy working on my thesis. Much of my stress was discussed with Jake who helped me talk through my problems that, at the time, seemed impassable. Finally, thank you to the school community, parents, staff, and students that made this research project into a resource for data collection. My lead teacher gave me the opportunity to develop the garden program and I am thankful for that gracious opportunity. Thank you to the parents that allowed for their children to be the participants for the research. Special thanks to the participants that were the crucial part of the research project and inaugural garden program. GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 3 Abstract The purpose of this action research project was to determine the influence of gardening on the social development of students in Montessori Lower Elementary. Participants were observed in the garden and kitchen to gather information over the course of the one-month study. The project included a pre- and post-survey to establish where each participant started and ended. In addition, the participants were interviewed during the data collection period to further gauge leadership and responsibility skills. Lastly, participants were given writing journal prompts that gave specific, direct, and personal accounts of leadership, responsibility, and kindness. Gardening was found to be a very positive, and to enhance skills of leadership, responsibility, and kindness in Montessori Lower Elementary. Keywords: Gardening, Montessori Lower Elementary, Social Behavior Skills Leadership, Responsibility, Kindness, Montessori GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 4 Table of Contents Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... 2 Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... 3 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 7 Statement of Topic ...................................................................................................................... 9 Potential Significance................................................................................................................ 10 Theoretical Framework: Constructivism and Montessori ......................................................... 12 Limitations ................................................................................................................................ 14 Statement of Researcher ............................................................................................................ 15 Literature Review.......................................................................................................................... 19 Montessori: A General Review ................................................................................................. 19 Leadership Skills: General Definition ....................................................................................... 20 Montessori Leadership Skills .................................................................................................... 22 Gardening and Leadership Skills .............................................................................................. 26 Responsibility: General View ................................................................................................... 28 Montessori and Individual Responsibility................................................................................. 29 Gardening and Responsibility ................................................................................................... 30 Summary ................................................................................................................................... 32 Methodology ................................................................................................................................. 34 Methodological Approach and Rationale .................................................................................. 34 Setting........................................................................................................................................ 35 Participants ................................................................................................................................ 36 Data Collection.......................................................................................................................... 40 Data Analysis ............................................................................................................................ 42 Trustworthiness ......................................................................................................................... 43 Ethical Considerations............................................................................................................... 44 Data Analysis and Findings .......................................................................................................... 46 Gardening Pre-Survey ............................................................................................................... 46 Leadership: Inquisitive Nature, Problem-Solving and Teamwork............................................ 49 Responsibility: Independence ................................................................................................... 58 Kindness .................................................................................................................................... 60 Post-Gardening Survey ............................................................................................................. 61 GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 5 Discussion of Findings .............................................................................................................. 63 Implications and Recommendations ............................................................................................. 64 Summary of Findings ................................................................................................................ 64 Recommendations ..................................................................................................................... 64 Implications of Future Work ..................................................................................................... 66 Conclusion................................................................................................................................. 67 References ..................................................................................................................................... 69 Appendix A ............................................................................................................................... 73 GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 6 "Knowledge can be best given where there is eagerness to learn, so this is the period when the seed of everything can be sown, the child's mind being like a fertile field, ready to receive what will germinate into culture. But if neglected during this period, or frustrated in its vital needs, the mind of the child becomes artificially dulled, henceforth to resist imparted knowledge. Interest will no longer be there if the seed be sown too late" Maria Montessori, (To Educate the Human Potential, p. 3) * * * "How come you're making us do all the work?" Lucy, Student Participant GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 7 Introduction The ability to connect to others within your community is highly valuable. Socialization is one of the key qualities of a Montessori environment that positively impacts students. As a former Montessori student, I can attest to the importance and impact of Montessori education. Before going to a Montessori school, I was shy, quiet, and slipping by under the radar with undiagnosed dyslexia. By the time that I was in second grade, my parents decided it would be a great change to have me in a Montessori school. As a Montessori student, I began to read for the first time, write, and pursue topics that interested me the most, while still achieving academic success in all areas of the classroom. From there I completed high school, a bachelor's degree in Sustainability, and am now pursuing my graduate degree. Montessori gave me the socialization, individual teaching, and the ability to understand my strengths and weaknesses, without which I would not be where I am today. As a Montessori teacher, I have had the pleasure of guiding and observing many students across the age groups of three-year-olds to twelve-year-olds. When I first started teaching at a Montessori school, I worked as an assistant in the 3-6-year-old program. After achieving my bachelor's degree, I decided to pursue a Montessori Early Childhood certificate for ages of 3-6. Now, I am an assistant in a lower elementary program that teaches ages 6-9. As a Montessori teacher, I truly believe in the Montessori Method of child-centered, hands-on learning. Montessori (1965) writes, "The technique of my method…follows the guidance of the natural physiological and psychological development of the child" (p. 49). Montessori placed her method into three sections that are paralleled throughout the material in the classroom. The three sections are motor education, sensory education, and language. Motor education places emphasis on the development of movement in two sections: fine and regular. An example of a motor education element that is found in the Montessori classroom GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 8 is management of the environment (Montessori, 1965). At the school where this study was conducted, each of the students is required to complete a weekly contribution. Part of the contribution is to dust the shelving unit for dust that may have accumulated on the materials. Another aspect of the contribution was to make sure every material was in the right order as well as making sure it looked aesthetically pleasing. A fine motor skill in the classroom can be found in practical life where the students are learning to tie, sweep, prepare food, and become independent in the environment. Sensory education aims to develop the students' senses through didactic material. At the elementary level, some of the material consists of wood or metal insets that the students can use to trace or measure. A second sensory material is the geometry material. The geometry material includes large blue geometric shapes that the students can explore by using in several lessons of shape, dimension, volume, measuring, and labeling. The third section is the development of language through didactic material. As an extension to the metal and wood insets that are useful in the sensory education, they are also used in the development of language. "The child's hand during the exercise of touching the outlines of the geometrical figures has a concrete guide in the object" (Montessori 1965, p.95). By preparing the child through the hand, the teacher prepares the child for the development of written language. In the classroom there are several examples of materials that take the concrete form of a very abstract concept. In the Primary classroom, students aged 3-6, learn to use sandpaper letters when they are learning how to form the letters of the alphabet. First the student learns the phonemic pronunciation of letters, and then they use the sandpaper letters to understand that the phonemic pronunciation is associated with a symbol or a collection of symbols. The beauty of the sandpaper letters is that the students can learn to associate the phonetic with the symbolic GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 9 while tracing the physical sandpaper shape of the letter. This helps the student use the correct hand motion and to learn the correct shape of each letter. By the time the student is ready to write, the sandpaper letters will have been instrumental, concrete, hands-on work that leads seamlessly to handwriting. There are several other areas of the classroom that use concrete forms such as math. In the math section one of the first lessons that a primary child is introduced to are the number rods. Number rods are red and blue rods that vary in length from one to ten units. The child can physically manipulate the material to understand counting from one to ten. These concrete forms allow for the student to manipulate the materials to create concrete understanding to eventually use for finding the solutions or the answers. By using the hands to learn, the student is learning by doing. It starts at the most concrete level and moves step by step with each individual child to a more abstract understanding of concepts. Statement of Topic I strongly believe that being outside in nature allows for the brain and the body to connect. Sometimes when I have been working inside for many hours, I become restless and cannot stay focused. When I take a step out into nature and allow myself to witness nature and to be part of nature, my brain begins to focus and becomes connected back to my body in the present. I also believe that working for a specific reason gives a person a sense of purpose. The work in life that I have found to be purposeful was to be a teacher. As a Montessori teacher I understand the importance of hands-on and child-centered learning, based on the prepared classroom environment. Montessori (1966) described the prepared environment as, "…an open environment, that is, in one that is suitable to his age, a child's psychic life should develop naturally and reveal its inner secret" (p. 110). The prepared environment is created by the lead teacher and co-teacher to best suit the students. In a well-prepared environment, Montessori (1966) wrote, "Obstacles must be reduced to a minimum and the surroundings should provide GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 10 the necessary means for the exercise of those activities which develop a child's energies" (p. 110). Students within the prepared environment are eager to learn and love to explore new concepts by reading, researching, drawing, working together, and being creative. In general, Montessori classrooms have materials that are placed in sections that relate to the curriculum. The Montessori curriculum is math, language, science, geography, practical life, music, and art. Within these categories of curriculum there are a wide range of materials that are present for the lead teacher and assistant teacher to use. Although Montessori curriculum is academically complete, there is not any specific curriculum that outlines or discusses the value of the outside natural prepared environment for the lower elementary students. Therefore, this research project focused on the influences of a garden space on the social development of students in a Montessori Lower Elementary environment. There were two specific areas of interest that were researched: The influence of gardening on the development of leadership skills, and responsibility. The specific question of this research was: What were the influences of gardening on the social development of students in a Montessori Lower Elementary environment? The sub questions were: 1. What kind of leadership skills do the students develop in conjunction with the gardening? 