History Project:

Madeline C. Hunter Biography

Kayla Creasy

Chesapeake College

EDU-101-201: Foundations of Education

Dr. Deanna Reinard

 Abstract

Madeline Cheek Hunter was an influential, American educator who left a lasting legacy

in the realm of the education system. Her expertise in both education and psychology were

vitally used as she responded to the growing popularity of displeasure and dissatisfaction in

teaching methods that occurred during part of her career. In response, she presented models for

both teaching and learning, with the target highlighting effective practices that help students or as

she called them, “pupils,” overcome barriers within learning. Through her research she

challenged topics that are major implications in the world of education. Her work went on to be

adopted by schools in the late 20th century and is still used by some schools today. Overall, the

success and popularity of her methodology has made her an important figure in the development

of educational practices.
 Madeline Cheek Hunter once said, “I believe the future of education is bright! We are

beginning to unlock the mystery of the human brain and how it processes and learns. We, now,

can enable teachers to use that knowledge to accelerate that learning process. No longer is

teaching a 'laying on of hands.' It has become a profession that combines science with art to

create a better and a more productive world for humankind.”

Madeline Hunter was born in Saskatchewan, Canada in the year of 1916 (Saxon, 1994).

Being one of two children, both being daughters, she was born to Alexander Cheek and Anna

Keis. Her father loved living in Canada as he was an avid hunter. However, as it was explained,

Madeline was “a sickly child” which led to her family moving to Santa Monica, California to get

away from the harsh winters of Saskatchewan (Folkart, 1994). Despite the move, her family

often traveled back to her childhood country throughout the span of her youth. When she was

around the age of 14, she officially became a permanent citizen of the United States (“Madeline

Cheek Hunter,” n.d.).

Upon continuing her education, in terms of her junior high school, she was placed within

an experimental school. This was set up to test a Stanford University professor, Louis Terman, on

his psychological theories on intelligence (“Madeline Cheek Hunter,” n.d.). Through the efforts

and practice of being used to score intelligence tests, she later explained “as a result of that

'chore' and the stimulation from an outstanding school psychologist and teacher, Christine Cook,

I became interested in human intelligence (“Madeline Cheek Hunter,” n.d.). That and classical

ballet were my passions in life." In 1932, at the age of 16, Hunter went on to continue her

education at the University of California at Los Angeles. Her course of study focused on a

combination of pre-medicine and psychology, with her ballet dancing on the side (“Madeline

Cheek Hunter,” n.d.). However, a fork in the road presented itself in her life, as her passions had
forced her to make a serious decision for her future. This conflict was the need to choose

between taking an opportunity to travel to South Africa with the Ballet Russe or finish her degree

at UCLA. Hunter went on to focus on her education, but with that, her career choices had been

narrowed due to poor hand-eye coordination, denying her chance of ever becoming a

neurological surgeon. Through the span of her education, Madeline Hunter proceeded to achieve

four degrees in the fields of both psychology and education (Heath, n.d.).

During the early years of the second World War, Madeline married her husband, Robert

Hunter. Robert served as an engineer for an aviation company until his retirement. They

welcomed their first child, Cheryl, in 1944 (“Madeline Cheek Hunter,” n.d.). Then later had their

second, a son whom they named Robin, in 1946. She stayed at home with the children until they

got older and didn’t need constant supervision. It was then once she returned to working full time

in education.

Over the span of many years, she held various positions. Upon graduating from UCLA,

Madeline worked as a psychologist for the Children’s Hospital and Juvenile Hall (Health, n.d.).

However, she left there because of personal feelings of disillusionment. She sought out serving

as a school psychologist at UCLA's University Elementary School and then became principal of

the school from 1963 to 1982 (Saxon, 1994). Throughout her time there, she worked under John

Goodlad, but left due to controversy in reference to her methods. Throughout the span of her

career she also proceeded to serve as director of research and then the assistant superintendent of

schools. Her position as the assistant superintendent, upheld responsibilities focused on

“troubleshooting” inner city issues, primarily within multicultural groups (“Madeline Cheek

Hunter,” n.d.). Upon that, Hunter became a full time professor for UCLA’s graduate program for

administration and teacher education. Despite the various positions Hunter has held throughout
her lifetime, she continued to write and lecture, leading to have written twelve books, over three

hundred articles, and produced seventeen video collections (“Madeline Cheek Hunter,” n.d.).

