Rejecting Exhaustion:

Montessori Strategies to Be Effective and Have a Life

An Action Research Report

By Souzzann H. Zink

Rejecting Exhaustion:

Montessori Strategies to Be Effective and Have a Life

By Souzzann H. Zink

Submitted on February 3, 2014 In fulfillment of final requirements for the MAED degree

St. Catherine University St. Paul, Minnesota

Advisor _____________________________________ Date _____________

Abstract

A pressing problem in education today is teachers’ dissatisfaction due to challenges in

their work that leads to teacher turnover, disruption in the school community, and added

financial costs. This investigation will confine itself to challenges Montessori teachers

have the power to ameliorate on their own. Using solutions suggested in studies of

teacher satisfaction in traditional settings as a starting point, successful strategies of

Montessori educators were studied using online surveys and follow-up interviews.

Though over 100 distinct, helpful strategies were reported, 8 top and 19 secondary

choices emerged as being very useful to many individuals to reduce stress and improve

life satisfaction. To further test these strategies, and the value of presenting them to

Montessori educators, the information will be delivered in the form of in-service

workshops. Before and after these events, life satisfaction and related skills will be tested

using online surveys.

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A pressing problem in education today is teachers’ dissatisfaction due to

challenges in their teaching work. These difficulties lead to teacher turnover, disruption

in the school community, and added financial costs. Though Montessori teachers have

not been the subjects of a well-crafted teacher satisfaction and retention study, they are

similar enough to their traditional peers to infer that this is a problem in the Montessori

education community as well. A wide range of factors contributes to dissatisfaction for

traditional American teachers. This investigation will confine itself to challenges

teachers have the power to ameliorate on their own, so important factors such as low pay

will not be covered. The stress factors found to effect public school teachers provide a

starting point to investigate ways to improve subjective well-being for Montessori

teachers. However, the differences are great enough that more information about

successful strategies in the Montessori school setting needs to be gathered before

planning interventions to improve teacher satisfaction in this specific group.

The Montessori Educator is a Different Breed

The teacher nevertheless has many difficult functions to perform. Her

cooperation is not at all excluded, but it becomes prudent, delicate and

manifold. She does not have need of words, or energy, or severity; but she

must be able to make prudent observations, to assist a child by going up

to, or withdrawing from, him, and by speaking or keeping silence in

accordance with his needs. She must acquire a moral alertness which has

not hitherto been demanded by any other system, and this is revealed in

her tranquility, patience, charity, and humility. Not words, but virtues, are

her main qualifications. (Montessori, 1948/1980, p. 150)

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Montessori teachers with years of classroom experience are an invaluable

resource that we need to preserve. Though the passage above by Dr. Montessori reflects

some limitations of her time, such as the absence of many talented male Montessori

teachers we benefit from having in our community today, her words elegantly describe

the extraordinarily challenging role teachers play in the success of a Montessori school.

If teachers are not satisfied with their lives, and they consider their classroom work to be

part of their difficulties, they may leave their schools and possibly leave Montessori

education as well. Current challenges facing teachers include stress, difficulty with

maintaining a respectful and productive working environment in the classroom, excessive

workloads, and lack of sleep or sufficient rest (Adams, 2010; Borman & Dowling, 2008;

Hale-Jinks, Knopf, & Kemple, 2006; Ingersoll & Smith, 2003; Lahuffman-Jackson,

2009). Instruction in stress reduction courses (Harris, 2011; Anderson, Levinson, Barker,

& Kiewra, 1999) and induction training programs (Freedman & Appleman, 2008;

Ingersoll & Smith, 2004; Ingersoll & Strong, 2011) may help them manage these

difficulties more effectively. Other factors, such as low pay and lack of administrative

support, are very important influences on teacher satisfaction and retention as well but are

beyond the scope of this study (Adams, 2010; Borman & Dowling, 2008; Ingersoll &

Smith, 2003). Some job factors that may effect teacher turnover in regular public

schools, such as retirement plans that encourage early retirement (Harris & Adams, 2007)

and desire for more autonomy (Cochran-Smith, 2004), may not be applicable to most

Montessori teachers. They are mentioned here to emphasize the complexity and

multifaceted nature of this problem. In order to make progress, each solution

investigated must address a more narrow focus. For this investigation, the focus will be

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sources of increased teacher satisfaction than can be employed individually by the

teachers themselves without any action required by administrators. Adams incorporates a

review of teacher surveys with analysis from several researchers to conclude that

personal actions can account for about 40% of job satisfaction (Adams, 2010). This is a

good place to start.

One difficulty with reviewing the findings of published research about the

attitudes and grievances of Montessori teachers is that very little is available. For this

reason, I reviewed general education research on teacher job satisfaction, teacher stress,

strategies to reduce teacher stress, and teacher shortages as well as retention. Because of

the large number of Montessori classrooms serving preschool children, I included

research on child-care professionals as well. Typically, these studies involve teachers in

non-Montessori schools and classrooms. Though there are obvious similarities, the

differences in the experiences and expectations of these two groups of teachers is

extensive and striking (Jones, 2005; Montessori 1948/1980, pp. 12-15; Schaefer, 1986).

To address this, I have also included information from professional publications in the

field of Montessori education. Though most of these articles are not peer reviewed

research studies, they shine light on issues faced primarily by Montessori teachers. The

lack of data for this specific group is part of reason this study is useful. It is supported by

the need to gather information from Montessori teachers before the content of any

interventions is finalized. Fortunately, the challenges to teacher satisfaction that have

already been addressed successfully in some studies appear to be in areas that apply to

Montessori teachers.

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Montessori-Specific Study into Satisfaction Factors

Based on their similarities to the teachers who have been studied, it is reasonable

to suspect that Montessori educators are dissatisfied with their lives outside the classroom

due in part to the amount of work and nature of the work they do in and for their

classrooms and students. Fatigue may also be an important factor. Again, based on the

results of stress reduction intervention studies of traditional teachers (Anderson,

Levinson, Barker, & Kiewra, 1999; Greenberg, 2011; Harris, 2011), at least part of the

problem may be insufficient time spent regularly getting enough sleep, exercise, social or

family time, and meeting other self-care needs.

In addition to stress due to slighting habits that support health, some possible

causes are: lack of clarity on what tasks can be scaled back or eliminated, difficulty

prioritizing tasks, failure to make the most effective use of paraprofessionals and parent

volunteers, and less efficient habits in areas such as record-keeping and general

organization.

In order to find out more specifically what strategies, habits, and possibly

attitudes result in greater life satisfaction despite the demands of a Montessori teaching

career, I decided to survey experienced Montessori educators to find out ways they have

created more satisfaction with their personal lives while staying effective in the

classroom.

Action Research Question

According to experienced Montessori educators, which self-managed strategies

(actions they can do without approval from or cooperation with administration) have

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created more satisfaction in their personal lives while allowing them to stay effective in

the classroom?

To answer this question, experienced Montessori educators were asked to respond

to surveys regarding specific strategies they believe have allowed them to have sufficient

time available outside their classroom responsibilities as well as any other strategies that

help them feel they are more generally satisfied with their lives. Over 75 Montessori

professionals participated in two surveys and in follow-up interviews. This data was

gathered specifically to prepare for a second study in which the strategies proven to be

effective would be shared with participants in one of two groups. A second control group

would not be given this information until the end of the study. Both groups would take

surveys of “life satisfaction” and desire to stay in their position as a classroom educator at

the beginning and end of that follow-up study.

This information is important to gather, understand, and pass on to Montessori

educators in danger of leaving the profession unless they feel satisfied with their lives in

and out of the classroom. The implications of not addressing this problem are

documented by extensive research conducted primarily on traditional teachers but that

can reasonably be applied to most Montessori teachers as well.

Teacher Turnover is a Serious, Costly Problem

Teacher retention is a serious issue in education today. Though data is not

available on Montessori teacher retention, it is a well-studied area in traditional

education. Between 40% and 50% of new teachers leave teaching within 5 years

(Ingersoll & Smith, 2003). This causes the price of education to rise due to

administrative and training costs, along with loss of productivity, associated with

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replacing teachers (Ingersoll, 2001; Synar, 2010). The training costs addressed in these

studies were to pay for short training programs done within districts or individual schools

when a teacher is hired.

In many Montessori schools, the school actually pays for the Montessori teacher

training program (Association Montessori International/USA [AMI/USA], 2013; Public

School Montessorian, 2009). Though the schools typically require a commitment to

teach for a number of years before undertaking this expense, the cost is still substantial.

Montessori training for an elementary teacher at a program accredited by the only

Montessori agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education (Montessori

Accreditation Council for Teacher Education, MACTE) costs approximately $12,000 to

$16,000 (Institute for Guided Studies, 2013; The Montessori Institute of San Diego,

2013; http://www.macte.org/). This is a substantial investment that is lost by a school

when a teacher leaves. Administrative costs to replace Montessori teachers can also be

much more than those for replacing traditional teachers. Another trained teacher must be

recruited or a suitable candidate must be found and sent to training. In 2013, the demand

for certified Montessori teachers with MACTE accredited training far exceeded the

supply (AMI/USA, 2013). Though it is much harder to quantify, the specialized nature

of Montessori educator training would indicate that productivity loss associated with

inexperienced teachers replacing classroom veterans could be even higher than for

traditional teachers.