2. What kind of responsibilities do the students develop and understand when they work with the gardening? By observing, surveying, interviewing, and reading through writing journal reflections from the participants, the researcher hopes to better understand the relationship between gardening and its potential impact on the student's social behavior and skills. Potential Significance This research project was significant because it combined gardening with the Montessori curriculum to determine if there was any change in social skills behavior. Components of the GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 11 gardening program 6-9-year-olds include: Soil preparation, weeding, seeding, watering, planting, cooking, along with active discussions. At the beginning of the research period the participants were involved in weeding the garden beds so that new soil could be added. Once the weeding was accomplished, the students and I added the new soil and seeded several plants. After seeding, the participants and I engaged in several open discussion about the parts of the seed, stem, roots, and leaves. We also discussed the importance of soil nutrients for the health of the plant. One particular lesson was developed to discover the process of fermentation of cabbage with salt. By doing this program, I wanted to understand if there was any significant growth in social behavior by the participants. Although there is research that is based on Montessori elementary aged students, gardening and social skills development, there is little research that connects all three categories. This research project hopes to evaluate and collect data on whether gardening aids students in developing social skills such as leadership and responsibility. Other researchers may benefit from the project by combining Montessori ideas with gardening. Current researchers have studied the effects that gardens have on students' academic progress (Blair, 2009; Campen, 2012; Erdogan, 2011; Johnson 2013; McCarty et al, 2018; White, Ebersteing, & Scott, 2018). Each of these studies delved into separate sections of math, science, language, and writing with positive outcomes. However, there has not been a study on the impact of the development of social skills from incorporating gardening activities in a Montessori elementary environment. By implementing a garden program in a Montessori based elementary environment, I hope to fill the gap in literature relating to the development of social skills such as leadership and responsibility in relation to incorporating the garden. At the school, the project included a hands-on curriculum that allows for the students to explore the garden through math, science, art, language, and most GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 12 importantly personal exploration. Each month, the teaching staff conducted lessons that pertain to gardening, such as the parts of the root, parts of the leaf, properties of decomposition, effective gardening skills (how to use tools), and composing literature based on the garden. By doing these activities, the students became familiar with the garden in several academic and personal ways. As part of collecting data, I took note of their social skills. In a Montessori school, the follow up work that the student chooses to do is dependent on what the individual student was interested in showcasing. In this way, the students display leadership as well as responsibility through how and with whom they work. Theoretical Framework: Constructivism and Montessori The theoretical framework for this study is constructivism, a contemporary concept of cumulative learning by doing. Constructivism as a theory of knowledge that has two parts: social and psychological. Social constructivism, states McPhail (2016), "…is concerned with the nature of human knowledge: how bodies of knowledge come to be built up over time and how they come to be influential in the world" (p. 297). In a society, knowledge is built through a multitude of different experiences from a variety of different people. Social constructivism parallels the Montessori Method. The methodology, philosophy, and materials are all made and refined from experiences by Maria Montessori. She was the first person to implement specialized materials to guide children in hands-on learning. Montessori named hands-on education as "auto-education", which translates to education through the hands. Maria Montessori was not the first to theorize about hands-on education. She took that body of knowledge and used it to help solidify her method of teaching. The first part of constructivism is when bodies of knowledge combine to create what is now accepted. Montessori is not a fixed method of education. Each teacher trainer has their own set of experiences that dictate what and how they teach new teachers. Therefore, there have been many generations of Montessori GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 13 teachers, and they each have had their own take on the philosophy that they teach to the teachers in training. Thus, the Montessori Method and philosophy is influenced, and small changes are added over time. When Maria Montessori was alive, there was little research about learning differences and how they relate to neurological or psychological phenomenon and her materials mostly catered to students of average normalcy. Now, there has been plenty of research that indicates that a lot of learning differences are a neurological or psychological change in nature, and many new materials and classes have been added. When I received my Montessori Primary Credential, one of the required classes was a three-day seminar on learning differences. This highlighted what to look for, how to adapt the classroom, and how to collect observations that help with a parent conferences about possibly getting an assessment. Constructivism, as stated above, is a collective body of knowledge that, over time, has several influences that may change small parts of it. The second form of constructivism is psychological constructivism. Psychological constructivism is centered on how individuals learn through their experiences and how they utilize that knowledge. McPhail defines Psychological constructivism as when, "Learners actively construct their own meanings and understandings as they make connections between new and old experiences and information" (McPhail, 2016, p. 298). In the Montessori prepared environment, psychological constructivism also parallels the individual experiences of the students. Montessori philosophy is based on child-centered, hands-on learning that promotes independence by allowing students to be active members of their education. Montessori educators identify active education as when students are proactive in their work. As an example, a student can have a lesson on angles and has follow up work to turn in. Most students generally decide to create a poster. In order to create a poster, the students have to understand the importance of the angles as well as how they are constructed. They are actively GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 14 engaging in their education. Other students become more creative: One might create a play about angles in which other members of the same lesson are actors in the play of angles. The students who created the play are more actively engaged in the learning because they used their individual skills and applied them to a particular lesson. In accordance with this qualitative research project, constructivism was utilized as the theoretical framework because of its close link to the Montessori Method of child education. The garden that the research was based had not yet been fully explored by the students as a place to work, learn, and create new experiences. By giving more directed lessons, such as types of soil, parts of the root, parts of the plant, and chemical properties of soil, it was expected that the expansion of the students' knowledge and overall social experiences could be evaluated. Limitations This study, although interesting and important in understanding social behavior of students, did have limitations. The research question states: What are the influences of the garden experience on the social development-leadership and responsibility-of students in an Elementary I Montessori environment? Therefore, the research only collected data on those two social skills. Other skills such as effective communication, mathematics, linguistics, and art skills were not analyzed or recorded. A second limitation was the size of the school that the research was based on. The school is a small, private Montessori school, so that only a limited number of students were available to the study. All of the research that was conducted focused on six students in a single classroom. Thus, the information that is gleaned from this particular research project may not to be extrapolated for use in other situations. Lastly, a possible limitation is the fact that the instruction and use of the garden followed the Montessori Method. Schools in the public or private domain that do not use the Montessori GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 15 Method as a form of instruction, may have different results due to variances in instruction and facilities. Statement of Researcher Red. The leaves of the poison oak plant have turned a fantastic bright red. There have been many times in my adventures where poison oak and I have not been such good friends. I am allergic to it and the reaction is a nasty rash that spreads across your body the more you itch it. And man, does it itch!! Blue. The sky is an amazing place that holds the fascination of many youth including myself. I would lie on the hillside next to the oak and cherry tree looking up to watch the clouds or the birds and insects on long summer days. Green. Hughes of dark and light green can be seen on many of the trees such as oak, eucalyptus, redwood, pine, and bay. When I was a young kid my mother taught me how to make a whistle out of a Eucalyptus seed. I would pick them up, examine it by carefully rotating it in my hands. Then I would place my lips on the larger hole and blow through to hear the different sounds it could make. I grew up on a single lane, dead end road nestled into the Santa Cruz mountains. When I was three years old, my parents bought ten acres of property from my grandmother, who had originally bought the property in the 1960s. On the property there are two houses and a barn. One of the houses is where I grew up with my mother, father, and two younger brothers. The other house is occupied by my grandmother. And the barn is where we kept the horses, chickens, goats, sheep, cows, and pigeons. From as far back as I can remember, I was running around outside playing with sticks, rocks, dirt, water, and my two younger brothers. The only time we spent inside was when we were made to eat lunch and dinner. Otherwise, we were constantly outside in nature. As I got older and started school, I never stopped being outside. I found a way to be active in sports such as volleyball, soccer and ultimate Frisbee. I was also an active member of the local 4H community. I raised goats to make products such as mozzarella, chevre, GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 16 paneer, yogurt and soap. I also raised show chickens and pigs for market. Along with being heavily involved with the animal part of 4H I was also an acting treasurer, vice president, president, tri county leader, and teen leader. Each of these positions required skills of public speaking, planning, leadership, teamwork, and responsibility. By the time that I was in first grade, it was clear to my parents that I had a learning difficulty that needed to be addressed. The public-school system was not willing to address my needs. I was tested, and we found that I have dyslexia. Once my parents understood the severity of my learning difficulty the decided to place me at a Montessori school. From the ages of 8-1,2 I was integrated into the Montessori elementary I and II classrooms where I worked with the learning specialists as well as the classroom teachers. It was during these years that I felt the most confident with myself in regard to academics and social skills. When I was twelve, my mother decided it would be a good idea to look into the local 4H club. The first year was not so much fun, but the more I participated in activities such as knitting, bread making, and biking, the more I became a part of the club. By the last few years in 4H I was the active club youth president, running projects such as making goat cheese, horsemanship 101, and how to raise pigs. My two biggest takeaways from 4H are being able to comfortably speak in public and understanding what is necessary in planning. These two qualities serve me today to be the person that I am. When it became time to look into colleges, and what to study, I decided that it would be in my best interest to pursue a degree in sustainability. I went to Green Mountain College in Vermont and graduated with a major in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems, and a minor in Environmental Education. My passion for sustainability and my love of Montessori education brought me to complete my certificate in Montessori Primary education as well as to pursue my master's in education. GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 17 This research project connects my passion of agriculture and Montessori teaching because it is focusing on understanding if there is an impact on social development with the use of the garden. For a qualitative research project, I looked at a natural phenomenon within the selected group of study. I have viewed the world in the lens of two overlapping paradigms, Constructivist and Montessori. Each of these paradigms takes a deeper look at the natural flow of the selected group of study. Ertmer and Newby (2013) state, "Constructivists do not deny the existence of the real world but contend that what we know of the world stems from our own interpretations of our experiences" (p. 55). Therefore, people create meaning from experiences in which they are directly involved, rather than acquiring meaning from somewhere else (Ertmer and Newby, 2013). Through my life experiences, I have come to understand that teaching as a Montessori teacher is my passion, along with agriculture. The second lens through which I view the world is as a Montessorian. Maria Montessori understood the importance of independence, experience, and hands-on learning as essential tools for the developing mind of the child. Montessori (1966) writes, "In order to develop his mind a child must have objects in his environment which he can hear and see. Since he must develop through his movements, through the work of his hands, he has need of objects with which he can work that provide motivation for his activity" (p. 82). As a Montessori teacher I believe that these tools and experiences are what shape the learning of the students in a Montessori prepared environment. Both of these paradigms are what I use to view the world and to understand my experiences along with my ultimate place and purpose. As a constructivist, I create my own reality through the experiences that I have lived through to help me understand and prepare for the future. As a current Montessori teacher and qualitative researcher, I believe that my GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS experiences and independence are vital in collecting data and analyzing data pertaining to gardening and its impact on social development. 