PROGRESSIVISM

At the end of the report, 80% of the learners should be able to:
a. identify the historical context and proponents of Progressivism;
b. define Progressivism as an educational philosophy;
c. participate in an activity that explains the implication of
progressivism to teaching and learning; and
d. appreciate the value of having a firm philosophy in education by
analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of each philosophy.
I. Activity:
Participants of the discussion will be tasked to rearrange the jumbled
letters in order to unlock the hidden words. Each item will be flashed and
expected to be answered in 15 seconds.
1. NEXERPICEE
2. OLRENBITIA
3. VERATICE
4. MAONETTIXNIREPE
Answer:
1. EXPERIENCE
2. LIBERATION
3. CREATIVE
4. EXPERIMENTATION

II. Analysis:
1. How did you find the activity?
*Learners will respond that the activity was quite challenging
because of the limited time given to them.
2. What do you think is the meaning of each word?
Expected answers:
*Experience talks about an encounter that enables a person to be
knowledgeable in life.
*Liberation is about freedom from limits.
*The word, “creative” pertains to the ability to imagine and produce
an artistic work.
*Experimentation is about trying out something by following a
process.
3. Do the unlocked words have something to do with our topic for today?
Let’s find out along the way.
The jumbled letters that you have just unlocked relate to Progressivism as
an educational philosophy.
III. Abstraction:
HISTORICAL CONTEXT

In early 1900s, education in the United States was mainly based on

knowledge and memorization. This type of education was often referred to as “the
recitation system.” John Dewey’s revolutionary ideas led to a shift from the
“recitation system” to a more progressive system.

Progressivism
-an American philosophy which is a revolt against the “formal/ conventional/
traditional” system of education.
-concerned with “learning by doing” that means children learn best when they
are pursuing their own interest and satisfying their own needs.
-Progressivists believe that students learn best from what they consider most
relevant to their lives.
-Progressivists center curriculum on learners’ needs, experience, interest and
abilities.

PROPONENTS OF PROGRESSIVISM
1. John Dewey (1859–1952) American philosopher, psychologist and
educational reformer who based his philosophy in Pragmatism. He
established the “Laboratory School” in 1896 and known as the “father of
educational psychology”. He is also the founder of the progressive
education movement. He believed that book learning was no substitute for
actually doing things. Moreover, he believed in the power of democracy and
education to affect change. He also emphasized that ideas should be tested
by experimentation and that learning is rooted in questions developed by
the learner.

2. William Heard Kilpatrick (1871-1965) He is often referred to as the

“father of progressive education.” He believed that the curriculum should
be based on actual living (Parkay & Haas, 2000)
Kilpatrick set the Key Tenets for Application of the Progressive Curriculum:
 The curriculum begins with the student’s natural interests and
gradually prepares them to assume more socially responsive roles;
 Learning is most effective if it addresses the real concerns of the real
students;
 Students learn to become more worthy members of society by
actively participating in socially useful work;
 The curriculum should teach students to think intelligently and
independently;
 The curriculum should be planned jointly by teachers and students;
 Students learn best what they practice and live (Parkay & Haas,
2000).

3. Ella Flagg Young (1845-1918) Dewey’s colleague and kindred spirit at

the University of Chicago. She was the first female head of a large United
States city school system.
4. Granville Stanley Hall (1844-1924) He was an iconoclastic Clark
University psychologist and avowed leader of the child study movement
who collectively derived the understanding of child-centeredness from
reading and studying a diverse array of nineteenth and twentieth- century
European and American philosophical schools.

5. Bill Clinton -an excellent advocate for progressive education. He was

concerned about ensuring that his public policy and public opinion
propelled progressive and democratic thinking (Holley, 2014).
He believed that progressivism as a philosophy of education
encouraged moral values, critical and creative thinking, as it is necessary
for shaping and changing society- in a way that promises to have an
impact on the actual conduct of education.

Educational Philosophy

Progressivism is a philosophy of education that emphasizes the need for

students to learn through their own experiences and be actively involved in
their own learning process. It stresses the importance of learning by doing
and encourages students to be curious and questioning. Progressivism also
emphasizes the need for educators to be flexible and responsive to the
needs of individual students.
Progressivism is a philosophy of education that emphasizes the need for
students to learn through their own experiences and be actively involved in
their own learning process. It stresses the importance of learning by doing
and encourages students to be curious and questioning. Progressivism also
emphasizes the need for educators to be flexible and responsive to the
needs of individual students.

