Chapter I

1. FRIEDRICH FROEBEL

The philosophy of education of Friedrich Froebel, 1782-1852

stresses the respect with which the individuality and ability of
each child should be treated; the importance of creating a happy,
harmonious environment in which he or she can grow; and the
value of self-activity and play as a foundation on which the
integrated development of the whole person can be built.
The German educator, Friedrich Froebel, was one of these pioneers
of early childhood educational reform. Friedrich Froebel was a German
educationalist. He was known best for the founding of kindergarten. Froebel was born
in 1782 in the village of Oberwebach in Thuringia, Germany. His childhood was difficult
because his mother died when he was a baby and his father abandoned him. Froebel
was given to his uncles’ care, who had a son that died at the age of ten. Froebel never
showed much interest in school except for the field of mathematics. Despite his many
hardships, he had a strong Christian faith and a love for nature. This is what was said
to be central to his thinking as an educationalist. After several attempts of trying to
attend the University, he was finally allowed. This is when he got into debt from
tuition payments and was thrown in prison. After Froebel's college years, he got a job
in the forestry department at Bamberg. After this, he got a teaching job at Frankfort.
His strong Christian faith led him to the field of education. Froebel later married a
woman who shared his beliefs and values. She died in 1836 and he remarried in 1851.
Two months after Froebel's 70th birthday, he died.
As an idealist, he believed that every child possessed, at birth, his full
educational potential, and that an appropriate educational environment was
necessary to encourage the child to grow and develop in an optimal manner.
According to Watson, Froebel's vision was to stimulate an appreciation and love for
children and to provide a new but small world--a world that became known as the
Kindergarten--where children could play with others of their own age group and
experience their first gentle taste of independence. Watson further adds that this
early educational vision laid the foundation for the framework of Froebel's philosophy
of education which is encompassed by the four basic components:
 free self-activity
 creativity
 social participation
 motor expression.

As an educator, Froebel believed that stimulating voluntary self-activity in the

young child was the necessary form of pre-school education. Self-activity is defined as
the development of qualities and skills that make it possible to take an invisible idea
and make it a reality; self-activity involves formulating a purpose, planning out that
purpose, and then acting on that plan until the purpose is realized. Corbett suggests
that one of Froebel's significant contributions to early childhood education was his
theory of introducing play as a means of engaging children in self-activity for the
purpose of externalizing their inner natures. As described by Dewey, Froebel's
interpretation of play is characterized by free play which enlists all of the child's
imaginative powers, thoughts, and physical movements by embodying in a satisfying
form his own images and educational interests. Dewey continued his description by
indicating that play designates a child's mental attitude and should not be identified
with anything performed externally; therefore, the child should be given complete
emancipation from the necessity of following any given or prescribed system of
activities while he is engaged in playful self-activity. In summarizing Froebel's beliefs
regarding play, Dewey concluded that through stimulating play that produces self-
activity, the supreme goal of the child is the fullness of growth which brings about the
realization of his budding powers and continually carries him from one plane of
educational growth to another.

To assist children in their development of moving from one plane of educational

growth to another, Froebel provided the children with many stimulating activities to
enhance their creative powers and abilities. Froebel designed a series of instructional
materials that he called “gifts and occupations”, which demonstrated certain
relationships and led children in comparison, testing, and creative exploration
activities. A gift was an object provided for a child to play with--such as a sphere,
cube, or cylinder--which helped the child to understand and internalize the concepts of
shape, dimension, size, and their relationships. The occupations were items such as
paints and clay which the children could use to make what they wished; through the
occupations, children externalized the concepts existing within their creative minds.
Therefore, through the child’s own self-activity and creative imaginative play, the child
would begin to understand both the inner and outer properties of things as he moves
through the developmental stages of the educational process.

A third component of Froebel’s educational plan involved working closely with

the family unit. Froebel believed that parents provided the first as well as the most
consistent educational influence in a child’s life. Since a child’s first educational
experiences occur within the family unit, he is already familiar with the home
environment as well as with the occupations carried on within this setting. Naturally,
through creative self-activity, a child will imitate those things that are in a direct and
real relationship to him-things learned through observations of daily family life.
Froebel believed that providing a family setting within the school environment would
provide children with opportunities for interacting socially within familiar territory in a
non-threatening manner. Focusing on the home environment occupations as the
foundation for beginning subject-matter content allowed the child to develop social
interaction skills that would prepare him for higher level subject-matter content in
later educational developmental stages.

Over one hundred and fifty years ago, Froebel urged educators to respect the
sanctity of child development through this statement: We grant space and time to
young plants and animals because we know that, in accordance with the laws that live
in them, they will develop properly and grow well. Young animals and plants are given
rest, and arbitrary interference with their growth is avoided,/because it is known that
the opposite practice would disturb their pure unfolding and sound development; but,
the young human being is looked upon as a piece of wax or a lump of clay which man
can mold into what he pleases. Motor expression, which refers to learning by doing as
opposed to following rote instructions, is a very important aspect of Froebel’s
educational principles. Froebel did not believe that the child should be placed into
society’s mold, but should be allowed to shape his own mold and grow at his own
pace through the developmental stages of the educational process.

Corbett upholds Froebel’s tenets that a child should never be rushed or hurried
in his development; he needs to be involved in all of the experiences each stage
requires and helped to see the relationships of things and ideas to each other and to
himself so that he can make sense out of both his subjective and objective world.
Corbett further agrees that development is continuous, with one stage building upon
another, so that nothing should be missed through haste or for any other reason as
the child moves through the educational process. Responsible educators should strive
to recognize each child's individual level of development so that essential materials
and activities to stimulate appropriate educational growth can be provided. Froebel
believed that imitation and suggestion would inevitably occur, but should only be
utilized by the teacher as instruments for assisting students in formulating their own
instructional concepts.

The Kindergarten idea was first introduced into the United States in the late
1840’s and Froebel’s basic philosophic principles of free self activity, creativity, social
participation, and motor expression are valuable components which exist functionally,
with some modifications, in most current early childhood education programs. The
education of society’s children is still a difficult and fascinating issue studied by world
philosophers. Educators of the future will continue to look to philosophers of the past
for assistance in striving to attain the common goal of being jointly responsible for
nurturing, educating, and cultivating each child toward his or her maximum potential
through the educational process.
Publications
Froebel went on to spread the word about his, Kindergarten. He wrote many books
about his philosophies. These include:
• The Education of Man
•The Pedagogics of Kindergarten
• Education by Development

Froebel’s Gifts

Froebel developed Spielgabe ("play gifts") for his Kindergarten schools. They
were so named because they were both given the the child (to be properly respected
as gifts) and also function as tools for adults to observe the innate human "gifts" each
child posseses from birth. The materials were not some accidental creation, as some
modern historians assume. Froebel spent a great deal of time observing children and
refining the design of the Gifts. He numbered Gifts 1-6 (the only materials to identified
as spielgabe in Froebel's writing) in part because it simplifies referring to them. Later
materials can be described succinctly as tablets (Gift 7), sticks (Gift 8), rings (Gift 8 or
9), points (Gift 9 or 10). For example, Gift 2 is a set of wood solids (sphere, cylinder,
cube) with a hanging apparatus. Eight one-inch wood cubes is known more simply as
Gift 3, etc. The Gifts are arguably the first educational toys. The gifts are intended to
give the child new universal aspects of the external world, suited to a child’s
development. The gifts lead to discovery and give insight.

