Introduction Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi was a Swiss writer and educator. His practical and theoretical work spanned almost sixty years across the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. He based much of his educational philosophy on the work of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, whom he thought of as 'the turning point between the old and the new worlds of education' (Pestalozzi, in Heafford, p. 43). It has been said of Pestalozzi himself that 'he may fairly be regarded as the starting point of modern educational theory and practice' (Arnold, in Pound, p.9). He explained his understanding of education in two of his works. The first, Leonard and Gertrude, published in 1781, is a social commentary on how a good home is the basis of a moral society. The second, How Gertrude Teaches Her Children, was completed twenty years later in 1801 and expands his understanding of how children learn. Like Rousseau, Pestalozzi valued the early stages of childhood, but he differed from his predecessor in being opposed to any rigid structure to dictate how children should learn. As Mark K. Smith points out, therefore, 'it is ironical that his approach should become known as a method, and that observers attempted to systematise his thought' (Smith, 2005). This article will bring together some commentators on Pestalozzi's theories, and link his beliefs to current early years practice. A Brief History Pestalozzi was born in Zurich in 1746. After the death of his father, he and his two siblings were brought up by their mother and a faithful family servant. His childhood was a lonely and antisocial one. As a boy, Pestalozzi made frequent trips to the country. The differences he noticed between country and town's people made a lasting impression on him. As Pound explains, 'these experiences, together with the loyalty and devotion shown by his family's servant, developed his respect for the poor' (p.8). At the same time, Pestalozzi began to be influenced by Rousseau's opinions: 'His humanitarianism was reinforced in his early youth by his reading of Rousseau's works' (Rusk, p.209). Pestalozzi continued with his own education, and went to college, but he was not enamoured with academia. From this point his life was to be punctuated with a series of unfinished or failed projects. He bought some land in Neuhof to satisfy his enthusiasm to become a farmer, and in 1769 he married Anna Schulthess. The farming scheme did not take off, but he began to use the space at Neuhof to take in poor children. The plan was to teach them skills in the hope that they would become self-sufficient (Pound, p.8). As Rusk writes, 'Pestalozzi's aim in life was to ameliorate the lot of the poor' (p.209). This project also failed. During this time, Pestalozzi had a son, naming him Jean-Jacques after Rousseau. The publication of Leonard and Gertrude in 1781 was one of Pestalozzi's successes, but it was twenty years before he made another attempt to put his ideas into practice. He set up a school for war orphans in Stans, and Pestalozzi devoted himself to the children there. In doing so he became unwell, and the school closed. He moved on to a school in Burgdorf, where he wrote How Gertrude Teaches her children. He then began his most famous educational project, a school at Yverdun for both wealthy and poor children. All of Pestalozzi's establishments were well-respected, and Rusk comments that 'no great European educator has ever had such a succession of distinguished visitors to his schools' (p.209). These included other educational theorists, such as Friedrich Froebel. Yverdun was also destined to failure. Pestalozzi himself felt he had not succeeded in any of his projects (Rusk, p.209). Silber writes that Pestalozzi's problem may have been that he could not settle on one, coherent educational concept, but wavered constantly between the idealistic and the realistic. 'His hope was doubtless...to combine them all and to establish a system of natural education but...he did not possess the constructive power to complete and expand it in one representative work' (p.173). He spent his remaining years writing about his theories. He died in 1827. Pestalozzi's Theories - the learning environment Pestalozzi is well known for promoting a well-balanced education of the 'hands, head and heart' (Smith, 2005). Like Rousseau, he felt that the best place for this was in the home. Pestalozzi realised that children feel safe and secure at home and that it was this atmosphere that was most conducive to learning. However, Pestalozzi himself founded a number of educational establishments, and was aware that not all children could spend time learning in the comfort of their homes. He felt that 'where institutions are unavoidable they must be imbued with a family spirit so that the child may not lack the love of a father and mother' (Silber, p. 181). Again like Rousseau, he heralded the mother as the best educator of young children. It was she who could offer the combination of love and practicality that early learning required, teaching children with real objects in real situations. Pestalozzi saw that the home contained all the resources and experiences needed for a child to learn; steps for counting; pebbles and beans for making letters and shapes; apples and cakes to teach fractions (Pound, p.9). In Leonard and Gertrude, Pestalozzi praises the mother for her real life lessons: 'the instruction she gave them (the children) in the rudiments of arithmetic was intimately connected with the realities of life' (Pestalozzi, in Rusk, p.213). Pestalozzi believed that the early years were a time of influence in a child's life and that a safe, loving and stimulating environment would ensure a successful start to their