Job Satisfaction, Teacher Retention, and Job Stress Factors Overlap

One reason that teacher satisfaction is so important is that it is the most influential

factor in retention. Stockard and Lehman explain that job satisfaction is the strongest

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influence in retention of first-year teachers (2004). Many other studies show that the

same elements that cause teachers to feel satisfied in their work also play an essential role

in their decisions to stay in teaching or to leave it. Low compensation, student discipline

and motivation difficulties, lack of administrative support, and heavy workload or too

little time to complete work rank high in the reasons teachers leave the profession and in

their explanations for feeling dissatisfied (Adams, 2010; Borman & Dowling, 2008;

Hale-Jinks, Knopf, & Kemple, 2006; Ingersoll & Smith, 2003; Lahuffman-Jackson,

2009). In addition, the reasons teachers give for experiencing stress in their work also

overlap strongly with retention and satisfaction factors. Classroom discipline and

behavior challenges, as well as time and workload pressures, are particularly common

difficulties teachers cite in increasing their stress at work (Fanning, 1997; Harris, 2010;

Klassen, 2010).

Factors that Positively Influence Job Satisfaction

Because the problem of dissatisfaction has been recognized and studied for some

time, many studies have been done to determine which interventions help prevent or

alleviate it. Due to many elements in Montessori education that differ from those in

traditional classrooms, some effective strategies do not apply to this community.

However, many aspects of teaching are the same for most educational settings and

several studies have implications for Montessori educators even if the setting is not

identical to those in the research.

Use of effective positive behavior interventions

One intervention that has proven to improve teachers’ sense of well-being or

satisfaction is the introduction of positive behavior interventions on a school-wide basis

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with appropriate support to gain mastery with these strategies (Ross, Romer, & Horner,

2012). Many studies show that when teachers participate in induction programs

(structured mentoring, support, and guidance) during the period when they first take on

classroom responsibilities, they tend to be much more likely to stay in the profession

(Freedman & Appleman, 2008; Ingersoll & Smith, 2004; Ingersoll & Strong, 2011).

Because the challenge that disruptive student behavior presents to new teachers is well

known, these programs frequently have a strong classroom management or discipline

element (Ingersoll & Strong, 2011).

One quality associated with students working productively and without disrupting

the work of others is executive function, a set of cognitive functions that control and

regulate other abilities. Montessori education has been shown to improve these mental

processes (Diamond & Lee, 2011; Howell, Sulak, Bagby, Diaz, & Thompson, 2013;

Lillard & Else-Quest, 2006). These increases are particularly marked in Montessori

programs that practice a very faithful reproduction of the practices Maria Montessori

described in her writings (Lillard, 2012). This could mean that giving Montessori

teachers additional training in these practices, that Lillard calls implementation fidelity,

would improve student behavior in their classrooms. Kripalani points out that the initial

training many public school Montessori teachers receive is lacking many experiences and

features of more extensive training courses (2006). This could indicate a Montessori

version of induction could help these teachers in this area.

Teacher Self-Efficacy, Collective Teacher Efficacy, and Mediation of Stress

Many stressors, other than challenges with student behavior, have been cited as

factors in teachers’ decisions to leave a particular school or the profession. Some that are

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frequently mentioned are work overload or overlong work hours, general stress, and

fatigue (Adams, 2010; Hale-Jinks, Knopf & Kemple, 2006; Harris, 2011; Sass, Seal, &

Martin, 2011). These challenges are also mentioned in anecdotal accounts in Montessori

publications for educators (Cichucki, 2004). In addition to being a factor in teachers’ low

job satisfaction, insufficient sleep and rest breaks cause lower productivity and safety

issues (Folkard & Tucker, 2003; Rosekind et al., 2010: Rossi, E. L. & Nimmons, 1991;

Rossi, E. L. & Rossi, K. L., 2008).

One mediating factor that can cause teacher job satisfaction to be less impacted by

stress is a sense of teacher self-efficacy and collective teacher efficacy (Klassen, 2010;

Viel-Ruma, Houchins, Jolivette, & Benson, 2010). When teachers believe they are

accomplishing their goals for their work with their students, they have less subjective

experience of stress and higher job satisfaction even under stressful conditions. Since

Montessori teachers frequently have a very strong belief that the work they are doing is

worthwhile and effective in helping the children (Carey, 2010; Issah, 2010), strategies to

help them stay focused on their successes could be part of a program to increase their job

satisfaction. While measures to reduce subjective experience of stress are valuable, the

root causes of genuinely stress-inducting demands must also be addressed for long-term

improvement in this crucial area (Harris, 2011).

Specific Montessori Influences on Teacher Satisfaction

Besides the stressors faced by traditional school teachers, Montessori teachers

have some unique challenges based on elements of Montessori education as well as on

attempts to stay true to those elements in the face of additional demands. The demands

on a Montessori teacher are extensive (Schaefer, 1986). One way some traditional

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schools have attempted to reduce the workload of each teacher is through specialization

and co-teaching in a station teaching format. In this model, the teacher is only

responsible for part of the content because the students rotate from teacher to teacher to

cover all the material. This cuts down on planning time and other preparation and

follow-up tasks for each teacher. Kahn cautions against using this time-saving measure

in Montessori classrooms because it cuts into the teacher’s observations of her students

and artificially breaks up the self-chosen work of the students, both essential elements of

successful Montessori education (1977). For Montessori teachers, strategies to cut down

the workload must not diminish the essential roles they play in an effective Montessori

classroom.

In addition to the extensive demands of the Montessori approach itself, many

Montessori teachers employed in public Montessori schools and charter Montessori

schools must also juggle those requirements with state regulations and standards

compliance (Jacobson, 2007). Because the pace and sequence of learning for Montessori

students can be very different from that expected of public school children, standardized

testing and school performance evaluations based on them can be particularly

burdensome for Montessori teachers. This means they may be even more likely than

traditional teachers to leave their schools due in part to these more recent accountability

measures (Boyd, Lankford, Loeb, & Wyckoff, 2005a; Clotfelter, Ladd, Vigdor, & Diaz,

2004; Feng, Figlio, & Sass, 2010).

One area that is specifically a high-load activity for Montessori teachers is

keeping the very specialized observation and progress records that are essential to this

approach to education. Several electronic record keeping systems made especially for

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Montessori education have been available for almost 10 years (Hutcheson & Rios, 2007).

In fact, computerized record keeping has been documented in Montessori journals for

over 25 years (Pope, N. & Pope, J. A., 1986). However, even though the use of this

timesaving technology has grown substantially, it is still used in just a fraction of

Montessori classrooms. Montessori Records Xpress, currently the most widely used

program, was in use in 435 classrooms and training centers in 2007 (Hutcheson & Rios,

2007). In 2013, 1500 classrooms in 400 schools were using it according to the

Montessori Records Xpress (MRX) website: http://www.montessorirecordsxpress.com/.

Considering that Lillard & Else-Quest estimated that there were more than 5000

Montessori schools in the U.S. in 2006, even if an additional 200 schools are using the

less popular programs, electronic record keeping is probably being used by well under

20% of American Montessori schools. Especially since these programs can also help

public and charter Montessori schools demonstrate an alignment of the Montessori

curriculum to the new widely-adopted Common Core State Standards:

http://www.corestandards.org/, it is easy to estimate that many hours work each week

could be cut from each teacher’s workload by using them (MRX website and Montessori

Compass website: http://montessoricompass.com).

Training Strategies Can Reduce Teacher Turnover and Stress

As has already been mentioned in regard to teacher induction, training and

support can help teachers deal more effectively with the demands of their jobs. This has

also been demonstrated with specific stress reduction training (Anderson, Levinson,

Barker, & Kiewra, 1999; Greenberg, 2011; Harris, 2011). The Montessori professional

literature is full of examples of experienced teachers sharing strategies for reducing the

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stress of classroom responsibilities (Cichucki, 2004) as well as indications that many

teachers in Montessori classrooms do not fully understand or implement the strategies for

effectiveness taught by Montessori herself in her writings (Daoust, 2004; Lillard, 2012).

These studies and writings show there is great promise in training Montessori teachers to

handle work stress more effectively, reduce some of it by better practices, and increase

their overall sense of well-being. However, it is not immediately obvious what that

training would need to include.

Montessori-Specific Solutions Must Be Researched

Especially with all the current demands of Montessori teachers, any attempt to

lighten their load would need to offer very targeted information with good likelihood of

quickly making a positive impact. There are several areas worth exploring including:

Montessori strategies for helping students with behavior, teaching specific stress

reduction techniques, encouraging appropriate rest habits, and incorporating technology

to reduce workload. However, there may be other areas that offer even greater benefit in

increasing Montessori teachers’ satisfaction with their jobs and lives. Any investigation

of these potential resources must include open-ended inquiries that allow experienced

Montessori educators to offer solutions from their unique perspective that may be outside

the range of topics already researched.