Solids
 Color First Gift
Six colored worsted balls, about an inch and a half in diameter.
 Shape Second Gift
Wooden Ball, cylinder. and cube, one inch and a half in diameter.
 Number Third Gift
Eight one-inch cubes, forming a two inch cube (2x2x2).
 Extent Fourth Gift
Eight brick shaped blocks (2x1x1/2) forming a two-inch cube.
 Symmetry Fifth Gift
Twenty-seven one-inch cubes, three bisected and three quadrisect diagonally,
forming a three-inch cube (3x3x3).
 Proportion Sixth Gift
Twenty-seven brick-shaped blocks, three bisected longitudinally and six bisected
transversely, forming a three-inch cube.
Surfaces Seventh Gift
 Squares
derived from the faces of the second or third gift cubes Entire squares - one and
a half in. square of one-inch square and Half-squares - squares cut diagonally
 Equilateral triangles
length of side, one inch, or one inch and a half. Entire triangles, Half triangles -
the equilateral triangle is cut in the direction of the altitude, yielding right
scalene triangles, acute angles of 60 degrees and 30 degrees and Thirds of
triangles - the equilateral triangle is cut from the center to the vertices, yielding
obtuse isosceles triangles, angles 30 and 120 degrees
Lines Eighth Gift
 Straight
Splints of various lengths.
Rings Ninth Gift
 Circular
Metal or paper rings of various sizes; whole circles, half circles, and quadrants
Points Tenth Gift
Beans, lentils, or other seeds, leaves, pebbles, pieces of card-board of paper,
etc.

Froebel Occupations
 The occupations furnish material for practice in certain skills, the occupations
lead to to invention and give the child power.

Solids
Plastic clay, card-board work, wood-carving, etc

Surfaces
Paper-folding, paper-cutting, parquetry, painting, etc.

Lines
Interlacing, intertwining, weaving, thread games, embroidery, drawing, etc.

Points
Stringing beads, buttons, etc.; perforating, etc.

Reconstruction
Softened peas or wax pellets and sharpened sticks or straws.

2. Johann Friedrich Herbart

Johann Friedrich Herbart, (born May 4, 1776, Oldenburg—died Aug. 14,

1841, Göttingen, Hanover), German philosopher and educator, who led the renewed
19th-century interest in Realism and is considered among the founders of modern
scientific pedagogy.
According to Herbart, the structure and operation
of man’s perception are conditioned by changing complex
of ultimate entities of reality, which he called the “reals”
(Realen). His philosophical view, based on realism, that all
mental phenomena result from the interaction of
elementary ideas, led Herbart to believe that a science of
education was possible. Herbart's work led to the
establishment and acceptance of pedagogy as an academic
discipline.
Pedagogy – “art and science of teaching”.
After studying under Johann Gottlieb Fichte at Jena (1794), Herbart worked as a tutor
at Interlaken, Switz., from 1797 to 1800, during which period he made the
acquaintance of Pestalozzi. Becoming a licentiate of the University of Göttingen in
1802, he was appointed extraordinary professor there in 1805. At the close of 1808 he
became Kant’s successor as professor at Königsberg. There he also conducted a
seminary of pedagogy until 1833, when he returned as professor of philosophy to
Göttingen, where he remained until his death.
His theory of Education
Known as Herbatianism – was set out principally in two words, Pestalozzia Idee eines A
B C der Anschauung ( 1802; “Pestalozzis Idea of an A B C of Sense Perception”) and
Allgemeine Padagogik ( 1806; “ Universal Pedagogy”),
Herbartianism, pedagogical system of Herbart’s educational ideas which applied
particularly to the instruction of adolescents, where educators established the
National Herbart Society in 1895.
He distinguished between the instructional process and the content of what was
to be taught. In his work Universal Pedagogy (1906), Herbart advocated five formal
steps in teaching, which were translated into a practical teaching methodology:
1. Preparation, a process of relating new material to be learned to relevant past ideas
or memories in order to give the pupil a vital interest in the topic under
consideration. (Prepare students to be ready for the new lesson ).
2. Presentation, presenting new material by means of concrete objects or actual
experience. ( Present the new lesson ).
3. Association , thorough assimilation of the new idea through comparison with former
ideas and consideration of their similarities and differences in order to implant the
new idea in the mind. ( Associate the new lesson with ideas studied earlier ).
4. Generalization, a procedure especially important to the instruction of adolescents
and designed to develop the mind beyond the level of perception and the concrete.
( Use examples to illustrate the lesson’s major points ).
5. Application , using acquired knowledge not in a purely utilitarian way, but so that
every learned idea becomes part of the functional mind and an aid to a clear, vital
interpretation of life. ( Test students to ensure they learned the new lesson ).
Philosophy
Philosophy, according to Herbart, begins with reflection upon our empirical
conceptions, and consists in the reformation and elaboration of these, its three
primary divisions being determined by as many distinct forms of elaboration.
1. Logic, which stands first, has to render our conceptions and the judgments and
reasonings arising from them clear and distinct.
2. But some conceptions are such that the more distinct they are made the more
contradictory their elements become; so to change and supplement these as to make
them at length thinkable is the problem of the second part of philosophy,
or metaphysics.
3. There is still a class of conceptions requiring more than a logical treatment but
differing from the last in not involving latent contradictions, and in being independent
of the reality of their objects, the conceptions that embody our judgments of approval
and disapproval; the philosophic treatment of these conceptions falls to Aesthetic.

Logic is the use and study of valid reasoning. The study of logic features most
prominently in the subjects of philosophy, mathematics, and computer science.

Metaphysics is a traditional branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the

fundamental nature of being and the world that encompasses it, although the term is
not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions
in the broadest possible terms:
 What is ultimately there?
What is it like?

Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of art, beauty, and taste,
with the creation and appreciation of beauty. It is more scientifically defined as the
study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes
called judgments of sentiment and taste. More broadly, scholars in the field define
aesthetics as "critical reflection on art, culture and nature.

Herbart’s system of philosophy stems from the analysis of experience.

* The system includes logic, metaphysics and aesthetics as coordinate elements. He
rejected all concepts of separate mental faculties, postulating instead that all mental
phenomena result from interaction of elementary ideas. Herbart believed that
educational methods and systems should be based on:
*Psychology , to furnish necessary knowledge of the mind and
*Ethics, to be used as a basis for determining the social ends of education.

Herbart was the first scientist to distinguish instructional process from subject matter.
According to Herbart, interest develops when already strong and vivid ideas are
hospitable towards new ones, thus past associations motivate apperception of current
ones. Herbartianism, in predicting that learning follows from building up sequences of
ideas important to the individual, gave teachers a semblance of a theory of
motivation.
He also stressed the study of the psychological processes of learning as a means of
devising educational programs based on the aptitudes, abilities, and interests of
students. The success of Herbart's methods led to their adoption in the teacher-
training systems of numerous countries.

