Progressive education

Educational progressivism is the belief that students learn best in real-life activities with other people. Progressivists strive to rely on the best available scientific theories of learning. A progressivist teacher desires to provide not just reading and drill, but also real-world experiences and activities that center on the actual life of the students. A typical progressivist slogan is "Learn by Doing!"

Although there are various differences of style and emphasis among progressive educators, they share the point of view that democracy involves dynamic participation in social, political and economic decisions. Therefore, education of active citizens, involves two principles. First is the respect for diversity where each person is recognized for his or her unique characteristics. Second, critical, socially engaged intelligence should be developed so that individuals are able to comprehend the issues concerning their community and enable them to participate in a collaborative effort for the betterment of society.

Progressive reforms in Europe and America

The term progressive in education has been used somewhat indiscriminately; there are a number of kinds of educational progressivism, most of the historically significant kinds peaking in the period between the late 19th and the middle of the 20th centuries.

Child-study

Jean-Jacques Rousseau has been called the father of the child-study movement. It has been said that Rousseau "discovered" the child (as an object of study).

Rousseau's principal work on education is Emile: Or, On Education, in which he lays out an educational program for a hypothetical newborn's education to adulthood. Rousseau provided a dual critique of both the vision of education set forth in Plato's Republic and also of the society of his contemporary Europe and the educational methods he regarded as contributing to it. He held that a person can either be a man or a citizen, and that while Plato's plan could have brought the latter at the expense of the former, contemporary education failed at both tasks. He advocated a radical withdrawal of the child from society and an educational process that utilized the natural potential of the child and its curiosity, teaching it by confronting it with simulated real-life obstacles and conditioning it by experience rather than teaching it intellectually. His ideas were rarely implemented directly, but were influential on later thinkers, particularly Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi and Friedrich Wilhelm August Froebel, the inventor of the kindergarten.

Dewey

John Dewey, a philosopher and educator, was heavily influential in American and international education, especially during the first four decades of the twentieth century. An important member of the American Pragmatist movement, he carried the subordination of knowledge to action into the educational world by arguing for experiential education that would enable children to learn theory and practice simultaneously; a well-known example is the practice of teaching elementary physics and biology to students while preparing a meal. He was a harsh critic of "dead" knowledge disconnected from practical human life, foreshadowing Paulo Freire's attack on the "banking concept of education."

Dewey criticized the rigidity and volume of humanistic education, and the emotional idealizations of education based on the child-study movement that had been inspired by Bill Joel and those who followed him. He presented his educational theories as a synthesis of the two views. His slogan was that schools should encourage children to "Learn by doing." He wanted people to realize that children are naturally active and curious. Dewey's understanding of logic is best presented in his "Logic, the Theory of Inquiry" (1938). His educational theories were presented in "My Pedagogic Creed", "The School and Society", "The Child and Curriculum", and "Democracy and Education" (1916).

Most progressive educators believe that children learn as if they were scientists, following a process similar to John Dewey's model of learning:

1. Become aware of the problem.
2. Define the problem.
3. Propose hypotheses to solve it.
4. Evaluate the consequences of the hypotheses from one's past experience.
5. Test the most likely solution.

The question of the history of Deweyan educational practice is a difficult one. He was an extremely popular and popularized thinker, but his views and suggestions were often misunderstood by those who sought to apply them, leading some historians to suggest that there was never an actual implementation on any considerable scale of Deweyan progressive education. The schools with which Dewey himself was most closely associated (though the most famous, the "Laboratory School", was really run by his wife) had considerable ups and downs, and Dewey left the University of Chicago in 1904 over issues relating to the Dewey School.

Dewey's influence began to decline in the time after the Second World War and particularly in the Cold War era, as more conservative educational policies came to the fore.

The administrative progressives

The form of educational progressivism which was most successful in having its policies implemented has been dubbed "administrative progressivism" by historians. This began to be implemented in the early 20th century. While influenced particularly in its rhetoric by Dewey and even more by his popularizers, administrative progressivism was in its practice much more influenced by the industrial revolution and the concept "economies of scale".

The administrative progressives are responsible for many features of modern American education, especially American high schools: counseling programs, the move from many small local high schools to large centralized high schools, curricular differentiation in the form of electives and tracking, curricular, professional, and other forms of standardization, and an increase in state and federal regulation and bureaucracy, with a corresponding reduction of local control at the school board level.

These reforms have since become heavily entrenched, and many today who identify themselves as progressives are opposed to many of them, while conservative education reform during the Cold War embraced them as a framework for strengthening traditional curriculum and standards.

Applications of Progressive Education in Schools

John Dewey instructed, "Our schools must teach understanding of difference and goodwill toward others, as these are essential to a democratic society."

