The Dalton Plan is an educational concept created by

Helen Parkhurst Helen Parkhurst (March 8, 1886 – June 1, 1973) was an American educator, author, lecturer, the originator of the Dalton Plan, founder of the Dalton School and host of ''Child's World with Helen Parkhurst'' on ABC Television Network. Parkhur ...

. It is inspired by the intellectual ferment at the turn of the 20th century. Educational thinkers such as Maria Montessori and

John Dewey John Dewey (; October 20, 1859 – June 1, 1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. He was one of the most prominent American scholars in the f ...

influenced Parkhurst while she created the Dalton Plan. Their aim was to achieve a balance between a child's talent and the needs of the community.

Characteristics

Parkhurst's specific objectives were as follows: # To tailor each student's program to his or her needs, interests and abilities. # To promote each student's

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

and dependability. # To enhance the student's social skills. # To increase their sense of responsibility toward others. Influenced at least in part by the teachings of Judo after conversations with the founder of Kodokan Judo, Dr Jigoro Kano. Ref page 72 and 86 ISBN 978-1-56836-479-1 She developed a three-part plan that continues to be the structural foundation of a Dalton education: # The

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

, a social community of students. # The Assignment, a monthly goal which students contract to complete. # The Laboratory, a subject-based classroom intended to be the center of the educational experience. The laboratory involves students from fourth grade through the end of secondary education. Students move between subject "laboratories" (classrooms) and explore themes at their own pace.

Introduction in UK

In 1920, an article describing the working of the Dalton Plan in detail was published in the ''Times' Educational Supplement''. Parkhurst "has given to the secondary school the leisure and culture of the University student; she has uncongested the curriculum; she has abolished the teacher's nightly preparation of classes and the child's nightmare of homework. At the same time the children under her regime cover automatically all the ground prescribed for examinations 'of matriculation standard,' and examination failures among them are nil." The Dalton Plan is a method of education by which pupils work at their own pace, and receive individual help from the teacher when necessary. There is no formal class instruction. Students draw up time-tables and are responsible for finishing the work on their syllabuses or assignments. Students are also encouraged to help each other with their work. The underlying aim of the Dalton Plan is to achieve the highest mental, moral, physical and spiritual development of the pupil. In the spring of 1921, English headmistress Rosa Bassett went to the Children's University School and stayed with Parkhurst. They spent hours talking about education. Parkhurst found Bassett in complete agreement with her ideas: "She was Dalton," Parkhurst wrote 50 years later. She described Bassett and Belle Rennie as the two people in England who were most enthusiastic and most helpful about the introduction of the Dalton Plan. Rosa Bassett was instrumental in the first application of the Dalton Plan of teaching within an English

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

. She contributed a chapter to Parkhurst's book on the Plan,

Schools

List of schools

Australia

Ascham School , motto_translation = With Heart and Soul , established = , type = Independent, day and boarding , gender = Girls , educational_authority = , oversight = , district = , denomination = , slogan = , ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Austria

*Europaschule,

Wien en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

*HTBL Lastenstraße,

Klagenfurt Klagenfurt am WörtherseeLandesgesetzblatt 2008 vom 16. Jänner 2008, Stück 1, Nr. 1: ''Gesetz vom 25. Oktober 2007, mit dem die Kärntner Landesverfassung und das Klagenfurter Stadtrecht 1998 geändert werden.'/ref> (; ; sl, Celovec), usually ...

*Internationale Daltonschule mit IT-Schwerpunkt Wels *de La Tour Schule

Deutschlandsberg Deutschlandsberg (; sl, Lonč) is a town in Deutschlandsberg district of Styria, Austria. It is located in southern Austria, near the border with Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abb ...

Belgium

*Basisschool De Kleine Icarus,

Gent Gent is a shortened form of the word gentleman. It may also refer to: * Ghent (Dutch: Gent), a Belgian city ** K.A.A. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** K.R.C. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** Gent RFC, a rugby club in Ghent ** .gent, a ...