3. Johann Pestalozzi

Period of literary activity - 1780-1797

In 1780 Pestalozzi published anonymously in Die Ephemerides a series of aphorisms
entitled The Evening Hours of a Hermit. They are his earliest works which outline ideas
that would
later be
known as
Pestalozzian.
The
aphorisms
attracted little
attention at
the time of
publication.
Pestalozzi achievements

His first published book was The Evening Hours of a Hermit (1780), a series of
aphorisms and reflections. This was followed by his masterpiece, Leonard and
Gertrude (1781). In 1801 Pestalozzi gave an exposition of his ideas on education in
the book How Gertrude Teaches Her Children.
Besides, Pestalozzi wrote 34 letters on education. He started his letters, and especially
his first one, looking towards the development of the infant's mind.
"Leonard and Gertrude"

Pestalozzi philosophy and view of

education
Instead of dealing with words, he argued, children should learn through activity
and through things. They should be free to pursue their own interests and draw their
own conclusions. He emphasized that every aspect of the child's life contributed to
the formation of personality, character, and reason. Pestalozzi's educational methods
were child-centered and based on individual differences, sense perception, and the
student's self-activity. He was an important influence on the theory of physical
education; he developed a regimen of physical exercise and outdoor activity linked to
general, moral, and intellectual education that reflected his ideal of harmony and
human autonomy.
With respect to him, the purpose of any education is to develop the human being's
moral, mental, and physical powers harmoniously to use sense perception in forming
clear ideas. In such a case that the curriculum must be based on object lessons,
forms, numbers, and sounds. His methods of instruction relied mostly on sensations
that move from simple to complex, near to far, and concrete to abstract. In such
methods the role of any teacher must be to act as a loving facilitator of learning by
creating a home like school environment.
Finally we ought to mention the significance of his philosophy, to informal educators
today, which devised an educational method that changed elementary education. This
is by his concern to social justice, his contribution to the establishment of the school
as a central education force, his equilibrium between elements – heads, hands, and
heart, his concern with experimentation, and finally his strove to combat the tyranny
of method and correctness.
Conclusion:
Influence of his views on modern education
One word to add under this subheading, our schooling nowadays is based on
emotional security and object learning just because of the influences of educational
pioneers such as Pestalozzi!

4. EDWARD L. THORNDIKE

Edward L. Thorndike
 Born Edward Lee Thorndike
August 31, 1874
Williamsburg, Massachusetts,U.S.

Died August 9, 1949 (aged 74)

Montrose, New York
Nationality American

Education Roxbury Latin, Wesleyan,

Harvard, Columbia
Occupatio Psychologist
n
Employer Teachers College, Columbia
University

Known for Father of modern educational

psychology
Title Professor
Spouse(s) Elizabeth Moulton (married
August 29, 1900)

Thorndike's theory of learning

1. Learning is incremental.
2. Learning occurs automatically.
3. All animals learn the same way.
4. Law of effect- if an association is followed by a “satisfying state of affairs” it will
be strengthened and if it is followed by an “annoying state of affairs “ it will be
weakened.
5. Thorndike’s law of exercise has two parts; the law of use and the law of disuse.
1. Law of use- the more often an association is used the stronger it becomes.
2. Law of disuse- the longer an association is unused the weaker it becomes.
6. Law of recency- the most recent response is most likely to reoccur.
7. Multiple response- problem solving through trial and error. An animal will try
multiple responses if the first response does not lead to a specific state of
affairs.
8. Set or attitude- animals are predisposed to act in a specific way.
9. Prepotency of elements- a subject can filter out irrelevant aspects of a problem
and focus and respond only to significant elements of a problem.
10. Response by analogy- responses from a related or similar context may be
used in a new context.
11. Identical elements theory of transfer- This theory states that the extent to
which information learned in one situation will transfer to another situation is
determined by the similarity between the two situations. The more similar the
situations are, the greater the amount of information that will transfer Similarly,
 if the situations have nothing in common, information learned in one situation
will not be of any value in the other situation.
12. Associative shifting- it is possible to shift any response from occurring with
one stimulus to occurring with another stimulus. Associative shift maintains that
a response is first made to situation A, then to AB, and then finally to B, thus
shifting a response from one condition to another by associating it with that
condition.
13. Law of readiness- a quality in responses and connections that results in
readiness to act Thorndike acknowledges that responses may differ in their
readiness He claims that eating has a higher degree of readiness than vomiting,
that weariness detracts from the readiness to play and increases the readiness
to sleep. Also, Thorndike argues that a low or negative status in respect to
readiness is called unreadiness Behavior and learning are influenced by the
readiness or unreadiness of responses, as well as by their strength.
14. Identifiability- According to Thorndike, the identification or placement of a
situation is a first response of the nervous system, which can recognize it. Then
connections may be made to one another or to another response, and these
connections depend upon the original identification. Therefore, a large amount
of learning is made up of changes in the identifiability of situationsThorndike
also believed that analysis might turn situations into compounds of features,
such as the number of sides on a shape, to help the mind grasp and retain the
situation, and increase their identifiability
15. Availability- The ease of getting a specific response. For example, it would
be easier for a person to learn to touch their nose or mouth than it would be for
them to draw a line 5 inches long with their eyes closed.

Development of law of effect

Thorndike's research focused on instrumental learning, which means that learning is
developed from the organism doing something. For example, he placed a cat inside a
wooden box. The cats used various methods trying to get out, however it does not
work until it hits the lever. Afterwards, Thorndike tried placing the cat inside the
wooden box again, this time, the cat is able to hit the lever quickly and succeeded to
get out from the box.
At first, Thorndike emphasized the importance of dissatisfaction stemming from failure
as equal to the reward of satisfaction with success, though in his experiments and
trials on humans he came to conclude that reward is a much more effective motivator
than punishment. He also emphasized that the satisfaction must come immediately
after the success, or the lesson would not sink in.[8]

5. John Dewey

Educator John Dewey originated the experimental philosophy. A proponent

of social change and education reform, and he founded The New School for
Social Research
Synopsis
John Dewey was born October 20, 1859, in Burlington, Vermont. He taught at
universities from 1884 to 1930. An academic philosopher and, proponent of
educational reform in 1894 Dewey started an experimental elementary school. In
1919 he cofounded The New School for Social Research. Dewey published over 1,000
pieces of writings during his lifetime. He died June 1, 1952, in New York, New York. (
Works & Achievements:
Was elected President of American Psychological Association and President of the
American Philosophical Association in 1899 and 1905 respectively, one of the
founders of functional psychology, and among the earliest developers of philosophy of
pragmatism. Wrote important books like Psychology (1887), The School and Social
Progress (1899), How We Think (1910), Essays in Experimental Logic (1916) and
Democracy and Education (1916)

JohnDewey’s Philosophy of Education or Progressivism

A non-authoritarian and multi-faceted.
He wanted to replace rote memorization with active participation.
Utilize schools as focus for social and cultural change.
Education should embody democracy and freedom
Schools as active agents.
Schools to assume a leadership role in social change by teaching students
analytical skills to move society in a positive direction
Educational Theory

Origins
 Progressive education can be traced as far back as to the works of John Locke and
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, with both being respectively known as paternal forerunners
to the ideas that would be demonstrated by theorists such as Dewey.
 Locke first speculated, "truth and knowledge… are out of observation and
experience rather than manipulation of accepted or given ideas".[1] He further
discussed the need for children to have concrete experiences in order to learn.
 Rousseau furthered this assumption in Emile where he made a standpoint against
students being subordinate to teachers and that memorization of facts would not
lead to an education.

