Origins of Progressive Education.

The term progressive education refers to a diverse group of theories and practices that developed in Europe and the United States during the late nineteenth century. The movement's theory was not derived from any single source but from various beliefs united only in their opposition to traditional schooling and their support for schooling that was concerned with the emotional and physical well-being of the child. The principal forerunner of progressive education in the United States was Francis Parker, who opened several schools in the 1880s and 1890s, featuring a flexible curriculum that included self-expression and claimed to teach pupils rather than subjects. John Dewey, a philosopher whose books on educational method provided intellectual foundations for the progressive education movement, was largely responsible for popularizing this new approach to teaching and learning. William Heard Kilpatrick, faculty member of Teachers...