The Content of Today’s Music Subject Curriculum for Grades 1–3 in the Context of Montessori Education Principles

Abstract

The use of an improved curriculum and a new approach in the teaching-learning process of the comprehensive schools in Latvia determine the topicality of the study. The aim of the study is to identify the Montessori education principles and the keywords that describe them, as well as to compare them with the content of learning topics in today’s music subject curriculum for grades 1–3. The following research questions were raised to achieve this aim. RQ1: What are the Montessori education principles and the keywords that describe them? RQ2: What keywords describe the principles of Montessori education are mentioned in the content of learning topics in the music subject curriculum for grades 1–3? twenty-two academic articles that are published in the EBSCO database between 2010 and 2021 were used to define the principles of Montessori education. As a result of content analysis of the academic publications, the study identified three principles of Montessori education: Student’s discoveries and finding creative solutions, collaboration and learning by doing. The study determined the frequency of using the keywords describing the Montessori education principles in number (N) and percentage (f%) by using document analysis, content analysis, and visual representation of the relationships between the identified keywords in the word cloud. The study found that the content of learning topics in the curriculum of music subject dominated by keywords that describe the Montessori education principles, such as creativity and learning by talking. The study results provide an opportunity to understand the features that are in common between Montessori and traditional education in the content of the music subject curriculum.