Educational Theory
In the United States the "Progressive Education Movement", starting in the 1880s and
lasting for sixty years, helped boost American public schools from a budding idea to
the regular norm. John Dewey, a principal figure in this movement from the 1880s to
1904, set the tone for educational philosophy as well as concrete school reforms. His
thinking had been influenced by the ideas of Fröbel and Herbart.[7][8] His reactions to
the prevailing theories and practices in education, corrections made to these
philosophies, and recommendations to teachers and administrators to embrace “the
new education,” provide a vital account of the history of the development of
educational thinking in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Dewey
placed so called pragmatism above moral absolutes and helped give rise to situational
ethics.[1][9] Beginning in 1897 John Dewey published a summary of his theory on
progressive education in School Journal. His theoretical standpoints are divided into
five sections.
1.What Education Is
 Education according to Dewey is the “participation of the individual in the social
consciousness of the race” Knowledge is a social condition and it is important to
help students construct their own learning.
 Instruction must focus on the child as a whole.
2. What the School Is
“Education fails because it neglects this fundamental principle of the school as a form
of community life. It conceives the school as a place where certain information is to be
given, where certain lessons are to be learned, or where certain habits are to be
formed” Education is the process of living and is not meant to be the preparation of
future living (Dewey, 1897), so school must represent the present life. As such, parts
of the student’s home life (such as moral and ethical education) should take part in
the schooling process.
3. The Subject- Matter of Education
According to Dewey, the curriculum in the schools should reflect that of society. The
center of the school curriculum should reflect the development of humans in society.
The study of the core subjects (language, science, history) should be coupled with the
study of cooking, sewing and manual training.
4. The Nature of Method
Method is focused on the child’s powers and interests. If the child is thrown into a
passive role as a student, absorbing information, the result is a waste of the child’s
education.
5. The School and Social Progress
Education is the most fundamental method of social reconstruction for progress and
reform. Dewey believes that “education is a regulation of the process of coming to
share in the social consciousness; and that the adjustment of individual activity on the
basis of this social consciousness is the only sure method of social reconstruction”

6. Jean-Jacques Rousseau

French writer and political theorist of the Enlightenment, Rousseau's work

inspired the leaders of the French Revolution and the romantic generation. Jean-
Jacques Rousseau was born in Geneva on 28 June 1712. His mother died when he was
young, and Rousseau was initially brought up by his father, a watchmaker. He left
Geneva aged 16 and travelled around France, where he met his benefactress, the
Baronnesse de Warens, who gave him the education that turned him into a
philosopher.
Rousseau reached Paris in 1742 and soon met Denis Diderot, another provincial
man seeking literary fame. They formed the core of the intellectual group, the
'Philosophes'. Eschewing an easy life as a popular composer, in 1750 he published
his first important work 'A Discourse on the Sciences and the Arts' (1750). Its central
theme was that man had become corrupted by society and civilisation. In 1755, he
published 'Discourse on the Origin of Inequality'. He claimed that original man,
while solitary, was happy, good and free. The vices dated from the formation of
societies, which brought comparisons and, with that, pride. 'The Social Contract' of
1762 suggested how man might recover his freedom in the future. It argued that a
state based on a genuine social contract would give men real freedom in exchange
for their obedience to a self- imposed law. Rousseau described his civil society as
united by a general will, furthering the common interest while occasionally clashing
with personal interest.
Increasingly unhappy in Paris, Rousseau travelled to Montmorency. While there,
he produced 'Èmile', a treatise on education and 'The New Eloise' (1761). This novel
escaped the censors and was the most widely read of all his works. Its freedom
with emotion was in tune with developing romanticism and won him many important
fans. But it scandalized the French authorities, who burned it and ordered Rousseau's
arrest. He travelled to England, a guest of the Scottish philosopher David Hume, but
grew unhappy and secretly returned to France. In his last 10 years, Rousseau wrote
his 'Confessions', justifying himself against his opponents. He died on 2 July 1778 in
Ermenonville, the estate of the Marquis de Girardin, who had given him refuge.

Emile, or On Education or Émile, Or Treatise on Education (French: Émile, ou De

l’éducation) is a treatise on the nature of education and on the nature of man written
by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who considered it to be the “best and most important of all
my writings”. Due to a section of the book entitled “Profession of Faith of the Savoyard
Vicar,”Emile was banned in Paris and Geneva and was publicly burned in 1762, the
year of its first publication. During the French Revolution, Emile served as the
inspiration for what became a new national system of education. In Emile, Rousseau
and his fictitious account on properly raising a young boy to become a man, several
theories about education are discussed and put into practice into the boy’s life. To
offer a short summary of Emile, by Jean-Jacques Rousseau under the careful guidance
of his master it is important to recognize the philosophical and creative movement of
the Enlightenment that this work spawned from. In true form to the ideas put forth
during the Enlightenment, Emile grows up in a state of nature and learns by
Rousseau’s methods which emphasize stages of learning and development and
processes of natural inquiry.
Much of Emile is dedicated to the raising of a young man but the last section is
devoted to the education of girls. The culmination of these two statements on learning
is the marriage of Emile and Sophie, a girl who was raised according to Rousseau’s
model of rearing for young women. While this is still technically fiction, the style and
tone is didactic and the narrator often slips off into long diatribes about his own past
as well his feelings about society, religion, and moral matters. Emile by Jean Jacques
Rousseau is conveniently broken up into 5 sections of narrative and essays, each of
which deals with either a particular age group or time in a young person’s life. The
first section of essays deals with the child’s development until about the age of twelve
when he is still living very much like an animal and needs to have his natural
tendency toward understanding brought forth. The second section addresses the
development of a young person from the ages of twelve to fifteen, which is a time
when reason begins to take hold and the child, especially with a proper
apprenticeship, begins to take his first steps toward manhood. The last section of
essays in Emile discusses development and addresses the ages of fifteen and up when
the young child grows into a man and must learn to make his own way based on the
careful instruction he has been given. It is also at this late point that he should find a
woman who completes him, which is illustrated by the example of Sophie.
EMILE- Gospel of Educational Freedom of the Child
Stage 1 – Infancy
Stage 2 – Age of nature
Stage 3 – Pre-Adolescence
Stage 4 – Puberty
Stage 5 – Adulthood

B. THEORIES OF LEARNING

1. Connectionists’ Theory

Connectionism, today defined as an approach in the fields of artificial

intelligence, cognitive psychology, cognitive science and philosophy of mind which
models mental or behavioral phenomena with networks of simple units 1), is not a
theory in frames of behaviorism, but it preceded and influenced behaviorist school of
thought. Connectionism represents psychology's first comprehensive theory of
learning2). It was introduced by Herbert Spencer, William James and his student
Edward Thorndike in the very beginning of the 20th century although its roots
date way back.

What is connectionism?
Connectionism was based on principles of associationism, mostly claiming that
elements or ideas become associated with one another through experience and that
complex ideas can be explained through a set of simple rules. But connectionism
further expanded these assumptions and introduced ideas like distributed
representations and supervised learning 3)and should not be confused with
associationism.
Five characteristics of learning
1. Multiple response or varied reaction – When faced with a problem an animal will
try one response after another until it finds success.

2. Set or attitude – The responses that an animal will try, and the results that it will
find satisfying, depend largely on the animal’s attitude or state at the time.

3. Partial activity or prepotency of elements – Certain features of a situation may

be prepotent in determining a response than others and an animal is able to
attend to critical elements and ignore less important ones. This ability to attend
to parts of a situation makes possible response by analogy and learning through
insight.

4. 4. Assimilation – Due to the assimilation of analogous elements between two

stimuli, an animal will respond to a novel stimulus in the way it has previously
responded to a similar stimulus. In Thorndike’s words, “To any situations, which
have no special original or acquired response of their own, the response made
will be that which by original or acquired nature is connected with some
situation which they resemble

5. 5. Associative shifting – Associative shifting refers to the transfer of a response

evoked by a given stimulus to an entirely different stimulus.

Practical implications of Thorndike's ideas are suggested through his laws of

learning:
1. rewards promote learning, but punishments do not lead to learning,
 2. repetition enhances learning, and

3. potential to learn needs to be satisfied.

2. GESTALTISTS’ THEORY

Gestalt - "essence or shape of an entity's complete form"

"The whole is greater than the sum of the parts" is often used when explaining Gestalt
theory.
But it is better stated that the qualities of the whole have additional qualities that that
parts do not have, e.g. the four lines on the right have the additional quality of
“squareness” that the lines on the left do not.
Gestaltists see objects as perceived within an environment according to all of their
elements taken together as a global construct.

