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Harriet Finlay-Johnson or Harriet Johnson or Harriet Weller (12 March 1871 – 1956) was a British educationalist and schoolteacher known for encouraging children to create dramas to improve their education.
, Sompting.org.uk, Retrieved 30 January 2016 She qualified in 1892 after working for eight years at St Mary's School, Willesden.
She became the
, The Spectator, 1911, Retrieved 30 January 2016 The approach at the school was not based on control but in empowering the children with educational visits. By 1903 she was one of twelve teachers chosen to serve on an advisory board on elementary education in her county. Finlay-Johnson's major work was described in her book ''The dramatic Method of Teaching'' (1911). It explains how she had encouraged children to create their own plays. Sometimes these would be based on works of fiction but at other times they would create their own original plays based on their own research of facts from history. The teacher was seen as the facilitator and not the lead in the investigation that created the drama. Moreover, she believed that the final creation should not be judged by adult concepts of how good the production was but through the eyes of the participants.
Retrieved 30 January 2016 However Harriet did nor resign until 21 January 1910 and another woman had previously resigned from the school due to becoming married.
Sompting.org.uk, Retrieved 30 January 2016 George was in business and he lived until 1952 whilst Harriet died in 1956. They are buried in St Mary's churchyard in Sompting.
Gustave J. Weltsek-Medina, 2008, Retrieved 30 January 2016 Johnson's life has been the subject of a biography by Mary Bowmaker. The school building in Sompting is now a community centre which is named the Harriet Johnson Centre. On the side of the building is a blue plaque to Harriet Finlay Johnson.Harriet Johnson Centre
Sompting.org.uk, Retrieved 30 January 2016
Life
Finlay-Johnson was born inHampstead
Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...
in 1871. Her parents were Thomas Connolly and Jane (born FitzPatrick) Johnson. Harriet and her sister Emily both became teachers.Who is Harriet Johnson?, Sompting.org.uk, Retrieved 30 January 2016 She qualified in 1892 after working for eight years at St Mary's School, Willesden.
She became the headmistress
A head master, head instructor, bureaucrat, headmistress, head, chancellor, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school. In som ...
of the village school in Sompting
Sompting is a village and civil parish in the coastal Adur District of West Sussex, England between Lancing and Worthing. It is half grassland slopes and half developed plain at the foot of the South Downs National Park. Twentieth-century est ...
in Sussex in 1897. Her sister Emily was employed on the same day on the same salary. Emily was in charge of the infants whilst Harriet was head. She led fifty children and she decided that only a revolutionary approach would put the children as the focus of education - "to help them to grow". She started by using nature walks.The Dramatic Method of Teaching, The Spectator, 1911, Retrieved 30 January 2016 The approach at the school was not based on control but in empowering the children with educational visits. By 1903 she was one of twelve teachers chosen to serve on an advisory board on elementary education in her county. Finlay-Johnson's major work was described in her book ''The dramatic Method of Teaching'' (1911). It explains how she had encouraged children to create their own plays. Sometimes these would be based on works of fiction but at other times they would create their own original plays based on their own research of facts from history. The teacher was seen as the facilitator and not the lead in the investigation that created the drama. Moreover, she believed that the final creation should not be judged by adult concepts of how good the production was but through the eyes of the participants.
Marriage
Johnson's achievement's became well known and although she was only the headmistress of a small Sussex school her work had wide interest. Her career however came to a premature end when she decided to marry George Weller in 1909. George was a former pupil but he was twenty years of age and seventeen years younger than his former headteacher. Johnson had to leave the profession and one source says this was due to the scandal of marrying a former younger pupil.Retrieved 30 January 2016 However Harriet did nor resign until 21 January 1910 and another woman had previously resigned from the school due to becoming married.
Sompting.org.uk, Retrieved 30 January 2016 George was in business and he lived until 1952 whilst Harriet died in 1956. They are buried in St Mary's churchyard in Sompting.
Legacy
Her work was built on by Henry Caldwell Cook atThe Perse School
(He who does things for others does them for himself)
, established =
, closed =
, type = Public schoolIndependent day school
, religion = Nondenominational Christian
, president =
, head_label = Head
, he ...
and popularised in his book "The Play Way".Process Drama in EducationGustave J. Weltsek-Medina, 2008, Retrieved 30 January 2016 Johnson's life has been the subject of a biography by Mary Bowmaker. The school building in Sompting is now a community centre which is named the Harriet Johnson Centre. On the side of the building is a blue plaque to Harriet Finlay Johnson.Harriet Johnson Centre
Sompting.org.uk, Retrieved 30 January 2016
References
External links
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Finlay-Johnson, Harriet 1871 births 1956 deaths People from Hampstead English women educators People from Sompting 20th-century English non-fiction writers 20th-century English women writers