Schools

Five Case-Study Schools

The Dewey School (1896–1903), Chicago, US. Dewey started a school for children at the University of Chicago in 1896 as a site for scientific research on his ideas of curriculum and teaching. Dewey wanted his teachers to work as researchers, “to exhibit, test, verify and criticize theoretical statements and principles” (Dewey, 1896, p. 417).

Experimental Station School (1917–1925), Moscow, Russia. The school, established by educationist Stanislav Shatsky, was grounded in Marxism and informed by Froebel’s pedagogy and Dewey’s new education.

Jardim de Infância da Escola Caetano de Campos (1896–1930), Sāo Paulo, Brazil. The director of the Caetano Campos Normal School, Gabriel Prestes, established a kindergarten to popularize Froebel’s principles and practices. Prestes and teachers from the school translated works on new education from the USA, Italy, Germany, and England, and used them as the basis for experimental kindergarten practice.

Malting House School (1924–1929), Cambridge, England. Educator and psychoanalyst Susan Isaacs and her staff used scientific methods to study young children’s learning in “free” conditions. The school’s pedagogy was influenced by the ideas of psychoanalysis, Maria Montessori, and British Froebelians.

The Hietzing School (1927–1932), Vienna, Austria. Analyst Anna Freud was a founder of the school in which teachers, including Erik (Homberger) Erikson, used progressive methods from a psychoanalytic position. The curriculum and teaching were influenced by Froebel, Montessori, and the “project method” as inspired by Dewey and William Heard Kilpatrick.