Efficacy of Montessori and traditional method of education on self concept development of children
*Corresponding Author E mail: kumarpsy123@rediffmail.com Tel. +91 9844935744 Montessori is a method of education started by Maria Montessori in 1903 for the educationally backward children; after finding its efficacy on them it was thought that it even well suits for the normal children. It became very popular throughout the world in the 20th century and has been implemented both in private and public institutions. Based on certain principles it is evident in many of the researches conducted so far that the Montessori education is conducive for the overall development in social, emotional and cognitive components of children. With this background the present study was conducted to explore the effect of Montessori education on social development in terms of self concept of the children as compared to the children of traditional method of education. Using descriptive and parametric tests for the obtained data it was found that the Montessori children have very high self concept than the traditional children. Percentage result shows that the traditional children's self concept ranges from low to high category and the Montessori children's self concept ranges from high and very high, which indicated marked difference between them in self concept. According to independent samples t test results there was a statistical significant difference between the Montessori children group and the traditional children group, the Montessori children are found to have higher self concept.