18 GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 19 Literature Review This research project explored the social behavioral growth of students participating in a Montessori school gardening program. This chapter reviews literature relating to the social skills of leadership and responsibility, within the garden using a Montessori approach. In the review of the literature subjects of leadership and responsibility, there was discussion of the impact of gardening on academic performance but not social skills, and in particular, not in the Montessori environment. Montessori: A General Review Montessori education espouses the use of hands-on materials for students to manipulate as they learn independence, a positive sense of self, and academic learning. Montessori created the "planes of development" that outline the development for ages of 0-18. Montessori (2012) stated in her lecture: The period from birth to eighteen years of age is usually divided, by modern psychologists, into three periods-three very definite periods-that can be distinguished clearly from one another. These periods are equal in length. The first goes from birth to six, the second spans the years from six to twelve, and the third is from twelve to eighteen years…Each of these six-year periods can also be divided into equal periods of three years each. (p. 23) The planes of the development outline the cognitive, physical, and emotional development that each child passes through during their life (Blount, 2007; Drake, 2008). Montessori (1966) defines "A sensitive period" as referring "…to a special sensibility which a creature acquires in its infantile state, while it is still in a process of evolution" (p. 38). Within each of the planes of development, students are also experiencing life through sensitivities. "We GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 20 can call the age of six to twelve," Montessori (2012) says as, "the ‘age of instruction' or the ‘age of study'" (p. 27) The Montessori prepared environment allows for students to obtain independence and a sense of self by hands-on use of the materials available (Blount, 2007; Powell, 2001). According to Powell (2001), independence fosters the ability of students to embody their values and responsibilities. The various classrooms that make up a Montessori school are called communities. As noted in the literature, it is in these communities that students understand the importance of being a leader and being responsible (Drake, 2008; Johnson, 2013; Powell, 2001). Each classroom community is composed of multi-age and multidisciplinary settings that allow for students to work on their social skills as well as their academic skills (Drake, 2008; Johnson, 2013). Due to the fact that there is a sense of community, and the use of hands-on concrete materials, students have flourished in many areas of academics (Drake, 2008; Johnson, 2013). The lesson of the "Seasons Chart" allows the students of different ages to explore the seasons and how light from the sun and the inclination of the earth's axis create the seasons. Once the lesson has been demonstrated to the students, the teacher asks the students to make groups among themselves to create their own Seasons Chart. The students pair up with other students of different ages and disciplines to complete the work presented. Leadership Skills: General Definition What does it mean to be a leader or to have leadership skills? This study utilized Monson's definition of leadership. Monson (2006) states, "Leadership requires the courage to ask difficult questions, struggle with complex problems, and pursue challenging solutions" (p. 37). First, let's take a closer at the phrase that states "…the courage to ask difficult questions" (Monson, 2006, p. 37). In the literal sense of the word, courage is the act of confronting a fear or hardship. However, in this case, I will use independence to represent courage. "While he is GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 21 developing, he perfects himself and overcomes every obstacle that he finds in his path" (Montessori, 2007, p. 75). Montessori students are taught from a young age to become independent through many of the hands-on and individual-centered materials that are available in the classroom. These qualities and skills are what I looked for as an outcome of the research project. Secondly, I focused on the section, "…struggle with complex problems" (Monson, 2006, p. 37). In this instance, struggle, as stated in this definition, relates to exploration through natural inquiry into complex problems. Students constantly ask questions using their inquisitive and absorbent minds to understand the complex world around them. The student's natural curiosity about complex problems are seeds, and by conducting research, the seeds begin to develop an interwoven root system that establishes the potential hypothesis. Once the root structure is in place, the plant begins to shoot up through the stem gathering more complex solutions and ideas from multifaceted levels of research and data collection. The outcome of a complex problem that arose from natural inquisitiveness blossoms into beautiful flowers of knowledge. By being scientific and inquisitive, the students are taking their struggles with complex problems and fine tuning them to understand new pieces of information. A great example of this was when a student in the classroom asked, "How does light refract and make the visible rainbow?" The student had a natural curiosity about a complex problem. I was near the student and did not immediately recall the answer. The student was encouraged to do research to understand more about the scientific properties of light and how it travels. After a trip to the library, the student found information linking William Herschel to the application of the spectrum (rainbow). Herschel, through observation and experimentation, found that the prism's dividing of the light into the color spectrum or rainbow could be applied to astronomy with a telescope (Holden, 1881). GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 22 The student, through his own observation and experimentation, found that when light passed through a prism there was refraction of light into a rainbow-like pattern where every visible color could be seen clearly. The student started with a question about a complex problem (which was the seed), obtained books about reflection and refraction (roots), found the person who discovered that the prism refracts all wavelengths of light (stem), and now has a greater understanding and a wealth of information (blossom). Finally, Monson (2006), writes, "…pursue challenging solutions" (p. 37). In this instance I was interested in the formation of solutions that the students find. A solution can include understanding many viewpoints, demonstrating initiative, and including others. These three qualities are what make a leader. The role of leadership in a Montessori classroom will be further discussed in the next section of this review. Montessori Leadership Skills The Montessori prepared environment is geared toward independence, inquisitiveness, and inclusion. Maria Montessori believed that the adult in the prepared environment is there as a guide for the children. "And so," Montessori (1949) writes, "we discovered that education is not something which the teacher does, but that it is a natural process which develops spontaneously in the human being. It is not acquired by listening to words, but in virtue of experiences in which the child acts on his environment" (p.7). In the Montessori, guides are not the focal point of the classroom. This is a stark contrast to the teachers of traditional classrooms where the teachers are the focal point of the classroom. Many traditional classrooms utilize teacher-centered methods that include "…lectures, guided discussions, demonstrations" (Garrett, 2008, p. 36). Also, it is researcher that teacher-centered classrooms were, "…compliance is valued over initiative and passive learners over active learners"(Garrett, 2008, p. 36). Rather, Montessori teachers are a guide and a role model that present lessons to students are academically ready. This type of GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 23 assessment is done by each individual guide (teacher) and is unique in each classroom. As such, the teachers must portray the characteristics they want to see in their students (Loveless, 2012). By demonstrating leadership skills as an adult role model, students are more likely to adapt and conduct themselves accordingly. "Montessori fosters what great leadership demands: thinkers who are diligent and inventive, collaborative and independent" (Sutton, 2007, p. 35 [M: The Magazine for Montessori Families, 2006, p. 6]). Dr. Montessori utilized this type of relationship extensively by including multiple aged students into each prepared environment (Monson, 2006, p. 38). The teacher in the classroom is one of the most constant role model's students have access to, and therefore they glean meaningful information from the teachers through interactions and lessons. As noted previously, the teacher is not the focal point of the classroom, rather, the students are the center of the direction of their education. This begs the question: how do the students show leadership in the classroom? The first part of leadership, as defined by Monson (2006), is the act of courage. In the Montessori classroom, courage is displayed as independence, self-awareness, and selfconfidence. In the classroom students can independently choose work that has already been presented to them. By choosing work on their own, students are actively being independent in the prepared environment. Montessori (1949) states: This is normal development: an ever growing and more powerful activity shown along the path that leads to independence. The conquest of independence begins from the first commencement of life. As the being develops, it perfects itself and overcomes every obstacle that it finds on its way. (p. 62) But can that really be enough to be a leader? The answer is no. Leadership is multifaceted and independence is just one component of leadership. GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 24 As part of the Montessori Method, independence is one of the central objectives. The courage to be independent creates self-confidence. In the Montessori classroom, self-confidence is observed as self-completed work. Montessori (1949) writes, "When the child has acquired independence, it is by exercising this independence that he will develop" (P. 66). The students use the materials available to them from the prepared environment to increase their independence. Through the continuous use of the materials, and the exercise of independence and freedom, a sense of self-confidence is achieved. Here is an example, that I witnessed, of the growth of self-confidence in the Montessori classroom. The teacher presented to the students how to measure angles using a protractor. Using a ruler and a pencil, the teacher drew two lines connecting at a point. She then demonstrated how to use the protractor to measure the angle. To show their learning, the students made an original work demonstrating their knowledge of measuring angles. For this, the students had to use the ruler and protractor. Most of the students completed their follow-up work on blank pieces of paper with several different angles and their measurements. However, other students decided to create a book about angles, and a poster that was cut in the shape of an angle, which they measured out at 35 degrees. These types of individual follow-up work showcase their selfconfidence in using the materials. Another aspect of Monson's (2006) definition of leadership is understanding complex problems. Montessori students in this plane of development, ages 6-9, are introduced to their cosmic task through Cosmic Education. As mentioned in the introduction to this chapter, this second plane of development is when students are fully enveloped in social development. Cosmic education starts with looking at the universe, then progressively separating the universe into scientific and historical understandings and discussions. Students learn about the creation of GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 25 life, gravity, light, the history of numbers, people, animals, and the potential purpose of life. Montessori (2007) truly believes in educating the whole child: This is education, understood as a help to life; an education from birth, that feeds a peaceful revolution and unites all in a common aim, attracting them as to a single centre. Mothers, fathers, politicians: all must combine in their respect and help for this delicate work of formation, which the little child carries on in the depth of a profound psychological mystery, under the tutelage of an inner guide. This is the bright knew hope for mankind. (p. 13) Cosmic education caters to social development by posing questions that the students can research themselves to understand better. For example, in this classroom, there is one question in particular: how did this come to be, the creation of life? This is first presented to the students in short stories of creation from a Native American tribe, an African Tribe, the Mayan civilization, and the Bible. In doing so, this shows that for centuries upon centuries people have created religious stories about the creation of the earth. The next presentation step showcases scientists who have undertaken research to understand the creation of the earth in scientific terms. Are we-as a collective society of human beings-any closer to finding the answer? There seem to be no absolute right or wrong answers! Lillard (1972) expertly demonstrates in her book Montessori a Modern Approach, "It should be kept in mind, however, that Montessori wanted her method to be considered an open-minded one, and not a fixed system" (p. 50). This means that the lead teacher at MS teaches this particular lesson in this specific way, however, others may have different stories or different ways of teaching the same concept. Montessorians teach the creation of life through these viewpoints to show the students that there are theories that support the creation of life on earth in different ways. These are the GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 26 types of difficult questions that the students are beginning to think about. Through experiments, using materials, and asking their own questions, they begin to understand the complexities of life around them: What is the purpose of water? What are the purposes of a plant? What is the purpose of the atmosphere? What is the purpose of nutrition? All these questions are highly complex questions that the students research and become familiar with to help them navigate through their cosmic task, their larger purpose in life. Demonstrations give the students a platform they can use to experience the complex world around them. By posing questions and conducting their own research, the students are utilizing leadership skills such as inquisitive nature, problem-solving, and teamwork. Gardening and Leadership Skills Sticking with the definition of leadership by Monson we now discuss the literature relating to gardening and gardening programs for youth. Montessori (1949) states, "If we study nature, the fascinating part is to see the revelation of intelligence that there is even in the lowest of the low, as we consider them" (p. 26). By understanding the process of various aspects of life through scientific observation, humans have been able to create and prosper. For instance, scientists have been able to construct solar panels that collect energy from the sun's rays of light. This invention parallels the plants process of photosynthesis where the plant collects energy from the sun. We have studied the stars and the planets and have discovered that the earth revolves around the sun based on the observation of the planets traveling pattern (Galilei, 1953). We have studied chimpanzees (Jane Goodall Institute), rats, bees, insects, fish, birds, water, DNA, atoms and the nucleus. By observing nature, we, as a human society, have created a vast amount of knowledge about the world that we live in today. Montessori points out that through this observation of nature, human beings become more intelligent. GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 27 In the garden, most of the pleasure is in uninterrupted observation of nature. "It is also important to remember that the child's actions are not due to random choice, but directed by his inner needs for development" (Lillard, 1972, p. 35). Children watch the ants work in teams to chew off small pieces of plants and transport them into their ant home. They observe the bees flying to flowers and using their hind legs to gather the honey that they store on their belly before moving on to pollinate the next plant. Lillard (1972) explains that, "The teacher watches for the quality of concentration in the child and for a spontaneous repetition of his actions" (p. 60). The children watch over the course of days, weeks, and even months as a tomato seed transforms and grows into a tomato plant ripe with red tomatoes. They even observe the growth of a carrot from a seed to steams of green tops seen about the ground. There amazement is plain when it is harvesting time and they dig out the carrots to see the beautiful root that was buried for so long. These observations are what make the garden a valuable place and a place of learning. Literature relating to gardening and leadership skills development is sparse. However, there are some correlations between the two that are beneficial to the students. "Learning," exclaims Powell (2001), "is the process of making meaning: the more personally useful information is, the more meaningful it will be" (p. 32). Gardening programs that see positive social skills development link the growth to attaching meaning to the instructions. Programs, such