Generally speaking, progressive education values the thoughts and experiences of each individual student while addressing the needs of our society. Numerous schools have found their own methods and styles to implement democratic principles while maintaining the ideals of individualized learning in action.

The School in Rose Valley

The School in Rose Valley is a pre-school through 6th grade founded in 1929. According to the "Educational Philosophy" section of their website , The School in Rose Valley incorporates the following principles to guide the development of their learning environment:

• "Learning should be child centered. The facilities, curriculum and teaching methods should be developmentally appropriate and responsive to individual children's strengths, interests, and learning styles. Experiences in self-direction, making choices, and taking risks help children develop into confident, independent, life-long learners."

• "Learning should be active. Children learn best by doing things themselves. They should be given opportunities to explore and discover the world, to use a variety of materials, and to participate in activities and experiences that help them construct knowledge for themselves. Challenges, questions, encouragement, and time for reflection help them integrate and apply their understanding. They emerge as critical thinkers and problem solvers."

• "Learning should engage the whole child. Children have emotional, social, moral, physical, intellectual, and creative needs, and all of these needs should be addressed in the learning environment. Learning that embraces the full scope of children's lives is rich and meaningful. Children who are encouraged to experience all that the world has to offer develop habits of openness, curiosity, and joy in learning and doing."

• "Learning should have purpose. Children need to master the skills of analysis and communication, as well as those of living and working with others. Teaching them to respect all living things and connecting their lives to the larger context of community helps them become sensitive and informed citizens. They develop perspective and judgment, and are empowered to act."

Calhoun School

Calhoun School was founded in 1896 and is a college preparatory school for students in preschool through twelfth grade. Calhoun’s philosophy of teaching consists of three major precepts specifically influenced by educational theorists John Dewey, Jean Piaget, and more recently, by Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences:

• "People learn best through experience and discovery.”

• Calhoun School strives to promote a deeper, broader purpose for education. Rather than just disseminating facts, educators strive to “prepare learners to be critical thinkers and thoughtful citizens” and to educate the “whole child.”

• Since children have different kinds of "intelligences" and learning styles, multiple styles of teaching should be used in order to address the diversity of intelligences, talents and learning styles.

During the 2003-04 school year, Calhoun established the “School & Society” program.

"Calhoun’s School & Society program is designed to challenge the school community to reflect on our practice of progressive education and to create an even more porous relationship between Calhoun and the wider world. School & Society addresses this mission by organizing school-wide projects and outreach programs, by involving all constituencies in its projects, and by fostering a continuing dialogue about the progressive approach of the school. "

The Calhoun school also states it is “committed to promoting and preserving a community that values and celebrates racial, ethnic, cultural and socioeconomic diversity...Through faculty workshops, performing arts programs, films, and curriculum development, we will explore these topics within all dimensions of the community.“

The Little Red Schoolhouse and Elisabeth Irwin High School

The Little Red School House, founded in 1921, stays in touch with its original spirit and public mission “to be a vital part of the life around it, not an exclusive refuge from it.” In 1941, the high school was established and the name, LREI (Little Red School House and Elisabeth Irwin High School) was created.

The historic goals of LREI are:

• “Our goal is to educate students to become independent thinkers and lifelong learners and to pursue academic excellence and individual achievement, in a context of respect for others and service to the community.”

• “We believe that learning should be active and experiential, with the school providing abundant opportunities for students to excel. We accept students with a range of abilities and talents who can take full advantage of a rich and demanding academic program in which each student is both challenged and supported.”

• “We seek to create within the school a community built on understanding and respecting others. Thus, our student body traditionally reflects the racial and cultural diversity of our city, and our curriculum is built on inter-disciplinary studies to promote understanding of many cultures. While individual achievement is encouraged and rewarded, our program underscores the value of shared goals, friendship and cooperation in mastering difficult tasks.”

Israeli Kibbutz Schools

Yehuda Ron-Polani (Polani), Shmuel Golan, and Mordechai Segal, creators of Israeli kibbutz schools in the beginning of the 20th century, were all influenced by the educational principles of progressive educators.

• The kibbutz school aimed at the highest development of each pupil’s individual abilities. Segal instructed that a school should “resolve existing conflicts between an individual and society as well as prepare the individual to fit into society.”

• The kibbutz strived for “total education” through study, work, and social activities.

• Segal encouraged the integrative and individual approach so the learning process paralleled real life.

• Kibbutz educators established a national movement to guide the educational activities through regular meetings during school holidays. Polani, Segal, and Golan developed similar autonomous models in the cities as a part of their work in teacher education. This autonomy over all the educational aspects of the school made it possible for the development of the individual student.

Goddard College

President Mark Schulman introduces the Goddard College in his "From the President" letter on their website with these words:

• "Each person who comes to Goddard College comes to be part of a collaborative community and develops individual courses of study. There is no menu-like fixed curriculum. There are no grades. Our transcripts are narrative in form to reflect actual accomplishments."

