Pestalozzi,
Johann Heinrich His theories laid the foundation
of modern elementary education. He was director (from 1805) of an experimental
institute established at Yverdon on his principle that choice of pedagogical
method should be based on the individual's development and concrete
experience. He opposed memorization learning and strict discipline,
and pioneered in the use of tactile objects in the teaching of natural
science. He also promoted broad liberal education followed by professional
training for teachers. 1746-1827, Swiss educational
reformer, b. Zurich. His theories laid the foundation of modern elementary
education. He studied theology at the Univ. of Zurich but was forced
to abandon his career because of his political activity on behalf of
the Helvetic Society, a reformist Swiss political organization. From
1769 to 1798 he lived at his farm, "Neuhof,"near Zurich, where
he conducted a school for poor children. He then directed a school at
Burgdorf (1799-1804), and from 1805 until his retirement (1825) to Neuhof
he was director of the experimental institute at Yverdon, which was
established on Pestalozzian principles. Pestalozzi's theory of
education is based on the importance of a pedagogical method that corresponds
to the natural order of individual development and of concrete experiences.
To Pestalozzi the individuality of each child is paramount; it is something
that has to be cultivated actively through education. He opposed the
prevailing system of memorization learning and strict discipline and
sought to replace it with a system based on love and an understanding
of the child's world. His belief that education should be based on concrete
experience led him to pioneer in the use of tactile objects, such as
plants and mineral specimens, in the teaching of natural science to
youngsters. Running through much of Pestalozzi's writing is the idea
that education should be moral as well as intellectual.
Never losing his commitment
to social reform, Pestalozzi often reiterated the belief that society could be changed by education.
His theories also influenced the development of teacher-training methods.
Although he respected the individuality of the teacher, Pestalozzi nevertheless
felt that there was a unified science of education that could be learned
and practiced. His belief that teacher training should consist of a
broad liberal education followed by a period of research and professional
training has been widely adopted throughout Europe and the United States.
XII. EDUCATION IN THE 19TH
CENTURY The foundations of modern
education were established in the 19th century. Swiss educator Johann
Heinrich Pestalozzi, inspired by the work of French philosopher Jean
Jacques Rousseau, developed an educational method based on the natural
world and the senses. Pestalozzi established schools in Switzerland
and Germany to educate children and train teachers. He affirmed that
schools should resemble secure and loving homes.
Like Locke and Rousseau,
Pestalozzi believed that thought began with sensation and that teaching
should use the senses. Holding that children should study the objects
in their natural environment, Pestalozzi developed a so-called "object
lesson" that involved exercises in learning form, number, and language.
Pupils determined and traced an object's form, counted objects, and
named them. Students progressed from these lessons to exercises in drawing,
writing, adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing, and reading.
Pestalozzi employed the
following principles in teaching: (1) begin with the concrete object
before introducing abstract concepts; (2) begin with the immediate environment
before dealing with what is distant and remote; (3) begin with easy
exercises before introducing complex ones; and (4) always proceed gradually,
cumulatively, and slowly. American educator Henry Barnard, the first
U.S. Commissioner of Education, introduced Pestalozzi's ideas to the
United States in the late 19th century. Barnard also worked for the
establishment of free public high schools for students of all classes
of American society. German philosopher Johann
Herbart emphasized moral education and designed a highly structured
teaching technique. Maintaining that education's primary goal is moral
development, Herbart claimed good character rested on knowledge while
misconduct resulted from an inadequate education. Knowledge, he said,
should create an "apperceptive mass"--a network of ideas--in
a person's mind to which new ideas can be added. He wanted to include
history, geography, and literature
in the school curriculum as well as reading, writing, and arithmetic.
Based on his work, Herbart's followers designed a five-step teaching
method: (1) prepare the pupils to be ready for the new lesson, (2) present
the new lesson, (3) associate the new lesson with ideas studied earlier,
(4) use examples to illustrate the lesson's major points, and (5) test
pupils to ensure they had learned the new lesson. A. Kindergarten German educator Friedrich
Froebel created the earliest kindergarten, a form of preschool education
that literally means "child's garden" in German. Froebel,
who had an unhappy childhood, urged teachers to think back to their
own childhoods to find insights they could use in their teaching. Froebel
studied at Pestalozzi's institute in Yverdon, Switzerland, from 1808
to 1810. While agreeing with Pestalozzi's emphasis on the natural world,
a kindly school atmosphere, and the object lesson, Froebel felt that
Pestalozzi's method was not philosophical enough. Froebel believed that
every child's inner self contained a spiritual essence -- a spark of
divine energy -- that enabled a child to learn independently.
In 1837 Froebel opened a kindergarten in Blankenburg with a curriculum that featured songs, stories, games, gifts, and occupations. The songs and stories stimulated the imaginations of children and introduced them to folk heroes and cultural values. Games developed children's social and physical skills. By playing with each other, children learned to participate in a group. Froebel's gifts, including such objects as spheres, cubes, and cylinders, were designed to enable the child to understand the concept that the object represented. Occupations consisted of materials children could use in building activities. For example, clay, sand, cardboard, and sticks could be used to build castles, cities, and mountains. Immigrants from Germany
brought the kindergarten concept to the United States, where it became
part of the American school system. Margarethe Meyer Schurz opened a German-language
kindergarten in Watertown, Wisconsin, in 1855. Elizabeth Peabody established an English-language
kindergarten and a training school for kindergarten teachers in Boston,
Massachusetts, in 1860. William
Torrey Harris, superintendent of schools in St. Louis, Missouri,
and later a U.S. commissioner of education, made the kindergarten part
of the American public school system. B. Social Darwinism British sociologist Herbert
Spencer strongly influenced education in the mid-19th century with social
theories based on the theory of evolution developed by British naturalist
Charles Darwin. Spencer revised Darwin's biological theory into social
Darwinism, a body of ideas that applied the theory of evolution to society,
politics, the economy, and education. Spencer maintained that in modern
industrialized societies, as in earlier simpler societies, the "fittest"
individuals of each generation survived because they were intelligent
and adaptable. Competition caused the brightest and strongest individuals
to climb to the top of the society. Urging unlimited competition, Spencer wanted government to
restrict its activities to the bare minimum. He opposed public schools,
claiming that they would create a monopoly for mediocrity by catering
to students of low ability. He wanted private schools to compete against
each other in trying to attract the brightest students and most capable
teachers. Spencer's social Darwinism became very popular in the last
half of the 19th century when industrialization was changing American
and Western European societies. Spencer believed that people
in industrialized society needed scientific rather than classical education.
Emphasizing education in practical skills, he advocated a curriculum
featuring lessons in five basic human activities: (1) those needed for
self-preservation such as health, diet, and exercise; (2) those needed
to perform one's occupation so that a person can earn a living, including
the basic skills of reading, writing, computation, and knowledge of
the sciences; (3) those needed for parenting, to raise children properly;
(4) those needed to participate in society and politics; and (5) those
needed for leisure and recreation. Spencer's ideas on education were
eagerly accepted in the United States. In 1918 the Cardinal Principles
of Secondary Education, a report issued by the National Education Association,
used Spencer's list of activities in its recommendations for American
education. |