as 4H, use the hands-on approach to teach many of their agricultural projects to engage the students. They also, however, attach real world meaningful outcomes such as selling the product at the fair or getting it judged at the fair. Other programs that have been implemented by schools show in increase in academic standings and involvement in students when they have been participants in the gardening program (Blair, 2009). In a study conducted by Pierce (2012), it was discovered that 91% of the students that participated in the gardening program Roots and Wings "Perceive themselves as having an increased possession of leadership skills" (p. ii). In GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 28 addition, on a survey, 95% of the students responded that they "work better with others on a team" (Pierce, 2012, p. 28) and 83% positively responded to "I am more of a leader" (Pierce, 2012, p. 28). This research project shows that by being involved in a gardening program, a large percentage of the students increased leadership skills. Responsibility: General View At the beginning of this research project, it seemed that leadership and responsibility were two very separate concepts. In preliminary research on the idea of leadership, many articles immediately became useful and have been discussed. However, the same was not true for responsibility. Responsibility, it seems, has had several philosophical debates and discussions regarding what it means to be responsible. Here is a brief account of what I encountered. The first definition found was through a good old Google search, which essentially stated that responsibility was related to achieving a positive reward for a good job or receiving consequences for a bad job ("Responsibility"). In the Montessori Method, there is specific instruction not to give rewards for doing what is wanted or what is right. "Prizes and punishments," Montessori (1949) confirms, "come from outside, so when they are given the spontaneity of spirit disappears; and as this is a method of spontaneity, it makes no sense to give prizes or punishments" (p. 182). Also, more recently, Montessorians use positive discipline rules stating consequences are not beneficial in educating children. "It," Nelson, Erwin, & Duffy (2007) relate,"…has nothing to do with punishment (which many people think is synonymous with discipline) and everything to do with teaching valuable social and life skills1"(p. 6). Rather than punishment, "Experience and exercise alone correct errors, and the acquisition of faculties demands long exercise" (Montessori, 1949, p. 183). GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 29 So now I am at an interesting conundrum: use an already existing definition, or create my own definition for the purpose of this study? I chose the latter. The definition used in this study refers to responsibility as the act of caring or being concerned for ones-self and others in society. Montessori and Individual Responsibility The great lessons that are presented in the Montessori elementary curriculum are designed to exemplify the importance of single systems working together. "For the elementary child, Montessori created Cosmic Education as a way to teach peace through the understanding of human needs, the interdependence of life and the earth, the interrelatedness of all subjects, the unity of humanity, and the gratitude to all of the past peoples who have created the basis for our culture" (Cunningham, 2017, 21-22). The central idea of Montessori's Cosmic Education is that the world is larger than just the self. As an example of Cosmic Education, one of the great lessons is the "Fundamental Needs Chart." At the top of the chart, there is a single person. Below the person are lines that connect to shelter, food, and clothing. These are the basic fundamental needs of a human being. In each of the categories (food, shelter, clothing) there are multiple branches that indicated where each comes from. For the food, there are pictures of wheat, cows, and beans. Branching out from the shelter there are pictures of stone, trees, mud and hay. Lastly, for clothing, there are pictures of cotton plants, and fibrous material. The "Fundamental Needs Chart" demonstrates that for each category or part of life, there are specific places that it comes from. As a follow-up work, the students are encouraged to create a personal Fundamental Needs Chart. In a broader sense, this relates to the students in their life and their needs as an individual, in the community, and, furthermore, in society. Each individual part or person on the chart has a responsibility to care for themselves as well as the others because if they don't, then the interconnectedness falls apart and the system won't work. GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 30 The five Cosmic Education lessons that are specific to the elementary program are essential in giving students the tools to understanding the world around them in an individual and social context. For example, the coming of life story exemplifies the time of life on earth, specifically showcasing that the earth and its life were present before the creation of human beings. This lends to the Cosmic Education the vision that the world is larger than just the self; it is the representation of the collective evolution and transformation of the cosmos. (Henke, 2017, p. 33-34). The children begin to understand that they have responsibilities as human beings because they are active members of the interconnected cosmos, beginning with their closest connections. Outside of the cosmic lessons, the students also performed weekly or monthly "contributions," simple assigned tasks that demonstrate responsibility. Many Montessori elementary schools utilize a portion of their day for contributions that are related to practical life work. These can include stacking the chairs, watering the plants, washing the dishes, sweeping/vacuuming the floor, dusting and tiding the shelves. All of the contributions are designed to give the students a greater sense of self and a connection to their surroundings through responsibility. When students are more connected to the place where they learn, they were more attentive to care for that particular space as if it were their own. Among elementary Montessori students, this sense of responsibility is key to social development. Gardening and Responsibility An element of my hypothesis is that gardening can foster responsibility. In a study, Blair (2009) reviews and condenses the results of several outdoor gardening programs. One of the results Blair (2009) was looking for was academic responsibility in a traditional setting. Blair (2009) found that "Gardening increases student excitement about learning, pride, hope, fun, GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 31 ability to work cooperatively, and taking responsibility" (Blair, p. 28). This was a compilation of several studies that all indicate that the students that participated in some way or another displayed a sense of responsibility. "Activities are designed to support students social emotional growth by giving them responsibilities in the [garden] and fostering a team based approach to learning" (Fifolt, Morgan and Burgess, 2018, p. 192). Fifolt et al (2018) explains that when the students are involved in the activities that pertain to the garden, they begin to have a connection to the garden, and once they have the connection to the garden they begin to take responsibility for the garden. But these studies do not refer to a Montessori environment. Maria Montessori herself wrote curriculum for an outdoor education program called Erdkinder, which directly translates from German to "earth children" (Clark, 2011, p. 1). This shows the direction of her thinking. However, the Erdkinder curriculum is only taught to the third plane of development students, because it focuses more on entrepreneurship, global environmental solutions, and bringing a sense of ownership of the earth we live on (Clark, 2011, p.1) . This type of awareness is not yet present in the students of the second plane of development who are more concerned about social skills development, as well as the sense of justice and injustice (right and wrong). Therefore, the Erdkinder curriculum does not apply to this particular study. Although there is no Montessori gardening curriculum for the Lower Elementary students there are a few resources that have looked at the parallels between responsibility and gardening. The "National Environmental and Training Foundation (2001) states that environment-based education improves motivation, skills for lifelong learning, career preparation, and attitudes of respect and responsibility" (Barnett &Weber, 2008, p.16). In this study about youth gardening programs in California, the researchers found an outcome they were not looking for: Responsibility and respect. By being a member of the gardening program and having a specific GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 32 job or duty, the students felt a greater sense of respect for the garden as well as a sense of responsibility (Barnett & Weber, 2008, p. 19). Summary To review, the hypothesis of this project was that gardening in a Montessori environment favorably impacts the participants' social behavioral skills, particularly leadership and responsibility. Maria Montessori created the Montessori Method from continual observation of children. Over time, she observed that students learned more when they were involved in their work and using their hands. She also came to understand that when a child was presented a concrete form of an abstract concept, the child, by continually using the materials, began to understand the basic concept. Montessori would then give the child the next step of the concept in a more abstract form until eventually the child was using that form. As part of her Method, Montessori defined the planes of development that outline the cognitive, physical and emotional importance of the child through the stages of their life until adulthood. During the second plane of development, ages 6-12, the children fine-tune their social awareness and social skills (Montessori, 2012, p. 24). The Montessori Method fosters the students' sense of independence, which allows them to display social development through leadership and responsibility. This research project sought to know if these qualities of leadership and responsibility were increased or positively affected by utilizing the garden for educational purposes. Leadership, for the purpose of this research, has been defined using Monson's (2006) definition, "Leadership requires the courage to ask difficult questions, struggle with complex problems, and pursue challenging solutions" (p. 37). In the Montessori classroom students showcase leadership through creating their daily plans, independently choosing work, and GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 33 making creative follow-up work. In the literature relating to gardening programs, Pierce (2015) found that after completing the gardening program, 91% of the students had related that they felt an increase in leadership capabilities. For this project, responsibility is defined as the act of caring or being concerned for ones-self and others in society. In the Montessori prepared environment, responsibility comes in the form of caring for the school by doing contributions, but also by caring about others in the community. Through the great lessons of the Cosmic Education curriculum, the students begin to ponder complex questions and are given the tools to understand the interconnection the world around them. Literature relating to responsibility and gardening reveals, "gardening increases student excitement about learning, pride, hope, fun, ability to work cooperatively, and taking responsibility" (Blair, 2009, p. 28). Blair (2009) tells us that students who participated in the nature-based education programs learned more when they were actively participating in the work. This made them more connected, so they began to feel a sense of responsibility. Montessori (1949) explains that, "A leader should feel a great responsibility for the orders he issues. A leader, therefore, is not somebody with a sense of great authority, but somebody with a sense of great responsibility" (p. 197). This passage shows the Montessori view of the interconnectedness of leadership and responsibility with the focal point of the two being independence. Through the Montessori Method students gain independence, which allows them to become responsible human beings that harbor the qualities of leadership. The literature identified potential benefits from gardening, and this project sought to evaluate the specific benefits to social skills in a Montessori environment. GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 34 Methodology This qualitative research project focused on the influences of the gardening on the social development of students in a Montessori Lower Elementary environment. There are two specific areas of interest that were researched: The influence of the garden on the development of leadership skills and responsibility. To target specific learning developments related to social behavior, this chapter outlines the methodology, settings, participants, data collection plan, data analysis, and the ethical considerations of this qualitative research study. Methodological Approach and Rationale Qualitative research is a method used in collecting information and data. Rossman and Rallis (2017) state that "Qualitative research begins with questions; its ultimate purpose is learning" (p. 3). Along with creating questions and learning through the data that is collected, qualitative research uses strategies that allow for observation of the natural world through multiple methods of understanding. Some of the methods used in qualitative action research projects are journaling, interviewing, surveying and observing. Thus, research that is qualitative in origin can create a holistic framework of the phenomenon that the study is based on. Qualitative research uses interpretation and inductive reasoning to gathering data, and/or interpreting data (Rossman & Rallis, 2017). Lastly, qualitative research is systematic in planning, researching, and gathering data to understand a phenomenon. Within the framework of qualitative research, this study adopted the principles of action research. The goal of action research is to establish an understand of a particular issue or interest within the community, and to document and gather data about that issue to further understand how to address the issue with a possible solution (Sagor & Williams, 2017, p. 7). This project seeks to understand, through documentation, the influences of engaging students with a garden GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 35 space. Further, the study focused on the influence upon leadership skills and sense of responsibility displayed by the participants. Setting This study was conducted at a private, non-profit Montessori school in the Bay Area of California. This document refers to the setting as Montessori School (MS). The MS mission statement is as follows, "As a Montessori learning community, we inspire life-long learning and a peaceful world by nurturing the natural development of the whole child" ("Santa Cruz Montessori School," n.d.). The environment is prepared by the teachers to help all of the students awaken their sense of wonder and willingness to learn. Based on Maria Montessori's philosophy of auto-education, many of the materials in the classroom are hands-on materials. Hands-on materials give the students the ability to manipulate the materials to gain an understanding starting from concrete and moving to abstract information. Each building is arranged with plenty of windows for natural light and open doors for students to utilize both the inside environment as well as the outside environment. The curriculum that is used in each classroom is relevant to the physical, emotional, and cognitive growth for the appropriate age range. It is the teacher's job in each classroom to create the prepared environment that would best suit the students that utilize the space. Therefore, even though most of the