Aims of Education

 To promote democratic and social living

Dewey's emphasis on the importance of democratic relationships in the
classroom setting necessarily shifted the focus of educational theory from
the institution of the school to the needs of the school's students.

Role of Teachers and Learners

Teachers act as facilitators in a classroom where students explore physical,

mental, moral, and social growth. Common sights in a progressivist
classroom might include small groups debating, custom-made activities,
and learning stations.
 Curriculum (what to teach)

John Dewey was probably one of the biggest supporters of progressivism.

He believed that a curriculum should be interdisciplinary. This allows
students to make connections between subjects rather than learn in
isolation.
Interdisciplinary instruction relies on multiple content cogs working
together to develop student knowledge, problem-solving skills, self-
confidence, self-efficacy and a passion for learning while supporting
students' various learning styles, diverse backgrounds, interests, talents,
backgrounds, and values.

Pedagogy (how to teach)

What method of teaching is used by the progressivist teacher?

The progressive education follows an experiential and social methodology.
The pupils are given various opportunities to experience things, situation of
emotional, social, aesthetic and practical nature. They are encouraged to
express themselves in verbal ways. All these experiences should be within
their reach.
Common sights in a progressivist classroom might include small groups
debating, custom-made activities, and learning stations. Teachers typically
walk freely among the groups, guiding them using suggestions and
thought-provoking questions.

Implications to Teaching and Learning

Strengths of Progressivism to Education

 Progressive education allows for greater student involvement in their own

communities and environments which allows for deeper integration of
knowledge.
 the focus is shifted away from the teacher and how they teach, and more
on the student and how they learn.
 Progressivist teachers try making school interesting and useful by planning
lessons that provoke curiosity. In a progressivist school, students are
actively learning.
 The students interact with one another and develop social qualities such as
cooperation and tolerance for different points of view.
 Teachers recognize and honor the creativity and passions of individual
students.
 Educators do not simply teach students information and expect them to
memorize it and get perfect scores on tests.
 Instead, they have their students engage in active hands-on learning
through projects, experiments, and collaboration with peers.

Weaknesses of Progressivism to Education

            In contrast, the problem that critics have with this approach to
education is that catering to student whims and fancies may ultimately
damage the overall curriculum.

 Does not have teacher directed or skill-centered strategies.

i.e., there is no standard way of teaching or learning a concept.

 Is hard to teach when it comes to teaching subjects on the humanities and

critical reading.
*Personal analysis on the education system i.e., history and book are
usually told or read

 The chaos and noisiness of the classroom could not be handled by one
teacher in a large number of students in the public education system.
 It is a lot more work for the teacher to plan a lesson objective and a variety
of activities in order to make the chaos more organized.
 Limited in question- answer tests and written responses
i.e., the common worry is students will not gain the amount of practice of
literacy as they would in a traditional education setting.

Importance of Progressivism in the Field of Education:

 Emphasizes Active Learning

Students should be given opportunities to explore their own interests and
discover new things. It also means that they should be encouraged to ask
questions and think critically about the information they are presented
with.
 Encourages Creativity
Creative expression is an important aspect of progressive education.
This means that students should be given opportunities to express
themselves creatively and explore their own ideas, which will help them
learn in new ways with less risk or frustration than they would otherwise
experience if left unchecked by outside influences such as parents who
wantonly discourage exploration at every turn because “you can’t do
anything worthwhile.”
 Innovation is essential to success.
It means that you should encourage your kids, come up with new solutions
for problems, and not be afraid of thinking outside the box!

Teaches Students How to Think, Not What to Think

 Encourages Social Interaction

Progressive education also emphasizes the importance of social interaction.
 This means that students should be given opportunities to work together
and interact.
It is believed that this kind of interaction is essential for learning.

 Promotes Individualized Instruction

This means that each student should be given instruction tailored to his or
her own needs and abilities.
It is believed that this kind of instruction is more effective than one-size-
fits-all instruction because it allows students to learn at their own pace
and in their way.

 Encourages Democratic Values

This means that students should be taught to participate in their own
governance and make decisions about their own education.

 Encourages Lifelong Learning

Finally, progressive education emphasizes the importance of lifelong
learning.
This means that students should be given opportunities to continue
learning even after leaving the formal education system.

IV. Application

A. Read the news article about “How a Progressive Education

Responds to the Times” by Gretchen Forsyth. Then, answer the following
questions based on what you have read.