The topics discussed here provide a starting point to use in helping seasoned

Montessori educators pinpoint effective ways they have improved their own classroom

experience. With a field this specialized, some organic method of gathering information

from those who are already successful in achieving high satisfaction in their Montessori

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careers is the best approach to uncovering these solutions to teach to other Montessori

educators.

Research Process

Reflecting on my own interactions with Montessori educators over 33 years, I

noticed that many of them were frequently dissatisfied with their lives outside the

classroom. This problem seemed to be due, at least in part, to the amount of work and

nature of the work they did in their classrooms and for their students. Fatigue was a

specific problem I heard about frequently.

After reviewing my own experience, as well as the research cited above, I

suspected that this problem was caused by a variety of factors, possibly including

insufficient time spent regularly getting enough sleep, exercise, social or family time, and

meeting other self-care needs. Other potential contributing factors I considered were: lack

of clarity on what tasks can be scaled back or eliminated, difficulty prioritizing tasks,

failure to make the most effective use of classroom paraprofessionals and parent

volunteers, and less efficient habits in areas such as record-keeping and general

organization.

Initial Survey

In order to find out what strategies experienced Montessori educators actually

used to create more satisfaction with their personal lives while staying effective in the

classroom, I first surveyed 84 of them using the SurveyMonkey® online service. This

survey provided my first data source. The survey included the following three brief,

open-response questions:

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• What self-managed strategies* have you used to create more satisfaction in your

personal life while staying effective in your classroom? *Actions you were able to

do without approval from or cooperation from your school administration.

• What actions or habits have you used to reduce your stress and/or give you more

time and energy to devote to your family, friends, and self-care?

• What activities (including professional development) have you done to reduce

your workload or work-related stress?

The next question asked respondents to rate 15 specific strategies using these

ratings: Never used, used but not helpful, somewhat helpful, quite helpful, very helpful.

The list of strategies included self-care strategies, professional practices, professional

development, and reflective practices. These strategies were gleaned from stress-

reduction research (Anderson, Levinson, Barker, & Kiewra, 1999; Greenberg, 2011;

Harris, 2011), research showing that classroom management instruction increased teacher

satisfaction (Ingersoll & Strong, 2011; Ross, Romer, & Horner, 2012), classroom

discipline programs (Nelsen, 2006, p.7), and specific strategies offered in Montessori

publications (Cichucki, 2004). The remaining strategies address other challenges cited in

research of factors influencing teacher retention (Adams, 2010; Hale-Jinks, Knopf &

Kemple, 2006; Harris, 2011; Nance & Calabrese, 2009; Sass, Seal, & Martin, 2011).

This survey also asked for the length of time respondents had spent in a Montessori

classroom.

Invitations to participate were sent to online Montessori educator groups, my own

larger international Montessori network, and directors at 22 Montessori schools in Utah

and Idaho. I also asked all those invited to forward the survey to Montessori peers. The

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invitation letter and online post wording is provided in Appendix A. This survey included

a request to participate in a short follow-up survey and a follow-up interview. The

content of this survey is reproduced in Appendix B. The format was slightly different due

to the structure of the SurveyMonkey program.

Follow-up Surveys and Interviews

In order to attempt to determine which strategies would be most valuable based

on how effective the respondents were at creating more life satisfaction while staying

effective in the classroom, the follow-up survey consisted of a self-assessment and an

identical assessment to be completed by a peer. The survey requested that participants ask

a peer to complete the same assessment from his or her perspective of having observed

the participant. The participants, and their self-selected peers, were asked to rate how

frequently the respondents practiced effective strategies as well as how often they

actually were satisfied with their lives. The following questions were used:

• I make it a priority to carve out time for friends, family, and for my own personal

time.

• I make it a priority to take self-care time and to regularly do activities that

improve my health and reduce my stress.

• I am effective in taking charge of my own time and life satisfaction.

• I am satisfied or very satisfied with my life.

The respondent was asked to rate each question using one of these responses:

Almost always, usually, frequently, sometimes, almost never. The same questions were

used to survey the respondent’s peer, changed in form only to reflect that the person was

evaluating a peer.

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This survey also included questions requesting the respondents to rate which

strategies they found to be most helpful of all in improving their personal satisfaction in

order to allow me to correlate the strategies with the degree of success each respondent

had maintaining personal satisfaction. This list of strategies was a combination of

specific strategies rated in the first survey, together with additional strategies provided by

respondents in the open-response items section of the first survey. These strategies were

divided into two groups: general strategies and specific strategies. General strategies were

options such as

• enough sleep,

• healthy meals,

• regular time with family and/or friends, and

• effective paper-based record-keeping system.

Specific strategies included items such as

• going to bed and/or getting up at a certain time,

• buying materials rather than making them,

• scheduling specific days or times with family and/or friends, and

• written plan for activities for the year.

This survey provided data source 2 (self-assessment) and data source 3 (peer assessment).

The content of this survey, and the email to potential respondents, is reproduced in

Appendix C. The format was slightly different due to the structure of the SurveyMonkey

program. Though the controls on the responses were very loose, this data source provided

an additional check on the validity of the strategies offered other than simply the

subjective judgment of the respondents.

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In order to flesh out the strategies discovered through the surveys, I conducted

follow-up interviews. These provided data source 4. Those conversations allowed me to

clear up questions about some strategies offered on the surveys as well as to elicit

additional strategies not listed in the surveys. The questions used in these interviews are

reproduced in Appendix D.

Reading online Montessori teacher discussion boards for strategies already offered,

and informal discussions with other Montessori professionals, provided an additional,

low-key, way to check for more strategies and to check for duplication of strategies

suggested in data sources 1 and 4. This information provided data source 5.

The survey structure and other data sources were chosen in part to narrow down the

potentially helpful strategies to those that most reliably made a significant difference for

a wide range of Montessori educators. Because the ultimate goal for gathering the

information was to pass on the most effective practices to other Montessori educators,

each successive step was designed to refine the list from effective to most effective and

most widely effective strategies. For this reason, strategies selected by participants whose

self-assessment of life satisfaction and peer review of this trait were both high were

weighted more heavily than strategies offered by those with lower satisfaction scores.

Also, strategies that showed up in at least two of data sources 1, 4, and 5, were given

additional weight in evaluating which strategies were most successful.

Analysis of Data Overview

The results of the surveys and interviews conducted to discover successful

strategies for Montessori educators to improve their satisfaction with their lives provided

a long list of options and a short list of methods that appear to have been exceptionally

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useful to a large number of people. The complete list of the most popular options (see

Appendix E), along with the full list of other helpful approaches (see Appendix F), offers

a total of over 100 reasonably distinct strategies. Explained in detail below, all of these

possibilities are included in the results for several reasons. Respondents indicated a wide

range of favorite preferences along with a tendency, at least for some individuals, to

choose to use many different strategies. Though this study was designed to identify a few

widely useful options, the results also pointed out that sets of circumstances of

Montessori educators vary so widely that it was not valuable to limit the discoveries to

only one-size-fits-all possibilities. For these reasons, both the short and the long lists of

strategies may prove useful to help Montessori educators succeed in this area.

Though many strategies were popular, 8 proved to be extremely popular and 19

others were also highly valued by many participants and especially by those who

indicated a consistently high level of life satisfaction in the follow-up survey. The

strategies were given additional popularity weight in four ways. Weight was added by

• the number of times it was suggested in the open-response portion of the

initial survey and in the follow-up interviews,

• the percentage of high ratings it received if it was on the list in the initial

survey,

• the percentage of times it was chosen if it was on the lists in the follow-up

survey, and

• the popularity among follow-up survey participants judged to be very satisfied

with their lives by their self-assessment and by their peer assessment (when

available).

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Based on these results, the most helpful strategies of all in the area of self-care were

• regular exercise,

• getting enough sleep,

• eating healthy meals, and

• setting a specific time for exercise, nature time, or hobbies.

Other top strategies were

• regular time with family and/or friends,

• setting priorities and deleting non-essential tasks,

• writing down priorities and/or task lists, and

• delegating.

Though more study is needed to confirm or disprove this possibility, some self-care

options seemed to be of a “chose one” nature. In the next level of effective choices, some

items such as mindfulness activities, hobbies, and time outside with nature or time with

pets seemed to cover the same need for different educators. It was rare that a participant

did not favor one of those options, but most chose only one or occasionally two for their

own top picks. Other consistent favorites for self-care and social experience were

• positive attitude,

• going to bed and/or getting up at a certain time,

• taking extended time completely off with no school work, and

• scheduling specific days or times with family and/or friends.

In the categories of time management and other professional practices, effective activities

included

• setting realistic professional goals,

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• scheduling a specific time to leave school and/or arriving early,

• not taking work home or limiting work done there,

• organizing and reusing units and/or materials on a 1-3 year rotation,

• asking for help when needed,

• attending Montessori conferences, and

• general professional development activities.

Initial Survey of Montessori Educator Strategies

Respondent and survey response details.

