The founding fathers and philosophies of learning

The founding
fathers and
philosophies of
learning
Beatriz Rodríguez

introduction
Beatriz Rodríguez Rivera

John Locke (1632-1704)
Beating wife was a
men’s right.
Restoration of
King Charles II
1659
Reign of William
and Mary
Reign of
king James II
Reign of Queen
Anne
Beheading of king
Charles
Civil war in England

o Look published “Some Thoughts Concerning Education”
in 1693.
o His views on education were radical.
o He was part of the group of English philosophers
known as the empiricists, who believe that
knowledge and understanding of the world comes
through “sensory experience”.
o Which lies on what we know as the “sciences” at the
root of which lies the concept of “empirical thinking”
whereby we observe, acquire and quantify data.Beatriz Rodríguez Rivera

o He strongly held that individuals should use their own
reasons to explore what is true as opposed to simply
accepting what they are told by the authority.
o He held the view of individuals born as a “blank slate”
(tabula rasa).
o Experiences gained through senses.
o He saw the purpose of education as that of instilling
within individuals a strong sense of virtue.

o He also emphasized the importance of learning how to
learn.
o He placed considerable emphasis upon the
importance of language and communication.
o Learning should be enjoyable.
o He laid down the building blocks for future thinking
around the importance of play and the development
of language.

What benefits can early
years practitioners gain
from observing and
recording the behavior
of young children?
How reliable can their
interpretations of this
observations be?

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)
9 days after
giving birth to him At the age of 10 his
father moved away
His father
remarried.
Great plague
London 1665

o His philosophy of education is that all human
being are born “good”.
o He believed individuals inherit much of what would
contribute to their potential make-up.
o He held that individuals inherit the propensity to be
good.
o He sees societies as agents of potential perversion.
o He saw education as the means by which the
natural make-up of individuals could be developed
to improve them and also improve society.

o For him developing the character of individuals
was a fundamental goal of those education
processes in school.
o For Rousseau the role of the tutor was of the
upmost importance.
o Growing children increased awareness of the
world around them.
o They increase their understanding of humility,
honesty, dishonesty and respect for themselves
and for others.
o He saw education as being 'l'art de former des
homes' or the art of forming men.

o Rousseau saw the role of the tutor 'as being that
of guiding the child in such a way that the child
learns the difference between right and wrong
not as a result of punishment but as a result of
understanding the consequences of their actions.

He was one of the first proponents of
developmental education.
1st stage: from birth – 12 years
• Children was influence and directed in their thinking and
actions and also by emotions and impulses.
2nd stage: 13 – 16
• Reason begins to take over from emotions.
After 16 the child moves to adulthood

Friedrich Froebel (1782-18529)
9 month after his
birth
Around 10 years
old he went to live
with his uncle
Married to
WilhelmineIn 1818
She died in 1839
Leaving no children
Remarried Louis
In 1851

His own school in
1816
“On the education of
man” 1826
Teachers training for the
Swiss government
He opened a school
named “kindergarten”
in 1837Beatriz Rodríguez Rivera

o Froebel view play as central to the education of
children
o He believed passionately in the importance of
children expressing themselves through play.
o He liberated the notion of play and made it central
to the education.
o He held the view that individuals were born
creative and through their active believe in God
developed as good members of society.

o Froebel set about creating specialized education
materials.
o He believed being active for children was
important.
o He recognized the value of music in education f
young children and the value of singing.

John Dewey (1859-1952)
American Civil war
Billy the kid Second world war

o He was writing at a time when teaching was a
very formal nature.
o Pre school education was ill-understood
o Dewey has been associated with the notion of
child-centered education.
o On Dewey’s philosophy lies the importance of
understanding children’s experiences.
o He believed education requires support and
direction in structuring their own learning
o Educators must acknowledge the uniqueness of
each child.

o The curriculum should take account of and allow
this differences.
o Education should be seen as having a wider
social purpose, preparing children to become
effective members of their society.
He espoused two notions:
• Schools should be seen as communities in
themselves.
• Educators cannot alter the past experiences of
children.

He argued that educators must:
o Deal with the present and the future.
o Engaging in the process of understanding the
past experiences of their pupils.
o Be informed of how to effect change over what
the pupil will learn and in what way is relevant for
each pupil.
In the case of young children their experiences are
of great immediate value and will affect future
experiences and learning.
It can be argue that we all learn from what we
do, what do you think?

Maria Montessori (1870 -1952)
Born in italy
First female medical doctor
Single mother
Attended a school for
boys

o A Montessori teacher places great emphasis
upon the environment in which the child learns.
o The teacher is the guardian of the environment.
o Montessori introduced the notion of children’s
house, which has an environment that offered
simulation where children were free to develop
their learning.
o She strongly advocated the importance of
learning through their senses.
o Children should take responsibility for their own
learning.
o She took the initiative of designing furniture
suitable for the children in her children’s house.

At the heart of the Montessori method lies the notion
of stages that children pass.
 1st: the child experiences significant levels of
change in the areas of physical, social and
emotional development, starts to take their first
steps, use their first words.
 2nd: they can run, jurnp and climb, and engage in
conversation with others using complex and
sophisticated language structures and
vocabulary. They are beginning to understand the
feelings of others and adapt their own behaviours
and actions in accordance with these.

1st plane: children also develop their abilities in such
important areas as;
memory
information processing
expressive and receptive language
Within the first Plane, Montessori identified what she
termed 11 'sensitive' periods:
• Movement
• Language
• Small Objects
• Order
• Music
• Grace and Courtesy
• Refinement of the Senses
• Writing Fascination
• Reading
• Spatial Relationships
• Mathematics.

Rudolf Steiner (1861 -1925)
Born in now part of
croatia
Very competent linguistic mathematician
Architect Scientist Classical scholar

o The purpose of Rudolf’s school was to educate the
children of the people who worked in the factory of
Waldorf Astoria who was the owner a large cigarrete
factory.
o Progressive views of education become a huge
success
o He got engaged in teaching training.
o He believed the function of education was to
respond to the changing need of the children,
cognitive and emotional.
o There is a significant emphasize upon play, art and
drawing upon likns between art and science.

o Children are not taught to read before age 7.
o When older the children will be more mature and will
acquire formal literacy and numeracy easily.
o Children should be taught write before reading.
o Children sing each day and learn to play instruments.
o Assessment is done by observation.
o Where possible children keep the same teacher until
the secondary stage.
o “Narrative approach” to learning (emphasize on
listening, imagination.)

Rachel McMillan (1859 -1917) and Margaret McMillan (1860-1931)
Born in New York Parents emigrated from
Scotland
Their father died
1865
Sister Elizabeth died
1865
Returned to
Scotland
Their mother died
in 1877

Grandma died in
1888
Rachel moved to London London poverty
Poor sanitation Jack the Ripper School became
compulsory

o Free school meals for children.
o Regular medical inspections of school-aged children
with their clinic opened in 1908.
o They believed in the importance of the first years of a
child’s life.
o Social reformers.
o Open-air learning.
o Margaret argued imagination was very important in
children’ education.
o Caring for animals and plants.
o Margaret founded the Rachel McMillan college in
1930.

The founding fathers and philosophies of learning

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