Designing a Cognitive Apprenticeship Training Package Based on Vygotsky’s and Montessori’s Theories and Evaluating Its Effectiveness on Writing Skills in Five-Year-Old Children

Hassan  Ghader Zeynabi; Ozra Ghaffari Nouran; Touraj Hashemi

Authors

Hassan Ghader Zeynabi Department of Educational and Psychological Services, Ard.C. Islamic Azad University, Ardabil, Iran Author https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3509-273X
Ozra Ghaffari Nouran Department of Educational and Psychological Services, Ard.C., Islamic Azad University, Ardabil, Iran. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6632-7979
Touraj Hashemi Professor, Faculty of Psychology and Education, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran. Author https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8353-6104

Keywords:

Cognitive Apprenticeship, Writing Skills, Vygotsky, Montessori, Preschool Children, Educational Package

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to design and validate a cognitive apprenticeship training package based on Vygotsky’s and Montessori’s theories and to evaluate its effectiveness in improving writing skills among five-year-old children.

Methods and Materials: The study was conducted in two stages using a developmental and experimental approach. First, the cognitive apprenticeship training package was developed based on Vygotsky’s and Montessori’s theoretical principles, relevant literature, and expert evaluations. Its face and content validity were assessed by 10 university experts in elementary education and educational management. In the second stage, a pretest–posttest experimental design with a control group was employed. The statistical population comprised five-year-old preschool children in Bukan during the 2021–2022 academic year. Thirty-four eligible children were purposively recruited and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups; following attrition, data from 30 children (15 per group) were analyzed. The experimental group received the developed cognitive apprenticeship program in 20 45-minute sessions, while the control group received no intervention. Writing skills were assessed using the Ragheb and Hadian Writing Skills Test. Data were analyzed using independent-samples t-tests and analysis of covariance.

Findings: After controlling for pretest scores, the intervention had a significant effect on overall writing skills (F = 162.268, p < .001, η² = .84). Significant intervention effects were also found for word writing (F = 27.784, p < .001, η² = .50), sentence writing (F = 6.072, p < .05, η² = .18), writing picture names (F = 40.093, p < .001, η² = .58), and writing picture names in incomplete sentences (F = 70.238, p < .001, η² = .71). Thus, the intervention explained 84% of the variance in overall posttest writing performance.

Conclusion: Cognitive apprenticeship grounded in Vygotskian scaffolding and Montessori principles appears to provide an effective instructional framework for developing writing skills in five-year-old children and supports the potential value of systematically introducing early writing instruction during the preschool period.

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