Comenius: The Search for a New Method

(1) use objects or pictures to illustrate concepts;

(2) apply lessons to students’ practical lives;

(3) present lessons directly and simply;

(4) emphasize general principles before details;

(5) emphasize that all creatures and objects are part of a whole universe;

(6) present lessons in sequence, stressing one thing at a time;

(7) do not leave a specific subject until students understand it completely.

Rousseau: Educating the Natural Person

(1) childhood is the natural foundation for future human development;

(2) children’snatural interests and instincts will lead to a more thorough exploration of the environment;

(3)human beings, in their life cycles, go through necessary stages of development;

(4) adult coercion has a negative impact on children’s development. Rousseau’s ideas contributed to permissive and

progressive views of childhood that continue to influence teaching and learning.

Pestalozzi: Educator of the Senses and Emotions

(1) begin with concrete objects before introducing abstract concepts;

(2) begin with the learner’s immediate environment before dealing with what is distant and remote;

(3) begin with easy and simple exercises before introducing complex ones; and

(4) always proceed gradually and cumulatively.

Herbart

1. Preparation, in which teachers prepare students to receive the new concept or material they are

going to present.

2. Presentation, in which teachers clearly identify and present the new concept.

3. Association, in which the new concept is compared and contrasted with ideas the student already

knows.

4. Generalization, in which a general principle is formed that combines the new and previous

learning.

5. Application, in which the student’s knowledge of the new principle is tested by appropriate

examinations and exercises

Froebel: The Kindergarten Movement

Herbart Spencer: Social Darwinist and Utilitarian Educator

Spencer would make the entry into preservice teacher-education programs more competitive so that only the best and
the brightest applicants were admitted. The program would stress science and technology. Unlikely to favor teacher
tenure, teaching would be competitive, with incompetent teachers eliminated and replaced by competent ones.

Dewey: Learning Through Experience

1. The learner, involved in a “genuine experience,” encounters a problem that truly interests him or her.

2. Within this experience, the learner locates and defines the problem.

3. The learner acquires the information needed to solve the problem by reading, research, discussion,

and other means.

4. The learner constructs possible, tentative solutions that may solve the problem.

5. The learner chooses a possible solution and tests it to see if it solves the problem. In this way, the

learner constructs and validates his or her own knowledge

Addams: Socialized Education

Montessori: Prepared Environment

Piaget: Development Growth

1. Encourage children to explore and experiment.

2. Individualize instruction so that children can learn at their own level of readiness.

3. Design the classroom as a learning center stocked with concrete materials that children can touch,

manipulate, and use.

Freire: Liberation Pedagogy