Max Wertheimer

Born April 15, 1880

Died Oct 12, 1943
Born in Prague, Czech Republic
Psychologist
Father of Gestalt psychology
Max Wertheimer (1880-1943)
Wertheimer studied under Stumpf in Berlin, then Kulpe in
Prague (psychology of legal testimony). Fascinated by the apparent motion of objects
outside a train window, he bought a stroboscope to study “where does movement
come from?” Schumann loaned him a tachistoscope and introduced him to Koffka and
Kohler (students of Stumpf). Apparent motion of a white stripe from horizontal to
vertical was demonstrated. In 1910 he bought a toy stroboscope. He saw two
separate and alternating light patterns. He discovered that if the spacing, on-time,
and off-time were just right for these lights, his mind would perceive the dual lights as
one single flashing light moving back and forth.
Phi phenomenon. A perceptual illusion in which a perception of motion is produced by
a succession of still images.

Kurt Koffka
Born March 18, 1886
Died Nov 22, 1941
Born in Berlin, Germany
Psychologist
Another of the founders of Gestalt psychology
Learning theorist
Koffka believed that most of early learning is what he
referred to as, "sensorimotor learning," which is a type of learning which occurs
 after a consequence. For example, a child who touches a hot stove will learn not to
touch it again.
Theories on learning
Koffka also believed that a lot of learning occurs by imitation, though he argued
that it is not important to understand how imitation works, but rather to
acknowledge that it is a natural occurrence. According to Koffka, the highest type
of learning is “ideational learning”, which makes use of language.

Wolfgang Köhler
Born in Jan 21, 1887
Died in June 11, 1967
Born in Reval (now Tallinn), Estonia
Psychologist and phenomenologist
Another of the founders of Gestalt psychology
Problem solving
In 1913, Köhler went to the island of Tenerife in the Canary
Islands for six years Köhler observed the manner in which
chimpanzees solve problems, such as that of retrieving bananas
when positioned out of reach. He found that they stacked wooden crates to use as
makeshift ladders, in order to retrieve the food. If the bananas were placed on the
ground outside of the cage, they used sticks to lengthen the reach of their arms.
Köhler concluded that the chimps had not arrived at these methods through trial-and-
error (which American psychologist Edward Thorndike had claimed to be the basis of
all animal learning, through his law of effect), but rather that they had experienced an
insight (also sometimes known as an “aha experience”), in which, having realized the
answer, they then proceeded to carry it out in a way that was, in Köhler’s words,
“unwaveringly purposeful”.
Main principles of Gestalt Psychology
Emergence Invariance
Reification Prägnanz
Multistability

1. Principle of Emergence Objects in an images are not recognised

by their component parts, but are rather perceived as a whole, all at once.
The dog is not recognized by first identifying its parts (feet, ears, nose,
tail, etc.), and then inferring the dog from those component parts.
Instead, the dog is perceived as a whole, all at once.

2. Principle of Reification the experienced percept contains more explicit

spatial information than the sensory stimulus on which it is based.

3. Principle of Multistability the tendency of ambiguous perceptual

experiences to pop back and forth unstably between two or more
alternative interpretations.

Multistability (or multistable perception) This is seen for example in

the Necker cube, and in Rubin's Figure/Vase illusion shown here. Other
examples include the Three-legged blivet and artist M. C. Escher's artwork
and the appearance of flashing marquee lights moving first one direction and
then suddenly the other. Again, gestalt does not explain how images appear
multistable, only that they do.

4. Principle of Invariance the property of perception whereby simple

geometrical objects are recognized independent of rotation,
translation, and scale; as well as several other variations such as
elastic deformations, different lighting, and different component
features.
5. Principle of Prägnanz we tend to order our experience in a
manner that is regular, orderly, symmetric, and simple.

This results in other more basic laws

Law of Closure
Law of Similarity
Law of Proximity
Law of Continuity
Law of Common Fate
Law of Closure
The mind may experience elements it does not perceive through sensation,
in order to complete a regular figure (that is, to increase regularity).
Law of Closure objects grouped together are seen as a whole.
Law of Similarity The mind groups similar elements into collective
entities or totalities. This similarity might depend on relationships of form,
colour, size, or brightness.; elements that look similar we perceived as
part of the same form.
Uses in human–computer interaction
The gestalt laws are used in user interface design. The laws of similarity
and proximity can, for example, be used as guides for placing radio
buttons. They may also be used in designing computers and software for
more intuitive human use. Examples include the design and layout of a
desktop's shortcuts in rows and columns. Gestalt psychology also has
applications in computer vision for trying to make computers "see" the
same things as humans do.

Law of Similarity
The Law of Similarity claims that elements that appear similar are
perceived as one unit. So elements that have for e.g. the same color,
shape, or other common characteristics, are perceived to be belonging
together. This phenomenon can be very useful to group elements
together that belong to one category. In Figure 3 you can see how CNN
uses this Gestalt Law to present different topics within one news category
as a unit.
Law of Proximity Spatial or temporal proximity of elements may
induce the mind to perceive a collective or totality; these are the
objects near each other or closer together that tend to be grouped
together.
Law of Symmetry Symmetrical images are perceived collectively,
even in spite of distance.
This law comprises the fact the we prefer symmetric appearances over
asymmetric ones. Symmetric objects or arrangements are associated with
positive aspects such as stability, consistency and structure. Asymmetric
arrangements on the other hand give a rather negative impression, like
something is wrong, missing, or out of balance. Of course a website can
never be completely symmetric, which is not at all the idea, but it is
possible to pay attention to the perceived symmetry. So symmetry does
not necessarily have to be created by content, but also by aesthetic
elements such as color or design elements. For example, the head of the
BBC website uses an abstract picture of a globe in the background to
create a harmonious and balanced appearance.
Law of Continuity The mind continues visual, auditory, and
kinetic patterns.
Law of Good Continuation holds the points that are connected by straight
or curving lines are seen in a way that the smoothest path, rather than
seeing separate lines and angles, lines are seen that are belonging
together.
Law of Common Fate Elements with the same moving direction
are perceived as a collective or unit.
Law of common fate states that objects are perceived as lines that move
along the smoothest path. Experiments using the visual sensory modality
found that movement of elements of an object produce paths that
individuals perceive that the objects are on. We perceive elements of
objects to have trends of motion, which indicate the path that the object
is on. The law of continuity implies the grouping together of objects that
have the same trend of motion and are therefore on the same path. For
example, if there are an array of dots and half the dots are moving
upward while the other half are moving downward, we would perceive the
upward moving dots and the downward moving dots as two distinct units.[
Law of Good Pragnanz the word pragnanz a German term
meaning “good figure”. The law of pragnanz is sometimes referred to as
law of good figure or law of simplicity. This hold that objects in the
environment are seen in a way that makes them appear as simple as
possible.
Law of Past Experience—The law of past experience implies that under
some circumstances visual stimuli are categorized according to past
experience. If two objects tend to be observed within close proximity, or
small temporal intervals, the objects are more likely to be perceived
together. For example, the English language contains 26 letters that are
grouped to form words using a set of rules. If an individual reads an
English word they have never seen, they use the law of past experience to
interpret the letters "L" and "I" as two letters beside each other, rather
than using the law of closure to combine the letters and interpret the
object as an uppercase
Another Gestalt Law that can be quite useful is the Law of Experience. It
explains that we can expect others to use their prior knowledge in order
to understand certain elements. A common example is related to letters.
If parts of a letter, that are no main characteristics, are removed, we are
still able to identify the letter because we are still able to identify the
letter because we have learned and memorized what the letter is
supposed to look like. Another example is that we for example skip
spelling mistakes because we have memorized a word as a whole and do
not look at every letter specifically.
Gestalt views in psychology
Gestalt psychologists find it is important to think of problems as a whole.
Max Wertheimer considered thinking to happen in two ways: productive
and reproductive.
Productive thinking is solving a problem with insight.
This is a quick insightful unplanned response to situations and
environmental interaction.
Reproductive thinking is solving a problem with previous experiences
and what is already known. (1945/1959).
This is a very common thinking. For example, when a person is given
several segments of information, he/she deliberately examines the
relationships among its parts, analyzes their purpose, concept, and
totality, he/she reaches the "aha!" moment, using what is already known.
Understanding in this case happens intentionally by reproductive
thinking.

