The Early Childhood Montessori Pedagogy: Practices and Challenges in Pupils’ Cognitive Development in Dar es Salaam City, Tanzania

The Montessori educational method has seen great success in recent years. The media portrays this method in a very favourable light, and educators and former students have given it their enthusiastic endorsement. Promoters of this pedagogy frequently cite scientific findings. In doing so, this study aimed to (i) explore the best practices to improve the status of early childhood Montessori pedagogy in influencing pupils’ cognitive development and (ii) investigate the challenges facing Montessori pedagogy and influencing pupils’ cognitive development. The sample size consisted of 55 participants, including 12 teachers and 6 principals from six Montessori centers and 37 pupils in Dar es Salaam city. Primary data were collected through interviews and questionnaires among principals, teachers and students, while secondary data were mainly collected by reviewing relevant documents related to the study. In this study, theme content was a major data analysis approach. The findings show that the implementation of Montessori pedagogy was ineffective among the visited centres. Similarly, it was observed that the Montessori centres seem to be established for commercial purposes and do not meet the required standards. In addition, the inability of teachers to support learners, uniqueness of Montessori pedagogy, inconsistent implementation and difficulty in training teachers are some of the major challenges. This study recommends that there should be application of the work cycle, use of scaffolding methods, ensuring learners’ freedom and the use of multiage classrooms. In addition, practices such as multiage classes and freedom of the learner seem to be the best, as they offer opportunities among pupils to choose activities based on their interest. Overall, the providers of Montessori education need to improve the implementation of Montessori pedagogy specifically in the supervision and training of teachers.