*Basisschool De Lotus,

*Basisschool Dalton 1 Hasselt *Basisschool Dalton 2 Hasselt *Middelbare Dalton school VanVeldeke Hasselt *Het Leerlabo, kleuter-, lager en secundair daltononderwijs,

Westerlo Westerlo () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises seven towns: * Westerlo centrum * * Tongerlo * Heultje * Voortkapel * Oosterwijk * In 2021, Westerlo had a total population of 25,288. The ...

*Dalton Middenschool Lyceum, Gent

China

*Shanghai East Century School,

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

*Little Dalton Kindergarten,

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

*Dalton School Hong Kong,

*Wenzhou Dalton Elementary School,

Wenzhou Wenzhou (pronounced ; Wenzhounese: Yuziou �y33–11 tɕiɤu33–32 ), historically known as Wenchow is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Zhejiang province in the People's Republic of China. Wenzhou is located at the extreme south east o ...

Czech Republic

*ZŠ a MŠ Chalabalova,

Brno Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...

*ZŠ a MŠ Husova, Brno *ZŠ a MŠ Křídlovick, Brno *ZŠ a MŠ Mutĕnická, Brno *ZŠ Rájec-Jestřebí *Gymnázium Slovanské námĕstí,

*ZŠ Benešova Třebíč *Základní škola, Brno *Základní škola Brno, Brno

Germany

* Angell Akademie, Freiburg * Gymnasium Alsdorf, Alsdorf * Grundschule Unstruttal, Ammern, near

Mühlhausen Mühlhausen () is a city in the north-west of Thuringia, Germany, north of Niederdorla, the country's geographical centre, north-west of Erfurt, east of Kassel and south-east of Göttingen. Mühlhausen was first mentioned in 967 and bec ...

* Marie-Kahle-Gesamtschule Bonn,

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

* Albrecht-Dürer-Gymnasium Berlin,

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

* Theodor-Heuss-Gymnasium,

Dinslaken Dinslaken is a town in the district of Wesel, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is known for its harness racing track, its now closed coal mine in Lohberg and its wealthy neighborhoods ''Hiesfeld'' and ''Eppinghoven''. Geography Dinslaken ...

* Schillerschule,

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...

* Gymnasium Essen-Überruhr,

Essen Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and D ...

* Internationale Gesamtschule Heidelberg,

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

* Gymnasium Lage, Lage *Gymnasium Vegesack,

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

India

Global School, Rahuri. MH

Japan

In Japan, Admiral

Osami Nagano was a Marshal Admiral of the Imperial Japanese Navy and one of the leaders of Japan's military during most of the Second World War. In April 1941, he became Chief of the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff. In this capacity, he served as the n ...

introduced a progressive educational method such as the Dalton plan to the

Japanese Naval Academy The was a school established to train line officers for the Imperial Japanese Navy. It was originally located in Nagasaki, Nagasaki, Nagasaki, moved to Yokohama in 1866, and was relocated to Tsukiji, Tokyo in 1869. It moved to Etajima, Hiroshima, E ...

School and influenced it. *Dalton Tokyo,

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

*Dalton Nagoya,

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...

Korea

Cheongna Dalton School Cheongna Dalton School (CDS) is a secular international private college preparatory school situated in Cheongna, Incheon, South Korea, offering an American curriculum following the Dalton Plan in an English-only setting. Cheongna Dalton School op ...

Cheongna {{advertisement, date=April 2019 Cheong-na International City (also pronounced Cheongla) is a development project in Seo-gu, Incheon, Korea. Cheong-na International City is built on a nearly two million square foot plot of land (5.38 million Ko ...