Eight Types of Learning

Signal Learning - The individual learns to make a general, diffuse
response to a signal. Such was the classical conditioned response of
Pavlov.
Stimulus-Response Learning - The learner acquires a precise response
to a discriminated stimulus.
Chaining - A chain of two or more stimulus-response connections is
acquired.
Verbal Association - The learning of chains that are verbal.
Discrimination Learning - The individual learns to make different
identifying responses to many different stimuli that may resemble each
other in physical appearance.
 Concept Learning - The learner acquires a capability of making a
common response to a class of stimuli.
Rule Learning - A rule is a chain of two or more concepts.
Problem Solving - A kind of learning that requires the internal events
usually called thinking.

Nine Events of Instruction

Gain attention - Curiosity motivates students to learn.
Inform learners of objectives - These objectives should form the basis
for assessment.
Stimulate recall of prior learning - Associating new information with
prior knowledge can facilitate the learning process.
Present the content - This event of instruction is where the new content
is actually presented to the learner.
Provide “learning guidance” - use of examples, non-examples, case
studies, graphical representations, mnemonics, and analogies.
Elicit performance (practice) - Eliciting performance provides an
opportunity for learners to confirm their correct understanding, and the
repetition further increases the likelihood of retention.
Provide feedback - guidance and answers provided at this stage are
called formative feedback.
Assess performance - take a final assessment.
Enhance retention and transfer to the job - Effective education will
have a "performance" focus.

Gestalt laws of grouping

A major aspect of Gestalt psychology is that it implies that the mind
understands external stimuli as whole rather than the sum of their parts. The
wholes are structured and organized using grouping laws. The various laws
are called laws or principles.
The visual Gestalt principles of grouping were introduced in Wertheimer
(1923). Through the 1930s and '40s Wertheimer, Kohler and Koffka
formulated many of the laws of grouping through the study of visual
perception.
(1) Law of Proximity
The Gestalt law of proximity states that "objects or shapes that are close to
one another appear to form groups". Even if the shapes, sizes, and objects
are radically different, they will appear as a group if they are close together.
(2) Law of Similarity
The law of similarity states that elements within an assortment of objects are
perceptually grouped together if they are similar to each other. This similarity
can occur in the form of shape, colour, shading or other qualities.

 In the graphic below, the viewer is likely to discern a shape in the

middle, though each individual object is the same color.

 Repetition of forms or colors in a composition is pleasing in much the

same way rhythm is pleasing in music the forms aren't necessarily
identical - there may be tremendous variety within the repetition, yet
the correspondence will still be discernable.
 (3) Law of Closure
The law of closure states that individuals perceive objects such as shapes,
letters, pictures, etc., as being whole when they are not complete.
Specifically, when parts of a whole picture are missing, our perception fills in
the visual gap. Research shows that the reason the mind completes a regular
figure that is not perceived through sensation is to increase the regularity of
surrounding stimuli.

• Closure is the effect of suggesting a visual connection or continuity

between sets of elements which do not actually touch each other in a
composition.

• The principle of closure applies when we tend to see complete figures

even when part of the information is missing.
• Closure occurs when elements in a composition are aligned in such a
way that the viewer perceives that "the information could be connected.

(4) Law of Symmetry

The law of symmetry states that the mind perceives objects as being
symmetrical and forming around a center point. It is perceptually pleasing to
divide objects into an even number of symmetrical parts. Therefore, when
two symmetrical elements are unconnected the mind perceptually connects
them to form a coherent shape. Similarities between symmetrical objects
increase the likelihood that objects are grouped to form a combined
symmetrical object.

(5) Law of Common Fate

The law of common fate states that objects are perceived as lines that move
along the smoothest path. Experiments using the visual sensory modality
found that movement of elements of an object produce paths that individuals
perceive that the objects are on. We perceive elements of objects to have
trends of motion, which indicate the path that the object is on. The law of
continuity implies the grouping together of objects that have the same trend
of motion and are therefore on the same path.
 Example:

 Birds may be distinguished from their background as a single flock

because they are moving in the same direction and at the same
velocity, even when each bird is seen - from a distance - as little more
than a dot. The moving 'dots' appear to be part of a unified whole.
Similarly, two flocks of birds can cross each other in a viewer's visual
field, but they will nonetheless continue to be experienced as separate
flocks because each bird has a direction common to its flock.

(6) Law of Good Continuation

When there is an intersection between two or more objects, people tend to
perceive each object as a single uninterrupted object. This allows
differentiation of stimuli even when they come in visual overlap. We have a
tendency to group and organize lines or curves that follow an established
direction over those defined by sharp and abrupt changes in direction.

3. MIND THEORY / FACULTY THEORY

ORIGIN
 In-depth studies on the processes of learning had been recorded since
the ancient of times. Approximately two thousand years ago, Greek
philosophers like Plato and Aristotle had come up with what we know as the
Theory of Mental Discipline.
- Formulated by Christian von Wolff in 1734 and later by Franz Gall who is
best known for his belief in the localization of mental functions, as well
as Thomas Reid, his doctrine viewed the mind as a separate entity from
the physical body.
- Mind Theory views the mind as a collection of separate modules or
faculties assigned to various mental tasks each of each which can be
trained to perform a specific function.
- It was, perhaps, the most widely accepted concept of learning during
much of the 19th century.
- The corresponding educational model, called "mental discipline," held
that the best way to strengthen the minds of younger students was
through tedious drill and repetition of what we might now call the basic
skills in order to cultivate the memory. For older students, the curriculum
focused on the study of abstract subjects such as classical philosophy,
literature, and languages, as well as advanced mathematics.
- Studies have found the frontal lobes to be involved in the executive
functions of the brain, which are higher level cognitive processes. This
control process is involved in the coordination, planning and organizing of
actions towards an individual's goals. It contributes to such things as
one's behavior, language and reasoning. More specifically, it was found to
be the function of the prefrontal cortex, and evidence suggest that these
executive functions control processes such as planning and decision
making, error correction and assisting overcoming habitual responses.
Examples of Faculties of Mind

- Since these were associated with certain parts of the cranium by the
phrenologists, it was a natural step to assume that learning would consist
of the exercise of these “parts,” or mental capabilities though the
education of the senses also had a role, in initiating the rational cognitive
processes.
- In the late 19th century, new viewpoints particularly that of the
American psychologist William James, began to challenge faculty
psychology, and two highly publicized studies conducted by James'
student Edward Thorndike discredited the concepts of mental discipline
 and transfer of training. Though the methodology of these studies may
have been questionable, their results were, never the less, widely
accepted.
- Thus, faculty psychology slowly fell out of favor and was replaced by
Thorndike's Connectionism. However, the remnants of faculty psychology
remain, even today, in the form of persistent beliefs that abstract and
esoteric subjects are of value simply because they "sharpen the mind."
- The following three philosophies may wrap up the whole ideas that
underlie the Mind Theory of Learning:
“Learning would not occur by itself; it has to be forced.”
“To ensure learning occurs effectively, strict control must be
enforced upon the learner.”
“The perfect learning outcome may only be achieved through
mental discipline by rigid training and practices.”

