Time is a concept one is exposed to since birth, however explaining it is a difficult task. The older one gets, the better their comprehension of time is. This thesis aims to aid teachers with better understanding time perception of pupils. The theoretical part emcompasses key findings about students's perception of time and applied knowledge. It includes teaching plans for the subjects of Social science and Natural science that cover the topics of time orientation from a Public elementary school programme and a Montessori elementary school programme. Furthermore, the principles of Montessori approach are introduced and the teaching materials used for teaching time orientation are described. In the empirical part of this study a qualitative and quantitative research was conducted. Data was gathered with a questionnaire/test designed to measure time orientation in pupils. The study recruited 64 pupils from the 1st to the 5th grade of whom 32 pupils followed a Public elementary school programme and 32 students followed a Montessori elementary school programme. The goal of this research was to explore how the age and teaching programme affect the applied knowledge of time orientation among pupils. Moreover, the thesis investigated how often the pupils use tools for orientating in time and how they manage their own time. It was found that correct answers on the test were related to the age of the participants. The older students were better at answering time orientation questions than younger students. Additionally, the pupils from the Montessori programme answered to more than half of the questions more correctly, than their peers from a Public elementary school programme. Analysis indicated that the pupils who used a watch often, were better at answering questions using a watch where they had to utilise it. Similarly, pupils who reported to use a calendar more often, tended to answer correctly on the question requiring the use of a calendar. This study deepens the understanding of time perception and orientation of primary school students and how different approaches in teaching it can lead to different outcomes. Nevertheless, future studies should confirm these findings on a larger sample for a more generalised conclustions to be drawn/to allow for more definite conclusions.
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