classrooms are the same, not all the lessons or materials are identical from classroom to classroom. This is common for Montessori classrooms due to the fact that Montessori philosophy is focused on the development of each individual student. MS has two campuses. The first campus is the main campus and has four primary classrooms (3-6 year-olds), three lower elementary classrooms (6-9 year-olds), and two upper elementary classrooms (9-12 year-olds). The second campus is where the young learners GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 36 community (18 months to 3 year-olds) is located, and also includes the adolescent community (12-15 year-olds). This qualitative research study was conducted at Montessori School in one of the Lower Elementary classroom located on the main campus. The other two classrooms are Lower Elementary and Upper Elementary. All three of these classrooms share the bathroom, hallway, and the playground. Other than that, they are separate entities with different teachers, coteachers, and students. The Lower Elementary classroom is the shape of a rectangle that has several large windows on two walls, two doors that lead outside, a hallway with bathrooms, a kitchen area for food preparation. There are language, math, science and reference shelves, a library, and a computer lab (for typing). The students that are in this classroom have access to the materials that they have been presented by the head teacher or the assistant teacher and what they have learned in the previous years (if it applies). Along with the classroom itself, the students also utilize the outdoor environment. The outdoor environment consists of two large grass fields, two large climbing structures (one in sand, the other in woodchips), two basketball courts, and an area used for foursquare. It is essential to understand that the students have access to both the indoor environment as well as the outdoor environment daily throughout the school year. Participants The participants for this study were selected from the Lower Elementary Classroom for students aged 6-9 years. For the 2018-2019 school year the class was expected to have 18 students in total, of whom six were chosen for this study. The six participants were selected through three key factors: 1) age, 2) average percentage of academic progress, and 3) average percentage for social abilities. To determine the status of these three key factors I consulted the teacher, the Director of the MS, as well as access to the students' Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) information (Good GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 37 III & Kaminski, Acadience Reading). DIBELS Acadience Reading, as well as DIBELS Math, is completed for each student in the classroom three times a year. The first assessment is completed three weeks into the school year, the second assessment is completed a week before the winter break, and the third and final assessment is completed approximately four weeks before the end of the academic school year. The Acadience Reading assessment is "a universal screening and progress monitoring assessments that measures the acquisition of early literacy skills from kindergarten through sixth grade" (Good III & Kaminski, Acadience Reading). The assessment's use of six measurements such as phonemic awareness, comprehension, as well as fluency, makes the assessment very valuable to the teaching staff. DIBELS Math is "comprised of measures of early numeracy, computation, and problem solving that function as indicators of the essential skills that every child must master in order to become proficient in mathematics" (Good III & Kaminski, Acadience Math). The DIBELS assessments were instrumental in determining which students were the best fit for the key factors of the qualitative study. Since Montessori Lower Elementary classrooms are learning space for 6-9 year old students, the study picked two students from each age group present (6, 7, 8), based on the key selection factors mentioned above. This was done to evaluate the effect of age on social development and behavior when the students had access to the garden. The students selected for the study had a simple review of what the study was for, and their parents and/or guardians were also consulted previous to data collection. Each participant understood the risks involved, as well as the main purpose of the study. For the purpose of this research project, all of the identities of the participants were replaced with pseudonyms to keep accurate track of collected data. GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 38 John is a vibrant, creative, and inquisitive student. He has been a Montessori student since the Young Learners Community at 18 months old. Now he is part of the Lower Elementary classroom as a first-year student in the Lower Elementary Program at MS. He has a strong passion for drawing, story writing, and sports. He is often seen in the classroom drawing and creatively lettering his follow-up work that is to be turned in. During a presentation or lesson, he is very focused and interested. His focus and interest carries over to the work period. In the beginning of the morning, John gets his planner and a pencil and writes down a daily plan. His daily plans consisted of previous lessons, writing journal, math, and reading. Most of the time, however, he wrote his plan, that was how he completed his work. Although he did more drawing and creative interpretation of the lessons, he had stellar focus and interest in the tasks that he was asked to complete. Lucy is a strong gymnast, hard worker, and loves to explore different musical instruments. Lucy has been going to MS since she was in the Young Learners Community at 18 months. Now she is a part of the Lower Elementary Classroom as a first-year in the Elementary Program at MS. In the classroom, Lucy completes her work in a fast, yet efficient manner. During the three-hour work period, she always completed her morning tasks and had ample amount of time to do works of her own choice that were available to her in the classroom. During recess, or during her five-minute body break which allows students to go outside and take a break from work, she was doing cartwheels, back handsprings, or practicing her upcoming routine for a competition. Bethany presented as a self-motivated, positive thinker, highly concerned about trash and pollution. Bethany started at MS at the primary level at the age of three. At the time of the study, she was in her second-year in the Lower Elementary Program at MS. One of the first activities that Bethany started with a few of her friends at the beginning of the school year was a club. The GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 39 club included several students from all elementary classrooms. The club's main goal and mission has been to make MS a trash-free environment. The first goal of the club was to clean trash from the schoolyard daily. The second goal has been to reuse the recycling and trash waste generated by the classrooms. At the time of the study, the students in the club picked up trash every school day. Bethany and her several club members started to save cut recycled paper to make new paper. Bethany is also academically driven and completed projects for follow-up that were far beyond what was asked of her. Peter is funny, great at making daily plans, and loves to engage in imaginative play during recess. Peter joined MS at the Lower Elementary Program last year and he previously went to a local public school for Kindergarten. This year he is a second-year student in the Lower Elementary classroom. Although Peter completes the majority of the follow-up work that is asked of him, he is not a self-starter and needs a number of reminders to complete tasks. However, the work that is completed is thoughtful and well laid out. It has been a challenge to find what makes Peter excited to learn which has been part of the problem with him staying consistently focused on work during the work period. Several times during the day he is doing "work" that is not necessarily appropriate or relevant to what he should be focusing on. He rarely uses the outside body breaks during the school day but loves to play imaginative games during recess. Shaun is creative, loves to write raps, and has an amazing work ethic. Shaun joined MS in the Lower Elementary Program. He is now in his third-year in the Lower Elementary classroom. He has a few very close friends in the classroom and enjoys doing group work when he can. When he is not in a group work he completes follow-up work in the form of raps or play scripts. At the beginning of the year, the lead teacher completed the lesson of the timeline of life. Many students completed follow-up work that replicated the materials used in the lesson. Shaun GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 40 created a six-page rap about the timeline of life. He used dictionaries, rhyming dictionaries, the timeline, and several reference books to complete his amazing rap that incorporates every major era and what was significant about the era. He is creative and brilliant, yet quiet. Ivy is quiet, loves horses, and has a positive attitude. Ivy was at a Montessori school for primary other than MS and joined the MS community at the Lower Elementary Program. She is now a third-year student in the Lower Elementary classroom. Ivy has a limited friend group, is quiet, but is proficient, independent, and self-motivated to complete work. Her love of horses spills over to the classroom where she spends a lot of time doing research reports about horses, reading and symbolizing poetry about horses, and playing horses on the playground. Ivy is very talented and intensely self-motivated student. Data Collection Data for this study was gathered using surveys, observations, interviews and journaling by the students and teaching staff. Surveys. Surveys are a great way to collect general data from all of the participants in the study. In this particular study the participants are going to be given two surveys: 1) a pre-survey and 2) a post survey. This gave a base where each individual started and then a finishing point of data showing where the individual reached through the time of the research. In conjunction with the other forms of data collection, the pre and post survey can show how each individual's social skills and behavior has developed. It was important to give the same questions on each survey because this was the biggest indicator of social growth or regression. These surveys were also a great way to compare and contrast the growth of individual social growth between age groups. This gives the research more meaning and can show that there is or is not developmental growth in social skills and behavior when the students use the garden space. Below is a sample of the questions that were on the pre and post survey GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 41 Do you have a garden at home? Would you like to garden at school? What would you like to learn about the garden? What does responsibility mean to you? What are you responsible for? What does leadership mean to you? What do you do as a leader? Observations. As a Montessori teacher, observation is a key element in everyday teaching because it helps the teacher understand the needs of each child within the classroom. Observations of the students in and outside of the classroom were essential in understanding if gardening did influence their social development. Behavior is a key indicator of social growth and development and by using observational methods such as time sampling, direct observation, and task analysis observation there can be a lot uncovered about the direct and indirect actions of the student. Because the students work with two teachers and sometimes a special academic coach, observations were obtained from all of these people to get a whole understanding of the students' development. Interviews. Interviews are important to conduct because it gives the students, parents, teachers, and special educators a place to give information in their terms. Interviews had central themes and questions but the answers from each individual were similar but also unique. Interviews gave the perspective of the student's firsthand experience explained by themselves. Interviews allow for validation of observed social changes as well as reflection on abnormalities in data collection. Below are sample questions that were in the interview. However, note that not all of the questions were asked or are on the list. The interview was an organic conversation between the researcher and the participants. Students: 1. How old are you? 2. What work do you like to do when you are at school? Why? GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 42 3. What is challenging for you at school? 4. What work is in your comfort zone? 5. Do you like using the garden space? i) Why do you like/dislike the garden space? 6. What have you learned about the garden? 7. What would you like to learn about the garden? 8. What are the qualities of leadership? 9. In what ways are you a leader? 10. What are the qualities of responsibility? 11. In what ways are you responsible? Journaling. I used writing prompts about the garden, cooking project and social skills development to further understand the individual participants knowledge and growth. For this study, the journals were used as an interactive nature journal that had weekly prompts to engage the students in the garden and how it could be used on campus. Journaling with prompts allows for the individual journaling to focus on what they find important, interesting, or relevant to the topic. By journaling, the students were encouraged to reflect on the garden, themselves, and most importantly their knowledge. These journals were collected and evaluated for important information that was regarded as data for the purpose of the study. Data Analysis All of the data collected through observations, surveys, interviews, and journaling were analyzed using the constant-comparative method. To compare and contrast the information collected, the author continuously looked at the new data as well as the data that had been previously recorded. The data was digitized into Microsoft Office either by transcription, photograph, or scan. It was then coded and sorted into categories in Excel spread sheets for relevance to the research project. Once categorized, it was further analyzed and placed into themes. GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 43 Trustworthiness This qualitative research project posed the question of what are the influences of gardening on the social development of students in an Montessori Lower Elementary environment. The author is a Montessori teacher with a background in Sustainable Agriculture as well as a former Montessori student. With so much invested into Montessori education and sustainable agriculture, the researcher recognizes the importance of setting boundaries to establish trust as well as credibility. For trustworthiness, this study used triangulation of data, collaboration of the research findings with peers, reflexivity of the researcher, and using rich and thick descriptions. This section describes each of these processes in detail. Triangulation of data. Data triangulation was used to show that the research can be validated by many other sources. According to Creswell and Miller (2000), "Triangulation is a validity procedure where researchers search for convergence among multiple and different sources of information to form themes or categories in a study" (p. 126). In this qualitative research study, data was gathered about the social development of several students in the classroom in relation to the garden program at the school. Data was also gathered using several different methods such as surveys, observations, interviews, and journaling entries. Collaboration of data research. Research peers, such as the head of the master's class and the thesis advisor, were consulted. Both the head of the master's class and the thesis advisor are familiar with the aim of the qualitative research project. The peers reviewed several sections and the final thesis to help create a better research project throughout the span of