Though 84 people started the survey, only 77 completed all or most of the

questions. The adjusted number of participants, and the adjusted percentage given for

each group based on classroom experience, refer to these 77 individuals (see Table 1).

Except for 1 person, all of those 77 completed Question 5 which asks participants to rate

strategies for their helpfulness in providing more time for personal life activities and in

promoting greater feelings of general satisfaction. That individual did answer the open

response questions 2-4, so was included in the following breakdown of participants. The

surveys of the 7 people who answered only the first question asking how many years they

spent in a Montessori classroom were deleted from the results. Of the responses counted,

just over half were from educators with over 10 years in the classroom, and 90% (69

individuals) had 4 or more years teaching experience. Of the 10% (8 individuals) of

respondents with less than 4 years experience, 5% (4 individuals) had less than 1 year and

the other 5% had spent 1.5 to 3 years in the classroom. The second largest group, 27%

(21 individuals), reported 4-6 years experience, and those with 7-10 years in the

Montessori classroom made up 12% (9 individuals) of the total.

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Table 1.

Participants in the Initial Survey

Years in classroom

Number of Individuals

No answers Q2-5

Adjusted number

Adjusted percentage

0-1 4 0 4 5.19%

1.5-3 7 3 4 5.19%

4-6 21 0 21 27.27%

7-10 10 1 9 11.68%

More than 10 42 3 39 50.64%

Total 84 7 77 99.97%

Though the survey did not ask for gender or location, email addresses provided by

those willing to participate in survey follow-up indicated that most respondents were in

the Unites States, though a few had email addresses suggesting they were in other

countries. Based solely on first names provided, the group appeared to be

overwhelmingly female though there were at least 2 male participants.

The first three open-response questions were answered by 73 respondents

(question 2) and 74 respondents (questions 3 and 4). In those responses, anywhere from 0

to over a dozen strategies were submitted. Most commonly, 2 to 4 strategies were listed

in each entry. Very few people did not list at least one strategy for each question, but a

few responses indicated that some participants did not believe they were doing very well

in this area. One typical response in this category was, “I don't know that I have done

22

anything specifically which is probably why I'm having issues with my own personal

happiness.”

The responses ranged from very general such as, “Just being organised (sic) and

managing my time better” to very specific and probably limited in application to the

larger community of Montessori educators, “Acquired multiple rescue dogs”, to a mix of

both, “Prayer. Special time with family. Hobbies.” Because the number of strategies

provided by each individual varied so widely in the open response questions, no

percentage data was tabulated. The responses were listed, combining similar strategies

into a single representative response, and the number of times each response was given in

the open response questions was tallied.

The purpose of this study is more to begin to assemble a set of widely effective

strategies than to discover precisely how prevalent specific strategies are in the

Montessori community. With this goal in mind, the tally was chosen to assign weight to

each strategy listed by the participants before they were given a list of strategies to rate.

A few people did list the same strategy more than once, repeating answers from one

question to the next, but this was rare. Since this could indicate this was a very important

strategy for that person, no tallies were subtracted for duplication.

23

Table 2.

Strategies Ratings in the Initial Survey

Strategies to rate Never used

Used but not helpful

Some-what

helpful

Quite helpful

Very helpful

Enough sleep 0% 0% 4% 25% 71% Healthy meals 0% 3% 10% 26% 61% Mindfulness activities 9% 4% 17% 24% 46% Regular exercise 2% 1% 13% 24% 60% Studying classroom management 1% 3% 21% 34% 41% Studying student productivity 3% 7% 22% 33% 35% Improving communication 0% 3% 17% 33% 47% Regular time - family and/or friends 0% 0% 8% 25% 67% Setting realistic professional goals 1% 3% 8% 32% 56% Setting priorities 1% 3% 12% 21% 63% Delegating 3% 5% 25% 29% 38% Electronic record-keeping system 37% 15% 13% 13% 22% Paper-based record-keeping system 1% 8% 23% 37% 31% Other organization strategies 3% 5% 21% 28% 43% Reflecting on professional successes 11% 4% 20% 35% 30%

Question 5 asked the survey-takers to rate each of 15 strategies on a Likert scale

based on their helpfulness in improving life satisfaction (see Table 2). The responses

indicated that, with only one exception, all 15 strategies listed had been at least quite

helpful to a majority of the participants. Only electronic record-keeping gained fewer

than 50% quite helpful or very helpful ratings. It is important to note that this is also the

only choice with the highest number of never used ratings. Since over a third of the

respondents (37%) never used this tool, it must be considered separately from the

strategies already tested out by a large majority of the educators. All other strategies were

rated as quite helpful or very helpful by at least 65% of those answering this question and

24

7 of the 15 strategies received one of those top two ratings by 84% of respondents.

Because so many strategies were so popular, the tallies of strategies from the open-

response questions were useful to sort out the approaches educators found most helpful of

all in improving their life satisfaction. The high popularity of a wide range of strategies

also influenced the structure of the follow-up survey. By limiting the number of strategies

respondents were asked to select in that survey, the list of top ideas was narrowed down

further by analyzing the results of that second survey.

Sharing this information with already busy educators will, in itself, require some

of their time. For this reason alone, it was important to uncover a limited number of

strategies that had been extremely helpful to a many different Montessori educators. This

would make it more likely that time they spent learning new strategies, and figuring out

how to put them into practice, would provide them with a significant boost in life

satisfaction within a reasonable amount of time. At the same time, I also wanted to

quickly collect as complete a list as possible of effective strategies in this area. The last

strategy question of the survey asked for any additional recommendations, including

specific programs, books, and strategies. The strategies from this question were added to

the tally list started by compiling the responses to questions 2 to 4. Not surprisingly, after

three opportunities to share strategies in open-response items and rating 15 strategies,

only about half the respondents (36) chose to answer this final content question. The last

three items on this survey asked for a name, an email address, and the ways respondents

wanted to participate further. The options for follow-up were

• a short follow-up survey,

• a follow-up interview,

25

• receiving results of the research by email, and

• scheduling an in-service presentation.

The action plan for this project will be a follow-up study that includes sharing the

successful strategy information at in-service presentations in schools and measuring the

effectiveness of sharing this information in improving the life satisfaction of participating

Montessori educators. Respondents to this initial survey were told that the results would

not be shared until after the follow-up study was complete. Of the 51 individuals who

agreed to participate further, 47 requested that the results of the study be sent to them by

email. This level of interest helped validate the need for doing this research and

implementing action plans based on the results.

Initial survey results.

The open-response questions provided participants a chance to volunteer their

favorite strategies unprompted by a selection of choices. Though the actions listed in

these items primarily added weight to those particular strategies, along with their

inclusion in other survey and interview responses, some interesting specifics also

emerged from this form of response. Whereas choices provided by a researcher need to

be limited and slanted toward wide appeal, the open-response questions brought out

many useful specifics. Though non-specified exercise was listed very frequently, along

with several exercise activities mentioned only once or twice, yoga was listed 22 times in

these items. Exercise of any kind was by far the most common category of strategy listed

in the open-response questions at 45 mentions. All the different kinds of hobbies

(including art, crafts, music, and recreational reading) combined were suggested 32

times. Another important idea strategy was scaling back on goals and resisting

26

perfectionist tendencies. This kind of thinking was mentioned 10 times and, especially if

folded in with a strategy of setting realistic professional goals, offers an important way

for educators to balance self-care with high professional expectations. Attending

Montessori conferences, including as a presenter, was suggested 15 times. Table 3,

shown below after discussions of the follow-up survey and interviews, shows the top

strategies along with how they were given weight through both surveys and interviews.

Follow-up Survey of Montessori Educator Strategies

Respondent and survey response details.

In the initial survey, 32 respondents indicated they would be willing to complete a

follow-up survey. An invitation to participate in this survey was sent out by email to

these people (see appendix C). This invitation included a copy of the first 8 questions on

this survey, including the first 4 questions intended to be answered by a peer of the

respondent. When the number of responses to this survey remained low for a few days, I

sent out a reminder email asking people to fill out the survey even if they did not have

time to ask a peer to fill out part of it. For this reason, and because several respondents

were no longer in the classroom and did not feel they had easy access to a peer to

evaluate them in this way, only 21 of the 29 responses included a set of peer evaluations.

Also, two responses were apparently peers who filled out only the first four questions and

one response did not include the strategies choices questions. This brought the total

number of people who entered answers into the survey to 31, but only the 28 responses

that included the choosing-strategies questions were considered in response percentages.

Fortunately, I only used the peer responses to validate positive self-appraisals and the two

sets of responses that gave only peer responses were both essentially positive.

27

As stated above, this study is about uncovering successful strategies, not

evaluating the success of the population of Montessori educators in this area. The first

eight questions were designed to gain an initial indication of any differences between the

kind of strategies favored by educators who feel more satisfied with their lives and those

chosen by educators who feel less satisfied. Most peer responses were very close to the

self-appraisal responses. It is important to remember that most participants at least had

the opportunity to see their peers’ answers and this may have influenced their own

selections. A better survey design would allow peers to answer completely separately and

anonymously, perhaps entering a code provided by the original respondent, so that the

responses could be kept private but still matched up by the researcher. Even with the

potential flaws of this design and the self-selected participants, some interesting patterns

did emerge based on the answers of respondents who indicated they were satisfied with

their lives most of the time as compared with those respondents who claim less frequent

satisfaction. For this reason, these questions do lend a degree of validity to the responses

given in the follow-up survey.