Predominantly within the 1970s and 1980s, Madeline C Hunter addressed issues that

were prominent throughout the realm of education. Her influence came at a time when the school

systems were struggling resulting in failing test scores, higher dropout rates, and more discipline

problems (Folkart, 1994). This called for fundamental change. Through her research, she

challenged the idea that a student’s failure to learn was due to environmental factors: poverty,

low IQ, broken homes, etc (Saxon, 1994). In her eyes, proper teaching could overcome any and

all learning obstacles affecting students. In response, Hunter created teaching methods that she

declared would allow classrooms to become learning environments for all students. Using her

experience and understanding in psychology, she relied heavily on the idea of positive

reinforcement and discipline to address behavioral issues (Wilson, n.d.). She was also able to

define teaching as “a series of decisions that happen in three realms: content, learning behaviors

of students, and teacher behaviors (Heath, n.d.).” The decisions focusing on content are based

upon students’ prior knowledge and how it relates to future education and schooling. Learning

behavior decisions refer to how a student will learn and prove that progress of learning. Lastly,

the area regarding decision making for teacher behavior, focuses on the implementation of

learning principles that are widely validated by research to help student achievement.

Madeline created what is known as the Instructional Theory Into Practice (ITIP) teaching

method, also commonly referred to as the Madeline Hunter Method (Wilson, n.d.). The Hunter

method focuses on direct instruction and consists of seven elements/steps that guide both the

teacher and student through the education process of learning, practicing, evaluating, and

confirming mastery of the given subject. To further explain the concept of her creation, these
seven steps include: objectives, standards, the anticipatory set, teaching, guided practice, closure,

and independent practice (Wilson, n.d.). Through the implementation of her model, she believed

that her strategies could allow for mastery teaching. The steps that outline/set up a classroom for

both student and teacher expectations, would help learning thrive. Hunter believed that the ITIP

would enable students to learn at a much faster rate and improve student achievement

(“Madeline Cheek Hunter,” n.d.). Additionally, it would help students learn behaviors and

knowledge that they could creatively use in other situations beyond the classroom.

Madeline C Hunter died the year of 1994 at the age of 78. It is believed that her passing

was due to a series of strokes which led to her admittance to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los

Angeles (Saxon, 1994). Despite her death, the impact Hunter had on education had lasting

effects, stretching to even the 21st century. Through her knowledge and expertise in both

psychology and education, she was able to make changes and strives to enhance teaching

methods and learning qualities for students. She was and is still recognized as a “teacher’s

teacher.”
 References

Folkart, B. (1994, January 29). Obituary : Madeline Hunter; revolutionary educator. Los

Angeles Times. Retrieved October 11, 2021, from

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-01-29-me-16521-story.html.

Heath, M. (n.d.). Madeline Cheek Hunter (1916–1994). StateUniversity.com. Retrieved October

11, 2021, from

https://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2074/Hunter-Madeline-Cheek-1916-1994.ht

ml.

“Madeline Cheek Hunter.” Biography,

https://biography.yourdictionary.com/madeline-cheek-hunter.

Saxon, W. (1994, February 3). Madeline C. Hunter, teaching innovator and an author, 78. The

New York Times. Retrieved October 11, 2021, from

https://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/03/obituaries/madeline-c-hunter-teaching-innovator-a

nd-an-author-78.html.

Wilson, L. (n.d.). Madeline Hunter Lesson Plan Model. Thesecondprinciple.com. Retrieved

October 11, 2021, from

https://thesecondprinciple.com/essential-teaching-skills/models-of-teaching/madeline-hunt

er-lesson-plan-model/.