Why a "new school"? Reading one complete work
By 1900 schools were growing fast, and most worked in rows with memorising and strict marks. Doctors, psychologists and teachers watched children and asked for change. This is the progressive or active-school movement (called the "new education" in Europe).
- Main ideas: the child is active, interest drives learning, real tasks beat memorising, and school should prepare for life in a democracy.
- One complete work: to understand an educator, read one whole book (for example Dewey's Democracy and Education or Montessori's The Absorbent Mind) and write a page about its main idea.
John Dewey: learning by doing
John Dewey (1859–1952, USA) was a philosopher and educator.
- Experience + thinking: we learn when we do something, notice what happens and think about it.
- Problem-solving: lessons start from a real problem, such as growing a plant or running a school shop.
- School as community: children share work and decisions, so they practise democracy.
- Teacher's role: not a lecturer but a guide who plans experiences.
Maria Montessori: the prepared environment
Maria Montessori (1870–1952, Italy) was a doctor who opened the first Casa dei Bambini (Children's House) in Rome in 1907.
- Prepared environment: low shelves, child-sized chairs, order and beauty.
- Self-correcting materials: a puzzle piece only fits the right way, so the child finds the mistake without being told.
- Freedom with limits: the child chooses a task and works as long as needed, but must respect others.
- Teacher as observer: watches, shows a lesson briefly and steps back.
- Mixed ages: younger children learn from older ones.
Claparède and Freinet: interest and work
Édouard Claparède (1873–1940, Switzerland) was a psychologist. His functional education says an action is learnt when it meets a need: school should awaken the child's interest first.
Célestin Freinet (1896–1966, France) was a village teacher.
- Printing press: children wrote their own "free texts" and printed them.
- Class newspaper and letters: readers outside class give writing a purpose.
- Cooperative: pupils manage some of the class work and money together.
- Work-based learning: garden, workshop and trips are part of lessons.
Gentile and Maritain: structure and values
Giovanni Gentile (1875–1944, Italy) was a philosopher and Minister of Education (1922–24). Education, he said, is the growth of the spirit, with teacher and pupil joined in one act. His 1923 reform set a firm Italian school system with a strong humanistic high school and state exams.
Jacques Maritain (1882–1973, France) wrote Education at the Crossroads (1943). He wanted whole-person education: mind, heart and will, rooted in values, not just skills for jobs.
- Common point with the progressives: the child is a person, not a vessel to fill.
- Difference: they keep a firm role for the teacher, the curriculum and values.
Key formulas and definitions
- Progressive education = child, experience and real work at the centre
- Dewey: learning = doing + thinking about it
- Montessori: prepared environment + self-correcting materials + freedom with limits
- Claparède: functional education = learning begins from need and interest
- Freinet: printing press + free text + class newspaper + school cooperative
- Maritain: whole-person education; Gentile: structured school (1923 reform)
Worked examples
1. Explain how Dewey would teach "plants need light".
He would not tell the class first. The children would grow two plants, one in light and one in a dark box, watch for two weeks, and talk about what they saw. Doing and then thinking gives the idea.
2. Why are Montessori materials "self-correcting"? Give one example.
The material shows the child their own mistake without the teacher. In a cylinder block, if a cylinder is put in the wrong hole it will not fit or one will be left over, so the child sees the error and fixes it.
3. How are Maritain and Freinet different but alike?
Freinet put work and a printing press at the centre, Maritain put values and the whole person at the centre. Both treat the child as a person with a mind of their own and not an empty container.
Common mistakes
- Thinking progressive education means "no rules or no teacher". The teacher plans and guides carefully.
- Mixing Dewey and Montessori. Dewey stressed shared experience and problem-solving; Montessori stressed a prepared room and individual work.
- Thinking Gentile belongs to the progressive camp. His reform kept a firm, structured school.
- Thinking Freinet used technology for fun. The printing press gave children real readers and real work.