1. What does it mean to limit one’s potential? Are there good

implications to limiting oneself? Why?
2. Why do we need to encourage learners to ask questions?
3. In the limited face-to-face interactions during the pandemic, how can
progressive education, specifically pertaining to student’s need for
real-life learning experiences still thrive?

B. Design a brief class activity which you deem appropriate for your
subject taught. Please specify your chosen discipline and make sure that your
activity adheres to Progressivism as an educational philosophy.

V. Assessment

Modified True or False. Write TRUE if the statement adheres to

Progressivism. Write the correct statement if otherwise.

1. Progressivism encourages democratic values.

2. Books are the dominant source of knowledge.
3. Teachers should be given the opportunity to freely express themselves.
 4. In a progressivist school, learners are actively learning.
5. Bill Clinton is the founder of progressive education.

ATTACHMENT

Picture documents with captions

Proponents
John Dewey (1859–1952)
 American philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer
 He believed that book learning was no substitute for actually doing things
 He also believed in the power of democracy and education to affect change
 Emphasized that ideas should be tested by experimentation and that learning is
rooted in questions developed by the learner.

William Heard Kilpatrick (1871-1965)

 Often referred to as the “father of progressive education”

 Believed that the curriculum should be based on actual living (Parkay & Haas,
2000)
sets forth the Key Tenets for Application of the Progressive Curriculum
 The curriculum begins with the student’s natural interests and gradually prepares
them to assume more socially responsive roles;

Ella Flagg Young (1845-1918)

 Dewey’s colleague and kindred spirit at the University of Chicago
was the first female head of a large United States city school system.

Granville Stanley Hall (1844-1924)

 iconoclastic Clark University psychologist and avowed leader of the child
study movement who collectively derived the understanding of child-
centeredness from reading and studying a diverse array of nineteenth and
twentieth- century European and American philosophical schools.

Bill Clinton

 An excellent advocate for progressive education. He was concerned about

ensuring that his public policy and public opinion propelled progressive and
democratic thinking (Holley, 2014).
 E-JOURNALS/ ARTICLES

