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Tabula Rasa 1632-1704
John Locke came up with the theory that the mind is like a blank tablet and strongly emphasized the importance of environment and the effects it has on development. Schools today stress the importance of starting education early for this exact reason as it can close the gap between children who's home life's vary giving all children a great start for education. -
Teachers and their garden of children 1782-1852
Freidrich Wilhelm Froebel believed in the concept of unfolding and helping children learn what they are ready to learn when they are ready to learn it. He saw teaching like gardening in that you cannot force but can help children grow which is why kindergarten got its name- garden of children. He used "gifts" and "occupations" as well as songs and games as his main way of teaching and strongly believed in play based learning. -
Robert Owen opened New Lanark infant school
Robert Owen decided to open an infant school because he believed that by shaping a child's character from an early age, teachers could help form a better future society. A couple years after his school opened and the idea of strong emphasis on early childhood education was becoming more known London opened its first infant school. -
Maria Montessori 1870-1952
Maria was the first woman in Italy to earn a medical degree and found strong interest in children with mental deficiencies. She shifted the idea that education is the bigger problem than any physical medical problem when it came to these deficiencies. She worked on how she could help children with deafness, mental retardation and paralysis become more mentally advanced. More than 4000 schools have adopted her philosophy in current schools today. -
Self Actualization Theory 1908-1970
Abraham Maslow developed the theory that students must achieve self actualization to have the most beneficial education. The first step is fulfilling the life essentials which are food water and air, which suggests having set times for water and snack in class which is very important still today. The other parts of his theory build upon life essentials and are giving the kids a sense of safety, love, build their self esteem, give a neat environment and encourage kids to try their hardest. -
NDEA
With a fear of the soviet union beating the US in world dominance already present, when sputnik was launched by the soviets the US came back with the NDEA. The National Defense Education Act had the idea being in order to compete and defeat our rivals we need to invest in education. With such a strong belief that education is necessary for our country's survival funding was made available for science technology engineering and math (STEM). -
ESEA
Congress created the elementary and secondary education act to ensure the funding for all children to receive schooling regardless of financial situation their families were in. The funds are used to provide discounted or free lunch for students who qualify as well as after school and summer programs for children who need them. -
EAHC
Congress passed a law, The Education of All Handicapped Children Act, that said in order to receive funding all states must provide free appropriate public education (FAPE) to any child with a disability. This is passed after Maria Montessori's lifetime which shows that her belief of education being the main problem with mental deficiencies in children was certainly adopted by the country. -
No Child Left Behind
The no child left behind draws from both the NDEA and the ESEA to provide funding for schools but provides higher funding for schools that show accountability through test scores. Many schools feel that standardized testing doesn't accurately show actual progress in all children, many also think that being penalized for low scores is only going to result in lower future scores as resources become less accessible.