Progressive principles

The loosely structured Progressive Education Association, organized in 1919, was not united by a single comprehensive philosophy of education. The progressives differed in many of their theories and practices, but they were united in their opposition to certain traditional school practices. They generally condemned the following: (1) the authoritarian teacher, (2) exclusive reliance on bookish methods of instruction or on the textbook, (3) passive learning by memorization of factual data, (4) the four-walls philosophy of education that attempted to isolate education from social reality, and (5) the use of fear or physical punishment as a form of discipline.

The Progressive Education Association refused to proclaim a philosophy of education but did announce certain unifying principles. Among them Were the following: (1) the child should be free to develop naturally; (2) interest, stimulated by direct experience, is the best stimulus for learning; (3) the teacher should be a resource person and a guide to learning activities; (4) there should be close cooperation between the school and the home; and (5) the progressive school should be a laboratory for pedagogical reform and experimentation.

Progressive education was both a movement within the broad framework of American education and a theory that urged the liberation of the child from the traditional emphasis on rote learning, lesson recitations, and textbook authority In opposition to the conventional subject matter of the traditional curriculum, progressives experimented with alternative modes of curricuiar organization — utilizing activities, experiences, problem solving, and the project method. Progressive education focused on the child as the learner rather than on the subject; emphasized activities and experiences rather than verbal and literary skills; and encouraged cooperative group learning activities rather than competitive individualized lesson learning. The use of democratic school procedures was seen as a prelude to community and social reform. Progressivism also cultivated a cultural relativism that critically appraised and often rejected traditional value commitments.

Although the major thrust of progressive education waned in the 1940s and came to an end in the 1950s, it did leave its imprint on education and the schools. Contemporary child-centered progressivism is expressed in humanistic education and in the open educational arrangements based on the British primary school.

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