Antoinette Pinder-Darling
February 15, 2015
Curriculum philosophy: Progressivism
Many teachers know that education is a powerful instrument for the
shaping of individual lives and society. However, it is important for the
teacher to reflect on her role and to determine which philosophy of
education influences her view on the curriculum and will be of benefit to
students. This will help to chart or direct her journey as an educator. The
word education refers very broadly to the total social processes that bring a
person into cultural life. Many persons and social agencies are involved in
the process of enculturation of the learner’s mind (Gutek, 1997, p. 4). The
family and peers, the neighborhood, the church, media/technology and the
nation all have formative effects on the individual. However, students can
also contribute to their own learning through curiosity, questioning or
problem-solving.
Students are educated in schools. This environment helps to
establish knowledge, values and assists with cultivating the preferred skills
for the learner’s development. The teacher develops the curriculum, which
is the locus of the school’s educational efforts. Curriculum itself is defined
in varied ways and guided by different philosophies. There can be no
question that curriculum designers, regardless of their philosophical
convictions, seek to create valuable curricula that is worthwhile for the
learner, states Gutek (p. 5). Educational leaders have discovered that
philosophical disagreements have resulted in a variety of curricula;
however, the focus for this paper will be on progressivism.
Progressivism as a philosophy is a reaction against traditionalism in
schooling in the United States; it stresses the liberation of the child’s needs
and interests. Often referred to as “the father of progressive education”
William Heard Kilpatrick (1871-1965) believed that the curriculum should
be based on actual living (Parkay & Haas, 2000, p 26). The learning stems
from questions that the learner asks himself. Progressives borrowed the
doctrine that children should be free to develop according to their interests
and needs. They must also be free to think for themselves. The child-
centered Progressives’ emphasis on children’s needs and interests led them
to conclude that the curriculum should develop from the child—that the
most effective school environment was a permissive one, in which the
whole child is free to explore and act on his own interests.
Progressivism, the educational theory also highlighted by
philosopher John Dewey (1859-1952) emphasizes that ideas should be
tested by experimentation and that learning is rooted in questions
developed by the learner. This means that the learner develops from his
own experiences, questioning and reform. Progressives oppose
authoritarianism and favor human experience as a basis for knowledge.
Progressivism encourages intrinsic motivation, experiential learning and
creative thinking, using the scientific method as an instructional approach
—these help to give learning meaning and aid the student in developing a
concern for the future (becoming a good citizen) and the world around him.
From the origins of progressivism to the present, Progressives believe that
children’s directly expressed needs and interests should take precedence
over academic subject matters.
Progressive educational philosophy has been used in the
development of the curriculum and William H. Kilpatrick sets forth the key
tenets for application of the progressive curriculum (Parkay & Haas, 2000).
He states:
(1) The curriculum begins with the student’s natural interests, and
gradually prepares them to assume more socially responsive roles;
2) Learning is most effective if it addresses the real concerns of real
students;
3) Students learn to become more worthy members of society by actively
participating in socially useful work;
4) The curriculum should teach students to think intelligently and
independently;
5) The curriculum should be planned jointly by teachers and students; and
6) Students learn best what they practice and live (Parkay & Haas, 2000).
Progressive education recommends a natural approach to education,
one that stimulates all five senses in students (Herschbach, 1997). One
champion educator, Marietta Johnson, uses this natural approach to great
effect. Instead of sitting at desks, working on learning tasks related to
nature. Johnson’s students are allowed to engage with their outdoor
surroundings. They record their observations and confirm their findings
with reference materials using technology (Education.com, 2013). This is
the scientific method at its best, operating to help students understand the
world around them.
Many current technologies and projects can help teachers design
progressive lessons, ones that will reach students beyond the classroom
and that will influence their personal and social development. If John
Dewey were around today, he would likely have approved of students
learning how to use mobile applications such as Google Play, especially if
the students are allowed the opportunity to plan, develop, and publish a
mobile app. These students would receive the significant benefit of
practicing the digital skills that they live. The classroom becomes a real
laboratory when students become makers, creators and innovators.
Learning, then, is lived. There are many examples of student-created
mobile applications as reported by the National Academy Foundation
(Militello & Friend, 2013):
 Find Your Way—an app assisting people with disabilities using public
transportation was developed by Grover Cleveland High School in New
York.
 Shop Local Raleigh, an app helping users find and shop at locally owned
and operated businesses developed by students from Apex High School in
North Carolina.
 Social Onion, a professional networking app was developed by Pathways
to Technology Magnet High School.
 Recycle It, a game based social app was created by Downtown Magnets
High School in Los Angeles, California.
 Kiwi Pad—an assistive text to sound app created by students of A. J.
Moore Academy in Waco, Texas (Militello & Friend, 2013, p 17).
Project-based learning has been used in the classroom environment
for years and is a wonderful teaching method to spark the intrinsic
motivation of students. Students can develop and design their own projects
and learn business skills in the process when given the opportunity to
explore entrepreneurial projects or internships (Militello & Friend, 2013).
They can be exposed to letter writing, using simulations or developing a
business plan. Rather than retaining and regurgitating information,
students get to synthesize information and create something new.
Teachers can also introduce IPADs in the classroom setting. Using
the IPAD as learning tool students can be introduced to a variety of social
media and communication technologies that are useful inside and outside
the classroom.
 Skype—a free internet communication medium allows for face-to-face,
real-time communication and collaboration to video-conferencing and
instant messaging.
 Face-time—another video chatting app that allows for connectivity. This
can be used by teachers to keep students up-to-date with classroom
activities or notices.
 Edmodo—this collaboration tool enables teachers in the classroom to
monitor student’s activities and participation within this platform. It is
great for classroom management.
 Then there is Facebook, which is familiar to most students. When used
in the educational setting, it can be a tremendously effective tool for
student led chats. It can also be used for announcements, communication
and managing schedules (Militello and Friend, 2013, p.103).
To conclude, Bill Clinton was an excellent advocate for progressive
education. He was concerned about ensuring that his public policy and
public opinion propelled progressive and democratic thinking (Holley,
2014). He believed that progressivism as a philosophy of education
 encouraged moral values, critical and creative thinking, as is necessary for
shaping and changing society—in a way that promises to have an impact
on the actual conduct of education (Philosophy of Education, 1999). Dewey
and Kilpatrick would surely have approved of a change in the status quo of
the traditional educational context in the United States.

