Reform Education



Reform Education  (1900 – 1939)
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oEarly 20th century, with the focal point in the 20s and 30s
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oReform education as a global phenomenon
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o- Progressivism in Anglo-Saxon countries
o- Activism in Italy
o- Reformism in the German-speaking countries
o- New education in the Francophone world (New Schools Movement)

Reform Education - aims
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oThe main request – primarily to change school, then also the lifestyle
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oTrying to offer the world a better society and school
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oPedocentrism as a basic orientation training
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oThe changes were limited to primary school
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oInitial idea: Free School (J. J. Rousseau)
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The Principles of Reform School
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oThe principle of individuation - everyone has different options
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oThe principle of differentiation - qualitative and quantitative
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oThe principle of independence and activities
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oProject method, project-based learning, active and working school
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oThe principle of globalism (the phenomenon as a whole) against atomization of curriculum
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Some of the main leaders - developments in the world I.
oCecile Reddie, Abbotsholme, England (1889)
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oEllen Key, Sweden, Century of the Child (1900): school reform, leaving no stone unturned
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oGustav Wyneken (1906) Wickersdorf, Germany
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oMaria Montessori (1907), Rome, Italy
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oRudolf Steiner (1919), Stuttgart, Germany
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oHelen Parhurst (1914), Dalton, Massachusetts, USA
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Some of the main leaders - developments in the world I.
oCarleton W. Washburne, Winnetka Plan in Winnetka at Chicago, USA
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oCelestin Freinet (1920) Modern School, France
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oA. S. Neill (1924) Summerhill School, England
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oPeter Petersen (1927) Jena plan, Germany

Ovide Decroly (1907), Brussels, Belgium
oLife lessons, life units, everything a kid could see around
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oA harmonious work - collective method
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oAccompanies the child through the stages of human life:
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o organism with life needs
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o social environment of family, school, city, region, nation, humanity
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o nature (animals, plants, minerals, economics, the universe)

Paul Geheeb (1910) Odenwald school in Oberhambach north of Mannheim
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oSchool community - free municipality, school in the middle of nature, in Rhineland
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oAbout 100 pupils aged 5 to 18 years, 6 buildings, one central
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oPupils have the autonomy and they self-manage the village - garden, power plant, ironing, central
heating, order, cleanliness, taste, perception of beauty and harmony
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oThe children's families pay high contributions
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oFree work, often without a teacher, the elder pupils care about a group of 5-12 youngers

Paul Geheeb (1910) Odenwald school in Oberhambach north of Mannheim
oGood relations with the director, everybody honors him, the atmosphere is warm and friendly
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oCourses – at the beginning of the month  pupils register with several subjects, which they deal
with the whole month or even several months long
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oPupils are getting used to self - study
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oTesting does not exist, at the final meeting they present everything they have learned in the
presence of parents and guests. They have something like a portfolio.
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Eduard Claparéde (1873 – 1940), Geneva, Switzerland
oThe doctor and later a professor of the University of Geneva with a focus on child psychology
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oAnother of the protagonists of reform pedagogy, who prefer active school whose essence was an
active part of the pupil
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oMastering the curriculum should be done through practical tasks that lead to reflection and to the
thourough observation of their surroundings
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oView of the world is going on with the help of their own judgment

John Dewey (1859 – 1952), progressive education, Vermont, USA
oThe school should be a place where people live
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oLife Learning - community, spirit of free talkativness, exchange ideas, successes and mistakes
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oSchool organization:
o Ground floor: kitchen and dining room, workshops for carpentry, tailoring, cookery, weaving
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o In the middle is a museum and library, which is also a clubhouse and a lecture room, where the
experience of practival workshops meet with theory in books
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o Upper floor: studies for biology, physics, chemistry and applied art
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John Dewey (1859 – 1952), progressive education, Vermont, USA
oThe ground floor is the first stage of cognition, sensory contact with the material
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oFirst floor: workshop of imaginative abilities of pupil, synthesis of experiences and views on
different tracks of pupils' school work
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oThe book - cannot be representative of the experience, but is needed for its propagation
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oProject method: groups, each  of them choses an activity - game, drama, nature observation,
handicrafts;visits to factories, court, parliament.
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oReal participation in  work and run, sometimes they pass exams too

Antipedagogy
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oin the world and here in the 60s and 70s of the 20th century

Some of the main leaders - development in the Czech Republic
o1918 - establishment of independent Czechoslovakia
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oAt the beginning of the 20th century there were so many thoughts and ideas were implemented, that
it is not easy to divide them so that the classification could precisely show acomplete information
on this full time pedagogical enthusiasm
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o1920 - The first teachers' congress in Prague - the teachers agreed on the request of both child‘s
and teacher‘s freedom and on his teaching activities

I.   20's of the 20th century - romantically oriented stream
oA precise classification is not possible due to many implemented ideas and thoughts
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oF. Bakule – Malá Skála u Turnova, 1902-1913
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oB. Hrejsová – Strážnice, 1918 – 1930
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oF. Mužík – Prague, 1921 – 1924
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oE. Štorch – Children's farm, Prague, 1926 – 1930
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oJ. Bartoň – 1910 – 1925, Brno-Husovice
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oF. Krch, L. Havránek a L. Švarc – Horní Krnsko, Mladá Boleslav, 1919 – 1924

II.   Efforts to reform the entire science-based education, prevailed in the 30s
oEfforts to reform schools, new quality of teaching experiments – implementation of scientific
foundations of education
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oPrague wing reform pedagogy headed by Vaclav Příhoda
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oBrno wing lead by Otokar Chlup
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oExperimental schools (verification of Příhoda´s designs, preparation of new textbooks, curricula
and teaching aids)
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oReform schools (their influence was not so significant, proven innovations in experimental schools
were supposed to be checked back on reform schools)


School reform plan
oImprove the lives of the entire society
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oRationalization of the education system
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o- Unified School, three-level (general, komenium, atheneum)
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o- Work School
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o- Community School

School reform plan
oInner motivation for learning
omethods supporting pupils‘ self-activity
oproblem teaching
oDalton plan
oproject teaching
oeducation for independence
ostudent government
osolving school problems together
oschool magazines
oexcursions
oindividual lessons (respect for the needs of the individual)
ocollective education (social studies)