RUBY FLOR M.

DELA CRUZ

Johann Friedrich Herbart (1776 – 1841)

- A German Philosopher – Psychologist and educator, noted for his contribution in laying the
foundation of scientific study of Education.
- Born on May 4, 1776, in Oldenburg. Tutored in Multiple subject areas – Greek, Music,
Philosophy, Mathematics etc.
- He Pursue Psychology.
- He worked with Locked for Basis in Moral Education.
- Also Worked with Rousseau (leader) in visualizing child as the center, during their time period.
- He also observed Pestalozzi method and became his close friend.
- Died because of stroke in August 14, 1841 in Gottingen where he spent his eight years
producing his “Outlines of pedagogical lectures.

Contribution:
- He emphasized the importance of the both physical and the human environment in the
development of the mind in which ideas were central to the process.
- Believed that physical and human environment group themselves called “apperceptive
masses” by assimilation (apperception) new ideas could enter the mind through association
with similar ideas already present.
- He also identified the method of instruction involving:
“Five Steps of the Recitation”
1. Preparation
2. Presentation
3. Association
4. Generalization
5. Application
- He further emphasized that through the “proper correlation” of subject (curriculum materials),
the student would come to understand the total unity of what is the world.
- Herbart’s teaching method is systemized instruction and encouraged student’s moral
development.
- He organized instruction into system with Moral development of student.
- Morality is the center of Herbart’s aim.
- He position the world as set of presentation that compete for attention in the mind: “the
threshold of consciousness”
- Emphasizes:
 The role of the teacher is to utilize authentic experience and encounters (analytic
instruction) or to choose appropriate presentation (synthetic instruction) to guide student
through the greater knowledge of the world.
(It means that teacher choose material that will stimulate interest and will have strength in
it’s presentation).
 Instruction is an aesthetic process. It involves government and discipline, but instruction
should outweigh the two.
4 Guiding Steps to Instruction:
1. Clarity
2. Association
3. System
4. Method
- Emphasized education and pedagogy should be its own branch of study.
- He said we need pedagogy to learn art of teaching, Instruction, Government and Discipline.
And we need psychology to learn stages of growth and type of mind to “awaken the mind
through many – sidedness”
- American and Hebatianism used his ideas to support their missions to surpass current
lessons and 3R’s. They wrote textbooks on teaching methods and formulated curriculum.