Progressivism, Schools and Schools of Education: An American

Romance
Labaree, David F.
Paedagogica Historica: International Journal of the History of Education, v41 n1-2
p275-288 Feb 2005

This paper tells a story about progressivism, schools and schools of education in
twentieth-century America. Depending on one's position in the politics of
education, this story can assume the form of a tragedy or a romance, or perhaps
even a comedy. The heart of the tale is the struggle for control of American
education in the early twentieth century between two factions of the movement
for progressive education. The administrative progressives won this struggle, and
they reconstructed the organization and curriculum of American schools in a
form that has lasted to the present day. Meanwhile the other group, the
pedagogical progressives, who failed miserably in shaping what we do in schools,
did at least succeed in shaping how we talk about schools. Professors in schools
of education were caught in the middle of this dispute, and they ended up in an
awkwardly compromised position. Their hands were busy--preparing teachers to
work within the confines of the educational system established by the
administrative progressives, and carrying out research to make this system work
more efficiently. But their hearts were with the pedagogues. So they became the
high priests of pedagogical progressivism, keeping this faith alive within the halls
of the education school, and teaching the words of its credo to new generations of
educators. Why is it that American education professors have such a
longstanding, deeply rooted and widely shared rhetorical commitment to the
progressive vision? The answer can be found in the convergence between the
history of the education school and the history of the child-centered strand of
progressivism during the early twentieth century. Historical circumstances drew
them together so strongly that they became inseparable. As a result,
progressivism became the ideology of the education professor. Education schools
have their own legend about how this happened, which is a stirring tale about a
marriage made in heaven, between an ideal that would save education and a
stalwart champion that would fight the forces of traditionalism to make this ideal
a reality. As is the case with most legends, there is some truth in this account.
But here a different story is told. In this story, the union between pedagogical
progressivism and the education school is not the result of mutual attraction but
of something more enduring: mutual need. It was not a marriage of the strong
but a wedding of the weak. Both were losers in their respective arenas: child-
centered progressivism lost out in the struggle for control of American schools,
and the education school lost out in the struggle for respect in American higher
education. They needed each other, with one looking for a safe haven and the
other looking for a righteous mission. As a result, education schools came to
have a rhetorical commitment to progressivism that is so wide that, within these
institutions, it is largely beyond challenge. At the same time, however, this
progressive vision never came to dominate the practice of teaching and learning
in schools--or even to reach deeply into the practice of teacher educators and
researchers within education schools themselves.
Progressive Education
Spring 2008
By Alfie Kohn
 
If progressive education doesn't lend itself to a single fixed definition, that seems
fitting in light of its reputation for resisting conformity and standardization. Any
two educators who describe themselves as sympathetic to this tradition may well
see it differently, or at least disagree about which features are the most
important.

Talk to enough progressive educators, in fact, and you'll begin to notice certain
paradoxes: Some people focus on the unique needs of individual students, while
others invoke the importance of a community of learners; some describe learning
as a process, more journey than destination, while others believe that tasks
should result in authentic products that can be shared. 1

What It Is

Despite such variations, there are enough elements on which most of us can
agree so that a common core of progressive education emerges, however hazily.
And it really does make sense to call it a tradition, as I did a moment ago.
Ironically, what we usually call "traditional" education, in contrast to the
progressive approach, has less claim to that adjective — because of how, and
how recently, it has developed. As Jim Nehring at the University of
Massachusetts at Lowell observed, "Progressive schools are the legacy of a long
and proud tradition of thoughtful school practice stretching back for centuries"
— including hands-on learning, multiage classrooms, and mentor-apprentice
relationships — while what we generally refer to as traditional schooling "is
largely the result of outdated policy changes that have calcified into
conventions."2 (Nevertheless, I'll use the conventional nomenclature in this article
to avoid confusion.)

It's not all or nothing, to be sure. I don't think I've ever seen a school — even one
with scripted instruction, uniforms, and rows of desks bolted to the floor — that
has completely escaped the influence of progressive ideas. Nor have I seen a
school that's progressive in every detail. Still, schools can be characterized
according to how closely they reflect a commitment to values such as these:

• Attending to the whole child: Progressive educators are concerned with

helping children become not only good learners but also good people. Schooling
isn't seen as being about just academics, nor is intellectual growth limited to
verbal and mathematical proficiencies.

• Community: Learning isn't something that happens to individual children —

separate selves at separate desks. Children learn with and from one another in a
caring community, and that's true of moral as well as academic learning.
Interdependence counts at least as much as independence, so it follows that
practices that pit students against one another in some kind of competition,
thereby undermining a feeling of community, are deliberately avoided.

• Collaboration: Progressive schools are characterized by what I like to call a

"working with" rather than a "doing to" model. In place of rewards for complying
with the adults' expectations, or punitive consequences for failing to do so,
there's more of an emphasis on collaborative problem-solving — and, for that
matter, less focus on behaviors than on underlying motives, values, and reasons.

