Reflections on the ways in which decisions about the foundation and organization of a small progressive public school exemplify the challenges and trade-offs of living in and with democracy. For the Mission Hill School, democracy was not only an aspiration, it was a way of conducting school life so that every community member felt a sense of…

In 1918, the author's great great aunt, Sophie Judd Cooke founded a small progressive school in Honolulu. Her brother Henry named it Hanahau'oli School, which means joyful work school. In this essay the author's mother, Linda Summers Strong and the author reflect on the impact of Hanahau'oli School's Deweyan approach to education on the…

Hawai'i has often been the beneficiary of the insights of extraordinary men and women who visited the islands and made important observations. Among these was perhaps America's most famous philosopher, John Dewey (1859-1952). First visiting Honolulu in 1899 as the guest of Mary Tenney Castle and her family, Dewey would help establish Hawai'i's…

The progressivist education reforms that swept across Canada's Ontario province during the interwar periods of the late 1930s included a focus on character education, social justice, and social reconstruction. This article offers a glimpse at the evolution of school curriculum and values associated with school education, with increasing emphasis…

The author contrasts conservative and progressive worldviews and discusses the development of the middle school movement as a major success of progressive education reform. The future of the middle school movement is considered and an agenda for continued advocacy and research is recommended.

This article considers how to bridge the achievement gap by showing that reading methodology influenced American educational philosophy, primary-grade curricula, and American schools. It considers the impact of the romantic movement on progressive education and notes that the current academic achievement gap has two roots. The first can be traced,…

Since the Meiji Restoration (1868), Japan's educational studies first began by receiving theories of practical education from the UK and U. S. Later, together with the political trends around 1890, there began a trend towards receipt of German educational studies. Along with the spread of elementary education, there were experiments with building…

This document describes the history of the New American Schools (NAS) organization from establishment in 1991 as the New American Schools Development Corporation (NASDC) to its present form. The organization requested proposals, received hundreds of applications, and ultimately selected 11. The successful proposals shared many ideas and…

The pendulum has been swinging back and forth between traditional and progressive educational approaches for more than 100 years, but we still haven't figured out how to reduce the learning gap. In this first article in a two-part series, Mr. Pogrow suggests fundamental policy changes and argues for finding ways to combine the best of the…

Traces the history of 20th-century educational reform in Hawaii focusing on, among others, how forces of industrialism (particularly corporate development) and Americanization influenced educational reform during the Island's territorial period (1900-1959), impact of US Bureau of Education Survey, and aspects of the American Progressive Education…

This Comprehensive Affective-Social Educational System (CASES) can be developed to reach five program goals: (1) identify the needs for members of each of three constituencies and for the community; (2) specify with each constituent their appropriate student, teacher and/or parent goals; (3) select optimal strategies to facilitate reaching their…

Examines the historical development of the term "child centered" in the discourse of early schooling in the United States. Beginning with Friedrich Froebel, who was the founder of the kindergarten and focuses on the development of the kindergarten until the 1930s. Explores how the underlying meanings of child-centerdness changed. (CMK)

The concept of "modern education" is directly connected with Rousseau's theory of education. It is often said that Rousseau "founded" modern education, or at least was its most influential predecessor. The paper argues that "modern learning" or "experimental education" was discussed within the late-17th century "quarrel of the ancients and…

Describes the expansion of music education from a negligible presence in city schools at the turn of the century to its implementation throughout rural education. Connects this expansion to the Country Life Movement, a Progressive Era reform aimed at improving conditions in rural areas. (MJP)

Explores the challenges and possibilities of popular education by examining the educational field after the application of structural adjustment programs in Latin America. Presents a critique of Gramsci's model of the organic intellectual as understood by many within popular education. Offers the specific example of a popular-education workshop in…