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“We don’t need no education,” goes the lyric to one of Pink Floyd’s most popular songs. This selection of historic pedagogues would certainly disagree
Daniel Besant
August 20, 2015
“We don’t need no education,” goes the lyric to one of Pink Floyd’s most popular songs. This selection of historic pedagogues would certainly disagree
Aristotle (c. 384 BCE – c. 322 BCE): One of the most famous ancient Greek philosophers, Aristotle’s ideas about learning underpin educational thinking to this day. Famous for being tutor to Alexander the Great, Aristotle is equally renowned for his school, the Lyceum in Athens, the foremost learning establishment of its time. Students who followed the sage around the grounds as Aristotle gave discourses were known as “peripatetics” or “people who travel about”. To Aristotle, knowledge could only be obtained through interaction with physical objects. He formulated a universal process of reasoning by which people can learn all there is to know about reality, a process that endures to this day. This process enabled anyone to be able to describe objects based on their actions, characteristics and states of being. “The whole is more than the sum of its parts,” as Aristotle put it. John Amos Comenius (1592 – 1670): Textbooks with pictures, education from primary to tertiary level and education for women: all these things are taken for granted in most countries today. Not so back in the 17th Century, when this Czech-born philosopher, theologian and pedagogue lived. Known these days as the father of modern education, he pioneered the methods that underpin schooling across the globe. Before his time, classroom learning was centred on dull memorisation. Comenius introduced textbooks that presented ideas in a gradual manner, from simple to more complex concepts. He also advocated for poor children to be given equal access to school and there is evidence that Harvard University wanted him to be its first chancellor. His work is commemorated by Unesco in the Comenius Medal, awarded for achievements in educational research, innovation and personal devotion to education. Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746 – 1827): Born in Switzerland, Pestalozzi was a pioneer in educational reform. The central tenet of his philosophy was that everyone deserved an education, whatever his or her social status. He established a number of schools for children orphaned during the Napoleonic wars. Pestalozzi also believed that education should be practical, involving the whole person, rather than learning by rote. This view is reflected in his motto: “Learning by head, hand and heart.” The “head” refers to the development of students’ intellectual side and critical thinking. The “heart” involves developing a child’s ethical side by fostering integrity, love and empathy. The “hand” concerns a more active side of development, in particular art, sport and professional skills. Rudolph Steiner (1861 – 1925): Steiner was, among other things, a mystic, social reformer and philosopher. Born in Austria, he developed his educational approach – known as anthroposophy – in Germany. This approach centres on the role of imagination in education and works towards integrating the practical, intellectual and artistic sides of students. The first Waldorf school, all of which follow Steiner’s philosophy, opened in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1919, and there are now thousands in more than 60 countries, from kindergarten through to secondary schools. As one alumna of a Waldorf school puts it: “Waldorf education is learning in its purest form. It is learning to think, to feel and to act appropriately, completely and with conscience.” Maria Montessori (1870 – 1952): Both a doctor and an educator, Montessori was born in Italy and was well educated despite her father’s objections to her continuing in school. She was the first Italian woman to receive a medical degree, going on to work in psychiatry and anthropology as well as education. Montessori felt that children should be educated in non-formal environments and that those environments should be continually adapted. Staff were encouraged to continually observe the child in order to best adapt to their needs. In Montessori’s thinking, teachers should not be the focus in the classroom, a belief best summed up in this quote from her: “The greatest sign of success for a teacher… is to be able to say: ‘The children are now working as if I did not exist.’”
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