• Social justice: A sense of community and responsibility for others isn't

confined to the classroom; indeed, students are helped to locate themselves in
widening circles of care that extend beyond self, beyond friends, beyond their
own ethnic group, and beyond their own country. Opportunities are offered not
only to learn about, but also to put into action, a commitment to diversity and to
improving the lives of others.

• Intrinsic motivation: When considering (or reconsidering) educational policies

and practices, the first question that progressive educators are likely to ask is,
"What's the effect on students' interest in learning, their desire to continue
reading, thinking, and questioning?" This deceptively simple test helps to
determine what students will and won't be asked to do. Thus, conventional
practices, including homework, grades, and tests, prove difficult to justify for
anyone who is serious about promoting long-term dispositions rather than just
improving short-term skills.

• Deep understanding: As the philosopher Alfred North Whitehead declared long

ago, "A merely well-informed man is the most useless bore on God's earth." Facts
and skills do matter, but only in a context and for a purpose. That's why
progressive education tends to be organized around problems, projects, and
questions — rather than around lists of facts, skills, and separate disciplines.
The teaching is typically interdisciplinary, the assessment rarely focuses on rote
memorization, and excellence isn't confused with "rigor." The point is not merely
to challenge students — after all, harder is not necessarily better — but to invite
them to think deeply about issues that matter and help them understand ideas
from the inside out.

• Active learning: In progressive schools, students play a vital role in helping to

design the curriculum, formulate the questions, seek out (and create) answers,
think through possibilities, and evaluate how successful they — and their
teachers — have been. Their active participation in every stage of the process is
consistent with the overwhelming consensus of experts that learning is a matter
of constructing ideas rather than passively absorbing information or practicing
skills.
• Taking kids seriously: In traditional schooling, as John Dewey once remarked,
"the center of gravity is outside the child": he or she is expected to adjust to the
school's rules and curriculum. Progressive educators take their cue from the
children — and are particularly attentive to differences among them. (Each
student is unique, so a single set of policies, expectations, or assignments would
be as counterproductive as it was disrespectful.) The curriculum isn't just based
on interest, but on these children's interests. Naturally, teachers will have
broadly conceived themes and objectives in mind, but they don't just design a
course of study for their students; they design it with them, and they welcome
unexpected detours. One fourth-grade teacher's curriculum, therefore, won't be
the same as that of the teacher next door, nor will her curriculum be the same
this year as it was for the children she taught last year. It's not enough to offer
elaborate thematic units prefabricated by the adults. And progressive educators
realize that the students must help to formulate not only the course of study but
also the outcomes Some of the features that I've listed here will seem
objectionable, or at least unsettling, to educators at more traditional schools,
while others will be surprisingly familiar and may even echo sentiments that
appear in their view books. But progressive educators don't merely say they
endorse ideas like "love of learning" or "a sense of community." They're willing to
put these values into practice, even if doing so requires them to up-end
traditions. They may eliminate homework altogether if it's clear that students
view after-school assignments as something to be gotten over with as soon as
possible. They will question things like honors classes and awards assemblies
that clearly undermine a sense of community. Progressive schools, in short,
follow their core values — bolstered by research and experience — wherever they
lead.
What It Isn't

Misconceptions about progressive education generally take two forms. Either it is

defined too narrowly so that the significance of the change it represents is
understated, or else an exaggerated, caricatured version is presented in order to
justify dismissing the whole approach. Let's take each of these in turn.

Individualized attention from caring, respectful teachers is terribly important.

But it does not a progressive school make. To assume otherwise not only dilutes
progressivism, it's unfair to traditional educators, most of whom are not callous
Gradgrinds or ruler-wielding nuns. In fact, it's perfectly consistent to view
education as the process of filling children up with bits of knowledge — and to
use worksheets, lectures, quizzes, homework, grades, and other such methods in
pursuit of that goal — while being genuinely concerned about each child's
progress. Schools with warm, responsive teachers who know each student
personally can take pride in that fact, but they shouldn't claim on that basis to
be progressive.

Moreover, traditional schools aren't always about memorizing dates and

definitions; sometimes they're also committed to helping students understand
ideas. As one science teacher pointed out, "For thoughtful traditionalists,
thinking is couched in terms of comprehending, integrating, and applying
knowledge." However, the student's task in such classrooms is "comprehending
how the teacher has integrated or applied the ideas… and [then] reconstruct[ing]
the teacher's thinking."3 There are interesting concepts being discussed in some
traditional classrooms, in other words, but what distinguishes progressive
education is that students must construct their own understanding of ideas.