the research (Creswell & Miller, 2000). Along with collaboration among peers, the author also collaborated with those within the community of practice. So far, the author conversed and discussed the purpose and the aims of the research with several peers in the community for advice or to have GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 44 help with clarifications. Of course, when in discussion of the research project with any peers all of the locations and names were kept anonymous to help protect the identities of the participants of the study. During the study I continued to seek the support of peers in the community and others familiar with the research project. Reflexivity of the researcher. Reflexivity refers to the disclosure of a researcher's personal bias, along with assumptions that may have an impact of the data collected and analyzed. The introduction chapter of this qualitative study gave a detailed insight of the researcher's personal thoughts as well as personal biases. The author kept a journal of the research throughout the study to reflect on what was thought, felt, seen, and heard. The journal also contained the record of seven Group Observations. In each observation, which was timed, the author used a method of tally-marks that recorded the frequency of participant traits. This allowed tracking the thought process throughout the entirety of the research project. This journal helped in identifying or corroborating the data that was collected and used in analysis. Rich, thick descriptions. This particular chapter, the Methodologies chapter, is where I have included descriptive passages that detail and enrich the research project narrative. "The purpose of a thick description is that it creates verisimilitude, statements that produce for the readers the feeling that they have experienced, or could experience, the events being described in a study" (Creswell & Miller, 2000, p. 128-129). Some of the passages include the introductory chapter, the settings, the participants, the data collection, and the analysis of data. Ethical Considerations The research followed standard ethical procedures for human-subject research laid out by the National Institute of Health (NIH) and supported by the Internal Review Board (IRB). In accordance with NIH and the IRB, all subjects and parents signed consent forms stating that they understood the intent of the research as well as their immediate role in the research. Participants GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 45 have absolute anonymity after signing the consent form. Once participants started they had complete ability to terminate consent to be included in the research. Once data was collected all of the information was recorded and systematically and securely stored. The IRB approval is found in Appendix A. GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 46 Data Analysis and Findings This research project focused on the influences of a garden on the social development of students in a Montessori Lower Elementary environment. The specific question of this research is as follows: What are the influences of gardening on the social development of students in an Elementary I Montessori environment? The sub questions are: 1. What kind of leadership skills do the students develop in conjunction with the garden space? 2. What kind of responsibilities do the students develop and understand when they work with the garden space? By observing, surveying, interviewing and collecting personal journal entries of the students, several themes were uncovered that connect the impact of social growth to gardening and cooking in the Montessori Elementary classroom. The first theme, centered on leadership, emerged as a social behavior of inquisitive nature and teamwork. The second theme, centered on responsibility, emerged as a social behavioral outcome of contribution and a sense of ownership. The third theme was an unexpected outcome, kindness with highlights on helpfulness and inclusion. This chapter explains how the data was analyzed and how the data supports the established themes. The data collected supports the three themes and the existing literature in the field of study. By comparing and contrasting the data recorded with the literature already in existence, the author demonstrated the importance of the study in conjunction with the theoretical framework. Gardening Pre-Survey The results of the pre-survey questions, listed below, established a baseline. • Do you have a garden at home? GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS • What would you like to learn about the garden? • What does responsibility mean to you? What are you responsible for? • What does leadership mean to you? What do you do as a leader? The results of this survey are as follows: Out of the six participants studied, 66% had a home garden, 50% wanted to learn more about gardening, 83% knew some qualities of responsibility, and 50% could outline qualities of leadership. This simple pre-survey gave insight into the students. Of the students who already had a garden at home their use of the garden at home was not clarified in the survey. However, two of the participants did mention what they grew in their garden, and were very proud to tell about it. 47 GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 48 Ivy responded by saying, "We are going to start a clementine tree and we have a pear tree that we are going to cut down because it is not healthy. We have strawberries and tomatoes and just a plain tree, an apple tree and a peach tree" (Pre-survey, Ivy, January 31, 2019). During the interview she showed excitement when recounting the various trees and plants that her family had in their garden. Another participant, Shaun, stated that they grow "Apples, persimmons, flowers…lots of flowers. I don't think I can name all of the flowers because I live on a flower farm" (Pre-survey, Shaun, January 31, 2019). When the participants were asked if they wanted to learn anything new about the garden, only half (50%) the students showed interest in learning more about the garden at this point. One participant, John exclaimed, "I really want to learn about peaches and nectarines and mangos and apples. They are so good!" (Pre-Survey, John, January 31, 2019). His enthusiasm about peaches and nectarines allowed the researcher to expand some lesson plans to incorporate discussions about fruit trees and, in particular, peaches and nectarines. The second to last question was about responsibility: What does responsibility mean to you? What are you responsible for? The responses were lean on information, but insightful as to what the participants perceived responsibility to be. Bethany, an 8-year-old participant, responded: Um…well, its like...if it were to be with the garden it would be to remember to water it everyday and, like, picking weeds. It mostly means just, like, knowing what you are doing. Like if you are the one in charge, you are responsible for the stuff...you know like…it is hard to describe (Pre-survey, Bethany, January 31, 2019). GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 49 Of the 83% of students responding positively to the question on responsibility, all of them mentioned being, "in charge" of doing a certain task. The feeling of being "in charge" is linked to a sense of ownership, which is a tier within the definition of responsibility. The final question asked was: What does leadership mean to you? Peter, an 8 year old participant, responded with "Its like if you're a teacher or something you are a leader" (pre-survey, Peter, January 31, 2019). Another, more detailed response came from Shaun: Basically, you are the leader, um, and that you are basically the top...the top of the thing. That is what a leader is. So leadership is saying, like, instead of like "he is the leader" or something, you would use leadership as, like, they lead other people. They, like, guide other people, they do not follow-- it is the opposite of following (Pre-Survey, Shaun, January 31, 2019). Shaun really captured the essence of leadership by stating, "they…guide other people." This type of guidance is directly related to the independence of a leader to use teamwork to help other people to be on task. The most interesting part of the pre-survey process was to get to know each participant through an interview format. Each participant had their own quirks: some took a long time to respond, but had insightful responses; others responded right away, and their response reflected little relevance to the question. Some participants would act worried about their response and ask if it was a good response. Through the differences in participants, and the format or style of their response, valuable first-hand information was gained about them. Leadership: Inquisitive Nature, Problem-Solving and Teamwork To review, the theoretical framework used in this project included constructivism and the Montessori Method. Psychological constructivism has been defined by McPhail (2016): "Learners actively construct their own meanings and understandings as they make connections GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 50 between new and old experiences and information" (p. 298). In the Montessori prepared environment, psychological constructivism describes the individual experiences of the students. The Montessori Method is based on child-centered, hands-on learning that promotes independence by allowing students to be active participants in their education. In this study, the students were in the garden using their hands to pull out the weeds, to plant the seeds, and to prepare foods in the kitchen. The definition of leadership that was used came from Monson's (2006), which states, "Leadership requires the courage to ask difficult questions, struggle with complex problems, and pursue challenging solutions" (p. 37). This definition was used as a template to code the data from the participants. The leadership theme has three supporting codes that were further explored. The first was inquisitive nature, which directly relates to the first part of Monson's (2006) definition: "the courage to ask difficult questions" (p. 37). The second element of leadership was problem solving, as directly related to the last statement in Monson's (2006) definition: "pursue challenging solutions" (p. 37). The third element is teamwork, a theme that emerged through the coding process, and was the only one not directly related to Monson's definition of leadership. This theme, however, is widely supported by the data collected in this study. In each section, the data that was gathered from all the participants in the garden project was explored and analyzed, and directly related to the literature to show how it supported the theme represented. Inquisitive Nature. The first attribute of leadership is natural curiosity. This is the act of questioning what is around you. In Anthropology of Humanism, Maria Montessori stated, "my faith was in the fact that children want to know, if there's not imposition put on them, their natural instinct is to want to know as much about everything that they can know" (Montessori Letters, p. 202). The participants in the study are in the age of exploration when they learn by asking important, and possibly complex, questions regarding the world around them. GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 51 When the participants were in the garden for the first time, John raised a question about weeding, asking, "How do you weed?" (Group Observation 1, John, February 4, 2019). He was struggling with what for him was a complex problem. In this instance, John used his inquisitive nature to ask for help on weeding in the garden. Complex thinking is defined as "understanding concepts, generating original ideas, and using logical approaches to address complicated problems" ("Faces of Learning"). During the research period, John showed an increase in complex questions that reflected on his growth regarding leadership development. In Group Observation 5 John had five distinct times when he showed evidence of inquisitive thinking. The researchers notes reflect that John had said in conversation with other participants, "If we have to massage the kale with oil and then add salt, are we making a preserved food?" (Group Observation 5, John, March 6, 2019). John's last question compared to his first question shows that John had a complex problem that he is trying to understand through the formation of indepth natural explorations. The more John worked in the garden and participated in cooking projects in the classroom, the more developed and complex his natural curiosities became. John increased his leadership abilities during the gardening program by following natural questions that lead to deep thinking and reflection. During sauerkraut making in the kitchen, the students were observed with particular attention to evidence of deeper inquiry. In the very beginning of the lesson on how to make sauerkraut, the instructions were simply stated. There are only two ingredients needed: the first was cabbage, and the second was salt. Ivy asked, "Why do we need to add salt to the cabbage?" (Group Observation 3, Ivy, February 24, 2019). This question may seem simple, yet it is complex. Sauerkraut uses the process of fermentation, and the most important ingredient in fermentation is salt. Before making sauerkraut, the participants were invited to a lesson on preserving food through various historical methods. Many students knew about canning and GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 52 pickling, but not many knew about salting or fermentation. To properly make sauerkraut, you must use salt to ferment the cabbage so that it can be eaten at a later date. Isomura (2010) states, "Reality includes various interdependent factors, and is thus very complicated" (p. 309). By listening to the discussion about the process of making sauerkraut, Ivy was working with the reality of fermentation. "Logical process," comments Isomura (2010), "is based on the material that consists of precise information: the material ‘consists of observations from which a conclusion may be drawn by scientific method, and propositions or facts previously established or widely accepted as true, to which formal logic can be applied'" ([Barnard, 1936] p. 309). Ivy was using reality and, informally, the scientific method to base her natural exploration that, through the garden program, became more complex. Ivy's last question contrasted to her very first question. In Group Observation 1 Ivy asked, "Can I use my hands to dig in the garden?" (Group Observation 1, Ivy, February 4, 2019). The question was simple in relation to the work that she was doing and did not require her to struggle with a complex problem in the realm of reality. However, her last question demonstrated thought, inquisitive nature, complex ideas, and a passion for the work. From the very first question to her last question, Ivy displayed a growth in complex natural inquiry related to the gardening program. "Can we eat the grass that we pull?" (Group Observation 2, Peter, February 18, 2019). Peter worked in the garden during Group Observation 1, and asked only one question while working, and it is neither complex, nor helpful. During the first weeding session Peter did not verbally display questions that came to him except to ask if he could eat the grass. "Peter was talkative to friends, but seldom displayed attributes in relation to the research project" (Researcher Notes, February 24, 2019). When Peter was in the sauerkraut-making project he asked, "Why does it need to stay in a jar for ten days before we get to eat it?" (Group Observation 3, Peter, February 24, 2019). Even though the question is still related to eating, Peter GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 53 formulated and thought out a naturally inquisitive statement regarding the process of fermentation. As part of fermentation, the food must sit in a dark cool place to properly ferment. Peter formulated questions through hands-on enquiry-based learning. Enquiry-based learning "describes an environment in which learning is driven by a process of enquiry owned by the student" (CEEBL, 2019). Peter displayed increasing leadership by posing complex natural questions about the work that he was doing in the garden program. A tally of the participants' meaningful questions was recorded and marked to corroborate the amount of times the participants had thoughtful inquiries about the work they were completing. For example, Shaun had a total of 9 tally marks related to inquisitive nature (Group Observation 3, Shaun, February 24, 2019). Shaun loves to talk with his fellow participants, and in his conversations, he has many questions. Most of the time, the questions that Shaun had during this observation related to being silly and he often asked questions that he already knew the answer to, like, "Why can't we put the cabbage on the floor?" (Group Observation 3, Shaun, February 24, 2019). However, he also asked, "When we use our hands to crush the cabbage, does it help release the water from the plants cells?"