Christian von Wolff (24 January 1679 – 9 April 1754)

 Is a German philosopher, Wolff divides the human mind into two basic
faculties: the faculty of sense and imagination, on the one hand, and
the faculty of understanding and reason, on the other.
 Because historical knowledge is based in experience, Wolff believes
that it is through the faculty of sense that humans gain historical
knowledge.
 And because philosophical knowledge is knowledge of the reasons of
things, he believes that it is through the intellectual faculty of reason
that humans gain philosophical knowledge.
 Mathematical knowledge, in contrast to both historical and
philosophical knowledge, may either be gained through the senses or
through reason.

Franz Josef Gall (9 March 1758 – 22 August 1828)

 Claimed as the founder of phrenology.
 Phrenology is a method to determine the personality and development
of mental and moral faculties on the basis of the external shape of the
skull.
 Based on his early observations about the skull sizes and facial
features of his classmates, Gall developed the theory of Organology
and the method of Cranioscopy that would later be known as
Phrenology. Gall's version of Organology states that the mind is a
collection of independent entities housed within the brain. During his
 lifetime, Gall collected and observed over 120 skulls in order to test his
hypotheses.
 Gall believed that the bumps and uneven geography of the human
skull were caused by pressure exerted from the brain underneath. He
divided the brain into sections that corresponded to certain behaviors
and traits that he called fundamental faculties. This is referred to as
localization of function. Gall believed there were 27 fundamental
faculties, among them were: recollection of people, mechanical ability,
talent for poetry, love of property, and even a murder instinct. Based
on the surface of a person's skull, Gall could make assumptions about
that person's fundamental faculties and therefore their character.

Thomas Reid (1710-1796)

 Is a Scottish philosopher and one of the founders of the “common
sense” school of philosophy.
 Reid constructs a theory of personal identity. Reid develops a direct
theory of memory according to which the objects of memory are
events in the past, not mental representations.
 Memory is a faculty of its own and it takes a unique set of objects. Just
as the faculty of perception takes as its objects mind-independent
bodies and the faculty of imagination takes as its objects concepts, the
faculty of memory takes as its objects events in the past. Reid
develops this into a direct theory of memory akin to his direct theory of
perception, and contrast to the Ideal Theory and account of memory.

Karl Spencer Lashley (June 7, 1890 - August 7, 1958)

 American psychologist who conducted quantitative investigations of
the relation between brain mass and learning ability.
 Lashley became associated with the influential psychologist John B.
Watson.
 His monograph Brain Mechanisms and Intelligence (1929) contained
two significant principles: mass action and equipotentiality. Mass action
postulates that certain types of learning are mediated by the cerebral
cortex as a whole, contrary to the view that every psychological
function is localized at a specific place on the cortex. Equipotentiality,
associated chiefly with sensory systems such as vision, relates to the
finding that some parts of a system take over the functions of other
parts that have been damaged.
4. PROGRESSIVISTS’ THEORY

Progressive education is a pedagogical movement that began in the late

nineteenth century; it has persisted in various forms to the present. The term
progressive was engaged to distinguish this education from the traditional
Euro-American curricula of the 19th century, which was rooted in classical
preparation for the university and strongly differentiated by social class. By
contrast, progressive education finds its roots in present experience. Most
progressive education programs have these qualities in common:
 Emphasis on learning by doing – hands-on projects, expeditionary
learning, experiential learning
 Integrated curriculum focused on thematic units
 Integration of entrepreneurship into education
 Strong emphasis on problem solving and critical thinking
 Group work and development of social skills
 Understanding and action as the goals of learning as opposed to rote
knowledge
 Education for social responsibility and democracy
 Collaborative and cooperative learning projects
 Highly personalized education accounting for each individual's
personal goals
 Integration of community service and service learning projects into
daily cirriculum
 Selection of subject content by looking forward to ask what skills will
be needed in future society
 De-emphasis on textbooks in favor of varied learning resources
 Emphasis on lifelong learning and social skills
 Assessment by evaluation of child’s projects and productions
 Progressivism grew as a response to an education which focused on
Perennialism and the memorization of irrelevant facts. Progressivists primary
concern was that of making education a practical matter that required a
method of systematically thinking things out in a clear fashion. Progressive
education which grew out of pragmatic thought must be understood as both
a general movement to reform American life (political "Progressive Era"
1900-1920) and education. Progressivism is often associated with
reconstructionism (in the broad sense) and more specifically with John
Dewey's pragmatism and experimentalism. Rooted in the philosophical
school of pragmatism, progressivism is the counterpoint to both essentialism
and perennialism.
"According to the progressive educator, the child should be the focal
point of the school, and therefore the curriculum and teaching methodology
should relate to the students' interests and needs. Moreover, progressivism
contends that children want to learn if they are not frustrated by adults;
therefore, teachers should act merely as guides to student learning and, in
order to respond to different requests for knowledge, must possess
significant knowledge and experience." (Reed 1992 p 219)
The metaphor of the "teacher as facilitator," "director of learning," or
"coach" might best describe the progressivist teacher. Such a teacher is not
considered to be the authority or disseminator of knowledge or truth like the
perennialist or essentialist teacher. Rather, he or she serves more as a guide
or supervisor who facilitates learning by assisting the student to sample
direct experiences. Although the teacher is always interested in the
individual development of each student, the progressivist instructor would
envision his or her role as focusing beyond the individual. Progressivism by
its very nature is socially oriented; thus the teacher would be a collaborative
partner in making group discussions, keeping in mind their ultimate
consequences for the students." (Webb, 1992, p 208)
"The school, according to the progressive movement, is a microcosm of
society, and learning experiences should occur in the school as they do in
society; they should not be artificially divided into time, space, and content.
English and social studies, for example, should be integrated and focus on
problem solving rather than simple memorization of content. According to
the progressivist, education is part of life itself, not a preparation for life; this
is the exact opposite of the perennialist's point of view. Thus, learning
should be cooperative as it is in a democratic environment. Teachers and
students should be involved in the operation of the school. Teachers should
participate in such things as curriculum planning and assignment of students
to groups.
 According to George F. Kneller, the basic principles of progressivism
include the following:
1. Learning should be active and related to the interests of the child.
2. Individuals handle the complexity of life more effectively if they break
experiences down into specific problems. Therefore, learning should involve
the solving of problems rather than memorization of subject matter.
3. Since education is a reconstruction of experience, education is
synonymous with living. So education should be like life itself rather than a
preparation for life.
4. Because interests of the child are central to what is taught, the teacher
should act as a guide rather than a figure of authority.
5. Individuals achieve more when they work with others than when they
compete. Therefore, the schools should encourage cooperative learning
practices.
6. In order to grow individuals need the interplay of ideas and personalities.
Since this is best achieved in a democratic system, the school must operate
within the principles of a democracy.
Progressivism was an attempt to reform the essentialist and
perennialist views of schooling in the late nineteenth and early twentieth
century. In the 1870s, educator
Colonel Francis W. Parker was one of the first to argue that schools were too
authoritarian, relied too heavily on textbooks and passive learning, and
isolated learning from social reality. In Schools of Tomorrow (1915) John
Dewey spelled out his pragmatic philosophy by explaining how progressive
methodology functioned in the classroom. In 1919 the Progressive Education
Association was founded. Some of the legacies passed down to
contemporary schools from progressive education include manipulatives in
science and mathematics, field trips, projects related to the study of
community issues, and classroom stores, and kitchens.
During the years of the Great Depression and those immediately
following it, progressivists moved away from emphasis on the individual child
toward emphasis on education for the good of society. They advocated that
schools be heavily immersed in solving society's problems and issues.
Progressivists take the pragmatic view that change is the essence of reality,
and, therefore, education is always in the process of changing; it is a
positive, continual reconstruction of experience. The more radical wing of
the progressive movement became known as reconstructionists." (Reed,
pp.219,220)
John Dewey
Was an American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer whose
ideas have been influential in education and social reform. Dewey is one of
the primary figures associated with philosophy of pragmatism and is
considered one of the founders of functional psychology. A well-known public
intellectual, he was also a major voice of progressive education and
liberalism.[2][3] Although Dewey is known best for his publications about
education, he also wrote about many other topics, including epistemology,
metaphysics, aesthetics, art, logic, social theory, and ethics.
Known for his advocacy of democracy, Dewey considered two fundamental
elements—schools and civil society—to be major topics needing attention
and reconstruction to encourage experimental intelligence and plurality.
Dewey asserted that complete democracy was to be obtained not just by
extending voting rights but also by ensuring that there exists a fully formed
public opinion, accomplished by effective communication among citizens,
experts, and politicians, with the latter being accountable for the policies
they adopt.
Francis Parker
Parker, Francis Wayland, 1837–1902, American educator, b. Bedford, N.H.
At the age of 16 he began his first job as a teacher in New Hampshire. After
serving with the Union army in the Civil War, he returned to teaching and
became head of a normal school in Dayton, Ohio. In 1872 he traveled to
Germany to study the new methods of pedagogy being developed there,
particularly those based on the theories of Johann Herbart. Upon his return to
the United States (1875), Parker served for five years as superintendent of
schools in Quincy, Mass. There he originated what came to be called the
Quincy movement, emphasizing such elements of progressive education as
group activities, the teaching of science, informal methods of instruction, and
the elimination of rigid discipline. He extended these practices as a
supervisor (1880–83) of schools in Boston, as principal (1883–99) of the
Cook County Normal School, Chicago, and as founder and principal
(1899–1901) of the Chicago Institute, which became part of the school of
education of the Univ. of Chicago. His pioneering work led to improvements
in curricula and teacher training.
William Kilpatrick
William Heard Kilpatrick (November 20, 1871 – February 13, 1965) was an
American pedagogue and a pupil, a colleague and a successor of John
Dewey. He was a major figure in the progressive education movement of the
early 20th century.
Kilpatrick developed the Project Method for early childhood education, which
was a form of Progressive Education organized curriculum and classroom
activities around a subject's central theme. He believed that the role of a
teacher should be that of a "guide" as opposed to an authoritarian figure.
Kilpatrick believed that children should direct their own learning according to
their interests and should be allowed to explore their environment,
experiencing their learning through the natural senses.[1] Proponents of
Progressive Education and the Project Method reject traditional schooling
that focuses on memorization, rote learning, strictly organized classrooms
(desks in rows; students always seated), and typical forms of assessment. He
has been described as a developmentalist.

