The New Education movement, also known as the New School, education nouvelle (in French), and Reformpädagogik (in German), was an early 20th-century progressive movement within education and the European counterpart to the progressive education movement.

Origins

The New Education movement had its origins within post-First World War society, when a new social order was being constructed. In 1921, the New Education Fellowship was founded, born out of

Theosophy Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion a ...

and founding the New Education movement. The movement included a number of schools, including the Malting House School, which focused mostly on improving the education experiences of their founders, such as through granting children more educational freedom. The Fellowship had a publication named ''New Era'', which it published until the 1940s, which brought other schools into experimental education. Adherents of the New Education Movement included

Maria Montessori Maria Tecla Artemisia Montessori ( , ; August 31, 1870 – May 6, 1952) was an Italian physician and educator best known for the philosophy of education that bears her name, and her writing on scientific pedagogy. At an early age, Montessori e ...

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 fi ...

, and

Jean Piaget Jean William Fritz Piaget (, , ; 9 August 1896 – 16 September 1980) was a Swiss psychologist known for his work on child development. Piaget's theory of cognitive development and epistemological view are together called "genetic epistemolo ...

Theory

The New Education movement preached a theory (here simplified) of acknowledging children's personalities and building a better society. The role of the teacher was not to impose strict regimes on the child, but to nurture the child and help them grow their abilities. It was hoped by members of the New Education movement that a scientific basis could be created on educational problems as a result of the movement building up more interest in experimental psychology. The "scientific educationists", among them educationists such as

G. Stanley Hall Granville Stanley Hall (February 1, 1846 – April 24, 1924) was a pioneering American psychologist and educator. His interests focused on human life span development and evolutionary theory. Hall was the first president of the American Psy ...

, believed that study on the "higher faculties" of children would lead to better education. The movement was influenced greatly by

and

Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolu ...

References

Citations

General bibliography

* * * * * * {{cite book, last=Rust, first=Val D., title=Education in East and West Germany: A Bibliography, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q0haDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT89, date=8 May 2018, publisher=Taylor & Francis, isbn=978-1-351-00460-2 Education in Europe Progressive education