In addition to the peer appraisal and self-appraisal questions, the respondents were

asked to choose only three general strategies and three specific strategies they had found

to be most helpful in creating satisfaction in their personal lives in the context of working

as a Montessori classroom professional. All of the strategies offered were from the

original survey, including the open-response questions. The two purposes of the strategy

questions were to narrow the list of strategies to the top choices most useful to the most

people and to check these choices against the respondent’s level of life satisfaction.

28

Follow-up survey results.

Though this survey was not designed to measure levels of personal satisfaction in

the Montessori community, and the survey’s design and small sampling would not be

effective to do so, a general overview of the life satisfaction questions gives context to

the rest of the results. Most of the responses to questions 1-8 indicated the participants

experienced high life satisfaction, and practiced strategies to promote it, a good deal of

the time. However, particularly in the areas of carving out time for one’s social circle and

for oneself, the results were mixed. Peers rated 63% of their colleagues as either almost

always or usually carving out time for friends, family, and self while 65% of respondents

gave themselves those high ratings. However, peers said 19% of their associates only do

this sometimes or almost never and 7% of self-assessments had the same low ratings.

Self-care fared even worse with peers rating only 53% of their colleagues as practicing it

almost always or usually and 25% managing effective self-care just sometimes or almost

never. Self-assessment of frequency of self-care was similar in that 52% of respondents

rated themselves as making this a priority almost always or usually but 28% only

accomplish it sometimes or almost never.

Despite the large number of respondents who slighted these areas, the over-all

questions that asked if the person or peer was satisfied or very satisfied with life were

quite positive. Peers rated 76% of respondents as almost always or usually satisfied and

self-assessments were even higher with 86% of participants claiming the two top ratings.

Only 6 of the 29 survey subjects rated themselves as being satisfied only frequently or

were rated by their peers as being satisfied with life only frequently or even just

sometimes (only one peer appraisal).

29

Some strategies were clearly favored by those with higher life satisfaction ratings.

All 10 follow-up subjects who selected positive attitude were rated as being satisfied

almost always or usually and 67% of those (6 individuals) with an almost always rating

of satisfaction included positive attitude in their choices. This, of course, brings up the

question of whether a positive attitude supports higher life satisfaction or is just an

indicator that some people will tend to rate themselves highly as part of their strategy of

thinking positively. Other strategies favored by those with very high satisfaction ratings

include

• getting enough sleep;

• setting a specific time or times for exercise, nature time, or hobbies;

• setting and writing down priorities; and

• asking for help when they need it.

This group also tended to choose the following options at a slightly greater rate than their

less-satisfied contemporaries:

• regular exercise,

• taking extended time completely off with no school work, and

• general organization strategies.

The follow-up survey pointed out clearly that a wide variety of strategies worked

best for different people. When asked to pick their top three, 20 of 48 strategy choices in

the follow-up survey were chosen by only one or two respondents (11 of 24 more general

strategies and 9 of 24 more specific strategies). Though all the choices were based on

responses from the first survey, 2 general strategies and 2 specific strategies were not

chosen by any follow-up survey participants. Only 2 respondents of the 28 who answered

30

the strategies questions selected other and offered strategies that were not on the original

lists of 24 general and 24 specific strategies. This suggests that the strategies tested cover

a large share of the activities many Montessori educators have found to be most effective

in increasing their satisfaction with their lives while fulfilling their classroom

responsibilities well.

Follow-up Interviews of Montessori Educators

Participant and response details.

In the initial survey, 17 respondents indicated they would be willing to participate

in a follow-up interview. An invitation to be interviewed was sent out by email to these

people. Only 7 people responded to these emails and of those, 4 were interviewed. Other

than a few nuances of strategies already gathered from the surveys, the interview

responses mostly simply reinforced the importance of the most popular strategies in the

surveys. For this reason, I decided not to attempt to recruit additional interview

participants. Since more information on successful strategies will be gathered in the

action plan that will follow this study, that seemed to be the best option to gain additional

information on this topic.

31

Table 3.

Montessori Educators Top Strategies to Support Life Satisfaction

Strategy Tally: initial survey and interviews

Quite useful or higher: initial survey

Top pick: follow-up survey

Self Care, Personal Time & Internal Strategies Regular exercise 45 84% 11% Enough sleep 0 96% 57% Mindfulness activities, including meditation 26 70% 11% Hobbies 32 NA 4% Healthy meals 12 87% 18% Time outside with nature or time with pets 12 NA 21% Positive attitude 4 NA 36% Specific time for exercise, nature, or hobbies 1 NA 29% Going to bed, getting up at a certain time 2 NA 29% Taking extended time completely off 10 NA 21%

Social Time Regular time - family and/or friends 25 92% 24% Specific times with family and/or friends 5 NA 25%

Goals, Priorities, Scheduling and Planning Setting priorities, deleting non-essential tasks 6 84% 32% Setting realistic professional goals 2 88% 4% Scaling back: goals, perfectionist tendencies 10 NA 7% Writing down priorities and/or task lists 1 NA 39% Specific time to leave school; arriving early 13 NA 4% Not taking work home or limiting it 12 NA 7% Setting goals monthly, on a regular schedule 0 NA 14%

Other Professional Practices Other organization strategies 13 71% 11% Delegating 21 67% 9% Improving communication 2 80% 9% Materials organized, reused 1-3 year rotation 2 NA 25% Asking for help when you need it 3 NA 21% Computer-based planning, work 6 NA 11% Montessori conferences and refresher courses 15 NA NA Professional development 13 NA NA

32

Follow-up interview results.

Since the information from interviews mostly duplicated survey results, the

strategies mentioned in the interviews were simply given an additional tally mark on the

list of strategies gathered from the open response questions of the initial survey. In

addition to adding weight to some items on that list, there were three notable

clarifications and expansions of strategies that emerged in the interviews. First, one

interviewee offered many specific strategies, but her responses also indicated that an

important part of her success was the method she used to do all these things. She was able

to do so much because she was very good at fitting activities into small, available chunks

of time. Her replies pointed out the need to suggest that educators approach this part of

their lives strategically. For the strategies that came to light in this study to serve other

Montessori professionals, it would be important to guide them in choosing new actions

carefully and implementing them wisely. Otherwise, rather than lightening the burdens of

the Montessori classroom responsibilities, the recommendations could inadvertently add

more. This information will help shape the way participants will be asked to create

personal action plans to the implement strategies when the strategies are passed on in the

seminars of the action plan that will follow this study. This interview, especially, also

helped explain the use of some specific resources recommended in the initial survey. The

interviewee explained that an essential part of preparing for a day with her students was

reading passages from A Delicate Task or The Tao of Montessori (McTamaney, 2013;

McTamaney, 2007) with her classroom colleagues.

Second, one interview participant provided some possible reasons for the mixed

ratings of the strategy of delegating to classroom assistants and parent volunteers.

33

Though survey responses suggest that almost all Montessori educators have used this

kind of delegation (only 2 respondents said they had not), many seem to have trouble

making it work for them. Over 30% marked that this strategy had been not helpful or had

been only somewhat helpful, and only 38% found it to be very helpful. Since this

approach literally takes work away from the educator and gives it to someone else, this

seems like an area in which some coaching in using this strategy more effectively might

be valuable. The interview respondent explained that turnover of classroom assistants

was a problem but that she also felt that encouragement from administration or more

willingness on the part of the assistant to do more would help her make better use of this

resource. Because this study is confined to methods that Montessori educators can use

without cooperation from other people, perhaps this problem points out the need for lead

guides to learn ways to communicate with and train their assistants more effectively.

Finally, the interviews did point out that some important categories of life

satisfaction strategies might be easier to understand through interactive platforms rather

than simpler information delivery methods such as surveys. Some general topics, such as

spirituality, and some specific challenges came up in the interviews that did not show up

in the surveys or were only touched on in that modality. One interviewee mentioned she

missed connecting with her colleagues and that the presence of her own child at school

was a barrier to her stopping by their classrooms after student dismissal. No strategies

were suggested in the survey for managing one’s own children outside of class hours, but

when they still needed to be at the school with their parent during preparation periods.

Based on the interview information, the follow-up study will not only serve to pass on

successful strategies, but activities in the in-services will also collect additional strategies

34

and provide the opportunity for on-the-spot problem solving for challenges such as this

child care situation.