Leading educational proponents include: Jane Addams, John Dewey, William

H. Kilpatrick, Harold Rugg, George S. Counts, and John Childs. Other
educational reformers/contributors include: Comenius, Rousseau, Sigmund
Freud, Pestalozzi, Froebel, Marietta Pierce Johnson (1864-1938 at Fairhope,
Alabama), Francis W. Parker (1837-1902 Chicago Normal School), and Harold
Rugg and Caroline Pratt (1867-1954, both developed the concept of artist-
teacher) .

5. Pragmatism Theory

What is Pragmatism Theory?

Definition
• the study of the practical aspects of human action and thought.
• the study of the use of linguistic signs, (words and sentences), in

actual situations.
PRAGMATISM THEORY
• Pragmatism derives from Greek word (pragma), "a thing, a fact",
which comes from (prassō), "to pass over, to practise, to achieve".
• Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition that began in the United States
around 1870.
- is a rejection of the idea that the function of thought is to describe,
- is an empirically based philosophy that defines “knowledge and
truth”in terms of practical consequences.
- pragmatists develop their philosophy around the idea that the function
of thought is as an instrument or tool for prediction, action, and
problem solving.
- Pragmatists contend that most philosophical topics—such as the
nature of knowledge, language, concepts, meaning, belief, and
science.

Pragmatic Language

Pragmatics refers to the social

language skills we use in our daily
interactions with others. They include
what we say, how we say it, our body
language and whether it is appropriate
to the given situation. Pragmatic skills
are vital for communicating our
personal thoughts, ideas and feelings.
Children, adolescents and adults with
poor pragmatic skills often misinterpret
other’s communicative intent and have
difficulty responding appropriately either verbally or non-verbally.

EXAMPLES :
 A pragmatic theory of truth is a theory of truth within the philosophies
of pragmatism and pragmaticism. Pragmatic theories of truth were first
posited by Charles Sanders Peirce, William James, and John Dewey. The
common features of these theories are a reliance on the pragmatic maxim as
a means of clarifying the meanings of difficult concepts such as truth; and an
emphasis on the fact that belief, certainty, knowledge, or truth is the result
of an inquiry.
THE PROPONENTS OF PRAGMATISM THEORY
The classical proponents of pragmatism were
1. Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914)
2. William James (1842-1910),
3.John Dewey (1859-1952)and
4.George Herbert Mead (1863-1931),

The Proponent : CharlesPierce (1839-1914)

- was the founder of American pragmatism
(later called by Peirce “pragmaticism” in
order to differentiate his views from others
being labelled “pragmatism.
- Peirce first presented what he referred to
as “pragmatism” in the 1878 article, “How to
Make Our Ideas Clear.”
- The article was largely ignored until James
devoted a series of lectures to it, but Peirce
strenuously objected to James’s version of
pragmatism.
- So Peirce “gave” him the term and coined yet another for himself –
pragmaticism. He wanted to show that the meanings of words depend on
some kind of action.
- Both “pragmatism” and “pragmaticism” come from the Greek root
pragma, meaning “an act” or “consequence.”
- The slight variation signifies the difference in meaning between Peirce and
James’s thoughts.

The Proponent : William James(1842-1910)

- Influential psychologist and theorist of religion, as well as philosopher.
William James used the term "pragmatism" to develop Peirce's theory of
meaning into a theory of truth.
- William James on Pragmatism: William James is the most famous
philosopher of Pragmatism and he’s the one who made Pragmatism itself
famous. For James, Pragmatism was about value and morality: the
purpose of philosophy was to understand what had value to us and why.
James argued that ideas and beliefs have value to us only when they
work. James wrote on Pragmatism: “Ideas become true just so far as they
help us to get into satisfactory relations with other parts of our
experience.”
The Proponent : John Dewey(1859-1952)
- Prominent philosopher of education, referred to his brand of pragmatism
as instrumentalism.
- He believed that learners must adapt to each
other and to their environment. Schools should
emphasize the subject matter of social
experience. All learning is dependent on the
context of place, time, and circumstance.
Different cultural and ethnic groups learn to
work cooperatively and contribute to a
democratic society.

The Pragmatist:
George Herbert Mead (1963-1931)
was an American philosopher,
sociologist and psychologist, primarily affiliated
with the University of Chicago, where he was one
of several distinguished pragmatists. He is
regarded as one of the founders of social
psychology and the American sociological
tradition in general.

PRAGMATISM IN LEARNING
About the learning :
-Learning is a change of knowledge state
- Knowledge acquisition is described as a mental activity that entails internal
coding and structuring by the learner.
- Learner is viewed as an active participant in the learning process
- Emphasis is on the building blocks of knowledge (e.g. identifying
prerequisite relationships of content
- Focus of instruction is to create learning or change by encouraging the
learner to use appropriate learning strategies.
-Learning results when information is stored in memory in an organized,
meaningful way.
-Teachers/designers are responsible for assisting learners in organizing
information in an optimal way so that it can be readily assimilated .