Netherlands

*Basisschool de Bakelgeert, Boxmeer *Brederode Daltonschool, Santpoort Zuid *Casimirschool,

Gouda Gouda may refer to: * Gouda, South Holland, a city in the Netherlands ** Gouda (pottery), style of pottery manufactured in Gouda ** Gouda cheese, type of cheese originally made in and around Gouda ** Gouda railway station * Gouda, Western Cape, a s ...

*Dalton basisschool de Twijn,

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

*Dalton basisschool Rijnsweerd,

*Dalton Den Haag,

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

(Den Haag) *Dalton mavo, Naaldwijk *Het Tangram,

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

*Daltonexpertisecentrum, Instituut Theo Thijssen, Hogeschool,

*Daltonschool De Klipper, Berkel en Rodenrijs *Daltonschool Hengelo Zuid,

Hengelo Hengelo (; Tweants: ) is a city in the eastern part of the Netherlands, in the province of Overijssel. The city lies along the motorways A1/E30 and A35 and it has a station for the international Amsterdam – Hannover – Berlin service. Popu ...

*Dalton Lyceum Barendrecht, Barendrecht *De Achtbaan, Amersfoort *De Klinker,

Schiedam Schiedam () is a city and municipality in the west of the Netherlands. It is located in the Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan area, west of Rotterdam, east of Vlaardingen, and south of Delft. In the south the city is connected with the village ...

*De Poolster,

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

*2de Daltonschool,

*3de Daltonschool,

*Erasmus College, Zoetermeer *Het Cheider,

*Helen Parkhurst College,

Almere Almere () is a Planned community, planned List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Flevoland, Netherlands, located about 20 km ...

*Hogeland College, Dalton

vmbo Pre-vocational secondary education (, abbr. VMBO) is a school track in the Netherlands. It lasts four years, from the age of twelve to sixteen. It combines vocational training with theoretical education in languages, mathematics, history, arts ...

Warffum Warffum (Gronings: Waarvum)is a village in the Dutch province of Groningen. It is located in the municipality of Het Hogeland. It had a population of around 2,175 in January 2017. History The history of Warffum can be traced back to at least 6 ...

*Kardinaal Alfrinkschool (voor Daltononderwijs),

Wageningen Wageningen () is a municipality and a historic city in the central Netherlands, in the province of Gelderland. It is famous for Wageningen University, which specialises in life sciences. The municipality had a population of in , of which many t ...

*Katholieke Daltonschool De Leeuwerik, Leiderdorp *Koningin Wilhelmina School

Overveen Overveen is a village in North Holland in the Netherlands, in the municipality of Bloemendaal. Overveen lies on the eastern fringe of the North Sea dunes. To the east it borders the built-up areas of Haarlem. A few kilometres to the west of the ...

*Markenhage,

Breda Breda () is a city and municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Brabant. The name derived from ''brede Aa'' ('wide Aa' or 'broad Aa') and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. Breda has ...

*Maurick College.

Vught Vught () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a town in the southern Netherlands, and lies just south of the industrial and administrative centre of 's-Hertogenbosch. Many commuters live in the municipality, and the town of Vugh ...

*Saxion Hogeschool,

Deventer Deventer (; Sallands: ) is a city and municipality in the Salland historical region of the province of Overijssel, Netherlands. In 2020, Deventer had a population of 100,913. The city is largely situated on the east bank of the river IJssel, bu ...

*Schooladviescentrum,

*Stedelijk Daltoncollege, Zutphen *Stedelijk Dalton College,

Alkmaar Alkmaar () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland, about 30 km north of Amsterdam. Alkmaar is well known for its traditional cheese market. For tourists, it is a popular cultural destination. The ...

*Stedelijk Dalton Lyceum,

Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a city and municipality in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the province's fifth-largest city after R ...

*Spinoza Lyceum,

*Spinoza 20first,

*obs Theo Thijssen, Assen *obs Kloosterveen, Assen *Tweemaster-Kameleon,

Oost-Souburg Oost-Souburg is a town in the municipality of Vlissingen in the province of Zeeland, Netherlands. History The village was first mentioned in 1162 as Sutburch, and used to mean "southern fortified place", because it was the most southern of thre ...