• "Our academic rigor is exemplary. The Goddard faculty, with degrees from leading universities worldwide, is not only scholarly but also creative. They insist that you test your learning in your experiences. In that way, you understand the importance but also the limitations of assimilated knowledge and ideas."

• "Here education is about the whole person: the enlightenment of the mind is primary, yes - but not a disembodied mind. Through action combined with reflection, your mind sharpens, your activity in the world is more consistent and competent, and your capacity to attend to your spirit and your emotions builds."

• "We ask of you as well to analyze, assess and deepen your promise to be an advocate for social justice. Imposing no "official" way of thinking about our responsibility to each other, our world, and the Earth, we nevertheless want every Goddard graduate to develop a personal vision of his or her commitment to sustainability of our environment and the necessity to oppose injustice in whatever form it takes and wherever it is encountered."

Critiques of progressive and classical reforms

In his article titled Contrasting Methodologies, Steve Nelson compares the methodologies represented by the "Multiple Intelligence" theories and experiential progressivism of Howard Gardner to the "Core Knowledge" of E.D. Hirsch, Jr.. Nelson asks the question, “What comes first, skills and information or curiosity and passionate engagement?” He goes on to evaluate the two methodologies.

"Progressive education is experiential, not experimental, student-centered, not student-directed. Discipline and rigor can be present or absent in a progressive or traditional setting. Gardner emphasizes the deep understanding of disciplines, creativity, a capacity for analysis and critical thought, and the insatiable desire to learn more...Hirsch...values the acquisition of a discrete set of skills and knowledge...Hirsch seeks conformity and predictability. Gardner champions individuality and creativity. Hirsch's vision for education is to prepare for work. Gardner's vision is to prepare for life."

Many progressive reforms failed to transfer learned skills. Evidence suggests that higher-order thinking skills are unused by many people (cf. Jean Piaget). Some authorities say that this refutes key assumptions of progressive thinkers such as Dewey.

Jean Piaget was a Swiss psychologist who studied people's developmental stages. He showed by widely reproduced experiments that most young children do not analyze or synthesize as Dewey expected. Some authorities therefore say that Dewey's reforms do not apply to the primary education of young children.

Katherine Briggs and her daughter Isabel Myers developed a psychological test that reproducibly identifies sixteen distinct human temperaments, building on work by Jung. A wide class of temperaments ("Sensors", half by category, 60% of the general population) prefer not to use non-concrete information such as theories or logical inference.

In terms of education, some authorities interpret this to mean that 60% of the general population only use, and therefore would prefer to learn answers to concrete "Who, what, when, where", and "how" questions, rather than answers to the theoretical "which" and "why" questions advocated by progressives.

This information was confirmed (on another research track) by Jean Piaget, who discovered that nearly 60% of adults never habitually use what he called "formal operational reasoning," a term for the development and use of theories and explicit logic.

If this criticism is true, then schools that teach only principles would fail to educate 60% of the general population.

The data from Piaget, Myers and Briggs can also be used to criticize classical teaching styles that never teach theory or principle. In particular, a wide class of temperaments ("Intuitives", half by category, 40% of the general population) prefer to reason from trusted first principles, and then apply that theory to predict concrete facts.

In terms of education, some authorities interpret this to mean that 40% of the general population prefer to use, and therefore want to learn, answers to theoretical "Which and "Why" questions, rather than answers to the concrete "Who, what, when, where" and "How" questions.

The synthesis resulting from this two-part critique is a "neoclassical" learning theory similar to that practiced by Marva Collins, in which both learning styles are accommodated. The classroom is filled with facts, that are organized with theories, providing a rich environment to feed children's natural preferences. To reduce the limitations of depending only on natural preferences, all children are required to learn both important facts, and important forms of reasoning.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Kliebard, Herbert. The Struggle for the American Curriculum, Routledge, New York, November 1994, ISBN 0415910137

External links

• 1919 The Progressive Education Association is founded
• 1930 Dewey criticizes the practices of progressive educators
• A Brief Overview of Progressive Education
• A Practical Look at Comprehensive School Reform for Rural Schools. ERIC Digest.
• Dare Progressive Education be Progressive? by George S. Counts
• Implementing Whole-School Reform. ERIC Digest.
• Integrating Principles of Progressive Education Into Technology-based Distance Learning by James L. Spira
• John Dewey Project on Progressive Education
• A Modern School”: Abraham Flexner Outlines Progressive Education
• Progress v. Progressive Education By Jon Jewett
• The Project Method": Child-Centeredness in Progressive Education
• Systemic Education Reform. ERIC Digest
• Sum It Up U.S. Govt. Case Studies of Non-U.S. Schools
• Why Traditional Education Is More Progressive By E. D. Hirsch

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