A work
in progress edited by Daniel
Schugurensky
Department of Adult Education, Community Development and Counselling Psychology,
The Ontario Institute for Studies in
Education of the University of Toronto (OISE/UT)
This
year, at the dawn of the twentieth century, the Francis W. Parker School
opened to foster a child-centered, progressive philosophy. Francis W. Parker
(1837-1902), a
pioneer of the progressive movement in the United States, started his
educational career as a village teacher in 1853, at the age of 16. His career
was interrupted by the Civil War (where he served in the Union Army throughout
the entire conflict), but was resumed afterwards when he found a teaching
position in Ohio. A few years later, he traveled to Europe to learn more about
the ideas of the famous European educational thinkers such as Rousseau, Froebel,
Herbart and Pestalozzi. At home, his philosophy of education was influenced by
the ideas of Horace Mann and his friend John Dewey.
In
1875, Parker had a great opportunity to put that philosophy in practice when was
invited to work as a superintendent in Quincy, Massachusetts. He accepted the
challenge, and developed the Quincy Plan. This was an experimental program that
abandoned prescribed curricula, rote memorization of meaningless information and
harsh pupil discipline, replacing them with meaningful learning and active
understanding of concepts. By 1879, in order to respond to the critics of this
alternative model, Quincy students were subjected to state examinations in the
traditional subjects. The model was quickly legitimized as successful when the
results of the test were released, and it was found that Quincy pupils surpassed
the scores of other school children in Massachusetts. However, for Parker the
measure of success was not just academic performance, but a humanized and
respectful learning environment. In his own words, “If you ask me to name the
best of all in results, I should say, the more human treatment of little
folks” (cited in Rippa 1997:162).
Francis
W. Parker shared with European educational theorists the need to shift from a
curriculum-centered and teacher-centered education to one that had the learner
at the center. But Parker differed from his European colleagues in the
particular stress that they put on the democratization of educational practices
in order to build a more democratic society. Indeed, Parker conceived the public
school as a model community in which an embryonic democracy could be forged in
daily practices, eliminating prejudice, promoting freedom of inquiry, and
solving problems cooperatively. Parker firmly believed that the only way to
promote the common good and freedom was the development of a more democratic
society, and that the best strategy to develop a more democratic society was a
democratic public schooling that took seriously the formation of responsible
citizens who learn to live and work together since childhood. Francis W.
Parker’s ideas and practices contributed significantly to the popularity of
the progressive education movement during the first decades of the twentieth
century. Parker’s proposals and school successes, together with Dewey’s
research in the Chicago Laboratory School, made a large impact in shifting
educational perspectives and school practices in the United States (from a
traditional curriculum to a child-centered approach), and opened a fertile
discussion on the possibilities and limits of education in fostering social
change.
When the Francis W. Parker School opened in 1901, it had an
enrollment of one hundred and eighty students. As
part of the progressive movement and the philosophy of its namesake, the Parker
school opposed the drilling method. Following Parker’s ideas, the school
promoted the notion that learning could be fun, and put forward a pedagogical
model that held the child at its very center. Although academic development was
strongly pursuit, the Parker School promoted a more holistic and social
approach, following Francis W. Parker’s beliefs that education should include
the complete development of an individual (mental, physical, and moral) and that
education could develop students into active, democratic citizens and lifelong
learners.
Indeed, Francis W. Parker asserted that the alumni of the school
should use their knowledge to improve the community and to promote fairness in
society, and that they should graduate as good citizens, not only with vast
knowledge, but also with heart and soul. Francis W. Parker had the enthusiasm,
leadership and hope of most social reformers, and managed to successfully put
into practice innovative educational theories. His enthusiasm and respect for
the child could be summarized in his school motto: “Everything to help and
nothing to hinder.” During the remainder of the twentieth century, the Francis
W. Parker School continued to grow while guided by that motto and maintained its
original progressive philosophy.
Sources:
Website of the the Francis W. Parker School:
Rippa,
Alexander (1997). Education in a Free Society: An American History. New York:
Longman.
Prepared by DS
Citation: Schugurensky, Daniel (2002). 1901: Francis W. Parker progressive school opens. In Daniel Schugurensky (Ed.), History of Education: Selected Moments of the 20th Century [online]. Available: http://fcis.oise.utoronto.ca/~daniel_schugurensky/assignment1/1901parker.html (date accessed).
DS Home Page Back to Index Suggest or Submit a Moment
Website © 1996-2002 Daniel Schugurensky. All Rights Reserved.
Design and maintenance by LMS.
Last updated on June 13, 2002.