Playful Learning: The History of Progressive Education
Concerns about the British primary school curriculum made their way onto the political agenda last year with the publication of the interim Rose Report. With the full report imminent, Richard Willis looks at the history of progressive education and ponders its future.
Rousseau’s philosophy of allowing school children to ‘develop their senses without restraint’ has not been a priority of UK education policy in recent years. Testing the ‘three R’s’ (reading, ’riting and ’rithmetic) ad infinitum has been more the trend. But, it now seems that the use of so-called progressive methods in early years education is experiencing a revival. The government is supporting small-scale initiatives using the holistic, child-centred approaches to learning promoted by such education luminaries as Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Johann Pestalozzi, Friedrich Fröebel, Rudolf Steiner and Maria Montessori. So what did these thinkers see as the true benefits of progressive education and how is it being applied today?
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