Additional Sources of Information

In addition to the surveys and interviews, some of the specific strategies included

in the surveys came from other research. The list of strategies for rating given in the

original survey came from a combination of the literature review done as a precursor to

this study, and detailed in the introduction section of this paper, as well as the author’s

study of Montessori online communities and other sources in the area of life satisfaction

and effective work habits (Allen, 2003; Covey, 1990; Covey, 1987; Dilts, 1989; Loehr &

Schwartz, 2003). All sources that were knowingly drawn upon to create the list were

included in the reference section. While conducting the surveys and interviews, some

strategies also came out of informal conversations with Montessori professionals during

the same period. In particular, the suggestion to include strategies to prepare internally

for the students arrival in the morning and to tie-up the business of the day with reflection

and a transition to personal time came from Jonathan Wolff (personal communication,

January 14, 2014).

Action Plan

Overview

The research on teacher satisfaction and retention, conducted primarily with

groups of traditional public school teachers, provided a start for the list of effective

strategies to explore for use with Montessori teachers. The revised sets of promising

strategies, based on this preliminary research, will be tested out by presenting them to a

small group of Montessori teachers in two short training sessions. The evidence that

35

these particular approaches have helped dozens of Montessori educators increases the

chance of choosing training content that will actually produce significant improvement in

teacher satisfaction for Montessori groups. It should also improve the likelihood that

those receiving this training will have enough confidence in the strategies taught to put in

the effort necessary to change habits and apply their learning. These training sessions will

provide a foundation for future research to uncover the most effective strategies to

increase teacher satisfaction and retention in the unique Montessori education community

and give an initial read on the effectiveness of transferring this information in this format.

The action plan will include a study of two groups. At the beginning and end of

the action plan study, both groups will take surveys of “life satisfaction” and their desire

to stay in their positions as classroom educators. They would also complete self-

assessments and peer assessments of their current effectiveness. In between, I will offer

two or three short seminars to one group, sharing the strategies discussed above. The

seminars would also be made available to the group that did not originally attend them

after the measurement portion of the action plan was finished. Based on the information

gathered in these seminars, content of future seminars would be adjusted and additional

follow-up planned to provide appropriate staff support systems

Specific Implementation

Holistic Measure of Well-Being and Other Testing Measures

If we are actually going to know whether or not the solutions chosen as a starting

place to use in training interventions are effective, we must have a way to measure the

well-being of the teachers before and after they have been taught ways to improve their

levels of satisfaction. Ideally, this would be a tool that could be administered quickly to

36

allow for use in many settings and to keep from adding substantially to the required tasks

of those being studied. Fortunately, an appropriate scale is available.

The Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) has been used for over 20 years (Diener,

Emmons, Larsen, & Griffin, 1985). It is still being studied and validated by the original

authors and by other researchers (Diener, Inglehart, & Tay, 2013). This scale is in the

public domain and may be used without permission as long as credit is given to the

authors. It is available online at the University of Illinois Internal Psychology

Department website: http://internal.psychology.illinois.edu/~ediener/SWLS.html.

Besides being a valid and reliable way to measure of subjective well-being, it is also

takes less than 2 minutes to administer. This would be very helpful in settings where it is

possible to find large numbers of Montessori teachers such as annual conferences of

Montessori professional societies. Montessori is about working with the entire person.

Montessori tends to be a way of life as much as a profession. (Schaefer, 1986; Torrence,

M., 2004). When measuring the satisfaction or well-being of Montessori educators, it

would be appropriate to use a more global instrument such as the SWLS. This is the

instrument I will use in my action plan as part of measuring the effectiveness of short

seminars to increase life satisfaction while maintaining classroom effectiveness.

In addition to the SWLS, administered online, participants would also complete

brief electronic surveys to measure their desire to stay in their positions as classroom

educators and their levels of personal and professional effectiveness. At the beginning

and end of the study, they would complete self-assessments and peer assessments of their

current effectiveness in self-care, in taking charge of their personal lives, and in fulfilling

their classroom responsibilities. Results of these measurements would be used only to

37

evaluate the effectiveness of the seminars, and usefulness of this method of improving

life satisfaction of Montessori educators. They would not be shared with any individuals.

Seminar Specifics

For the groups receiving in-service presentations, these would be conducted at

Montessori schools and possibly online. Initially, after the pre-tests described above, two

seminars of approximately 90 minutes each would be conducted about one month apart.

At the end of the study period, an additional seminar might be conducted to gather more

information about how the participants’ plans were working and about additional

effective strategies they discovered. Though the timeframe may change based on

feedback from study participants, post-tests would be conducted 2 months and 4 months

after the last seminar was held. If the summer break from school occurred in that time, an

additional post-test might be done 1 or 2 months after school was back in session.

In the first seminar, participants would be asked to generate and share their own

effective strategies and any specific needs or barriers they encountered that kept them

from using good strategies they already knew. The top strategies from this research

would be presented in an experiential format (see Table 3). Attendees would complete a

starting action plan and share it with peers.

At the second seminar, the participants would work together to reevaluate their

first action plans and share any difficulties they had implementing them as well as any

gaps they noticed or strategies they had been using fully but that had not been effective.

In this seminar, the full list of additional effective strategies would be offered along with

ways to use the list to generate their own new possibilities. Particularly if the group

indicated that the strategies they were consistently implementing were not bringing about

38

the desired results, they would be encouraged to include opposite strategies in their

updated plans. For instance, if working through lunch in order to make it easier to leave

school at a reasonable hour was not working, they would be asked to choose a strategy

such as taking a true break at lunch and not doing work during that time or choosing

other times in the week to take a complete break from any school responsibilities. All

those attending the seminars would also be asked to set up accountability partners to help

them implement their chosen strategies. Educators who found it particularly difficult to

stick by their original plans would be strongly encouraged to work with partners to

implement their revised plans effectively.

Additional Research Suggestions

As mentioned above, this research into effective strategies is preliminary. In

addition to the new information that will come to light in the action plan described here,

other forms of research into the effective life satisfaction strategies of Montessori

educators will help retention of these essential professionals. Given the wide range of

circumstance in this profession, research specific to public school Montessori educators,

as well as other subgroups, would help Montessori administrators and training

professionals support their employees and trainees to improve this key skill set.

As mentioned in the discussion of the follow-up interview results, one potential

difficulty that emerged was that some participants probably were not as skilled as they

could be in strategies such as delegation and possibly communication with and training of

their classroom assistants. Research into some of the more complex skill strategies, such

as these, could also benefit Montessori educators and help them improve their practice.

39

Like the traditional teachers who have been the subject of so much research, it is

likely that there are important influences on Montessori teacher retention that are outside

the scope of this research. Some of these are discussed in the introduction to this project.

This is another area that would be very beneficial to research. Particularly since it will

almost certainly involve some expense to increase Montessori teacher retention, we need

to know which factors will do the most good. Also, if Montessori teachers take the

initiative to implement as many satisfaction-increasing strategies as they can that are

completely within their control, they will be in a better position to ask Montessori

administrators to do their part within their sphere of influence. If these efforts are

successful, the ultimate winners will be the children who will benefit from happier, more

effective Montessori teachers who stay in the profession long enough to become

exceedingly effective.

40

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Appendix A Email invitation to participate: As part of earning my Masters of Education at St. Catherine University, I am studying life satisfaction strategies of Montessori educators. You may reach me at shzink@stkate.edu. My survey on SurveyMonkey is designed to poll Montessori educators to find out ways they have created more satisfaction in their personal lives while staying effective in the classroom. I am researching strategies that have allowed Montessori educators to have sufficient time available outside their classroom responsibilities as well as any other strategies that help them feel they are more generally satisfied. I have over 20 years experience in the Montessori classroom. I recognize that, for most Montessori professionals, strategies to cut down the workload must not diminish the essential roles they play in an effective Montessori classroom. If you are willing to help me gather and, eventually, share this information with the Montessori community, please take my survey here: Montessori Educator Strategies Survey Survey and Research Details This survey should take you about 7-15 minutes to complete, depending upon how much you share in the open-response questions. If you would like to receive the results of this research via email, please provide your name and email address at the end of the survey. Results will not be sent out until after a follow-up research project to measure the results of sharing this information has been completed. If you you are willing to participate in a short follow-up survey (requiring about 5 minutes of your time and 5 minutes for a colleague to complete) and/or a short (5-15 minute) phone interview, please indicate that on the survey as well or in a reply to this email. For those of you interested in action research, this is my specific research question: According to experienced Montessori educators, which self-managed strategies (actions they can do without approval from or cooperation with administration) have created more satisfaction in their personal lives while allowing them to stay effective in the classroom? If you are one of my St. Kate’s peers, and I already invited you, please forgive the repeat invitation. If you have already completed the survey - Thank you! School Directors and Montessori Community Leaders If you are the Director or Head of a Montessori school, I would really appreciate you passing this invitation on to your classroom educators (leads as well as assistants). If you might be interested in me teaching a short in-service presentation for your faculty and staff in Utah or Idaho, to share the results of this research (free of charge for presentations done in stage 2 of my research project), please reply to this email and I will

