Date of Award

5-2013

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Executive Leadership

Abstract

Bullying among students continues to be a problem in schools and the numbers of incidents are increasing. There is an urgent need to find solutions to address this crisis in the United States. The purpose of this study is to examine the role of curriculum in shaping educational policy as an effective framework to address the social concerns of bullying in the 21st century. The research focuses on Montessori education as pedagogy for peace and on how the Montessori lower elementary curriculum addresses bullying. In addition, the study analyzes the Montessori peace initiatives with the policy implications of the New York State Dignity for All Students Act (DASA), enacted in July 2012, as a law attempting to address bullying through enforcement and monitoring. The Montessori lower elementary education is investigated in the study using a mixed methods approach. This method allowed the gathering of rich data. It brought clarity and understanding to key initiatives discovered in the Montessori lower elementary educational model. The teacher survey, the faculty focus group, and the head of school interviews provided insight into the salient issue of bullying in schools. The findings presents evidence that Montessori serves as a model that is comprehensive. All components of Montessori, when combined, create an environment that succeeds at preventing and addressing bullying in Montessori lower elementary classrooms. The implications of these findings are significant and have the potential to bring great insight to DASA, as a new policy.

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