education. Pestalozzi's Theories - child-centred education Pestalozzi was passionate about early education because he saw the possibility in each child. In one of his works, The Education of Man - Aphorisms, he wrote that 'as a little seed...contains the design of the tree, so in each child is the promise of his potentiality' (Pestalozzi, in Kilpatrick, introduction). He focussed on this phase of development, believing it to be a vital foundation for any future stage of education. Rusk states that Pestalozzi's theory was 'by no means qualified to crowd out any other method, but to prepare the way for it. It takes care of the earliest age that is capable of receiving instruction' (p.215). He followed a child-centred approach to education, starting with the child at their own level. He instructed parents 'not to hurry their children into working at things remote from their immediate interests' (Rusk, p.211). Even in an educational establishment where children were taught in groups, he believed that each child should be considered as an individual and guided accordingly. A colleague of Pestalozzi's, working in Yverdun, described his approach; 'The subjects taught had to be adapted to the nature of the child, to the range of activity of which he was capable, to the stage of his development and to his individual needs' (Niederer, in Heafford, p.44). Pestalozzi agreed with Rousseau that children learn through experience. To support this, Pestalozzi developed an approach to teaching and learning called 'Anschauung', the 'awareness of objects or situations' (Rusk, p.215). Lessons based on 'Anschauung' did not involve words, but quiet observation followed by action. Pestalozzi wrote that 'the life that shapes us is not a matter of words, but action' (in Kilpatrick, introduction). Real experiences supported learning, and these real experiences were about actions and objects. Pound concludes that for Pestalozzi 'education involves the repetition of actions' (p.9). He felt that young children should be given the opportunity to find things out for themselves, and that teaching was about 'informing their capacity to think' (Heafford, p.51). Rousseau held the view that childhood was a remote place that adults had forgotten, while Pestalozzi encouraged the teacher to enter that world and think like a child. Heafford writes that the ability of the teacher to do this relied upon 'close observation of children and on deep insight into the way a child's mind works and develops' (p.46). Linking Pestalozzi's theories to today's practice Many of Pestalozzi's theories will be familiar to present day early years practitioners. His emphasis on starting with the child as an individual is at the heart of current practice. As with Rousseau, there are echoes of Pestalozzi's encouragement of children to follow their present interests in Chris Athey's research on 'schemas'. Rusk points to Pestalozzi's teaching of reading as being the most relevant to later approaches: 'He based reading on sounds and not spelling and thereby prepared the way for modern methods' (p.223). At the time, this method was frowned upon, but it is hugely relevant today as the teaching of phonics is once again in the public debate. On a grander scale, Smith believes Pestalozzi's legacy is the concept of a school itself: 'Pestalozzi made a significant contribution to the establishment of the school as a central educational force' (2005). This is surprising, as Pestalozzi did not believe an institution was the best place for a child to learn. However, projects to educate children from impoverished backgrounds around the world still bear his name today. Perhaps it was his commitment to creating a loving and safe environment for children that is most inspirational to present day practitioners. In Making their day, Ann Gillespie Edwards writes 'having a key person, to whom she has a real attachment, can ease a child's inevitable pain on being separated from her parent and form a secure bridge into a different world of day care' (p.26). Good practice in the early years still revolves around building caring and constant relationships with children. Conclusion In spite of his many failures, Pestalozzi devoted his life to giving children the opportunity to learn. He saw hope in each child, and understood that a loving community would inspire and support them. In Making their day, Loris Malaguzzi, one of the founders of the Reggio Emilia schools, is quoted as saying 'our image of the child is rich in potential, strong, powerful, competent and most of all connected to adults and children' (p.25). Pestalozzi worked towards a similar vision in a more hostile social climate. Links with other Educational Pioneers Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 1712-1778 (see FSF article here) Friedrich Froebel, 1782-1852 References Making their day: providing for two year olds in a mixed age setting, Pre-school Learning Alliance, London, 2005 Relationships and Learning: Caring for Young Children from Birth to Three, Ann Gillespie Edwards, 2002 How children learn, Linda Pound, Step Forward Publishing Ltd, Leamington Spa, 2005 (the section on Pestalozzi's life owes much to this book) Pestalozzi's Educational Writings, Green, JA and Collie, FA (Edward Arnold, 1916) in Pound, as above The Doctrine's of the Great Educators, 4th Edition, Robert R Rusk, Macmillan, London, 1969 Pestalozzi: The Man and His Work, Kate Silber, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1973 Pestalozzi, MR Heafford, Methuen and Co. Ltd., Suffolk, 1967 Johann Pestalozzi, Mark K Smith, www.infed.org/thinkers, 2005 The Education of Man - Aphorisms, Johann Pestalozzi, edited by William H Kilpatrick, New York Philosophical Library, 1951, in Smith as above
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