contact you about arranging one. Please note that this research is about strategies educators can use in any school setting and with any set of administrative policies. Though I certainly believe administrators have an important role in improving the personal satisfaction of educators at their schools, the most reliable strategies are those that an individual is able to manage without relying on outside cooperation. Please pass this on to any present or former Montessori classroom educators you know. Why This Research is Important This information is important to gather, understand, and pass on to Montessori educators in danger of leaving the profession unless they feel satisfied with their lives in and out of the classroom. The implications of not addressing this problem are documented by extensive research conducted primarily on traditional teachers but that can reasonably be applied to most Montessori teachers as well. Teacher retention is a serious issue in education today. Though data is not available on Montessori teacher retention, it is a well-studied area in traditional education. Between 40% and 50% of new teachers leave teaching within 5 years. In many Montessori schools, the school actually pays for the Montessori teacher training program. Though the schools typically require a commitment to teach for a number of years before undertaking this expense, the cost is still substantial (approximately $12,000 to $16,000 for the elementary level). This is a substantial investment that is lost by a school when a teacher leaves. In additional, another trained teacher must be recruited or a suitable candidate must be found and sent to training. In 2013, the demand for certified Montessori teachers with MACTE accredited training far exceeded the supply. One reason that teacher satisfaction is so important is that it is the most influential factor in retention. Job satisfaction is the strongest influence in retention of first-year teachers and the same elements that cause teachers to feel satisfied in their work also play an essential role in their decisions to stay in teaching or to leave it. Due Dates Please note that the main survey will close on January 19th and that only those who respond by January 16th will be eligible to participate in follow-up communication and complimentary in-service programs sharing the results. Thank you, Souzzann Zink St. Catherine University MA Ed Candidate Another Way School, Director of Education

Invitation to participate posted on Facebook and email list-serve If you are, or have been, a Montessori classroom educator, please consider taking my research survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/3JMHCTH As part of my requirements to earn my Masters of Education at St. Catherine University in their Montessori-based program, I am studying life satisfaction strategies of Montessori educators. My survey on SurveyMonkey is designed to poll Montessori educators to find out ways they have created more satisfaction in their personal lives while staying effective in the classroom. If you are willing to help me gather and, eventually, share this information with the Montessori community, here is another link to my survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/3JMHCTH The goal of my study is to discover strategies that Montessori professionals use to make sure they have sufficient time available outside their classroom responsibilities as well as any other strategies that help them improve their life satisfaction. I have over 20 years experience in the Montessori classroom. I recognize that, for most Montessori professionals, strategies to cut down the workload must not diminish the essential roles they play in an effective Montessori classroom. This information is important to gather, understand, and pass on to Montessori educators in danger of leaving the profession unless they feel satisfied with their lives in and out of the classroom. This survey should take you about 7-15 minutes to complete, depending upon how much you share in the open-response questions. Please note that the main survey will close on January 19th and that only those who respond by January 16th will be eligible to participate in follow-up communication. I really appreciate everyone who takes the time to participate!

Appendix B

Original Survey on SurveyMonkey

Page 1 This survey is designed to discover ways experienced Montessori educators have created more satisfaction in their personal lives while staying effective in the classroom. This information is important to gather, understand, and pass on to Montessori educators in danger of leaving the profession unless they feel satisfied with their lives in and out of the classroom. My name is Souzzann Zink. As part of earning my Masters of Education at St. Catherine University in their Montessori-based program, I am studying life satisfaction strategies of Montessori educators. You may reach me at shzink@stkate.edu. Using this survey along with follow-up interviews with some educators, and other information, I hope to find out more about how Montessorians carve out sufficient time to devote to their lives outside their classroom responsibilities. Because my preliminary research indicates that the way educators spend their work time and personal time can also help them feel more generally satisfied with their lives, I am looking for those kinds of strategies that also help. Page 2 The survey starts with 3 open-response questions and continues with a list of 15 strategies you will be asked to rate according to how effective each has been in helping you feel more satisfied with your life. The last 2 items will give you a chance to offer any additional specific recommendations, or other comments you wish to add, and to provide your contact information if you wish to participate in follow-up communication on this topic. Your individual responses will remain private and will be shared only as accumulated data in percentages for specific responses and collated lists of suggested strategies. If you would like to receive the results of this research via email, and/or participate in short follow-up surveys or phone interviews, please provide your contact information in the last survey item. Completion of this survey is voluntary. By completing this survey, you are giving your consent to participate in this study. Completing this survey is completely voluntary and you may quit at any time. Page 3 1. How many years have you spent in a Montessori classroom? 0-1 1.5-3 4-6 7-10 More than 10

The follow three questions are open-response: • What self-managed strategies* have you used to create more satisfaction in your

personal life while staying effective in your classroom? *Actions you were able to do without approval from or cooperation from your school administration

• What actions or habits have you used to reduce your stress and/or give you more time

and energy to devote to your family, friends, and self-care? • What activities (including professional development) have you done to reduce your

workload or work-related stress? Page 4 Question 5 - Please rate each strategy below based on its helpfulness in providing you with more time to spend on things other than your classroom responsibilities and/or to help you feel more generally satisfied with your life. Never used - weight is 0 Used but not helpful - weight is 0 Somewhat helpful - weight is 1 Quite helpful - weight is 2 Very helpful - weight is 3 a. Getting more/enough sleep b. Eating healthy meals c. Practicing mindfulness activities such as meditation, contemplative prayer, and

breathing techniques d. Doing regular exercise activities e. Reading, viewing videos, or attending classes to improve your professional practice

in the area of classroom management or maintaining a respectful atmosphere in your classroom

f. Reading, viewing videos, or attending classes to improve your professional practice in the area of improving student productivity in the classroom (motivating students, helping students master challenging concepts)

g. Improving communication with administration and/or peers h. Regularly setting time aside for social or family activities i. Setting realistic professional goals j. Setting priorities and/or cutting down time spent on non-essential tasks k. Effectively delegating tasks to paraprofessionals (classroom assistants and other

classroom employees) and/or parent volunteers l. Using an effective electronic record-keeping system for classroom observations

and/or student progress m. Using an effective paper-based record-keeping system for classroom observations

and/or student progress n. Practicing other effective organization strategies o. Deliberately spending time reflecting on your professional successes

Question 6 - Please add any additional recommendations, or other comments, here. If you have specific programs, books, exercise routines, family time habits, or other suggestions, please share them below. (open-response) Page 5 Questions 7 & 8 - If you would like to receive the results of this research via email, please provide your name and email address below. Results will not be sent out until after a follow-up research project to measure the results of sharing this information has been completed. If you you are willing to participate in a short follow-up survey (requiring about 5 minutes of your time and 5 minutes for a colleague to complete) and a short (5-15 minute) phone interview, please indicate that here as well. (fields to enter name and email address) Question 9 - How would you like to participate further? (Please check all that apply.) Short follow-up survey Follow-up interview Receive results of research via email Schedule an in-service presentation at our school (Utah and Idaho only) Page 6 Thank you for your participation and your support of Montessori education research!

Appendix C Follow-up Email This short follow-up survey will require about 5 minutes of your time and 5 minutes for a colleague to complete questions based on his or her perceptions of you. It will consist of the questions below. You may collect your peer’s response first. (You would print out the form and ask your peer to mark it and give it back to you.) You may also pull up the survey on SurveyMonkey and ask your peer to mark his or her responses in the first section, before you enter your responses. Here is the link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/FollowupMontessoriEducatorStrategies Please reply to this email if you are also willing to do a short (5-15 minute) phone interview. Include what times and days you are available in the next week (after 6 Eastern time, weekdays, or this coming weekend.) I will then make an appointment by email to speak with you briefly on the phone (or possibly in person, if you live in Utah.) Peer-Assessment of Life Satisfaction and Use of Satisfaction-improving Strategies Please rate your peer in the following areas based on your own observations and the information your peer has shared with you over time: 1. My peer makes it a priority to carve out time for friends, family, and for personal time. ❒ Almost always ❒ Usually ❒ Frequently ❒ Sometimes ❒ Almost never 2. My peer makes it a priority to take self-care time and to regularly do activities that

improve health and reduce stress. ❒ Almost always ❒ Usually ❒ Frequently ❒ Sometimes ❒ Almost never 3. My peer is effective in taking charge of his/her time and life satisfaction. ❒ Almost always ❒ Usually ❒ Frequently ❒ Sometimes ❒ Almost never 4. My peer is satisfied or very satisfied with his/her life. ❒ Almost always ❒ Usually ❒ Frequently ❒ Sometimes ❒ Almost never Self-Assessment of Life Satisfaction and Use of Satisfaction-improving Strategies Please rate yourself in the following areas: 5. I make it a priority to carve out time for friends, family, and for my own personal time. ❒ Almost always ❒ Usually ❒ Frequently ❒ Sometimes ❒ Almost never 6. I make it a priority to take self-care time and to regularly do activities that improve my

health and reduce my stress. ❒ Almost always ❒ Usually ❒ Frequently ❒ Sometimes ❒ Almost never 7. I am effective in taking charge of my own time and life satisfaction. ❒ Almost always ❒ Usually ❒ Frequently ❒ Sometimes ❒ Almost never 8. I am satisfied or very satisfied with my life. ❒ Almost always ❒ Usually ❒ Frequently ❒ Sometimes ❒ Almost never

It will also include questions asking you to mark the 3 general strategies and 3 specific strategies you have found to be most helpful of all in improving your satisfaction with your life outside the classroom. Follow-up Survey on SurveyMonkey

The survey itself consisted of the questions above and the following: 9. Please choose the 3 general strategies you have found to be most helpful to create

more satisfaction in your personal life (including giving you more time and energy to devote to your family, friends, and self-care) while staying effective in your classroom.

