Language teaching accessibility of students with specific language needs: a Montessori approach to reading and writing.

Abstract

The significance of inclusive practices as a central topic for education is receiving growing attention in international research today. Schools of all degrees are taking action toward inclusivity but the emphasis on the single student, often passed off as individualization or personalization, usually gives rise to new forms of discrimination. In the Montessori classroom the specificity of students with and without learning difficulties are activated as a basic resource for the integration and thanks to an in-depth exploration of the characteristics of each student, the needs of all children can potentially be met. The theoretical background that international researchers have defined on the topic “Special Education Needs” are firstly highlighted in this work. Theory and practice of the Montessori’s method are then presented in order to establish the degree of inclusivity in the schools where the method is applied, based on the principles elaborated by researchers of the (?) Venetian school which have defined the topic “Language Teaching Accessibility”. Recent methodological neurolinguistics studies can demonstrate that Montessori kindergarten teachers and classrooms are naturally equipped to provide all of the instruction required to successfully help students in the process of reading and writing learning. Qualitative data obtained from observations collected in a Montessori kindergarten over a 4-week period are taken into consideration in the last part of this work to establish the extend by which Montessori pre-school activities can handle some aspects generally neglected in mainstream kindergarten. In this context, through a continuum of pervasive phonological awareness activities, direct and indirect writing instruction and the richness and quality of in-class language input, the Montessori method can effectively help students at risk of or with special language needs to overcome problems with reading and writing skills.