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Father of Pedagogy
Johann Friedrich Herbart
German Educational Theorist (1776 - 1841) Herbart is considered by many to be the Father of Pedagogy. He published General Pedagogy in 1806, outlining a scientific approach to pedagogy. The four steps Herbart proposed include clarity, association, system, and method. -
Behaviorism Pedagogical Approach
Edward Thorndike
American Psychologist (1874 - 1949)
Edward Thorndike was a famous psychologist who studied learning as a consequence of behavior. The behaviorism pedagogical approach views the teacher as the sole authority figure in the classroom. -
Constructivism Pedagogical Approach
Maria Montessori
Italian Physician (1870 - 1952)
Maria Montessori embraced constructivism. In constructivism, the child is considered the center of learning. In 1907, Montessori opened her first childcare center in Rome, testing her approach. Montessori schools still operate today. -
Social Constructivism Pedagogical Approach
Lev Vygotsky
Soviet Psychologist (1896 - 1934)
Vygotsky's work is consistent with the social construction pedagogical approach. This is a blend of teacher-guided instruction and student-centered learning. Independent problem solving under the guidance of an adult can lead to learning. It should be noted that Vygotsky's work did not receive much attention until the 1970s. -
Father of Andragogy
Malcolm Knowles
American Adult Educator (1913 - 1997)
Malcolm Knowles spent his career studying the process by which adults learn. Although this concept can be traced back to Alexander Kapp, a German teacher in 1833, Knowles is credited with the popularity of the term andragogy as we know it. His theory includes four assumptions about adult learners and four principles are applied to adult learning. -
Liberationism Pedagogical Approach
Paulo Freire
Brazillian Educator (1921 - 1997)
Paulo Freire was an educator considered a revolutionary. In the liberationism approach, the student's voice is the focal point and the teacher is also a learner, whose role it is to free the student from cultural limitations. He published the Pedagogy of the Oppressed in 1970. -
Transformational Learning
Jack Mezirow
American Sociologist (1923 - 2014)
Mezirow expanded the understanding of andragogy with his study regarding adult learning. The theory of Transformational Learning holds that there are two kinds of learning - instrumental and communicative. Instrumental learning is task-orientated and communicative involves feelings and desires. -
Action Learning
Reginald Revans
UK Educational Innovator (1907 - 2003) Reginald Revans studied adult learning and the theory of action learning, publishing Origins and Growth of Action Learning in 1982.
The concept of action learning holds that learning starts with a question and acknowledges being stuck. Growth comes from challenge. -
Experiential Learning
David Kolb
American Psychologist (1939) David Kolb, another andragogy theorist published his cycle of experiential learning in 1984. Each stage of the cycle is associated with a concrete experience and a transforming reaction to the experience. -
Self Directed Learning
D. Randy Garrison
Canadian Professor (1947)
D. R. Garrison, a specialist in distance education for adults, has supported the work of Knowles with his self-directed learning model work published in 1997. This model looks at motivation, self-monitoring, and self-management and has opened the door for the concept of MOOCS. (massive open online learning courses) -
Area for Study - Adult Play-Learning
Adult Play Learning
Teachers know that children learn through play. How about adults? In the research for this timeline, it was evident that there is room for research in the future in how play can help adult learners and support andragogy.
