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Nov 10, 1483
Martin Luther
*Advocated establishing schools to teach children how to read.
*Translated the Bible from Latin to German, allowing people to be educated in their own language. -
John Amos Comenius
*He thought early experiences formed what a child would be like.
*Said education should occur through the senses.
*He is known as the Father of Modern Education.
*Was the first to recognize that the play of childhood was learning.
*Wrote Orbis Pictus, the first picture book for children. -
Jean-Jaques Rousseau
*In 1762 he stated that a child's mode of thinking is different than an adult and they learn though hands-on experience.
*Because of his belief, he advocated the "natural" education of young children, encouraging growth without undue interference or restrictions.
*He believed that children's natures unfold as a result of maturation according to an innate timetable. -
Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi
*Advocated education of the poor and emphasized teaching methods designed to strengthen the student’s own abilities.
*His pedagogical doctrines stressed that instructions should proceed from the familiar to the new, incorporate the performance of concrete arts and the experience of actual emotional responses, and be paced to follow the gradual unfolding of the child’s development.
*His method became widely accepted, and most of his principles have been absorbed into modern elementary education. -
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Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi
*In 1801 he established what is considered to be the first school to teach preschool age children. -
Friedrich Fröbel (Froebel)
*He laid the foundation for modern education based on the recognition that children have unique needs and capabilities.
*In 1837 Garden of Children (Kindergarten) started in Germany.
*In 1840 he coined the word kindergarten for the Play and Activity Institute he had founded in 1837. He designed the educational play materials known as Froebel Gifts, which included geometric building blocks and pattern activity blocks. -
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Friedrich Wilhelm August Froebel
*His most important contribution to educational theory was his belief in “self-activity” and play as essential factors in child education.
*The teacher’s role was not to drill or indoctrinate the children but rather to encourage their self-expression through play, both individually and in group activities. *Devised circles, spheres, and other toys, all of which he referred to as “gifts” or “occupations”, that were designed to stimulate learning through play activities accompanied by music. -
Maria Montessori
*Believed that each child is born with a unique potential to be revealed, rather than as a "blank slate" waiting to be written upon.
*Her main contributions are: preparing the most natural and life-supporting environments for the child, observing the child living freely in their environment and continually adapting the environment in order that the chid may fulfill his or her greatest potential, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. -
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Maria Montessori
*She believed all knowledge comes intrinsically from sensory experiences.
*She designed learning materials to meet the needs of young children.
*Sensory-based materials that are self-correcting.
*Prepared environments are essential for learning.
*Respect for children is the foundation of teaching.
*In 1907 she opens the first Children's House in Rome. -
Jean Piaget
*First to make a systematic study of the acquisition of understanding in children.
*He is thought by many to have been the major figure in 20th-century developmental psychology.
*Theory of cognitive development based on ages and stages.
*Children are "little scientists" and literally develop their own intelligence.
*Mental and physical activities are important for cognitive development.
*Project approach to learning. -
Erik Homburger Erikson
*Theory of psychosocial development-cognitive development occurs in conjunction with social development.
*Life is a series of eight stages with each stage representing a critical period in social development.
*How parents and teachers interact with and care for children helps determine their emotional and cognitive development.
