Thursday, March 18, 2010

“Enriched Environments, Activity Based Learning, and Higher Order Cognitive Functions: The Neurological Case for Montessori Education”
Presented by Steven J. Hughes, Ph.D., LP, ABPdN
Thursday, March 18, 2010
6:30 - 8 p.m. (doors open at 6 p.m.)
McGuire Hall East
Light refreshments will be served

Register for this event

This event is co-sponsored by the Center for Montessori Education at Loyola University Maryland.

Lecture abstract:
Animal research over the past 60 years has conclusively shown that improved brain structure and functioning are associated with an enriched rearing environment. For lab rats, larger cages, greater numbers of cage-mates, expanded opportunities for movement, and the availability of objects to explore and manipulate produce increased brain volume and neuronal complexity, and lead to improved problem solving and wellbeing. Research addressing human development shows that many of the same principals of environmental enrichment apply for human children.

For over 100 years, Montessori educators, parents of Montessori children and Montessori children themselves have asserted that, “Montessori works!” However, why Montessori works and what it does (and whether it fully lives up to its billing) remain something of a mystery for those who have not been fully exposed to the Montessori method. For many, Montessori remains a “black box” which parents (and policy makers) are asked to accept holistically, and perhaps, as a matter of faith.

Yet, there need be no mystery: When viewed from the perspective of environmental enrichment, it is clear that Montessori education offers a profoundly enriched environment, one that may not be found in any other educational setting. This presentation will review research on the effects of enriched environments and show how Montessori’s method anticipated—by decades—all we know about optimal environments for the development of human children.

About the speaker:
Steven J. Hughes, Ph.D., LP, ABPdN, is director of Education and Research for The TOVA Company, and assistant professor of pediatrics and neurology at the University of Minnesota Medical School.

Dr. Hughes completed his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at the University of Minnesota and his post-doctoral fellowship in pediatric neuropsychology at the University of Minnesota Medical School, where he joined the faculty of the Division of Pediatric Clinical Neurosciences in 2001.

In his clinical work, he has specialized in neuropsychological assessment of children and adolescents with a wide range of learning, developmental, and medical disorders, and assisted in the supervision and training of future neuropsychologists. Himself a Montessori parent, Dr. Hughes has helped many families from the Twin Cities Montessori community understand their child’s special educational or developmental needs. He is a frequent guest lecturer at the Montessori Training Center of Minnesota and at Montessori schools around Minnesota and Wisconsin.

His research interests include measurement of attention and executive functioning in children and adults, the effects of living in poverty on child development, and the neurodevelopmental benefits of classical Montessori education.

To learn more about Dr. Hughes, visit his Web site.