EXPLORING THE SHARED PRINCIPLES OF MONTESSORI PEDAGOGY, THE CPA APPROACH, SOCIOCULTURAL THEORY, AND ECOLOGICAL TEACHER AGENCY: A CONCEPTUAL ANALYSIS

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of Montessori pedagogy, Concrete-Pictorial-Abstract (CPA) method, Sociocultural theory, and Ecological teacher agency by identifying common themes. From an analysis of each of these different, yet related frameworks, the author is then able to identify the role of different educational settings and their participant’s frameworks. This paper identifies the relation of structuring educational settings that are highly participatory, offer a great deal of flexibility, and are designed to be meaningfully engaging, as well as the role of the educator as a facilitator. This paper relies on the analysis of the existing theories, and draws their study in relation to theories that are largely constructed, elaborated, and proposed within the academic scope of sociology and educational psychology. The author finds that Sociocultural theory and pedagogical agency are largely concerned with the role of the social and cultural milieu and the educational and pedagogical practices of the educator. The author of the paper explains the range of social and cultural structures of flexible educational settings. The paper relies on the existing theoretical frameworks and suggests new, flexible, educational meanings to teaching. This does encourage the author to integrate many frameworks, as they concern teaching and learning.