nPostednon January 12, 2014
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n“Learningnby head, hand, and heart.”
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n Thisnwas the motto of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, who worked in andncreated schools in Switzerland. He believed that education should benchild-centered. He believed in educating the whole child—and heninstituted physical education so that kids could play games andnsports in school, so that they could use their bodies as well asntheir minds. He believed in teachers being kind and understandingnwith their students rather than strict and authoritarian.
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| Young Einstein |
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nHavenyou heard that Albert Einstein, one of the most respected geniuses ofnall time, disliked school and did poorly there? Well, Einstein didnnot like being told what to do all the time, and he did not likenbeing told what to learn, when, how, and where.
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nEinstein did a lot of whatnmost people would think of as school-type “work” at home,nfollowing his own interests—he loved to read about science,nsolved algebra problems at home for fun, taught himself Euclideanngeometry, and so on. But when teachers made assignments ofnschoolwork, Einstein found that he didn’t want to study thatnparticular thing just at that moment. n
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nEinsteinnhad left school at age 15, but he ended up failing an exam to go to anPolytechnic Institute (a sort of technical college). So he went to ansecondary school (a sort of high school) in Aarau, Switzerland. Andnthis school used Pestalozzi’s methods. Einstein later wrote that “itnmade me clearly realize how superior an education based on freenaction and personal responsibility is to one relying on outwardnauthority.” Pestalozzi’s school has been credited with fosteringnEinstein’s visualization of problems and his “thought experiments.”
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| The familiar Einstein is a bit older. |
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nAfterngraduating from the Aarau school at age 17, Einstein enrolled in thenPolytechnic Institute. Again, he was in a school with a top-downnmodel – teachers gave lectures and made assignments, and judged hownwell students achieved predetermined ends. Once again, Einsteinndidn’t like that sort of education, although he managed to earn andegree. We can all feel really lucky that Einstein did NOT learn justnto sit around and learn what other people have said and done andnthought—he thought new, revolutionary things!
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| J. H. Pestalozzi was born on this date in 1746. |
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nAndnperhaps he did so partly because today’s birthday boy, JohannnPestalozzi, dared to think revolutionary thoughts about education!
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nAlsonon this date:
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Celebratingnplatinum and lithium
Celebratingnplatinum and lithium n
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nAnniversarynof first woman elected to U.S. Senate
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nAnniversarynof establishment of first public museum in U.S.
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nPlannahead!
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nChecknout my Pinterest boards for:
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nJanuaryn holidays
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nJanuaryn birthdays
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nAndnhere are my boards for:
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nHistoricaln anniversaries in February
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