Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Southeast Asia Early Childhood Journal, cilt.11, sa.1, ss.1-17, 2022 (Hakemli Dergi)
Within the scope of Montessori education system, which has been widely applied in Turkey in recent years,
“prepared environment”, “didactic materials” and “prepared adult” concepts have been frequently
emphasized. It could be asserted that behavior management at Montessori classrooms is formed and
arranged within the frame of these three basic factors. This study intends to determine the classroom
management practices of Montessori educators who work in public or private preschool institutions’ threesix-year-old early childhood departments in Turkey and how they associate these practices with classroom
management. The study was carried out in line with a phenomenological approach, one of the qualitative
research methods, and the sample is comprised of 13 Montessori educators working in 4 different
institutions located in Istanbul’s Basaksehir, Umraniye, Sancaktepe, and Sariyer districts. The data was
obtained through individual face-to-face interviews and a follow-up interview by using the questions
prepared by researchers. The findings were obtained by descriptive analysis. Data on the classroom
management practices were collected under the theme of management of misbehaviors and 18 practices
were identified under this theme. According to findings of the follow-up interview, educators associate the
practices they apply for behavior management with classroom management within the frame of the
prepared environment, prepared adult, and didactic materials. Future researchers can design studies to
compare the practices of Montessori educators and educators working in different approaches towards
misbehaviours.