*De Vijfster, Capelle aan den IJssel *Wenke Dalton Consultancy,

Meppel Meppel (; Drents: ''Möppelt'') is a city and municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It constitutes the southwestern part of the province of Drenthe. Meppel is the smallest municipality in Drenthe, with a total area of about 57 km² (22 sq ...

*Dalton Voorburg Lyceum,

Voorburg Voorburg is a town and former municipality in the west part of the province of South Holland, Netherlands. Together with Leidschendam and Stompwijk, it makes up the municipality Leidschendam-Voorburg. It has a population of about 39,000 people ...

*De Waterval, Ermelo *Jeanne d'Arc,

't Harde t Harde is a village in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It is situated about 6 km southeast of Elburg, on the edge of the Veluwe forest. It has a train station with connections to Zwolle and Amersfoort. The village's population is approx ...

*De Juliana Daltonschool, Bussum *Wolfert Dalton,

*Daltonschool De Margriet,

*Wolfert Lyceum,

Bergschenhoek 270px, Town sign Bergschenhoek () is a town and former municipality in the municipality of Lansingerland, in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is situated roughly 10 km to the north of Rotterdam. The town had a population of 18, ...

*Daltonschool Klaverweide, Noordwijk *Daltonschool Maarssen,

Maarssen Maarssen () is a town in the middle of the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht, along the river Vecht and the Amsterdam–Rhine Canal. The west of Maarssen is called Maarssen-BroekStatistics are taken from thSDU Staatscourant whereas the east ...

*obs Het Klokhuis,

Duiven Duiven () is a municipality and a town in the eastern Netherlands. Duiven's name can be translated into English to mean "pigeons" or "doves". Although the coat of arms and logo of the municipality feature pigeons, the name is etymologically related ...

*Ronerborg,

Roden Roden is a name of Germanic origin, originally meaning "red valley" or an anglicization of the Gaelic name "O'Rodain". It may refer to: Places * Roden, Bavaria, a town in the Main-Spessart district of Bavaria, Germany * Roden, Netherlands, a tow ...

*KBS Eloy, Ugchelen *Chr. Daltonschool Koningin Emma,

Zwolle Zwolle () is a city and municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of Overijssel and the province's second-largest municipality after Enschede with a population of 130,592 as of 1 December 2021. Zwolle is o ...

*Haarlemmermeer lyceum Zuidrand, Hoofddorp *De Tweemaster,

Hoorn Hoorn () is a city and municipality in the northwest of the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is the largest town and the traditional capital of the region of West Friesland. Hoorn is located on the Markermeer, 20 kilometers ( ...

*Basisschool De Ley,

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...

Poland

* Academy International, Warsaw

Russia

*Dalton School 1080,

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

United Kingdom

Bedales School Bedales School is a co-educational, boarding and day independent school in the village of Steep, near the market town of Petersfield in Hampshire, England. It was founded in 1893 by John Haden Badley in reaction to the limitations of conventio ...

, Hampshire * Bryanston School, Blandford, Dorset *Millington Primary School, Portadown * St Trinnean's School, Edinburgh (which inspired the fictional

St Trinian's ''St Trinian's'' is a British gag cartoon comic strip series, created and drawn by Ronald Searle from 1946 until 1952. The cartoons all centre on a boarding school for girls, where the teachers are sadists and the girls are juvenile delinquents ...

) *York Way Girls' School in King's Cross

United States

Dalton School The Dalton School, originally the Children's University School, is a private, coeducational college preparatory school in New York City and a member of both the Ivy Preparatory School League and the New York Interschool. The school is located in ...

, New York City

References

{{reflist, 2

External links

Dalton School homepage
Alternative education Education in the United States Education in the Netherlands Education in the Czech Republic School types