1. Progressive Education

2. The Progressive Era
A movement in education that ran from the 1880s to the 1940s
A backlash against the traditional curriculum:
Class-based
Rote learning
Teacher-centered
Targeted for classical university track
Remains influential today

3. John Locke

4. Forerunners to Progressive Education
John Locke ( )
English philosopher
“truth and knowledge… are out of observation and experience rather than manipulation of accepted or given ideas “ (Locke as cited in Hayes, 2007, p. 2).
What does this mean?

5. Jean-Jacques Rousseau

6. Forerunners to Progressive Education
Jean-Jacques Rousseau ( )
French philosopher
“The underlying thesis of all Rousseau's writings stresses the natural goodness of man. It is society that corrupts and makes a man evil. Rousseau states that the tutor can only stand by at this period of the child's development, ensuring that the child does not acquire any bad habits.”
True?

7. Johan Pestalozzi

8. Forerunners to Progressive Education
Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi ( )
Swiss educational reformer
Social Justice (education for the poor)
Everyday life is full of educational opportunites
Education should balance “learning by head, heart, and hand.”
Reflective practice
Combining education and work
Fought against rigid “method”

9. John Dewey

10. Progressive Education
John Dewey ( )
American philosopher and educational reformer
What education is…
A process of helping children to develop into “social” beings
What the school is…
It ought to be understood as an extension of real life--a community

11. Progressive Education
John Dewey ( )
The subject-matter of education…
Ought to reflect society as a whole--what real people value
The nature of method…
Child-centered--let the child’s interests drive the bus
The school as a means of social progress
Education is the primary means through which social problems are addressed

12. William Heard Kilpatrick

13. Progressive Education
William Heard Kilpatrick ( )
Perhaps the greatest practitioners of Dewey’s ideas
Spread Dewey’s ideas abroad
Father of project-based learning

14. Project-based Learning

15. Progressive Education: Key Ideas
Learning by doing
Integrated curriculum focused on thematic units (e.g., design a chicken coop)
Integration of entrepreneurship in to education
Strong emphasis on problem solving
Collaborative learning (developing social skills)
Understanding as the goal of learning (not rote memorization)
Education for Civic Understanding and engagement

16. Progressive Education: Key Ideas
Highly personalized program of education
Integration of community service
Curriculum formed by looking forward: “What will kids need to know?”
De-emphasis on textbooks in favor of varied learning resources
Emphasis on lifelong learning
Assessment by evaluation of child’s projects and productions