(Group Observation 3,Shaun, February 24, 2019). Two participants, Bethany and Lucy, did not display an increase of natural curious questions during the research. Bethany, from the very start of the program, had super complex and multi-faceted questions. In Group Observation 3 she tallied the highest number of these inquiries, with 15 tally-marks. Other students ranged between 5-10 tallies during the same observation (Group Observation 3, February 24,2019). During group Observation 1, I recorded a question where Bethany stated, "Do the amount of worms in the garden directly relate to the amount of nutrients the plants receive?" (February 4, 2019). The sophistication and complexity of the questions Bethany posed were of a higher level than the rest of the participants. This same level of complex natural questioning continued through the entire research period. While there GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 54 was no noticeable effect during the study period, she consistently exhibited a high level of inquisitiveness. On the other hand, Lucy very rarely asked questions. When she did ask questions, they were "can I use the bathroom" (Group Observation 2, Lucy, February 18, 2019) or "may I use the knife after you?" (Group Observation 3, Lucy, February 24, 2019). These types of inquiries are not complex and do not display leadership skills. Through the course of the research period the complexity of her questions did not change and, therefore, Lucy did not display an increase or decrease in complex inquiry. Problem-Solving. A second quality of leadership is the ability to effectively problemsolve. Professor He (2015) at the University of Indiana wrote, "A problem is considered a discrepancy between desired goals and the existing state (Pounds, 1969; Draft, 2014)" (p. 59). The participants in the gardening program were observed displaying leadership through problem solving. A problem arose in Group Observation 6 around how to get the kale leaf off of the kale stalk. Shaun exclaimed "To make it easier than ripping off the leaves, we can use a knife from the kitchen" (Group Observation 6, March 10, 2019). When Shaun stated this solution, the other participants agreed that it would be much more efficient to use the knife. "Problem-solving," Prof. He (2015) recaps, "is therefore to identify the gap between reality and goals and take actions to resolve it (Shermerhorn, 2013)" (p.59). In this instance, Shaun displayed leadership by solving the problem that was presented during the making of kale chips. This contrasts when Shaun was first observed in the garden during Group Observation 2 when he did not contribute to solving-problems that came about (Shaun, February 18, 2019). Shaun grew exponentially during the gardening program with leadership by being a problem-solver. GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 55 In Group Observation 7, the participants were given instructions on how to plant lettuce. But the participants came across a problem of how to not break the shoots from the seeds when they take it out of the planters. Lucy suggested that, instead of pulling the lettuce shoots out they should, "flip it over so the lettuce won't break before we get it in the dirt" (Group Observation 7, Lucy, March, 12, 2019). During the second observation, Lucy had solutions to problems, but the other participants did not accept her solution. Even though she had solutions, towards the last observation she was becoming better at formulating solutions that every participant liked and used. In this instance, Lucy was a leader because she was taking into consideration what was going in the group and suggesting plausible solutions. "If we use the shovels," said Bethany, "then we can dig deeper to mix in the new soil" (Group Observation 1, Bethany, February 4, 2019). The participants had been working in the garden for several minutes, trying to get the new soil in the garden bed, but they could not figure out how to get the soil deep enough in to aerate the soil. Bethany's suggestion became an immediate solution that the rest of the participants used to make the process easier. Oxford Dictionary (2019) defines solution as "a means of solving a problem." In this case, Bethany confronted a problem by solving it with the solution of using the shovels to evenly mix the soil. Compiled from Group Observation 3 to 6, Bethany began problem solving at tally-mark level 8, rising to a tally-mark of 22. This increase in problem-solving social behavior displayed the growth that Bethany accomplished while working in the gardening program. Ivy, Peter, and John did not display an increase in problem-solving skills through the duration of the gardening program. During group observation 3, Ivy tallied at 4 solutions, Peter tallied 2, and John tallied 5 solutions (Group Observation 3, February 24, 2019). In Group Observation 6, Ivy tallied 3, Peter tallied 4, and John tallied 5 (March 10, 2019). The social behavior of problem-solving skills did not increase over the course of the gardening program. In GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 56 Group Observation 4 it was noted that Ivy, Peter, and John were "normally quiet, seldom communicated their ideas, and were good at being team members" (March 5, 2019). Teamwork. The third distinguished attribute of leadership was teamwork. Teamwork can be described as the collective act of working together to accomplish an activity or a common goal. Maria Montessori purposefully incorporated multi-age classrooms in her methodology. "An interesting fact to be observed in the child of six," Montessori (2007) observes, "is his need to associate himself with others, not merely for the sake of company, but in some sort of organized activity" (p. 4). As part of leadership, groups of diverse people must work together to accomplish a common goal, which correlates directly to teamwork. John, in the first observation, asked how to weed. Bethany, an 8-year-old participant, said, "‘You see how I do it?'" She continued to show John: Bethany grabs the weed near the roots then pulls it out of the ground. She turns the weed with roots towards her face. She then shakes out the dirt and tosses the weed into the compost pile. ‘See! The root is what we want out' (Group Observation 1, Bethany, February 4, 2019). John needed assistance with weeding and Bethany decided to help John to effectively weed their section of the garden bed. In a case study about teamwork, Tarricone and Luca (2002) state, "Teamwork replies upon individuals working together in a cooperative environment to achieve common team goals through sharing knowledge and skills" (p. 641). Bethany, during this observation, demonstrated her knowledge and skills of weeding to John. By working together as a team for a common goal of weeding, Bethany and John displayed an attribute of leadership. In Group Observation 2, conducted on February 18, 2019, John and Lucy displayed teamwork when weeding the garden for the second time: GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS Lucy: John, can you please move over to that side so that I can grab here? John: Yeah Lucy: Ready? John: Yes. 1, 2, 3! Lucy: That was awesome! Lucy: Look at the root! It is so long. 57 Without the help of the researcher, Lucy asked John for help when she was pulling out a weed that was too difficult for her to do by herself. When John responded saying "yeah," they used teamwork to tackle weeding the difficult plant (Group Observation 2, John and Lucy, February 18, 2019). John and Lucy both used their acquired skills, and together accomplished a common task of weeding. By analyzing the tally-mark data relating to teamwork regarding John, he started with only three marks (Group Observation 3, John, February 24, 2019) to having 23 tallymarks (Group Observation 6, John, March 10, 2019). This data clearly demonstrated a large increase in behavior regarding teamwork over the course of the study by John. In contrast, Lucy started with 15 tally-marks (Group Observation 3, February 24, 2019) to having 22 tally-marks (Group Observation 6, March 10, 2019). In this case, Lucy's social behavior of teamwork only marginally increased during the garden program. Prior to Group Observation 6, the students were given limited instructions on how to make kale chips. Each participant was given a cutting board, a bowl and the entire group was given one stalk of kale. As a group, the students figured out how to make the kale chips by collaboratively organizing themselves. The first suggestion was made by Shaun who said, "Why don't we each take a turn cutting the leaves" (Group Observation 6, Shaun, March 10, 2019). With this suggestion, the remaining participants, Peter, Bethany, and Ivy, coordinated who went GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 58 first to last. Ivy advised that they "randomly select" from the group and Peter stepped in to arrange whose turn it was. (Group Observation 6, Ivy, Peter, March 10, 2019). This type of collaborative behavior continued for the duration of the observation. Shaun displayed teamwork a total of 15 times, Peter displayed teamwork 8 times, Bethany displayed teamwork 18 times, and Ivy displayed teamwork 17 times during a 30-minute observation period (Group Observation 6, March 10, 2019). To make the kale chips, each individual strove to accomplish a common goal or task in the most effective way. Responsibility: Independence In this section the relationship between responsibility and independence is discussed. According to Powell (2001), independence fosters the ability of students to embody their values and responsibilities. The various classrooms that make a Montessori school are called communities, and it is in these communities that students understand the importance of being a leader, and being responsible (Drake, 2008; Johnson, 2013; Powell, 2001). Independence is one of the foundational building blocks of the Montessori Method of education. Montessori (1949) explains that, "a leader should feel a great responsibility for the orders he issues. A leader, therefore, is not somebody with a sense of great authority, but somebody with a sense of great responsibility" (p. 197). This passage shows the interconnectedness of leadership and responsibility with the focal point of the two being independence. Through experiencing the Montessori Method, the students gain independence, which allows them to become a responsible human being who harbors the qualities of a leader. Several of the participants were already in the garden where I had explained what action was to be completed for weeding the garden bed. Ivy, Peter, Bethany, Lucy and Shaun were all in the garden working to weed out the upper bed so that we could later plant flowers. The first thing that Peter did was he sat down near the edge of the planter box and began to weed. Ivy and GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 59 Bethany also picked a spot that they wanted to weed together. Shaun decided that, instead of using his hands like the rest of the students, he was going to get the shovels. He went to the garden shed and grabbed several shovels and brought them back to the garden. He picked his own place in the garden and began to use the shovel to take out large sections of weeds by digging underneath the roots. Each of the participants made their own decisions regarding where and how to weed the garden bed. By doing this, Ivy, Peter, Bethany, Lucy, and Shaun all showed independence. John was the last participant to join, and he decided to use a shovel as Shaun had done. Recalling the observation of Montessori (1949), "when the child has acquired independence, it is by exercising this independence that he will develop" (P. 66). Each participant in the study showed evidence of independence in the garden. During the research, the question was posed, "What is responsibility?" Ivy responded by writing "responsibility is being able to know what to do without being asked to do it" (Journal Entry, February 20, 2019). Bethany wrote in her journal, "responsibility is like your contribution to your community or our family. You are responsible if you can do your contribution without being reminded to do it" (Journal Entry, February 20, 2019). John and Lucy, the two 6-year-old participants responded, "it's when you are responsible" (Journal Entry, John, February 20, 2019), and "responsibility is your job" (Journal Entry, Lucy, February 20, 2019). Peter wrote, "responsibility is when you do work" (Journal Entry, February 20, 2019). Shaun wrote that "responsibility is when you get all of your work done and you have the ability to help others get their work done as well" (Journal Entry, February 20, 2019). The commonality between all of the participants' journal responses was that responsibility closely relates to contributions in the community. In the classroom, many of the contributions are daily chores, while others are weekly personal goals as well as longer projects with due dates that needed specific follow-up work. The projects that need keeping-track require GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 60 responsible behavior and independence to complete. Cambridge Dictionary (2019) defines responsibility as "something that is your job or duty to deal with." The students absolutely understand the meaning and the importance of responsibility, and how independence is a key role in being responsible. The participants all independently defined responsibility. Further, they also demonstrated independence and responsibility when in the garden. On the last observation day, the participants finally got to plant lettuce and carrots in the garden because it was the first stretch of sunny days in a few months of complete rain. Shaun and Lucy worked with the lettuce plants, slowly taking them out of the seedling starters; Peter and Bethany grabbed hand shovels and dug holes for the participants taking out the lettuce, while John and Ivy spread new soil over the freshly planted lettuce sprouts. Each participant stepped into a job, and physically displayed responsibility and independence. Kindness Kindness was an unexpected outcome that emerged through analyzing the data. Although kindness is presented here as a new theme, kindness was present in all the observations of leadership and responsibility. It was, therefore, the common thread linking all the themes to the gardening program. This section discusses each student's personal behavioral kindness as related to potential social growth. John, during Group Observation 7, opened and handed the heavy soil bag to Ivy, who could not pick up the bag herself. He then continued to hold the bag until Ivy could hold the bag for him when they were putting new soil on the plants. This type of collaborative teamwork was another example of kindness. Lucy and Peter were working close to each other when they were making sauerkraut. There were only a few knives, and Lucy suggested that she and Peter work together sharing her GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 61 knife. In this instance, Lucy was using her problem-solving skills and showed kindness to Peter while making kale chips. The students spent 25 minutes making kale chips, and were both helpful and inclusive through the observation. Examples of inclusive behavior noted include "allowing others into the conversations they had" as well as "introducing ideas on how to make the kale chips" (Group Observation 