There's another mistake based on too narrow a definition, which took me a while
to catch on to: A school that is culturally progressive is not necessarily
educationally progressive. An institution can be steeped in lefty politics and
multi-grain values; it can be committed to diversity, peace, and saving the planet
— but remain strikingly traditional in its pedagogy. In fact, one can imagine an
old-fashioned pour-in-the-facts approach being used to teach lessons in
tolerance or even radical politics.4

Less innocuous, or accidental, is the tendency to paint progressive education as

a touchy-feely, loosey-goosey, fluffy, fuzzy, undemanding exercise in leftover
hippie idealism — or Rousseauvian Romanticism. In this cartoon version of the
tradition, kids are free to do anything they please, the curriculum can consist of
whatever is fun (and nothing that isn't fun). Learning is thought to happen
automatically while the teachers just stand by, observing and beaming. I lack the
space here to offer examples of this sort of misrepresentation — or a full account
of why it's so profoundly wrong — but trust me: People really do sneer at the idea
of progressive education based on an image that has little to do with progressive
education.
Why It Makes Sense

For most people, the fundamental reason to choose, or offer, a progressive

education is a function of their basic values: "a rock-bottom commitment to
democracy," as Joseph Featherstone put it; a belief that meeting children's needs
should take precedence over preparing future employees; and a desire to nourish
curiosity, creativity, compassion, skepticism, and other virtues.

 
Fortunately, what may have begun with values (for any of us as individuals, and
also for education itself, historically speaking) has turned out to be supported by
solid data. A truly impressive collection of research has demonstrated that when
students are able to spend more time thinking about ideas than memorizing facts
and practicing skills — and when they are invited to help direct their own
learning — they are not only more likely to enjoy what they're doing but to do it
better. Progressive education isn't just more appealing; it's also more productive.

I reviewed decades' worth of research in the late 1990s: studies of preschools and
high schools; studies of instruction in reading, writing, math, and science; broad
studies of "open classrooms," "student-centered" education, and teaching
consistent with constructivist accounts of learning, but also investigations of
specific innovations like democratic classrooms, multiage instruction, looping,
cooperative learning, and authentic assessment (including the abolition of
grades). Across domains, the results overwhelmingly favor progressive education.
Regardless of one's values, in other words, this approach can be recommended
purely on the basis of its effectiveness. And if your criteria are more ambitious —
long-term retention of what's been taught, the capacity to understand ideas and
apply them to new kinds of problems, a desire to continue learning — the relative
benefits of progressive education are even greater. 5 This conclusion is only
strengthened by the lack of data to support the value of standardized tests,
homework, conventional discipline (based on rewards or consequences),
competition, and other traditional practices.6

Since I published that research review, similar findings have continued to

accumulate. Several newer studies confirm that traditional academic instruction
for very young children is counterproductive. 7 Students in elementary and middle
school did better in science when their teaching was "centered on projects in
which they took a high degree of initiative. Traditional activities, such as
completing worksheets and reading primarily from textbooks, seemed to have no
positive effect."8 Another recent study found that an "inquiry-based" approach to
learning is more beneficial than conventional methods for low-income and
minority students.9 The results go on and on. In fact, I occasionally stumble
upon older research that I'd missed earlier — including a classic five-year
investigation of almost 11,000 children between the ages of eight and sixteen,
which found that students who attended progressive schools were less likely to
cheat than those who attended conventional schools — a result that persisted
even after the researchers controlled for age, IQ, and family background. 10
Why It's Rare

Despite the fact that all schools can be located on a continuum stretching
between the poles of totally progressive and totally traditional — or, actually, on a
series of continua reflecting the various components of those models — it's
usually possible to visit a school and come away with a pretty clear sense of
whether it can be classified as predominantly progressive. It's also possible to
reach a conclusion about how many schools — or even individual classrooms —
in America merit that label: damned few. The higher the grade level, the rarer
such teaching tends to be, and it's not even all that prevalent at the lower
grades.11 (Also, while it's probably true that most progressive schools are independent, most independent schools are not progressive.)

The rarity of this approach, while discouraging to some of us, is also rather
significant with respect to the larger debate about education. If progressive
schooling is actually quite uncommon, then it's hard to blame our problems (real
or alleged) on this model. Indeed, the facts have the effect of turning the
argument on its head: If students aren't learning effectively, it may be because of
the persistence of traditional beliefs and practices in our nation's schools.