Self Care & Personal Time Enough sleep Healthy meals Mindfulness activities Regular exercise Time outside with nature or time with pets Hobbies (art, crafts, music, recreational reading, etc.) Positive attitude Social Time Regular time with family and/or friends Social time with professional colleagues Travel Volunteering and community organizations Goals, Priorities, Scheduling and Planning Setting realistic professional goals Setting priorities and/or deleting non-essential tasks Simplifying and/or choosing a minimalist approach Scaling back on goals and/or perfectionist tendencies Other Professional Practices Reading, videos, or classes to improve classroom management/respectful behavior Reading, videos, or classes to improve student productivity Reading books by Maria Montessori Improving communication with administration and/or peers Delegating (other school employees, parents, students) Organization, Record-keeping & Reflection Effective electronic record-keeping system Effective paper-based record-keeping system Other organization strategies Reflecting on your day, individual students, and/or professional successes Other___________

10. Please choose the 3 specific strategies you found most helpful to create more

satisfaction in your personal life (including giving you more time and energy to devote to your family, friends, and self-care) while staying effective in your classroom.

Self Care & Personal Time Going to bed and/or getting up at a certain time Taking a break at lunch time and not working through it Setting a specific time or times for exercise, nature, or hobbies Taking extended time completely off, doing no school work Watching a movie while doing low-attention tasks such as cutting out materials Social Time Scheduling specific days or times with family and/or friends Planning specific activities, possibly out of the home, with family and/or friends Goals, Priorities, Scheduling and Planning Setting goals monthly, or on another regular schedule Writing down priorities and/or task lists Scheduling a specific time to leave school and/or arriving early Not taking work home or limiting the times work is done at home Working through lunch or other doubling-up strategies to finish work during school hours Written plan for activities for the year Choosing a school setting that offers light traffic or a short commute Other Professional Practices Specific books or systems for classroom practices Saying “no” to additional responsibilities at school Systematic delegation plan for specific tasks Asking for help when you need it Using computer-based planning, communication, materials, etc. Buying materials rather than making them Finding and sticking with reliable sources of information or materials Units and/or materials organized and reused on a 1-3 year rotation Doing specific inner preparation practices before students arrive End of school day routines to finish up at school and shift gears to home life Other___________

Appendix D

Interview Questions These are the questions asked to clarify and gather specifics about the effective strategies shared. I also asked follow-up questions based on answers given. 1. What self-managed strategies* have you used to create more satisfaction in your

personal life while staying effective in your classroom? (*Actions you were able to do without approval from or cooperation from your school administration)

2. What actions or habits have you used to reduce your stress and/or give you more time and energy to devote to your family, friends, and self-care?

3. What activities (including professional development) have you done to reduce your workload or work-related stress?

4. Do you have any additional recommendations, or other comments? If you have specific programs, books, exercise routines, family time habits, or other suggestions, please share them.

5. What has been most helpful of all in this area?

6. If you could share only one or two recommendations with all Montessori educators, what would they be?

7. What have you thought might be really helpful in carving out more time or improving your satisfaction that you have not yet used? What has kept you from using it?

8. What do you feel like you could use the most help with in this area?

Appendix E

Top Strategies Respondents Found Helpful The strategies below were either suggested or recommended by 10 or more individuals, were in the top 10 strategies respondents were asked to rate in the first survey, and/or were validated by being chosen by at least 24% of respondents in the follow-up survey. The strategies are grouped by topics and ranked in order from most to least popular.

Self Care, Personal Time & Internal Strategies • Regular exercise • Enough sleep • Mindfulness activities, including meditation • Hobbies (art, crafts, music, recreational reading, etc.) • Healthy meals • Time outside with nature or time with pets • Positive attitude

Specifics

• Yoga • Setting a specific time or times for exercise, nature, or hobbies • Going to bed and/or getting up at a certain time • Taking extended time completely off, doing no school work • Prioritizing time for self; wise use of personal time • Being present or living in the moment

Social Time

• Regular time with family and/or friends • Social time with professional colleagues • Scheduling specific days or times with family and/or friends

Goals, Priorities, Scheduling and Planning

• General time management practices, working smarter • Setting priorities and/or deleting non-essential tasks • Setting realistic professional goals • Scaling back on goals and/or perfectionist tendencies

Specifics

• Writing down priorities and/or task lists • Scheduling a specific time to leave school and/or arriving early • Not taking work home or limiting the times work is done at home • Setting goals monthly, or on another regular schedule • Written plan for activities for the year, or long-term planning

Organization, Record-keeping & Reflection • Other organization strategies, includes general organization • Doing specific inner preparation practices before students arrive

Other Professional Practices

• Delegating (other school employees, parents, students, family members) • Improving communication with administration and/or peers

Specifics

• Organizing and reusing units and/or materials on a 1-3 year rotation • Asking for help when you need it • Using computer-based planning, communication, materials, etc. • Attending and/or presenting at Montessori conferences and refresher courses • General professional development/ continuing education

Appendix F

Additional Strategies Respondents Found Helpful The strategies below were either suggested or recommended by 9 or fewer individuals, were in the bottom 5 strategies respondents were asked to rate in the first survey, and were not validated by being chosen by at least 24% of respondents in the follow-up survey. The strategies are grouped by topics and ranked in order from most to least popular. Many strategies in this appendix were only submitted by one person.

Self Care, Personal Time & Internal Strategies

• Prayer and focusing on a spiritual connection • Alone time • Laughing

Specifics

• Taking a break at lunch time and not working through it • Watching a movie while doing low-attention tasks such as cutting out materials • Doing less, enjoying it more • Leaving positions (at the end of the school year) that are not a good fit • Acupuncture • Weight Watchers® • Dark chocolate • Water • Vitamins or nutritional supplements • Paying for services rather than doing them yourself • Taking the bus to provide relaxation time in transition from school to home

Social Time

• Travel • Volunteering and community organizations

Specifics

• Planning specific activities, possibly out of the home, with family and/or friends • Book club • “Pay it forward” acts of kindness • Arranging to have both couple time and family time • Updating friends and family on school then stepping away from it during home

time • Sharing an observation or story, sometimes over a glass of wine

Goals, Priorities, Scheduling and Planning

• Simplifying and/or choosing a minimalist approach • Setting intentions before interactions • Setting personal goals such as fitness

Specifics • Choosing a school setting that offers light traffic or a short commute • Working through lunch, or other doubling-up strategies, to finish work during

school hours • Checking work and marking records during class not at home or after the children

leave • Working ahead, not at the last minute • Staying caught up • Group planning • Using small moments of time • Working when children are in bed

Organization, Record-keeping & Reflection

• Reflecting on your day, individual students, and/or professional successes • Effective electronic record-keeping system • Effective paper-based record-keeping system • Living an “examined life”

Specifics School-based:

• Doing specific inner preparation practices before students arrive • Preparing the classroom for the next day before going home • Creating classroom systems that are organized and simple to maintain • Developing one’s own documentation and evaluation practices • Monthly themes with subjects sorted into 9 binders and coordinated plastic boxes • Using shipping labels for “quick notation of lesson plans and observations . . .(and

to) track progress and plan future lessons” Transitions or home-based:

• End of school day routines to finish up at school and shift gears to home life • Setting up a home office for efficient home work time • Menu planning for family meals and shopping only once a week • Cooking meals ahead in bulk

Other Professional Practices

• Improving communication with administration and/or peers • Staying inspired by Dr. Montessori • Reading, videos, or classes to improve classroom management/respectful

behavior • Reading, videos, or classes to improve student productivity • Participating in the online Montessori community

Specifics Classroom tasks strategies:

• Buying materials rather than making them • Finding and sticking with reliable sources of information or materials

• Peer tutors for reading • Showing a 30 minute cultural studies-themed video weekly • Saying “no” to additional responsibilities at school • Change the routine • Bringing subjects of personal interest into the classroom

Relationship strategies:

• General relationship building with students • General relationship building with coworkers and former coworkers • Attending birthday parties, art shows, and other events for students and peers • Connecting with other public school Montessori peers for perspective and

validation of feelings • Fully training classroom assistant and clearly defining roles and expectations • Systematic delegation plan for specific tasks • Avoiding gossip, extraneous conversations, and even the faculty lounge • Lead by example • Setting limits • Setting limits with parents • Keeping parents informed • Serving on boards and committees of Montessori organizations

Professional development strategies:

• Reading books by Maria Montessori • Reading a Montessori quotation daily • TED talks for ideas, communication, and motivation • Pinterest for ideas, communication, and motivation • Working with a mentor • Keeping up on educational innovations outside Montessori • Professional development online • Observing other teachers • Educational book club • Reading Montessori manuals other than one’s own