6, Researchers Notes, March 10, 2019). Noted acts of helpfulness include "explaining, moving materials to make room, and giving advice to others" (Group Observation 6, Researchers Notes, March 10, 2019). When confronted with a task to complete, the participants in a group naturally work in teams to solve problems, share gained skills or knowledge with others, and include all participants. Post-Gardening Survey The post-survey was conducted at the end of the research series to gather data on whether or not any of the attributes had changed over the course of the study. Therefore, the questions remained the same: • Do you have a garden at home? • What would you like to learn about the garden? • What does responsibility mean to you? What are you responsible for? • What does leadership mean to you? What do you do as a leader? In response to the questions of the post-survey the participants generated an interesting chart that outlines their growth in percentages of positive answers. GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 62 The first question in the pre-survey asked if the participant had a garden at home. In the presurvey only 66% of the students had a garden at their home. In the post-survey, the participants responded with 83% having a home garden. Peter, the one student that acquired a home garden during the study, exclaimed, "I told my parents that we were growing carrots and kale and lettuce at school and I wanted to do it at home" (Post-survey, Peter, March 14, 2019). The second question related to learning more about gardening. In the pre-survey there were only 50% of the participants interested in learning more about gardening. The post-survey shows that 100% of the students want to learn more about the garden. Lucy, a 6-year-old participant, mentioned in her post-survey interview "I didn't know much about the garden but when I started to weed the garden it made me feel so good that I wanted to know so so so much more!" (Post-Survey, Lucy, March 14, 2019). The third question inquired about personal responsibility, the participants responded 83%. This phenomenon could simple be due to a strong emphasis on independence in the Montessori classroom. On the final question about leadership, the pre-survey outcome reflected that only 50% of the participants responded with positive qualities of a leader or GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 63 leadership. There was marginal growth of 33% more on the post-survey. Participants understood more qualities of leadership and could adequately relate them in the post-survey interview. Discussion of Findings Two themes were identified before the research: leadership and responsibility. Interestingly enough, I believed that the biggest growth by students in leadership would be displays of independence. However, independence was recorded and coded more in relation to responsibility. However, an unexpected theme was kindness. The data collected revealed a common thread of students displaying inclusive, helpful, and kind behavior. These attributes were not previously included as part of the social behavioral growth of participation in a gardening program. As documented and analyzed, the students displayed kindness in every aspect of the research. Each participant showcased leadership, responsibility and kindness during the garden program. Most of the participants increased their behavioral skills in leadership, responsibility and kindness while working in the garden or kitchen. GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 64 Implications and Recommendations Summary of Findings In this research project, six elementary students between the ages of 6-9 were selected. The participants were studied to determine whether or not there was any social growth as they worked with a garden at school. There were two pre-selected themes: leadership and responsibility. A third theme was revealed during data analysis; it centered on participant kindness. Each theme was characterized by these key details of interest: • Leadership: inquisitive nature, problem solving, and teamwork • Responsibility: independence • Kindness: towards others in the group All participants displayed each quality-- inquisitive nature, independence, teamwork, kindness towards others, and problem solving- while in the garden and in the classroom doing follow-on cooking projects. Data was recorded in observations, interviews, and displayed in their writing journal. Over the course of the study, each individual participant experienced and displayed an growth of social behavior and ability in the areas of leadership, responsibility, and kindness. Pre and post-survey interviews helped gauge where each participant started and ended with regard to social behavioral growth relating to leadership and responsibility. Through the various observations and prompts to the students for their journals, the growth of kindness was gauged for each participant once that theme was identified. Data from the pre- and post-survey interviews displayed the participants' positive growth. Recommendations This research attempted to fill the gap in literature about how gardening effects the social growth of students in Montessori elementary classrooms. Fifolt, Morgan and Burgess (2018) GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 65 state, "Activities are designed to support students social emotional growth by giving them responsibilities in the garden and fostering a team based approach to learning" (p. 192). In this case, the responsibilities of the garden helped the students become more connected to the garden. However, in this study there was no direct relation to whether or not students grew socially by developing more responsibilities while they were in the garden. Other programs that have been implemented in schools show an increase in academic standings and involvement in the student body when they have been participants in the gardening program (Blair, 2009). Because there was no social growth indicated in this study, the main of this researcher project was to analyze if there was any social growth related to working in the garden. Therefore, this research project's main aim was to analyze if there is any social growth related to working in the garden. Recall the comment of Powell (2001), "Learning is the process of making meaning: the more personally useful information is, the more meaningful it will be" (p. 32). This was reflected by the students. The more they worked in the garden, the more growth they displayed socially. For example, in Group Observation 1 many of the participants worked alone to accomplish weeding the garden bed. In Group Observation 7, the last observation, the participants were working together, solving problems, and using kind communication to accomplish planting lettuce in the garden bed. However, I have recommendations for other colleagues who want to study gardens and their relation to student social growth. The first recommendation is for college researchers. Consider doing a program that allows for data collection during the time of year students can be working in the garden. The area had an unusually high amount of rainfall that forced the majority of the research to be conducted in the classroom based on cooking projects and lessons. This reduced the time that could be devote to hands-on gardening. Even though this caused a necessary reduction to the gardening GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 66 portion of the research, there was still significant growth in each of the participant's social behavior. The second recommendation is for teachers. If planning to conducting similar research in your school, consider the fact that this study was done in a Montessori environment. The Montessori Method of education teaches students by guiding them through the process. This type of teaching is not common in non-Montessori schools, which could possibly lead to a different outcome. The Montessori Method of education also places an emphasis on student independence. Therefore, the research that is reflected here may show more independence than another study conducted at a non-Montessori school. Comparisons of this type could prove fruitful. Implications of Future Work The research has shown a significant amount of social growth relating to working with gardens and elementary aged students. There is a need for further investigation of the participants in this study, as well as a larger sample size, more diverse environment, and a multiyear, multi-student, study. In the limited time of this project, it was determined that the students did evidence social growth in several behaviors. There could be deeper understanding of the participants and their growth if a study were longer than a few months. By studying participants over a longer period, a researcher could determine the degree that the skills developed in gardening-leadership, responsibility, and kindness-grew and persisted. Second, the researcher could analyze more data to determine if there were more than three common social themes that could have arisen over time. Finally, the researcher could determine if different aged students grow social skills at different rates compared to students of the same age groups. Additional studies that increase the sample size of the participants could provide more data to strengthen, support, and validate the findings. With more participants, a researcher could GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 67 identify if there were isolated incidents of social growth or if there was social growth in a majority of the participants. Also, a larger sample size would help determine if being in the gardening program helped the students develop the observed social skills or if it is a characteristic of the age group they are in. It would also allow observation of a greater level of social interactions. By these means, a researcher could also look for growth of other socially driven skills. One question that remains is, "do students at non-Montessori schools reflect this same social behavioral growth?" If this project had access to public-school as well as Montessori participants, a comparison could determine if all participants have similar social growth or if there is a difference in the social growth between the two sectors of education. Finally, a researcher could determine degree to which the garden is the pivotal point in hands-on education that alters the social growth of students. Conclusion This qualitative action-research project evaluated the impact of gardening in a Montessori environment on the growth of students' social behavioral skills, particularly leadership and responsibility. An unexpected growth of kindness also emerged. In the review of the literature subjects of leadership and responsibility, there was discussion of the impact of gardening on academic performance but not social skills, and in particular not in the Montessori environment. The research methods used surveys, interviews, observations and journals that focused on the development of social skills through hands-on learning by six typical Montessori students aged 6-9. Despite the impact of an extended rainy season, the data supported the hypothesis. Recommendations for further research include extended time and a larger sample size, as well as comparison with non-Montessori settings. The students and I certainly enjoyed this project, and we all benefitted. GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS * * * "I love dirt!" Bethany, age 8. 68 GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS 69 References Barnett, L., and Weber, J. (2008). Perceived benefits to children from participating in different types of recreational activities. Journal of Park and Recreation Administration, 26(3), p. 1-20. Blair, D. (2009). The child in the garden: An evaluative review of the benefits of school gardening. Journal Of Environmental Education, 40(2), 15-38. Blount, B. (2007). 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An evaluation of urban youth gardening programs participants' dietary behaviors, agricultural knowledge, and leadership skills: A case study. Powell, M. (2001). Social and emotional learning in montessori education. Montessori Life, 13(1), 32-34. Responsibility (2019). Cambridge Dictionary: Cambridge University Press. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/responsibility. Rossman, G. B., & Rallis, S. F. (2017). An introduction to qualitative research: Learning in the field, (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Santa Cruz Montessori School. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://scms.org/. Sagor, R. D., & Williams, C. (2017). The action research guidebook: A process for pursuing equity and excellence in education, (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin. Sutton, A. (2007). Building success into your montessori middle school program. Montessori Life: A Publication of the American Montessori Society, 19(4), 34-39. Tarricone, P., Luca, J. (2002). Successful teamwork: A case study, 640-646. http://www.unice.fr/crookall-cours/teams/docs/team%20Successful%20teamwork.pdf The Jane Goodall Institute. (2019). Retreived from http://www.janegoodall.org/ White, R., Ebersteing, K., & Scott, D.M. (2018). Birds in the playground: Evaluating the effectiveness of an urban environmental education project in enhancing school children's awareness, knowledge and attitudes towards local wildlife. PloS ONE, 13(3), 1-23. GARDENING'S IMPACT ON MONTESSORI STUDENTS Appendix A 73 Leadership Westminster College Madison Gillen Montessori Elementary Garden Program I. Introduction Does gardening effect leadership and responsibility of participants in Montessori Lower Elementary? II. Methodology "Qualitative research begins with questions; its ultimate purpose is learning" (Rossman and Rallis, 2017, p. 3). III. Findings A. "Leadership requires the courage to ask difficult questions, struggle with complex problems, and pursue challenging solutions" (Monson, 2006, p. 37) B. Responsibility: the act of caring or being concerned for ones-self and others in society. C. Kindness: Being compassionate toward others. IV. Conclusion Gardening positively effected leadership and responsibility of the participants in Montessori Lower Elementary. An unexpected positive theme developed as kindness towards others. References Rossman, G. B., & Rallis, S. F. (2017). An introduction to qualitative research: Learning in the field, (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Monson, M. (2006). Reconstructing Montessori: On being an authentic Montessori school. Montessori Life: A Publication of the American Montessori Society, 18(2), 36- 43. APPROVAL of a thesis/project submitted by Author(s): Madison Gillen School Department: MED Title of Thesis: Impact of a Garden on the Social Skills of Montessori Elementary Students The above named master's thesis/project has been read by each member of the supervisory committee and has been found to be satisfactory regarding content, English usage, format, citations, bibliographic style, and consistency, and is ready to be deposited and displayed in the Westminster College-Institutional Repository. Chairperson, Supervisory Committee: Nathan Spofford IV Approved On 5/4/2019 10:43:58 AM Dean, School: Dr. Melanie J. Agnew Approved On 5/7/2019 12:57:12 PM STATEMENT OF PERMISSION TO DEPOSIT & DISPLAY THESIS IN THE INSTITUTIONAL REPOSITORY Name of Author(s): Madison Gillen School Department: MED Title of Thesis: Impact of a Garden on the Social Skills of Montessori Elementary Students With permission from the author(s), the staff of the Giovale Library of Westminster College has the right to deposit and display an electronic copy of the above named thesis in its Institutional Repository for educational purposes only. I hereby give my permission to the staff of the Giovale Library of Westminster College to deposit and display as described the above named thesis. I retain ownership rights to my work, including the right to use it in future works such as articles or a book. Submitted by the Author(s) on 5/1/2019 6:30:05 PM The above duplication and deposit rights may be terminated by the author(s) at any time by notifying the Director of the Giovale Library in writing that permission is withdrawn.