 
But we're also left with a question: If progressive education is so terrific, why is it
still the exception rather than the rule? I often ask the people who attend my
lectures to reflect on this, and the answers that come back are varied and
provocative. For starters, they tell me, progressive education is not only less
familiar but also much harder to do, and especially to do well. It asks a lot more
of the students and, at first, can seem a burden to those who have figured out
how to play the game in traditional classrooms — often succeeding by
conventional standards without doing much real thinking. It's also much more
demanding of teachers, who have to know their subject matter inside and out if
they want their students to "make sense of biology or literature" as opposed to
"simply memoriz[ing] the frog's anatomy or the sentence's structure." 12 But
progressive teachers also have to know a lot about pedagogy because no amount
of content knowledge (say, expertise in science or English) can tell you how to
facilitate learning. The belief that anyone who knows enough math can teach it is
a corollary of the belief that learning is a process of passive absorption — a view
that cognitive science has decisively debunked.

Progressive teachers also have to be comfortable with uncertainty, not only to

abandon a predictable march toward the "right answer" but also to let students
play an active role in the quest for meaning that replaces it. That means a
willingness to give up some control and let students take some ownership, which
requires guts as well as talent. These characteristics appear not to be as common
as we might like to think. Almost a decade ago, in an interview for this magazine,
I recalled my own experience in upper-school classrooms with some chagrin: "I
prided myself on being an entertaining lecturer, very knowledgeable, funny,
charismatic, and so on. It took me years to realize [that my] classroom was all
about me, not about the kids. It was about teaching, not about learning." 13 The
more we're influenced by the insights of progressive education, the more we're
forced to rethink what it means to be a good teacher. That process will
unavoidably ruffle some feathers, including our own.

And speaking of feather-ruffling, I'm frequently reminded that progressive

education has an uphill journey because of the larger culture we live in. It's an
approach that is, in some respects, inherently subversive, and people in power do
not always enjoy being subverted. As Vito Perrone has written, "The values of
progressivism — including skepticism, questioning, challenging, openness, and
seeking alternate possibilities — have long struggled for acceptance in American
society. That they did not come to dominate the schools is not surprising." 14

There is pressure to raise standardized test scores, something that progressive

education manages to do only sometimes and by accident — not only because
that isn't its purpose but also because such tests measure what matters least.
(The recognition of that fact explains why progressive schools would never dream
of using standardized tests as part of their admissions process.) More insidiously,
though, we face pressure to standardize our practices in general. Thinking is
messy, and deep thinking is really messy. This reality coexists uneasily with
demands for order — in schools where the curriculum is supposed to be carefully
coordinated across grade levels and planned well ahead of time, or in society at
large.

And then (as my audiences invariably point out) there are parents who have
never been invited to reconsider their assumptions about education. As a result,
they may be impressed by the wrong things, reassured by signs of traditionalism
— letter grades, spelling quizzes, heavy textbooks, a teacher in firm control of the
classroom — and unnerved by their absence. Even if their children are obviously
unhappy, parents may accept that as a fact of life. Instead of wanting the next
generation to get better than we got, it's as though their position were: "Listen, if
it was bad enough for me, it's bad enough for my kids." Perhaps they subscribe
to what might be called the Listerine theory of education, based on a famous ad
campaign that sought to sell this particular brand of mouthwash on the theory
that, if it tasted vile, it obviously worked well. The converse proposition, of
course, is that anything appealing is likely to be ineffective. If a child is lucky
enough to be in a classroom featuring, say, student-designed project-based
investigations, the parent may wonder, "But is she really learning anything?
Where are the worksheets?" And so the teachers feel pressure to make the
instruction worse.

All progressive schools experience a constant undertow, perhaps a request to

reintroduce grades of some kind, to give special enrichments to the children of
the "gifted" parents, to start up a competitive sports program (because American
children evidently don't get enough of winning and losing outside of school), to
punish the kid who did that bad thing to my kid, to administer a standardized
test or two ("just so we can see how they're doing"), and, above all, to get the kids
ready for what comes next — even if this amounts to teaching them badly so
they'll be prepared for the bad teaching to which they'll be subjected later.15

This list doesn't exhaust the reasons that progressive education is uncommon.
However, the discussion that preceded it, of progressive education's advantages,
was also incomplete, which suggests that working to make it a little more
common is a worthy pursuit. We may not be able to transform a whole school, or
even a classroom, along all of these dimensions, at least not by the end of this
year. But whatever progress we can make is likely to benefit our students. And
doing what's best for them is the reason all of us got into this line of work in the
first place.

Copyright © 2008 by Alfie Kohn.

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