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John Locke
1632-1704
John Locke said that kids should begin learning at a young age because they are all born blank or as he would call it, tabula rasa. He also believed that experiences from a young age would ultimately determine who they become. John Locke also said that children will learn what they are taught and that it is possible to teach them to act the way society thinks they should act. -
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
He is best known for the book he wrote, Emile, a book which described his political views and set the tone for his education. He believed that children mature as a result of their surroundings. He also believed that simple and natural approaches to education work best. -
Friedrich Froebel
1782-1852
Friedrich Froebel was the founder of kindergarten and he compared teaching to a garden, he said that a teacher was similar to a garden and children were growing plants. He created “gifts” and “occupations to help kids learn, gifts were objects that children would use and handle to follow their teachers directions and occupations were materials use to develop many skills. He spent most of his life creating a program for children and training system for teachers. -
Maria Montessori
1870-1952
Maria Montessori was the first women in Italy to earn a medical degree. She created the Montessori method that is still used in a large number of Montessori schools. She believed that respecting children was the foundation for teaching, environments that are prepared are essential for learning, and that sensory experiences is where all knowledge comes from. -
Jean Piaget
1896-1934
Jean Piaget believed that children develop their own intelligence. He had a theory of cognitive development that was based on ages and stages of a child and he believed that mental and physical activity is important for that development. -
Urie Bronfenbrenner
1917-2005
He believed that microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem all had a huge impact on a child’s development and that all of these systems are influenced by each other. He also believed that a child’s development is influenced by their environment. -
Howard Gardner
1943
Howard Gardner believes that there are nine abilities of intelligence and that there is more than one way to be “smart”. The nine intelligences he has identified are; visual/spatial, verbal/linguistic, mathematical/logic, bodily/kinesthetic, musical/rhythmic, intrapersonal, interpersonal, naturalist, and existentialist. -
Martin Luther
1483-1546
He was an advocate for children, he helped establish schools to teach children how to read. He helped people read the bible in their native language by translating the bible into German. Not only did he help children read he also helped adults.
