Timeline for Early Childhood Education
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Timeline for Early Childhood Education Authors’ Note: A debt of gratitude is owed to D. Keith Osborn for his outstanding historical research and to James L. Hymes, Jr., for his generous time and perspective. 5th–3rd centuries BC to AD 1400s Few records exist concerning child-rearing practices; the development of cities gives rise to schooling on a larger scale. 1423 & 1439 The invention of printing and movable type U.S. elementary school system, becomes Secretary of allows knowledge to spread rapidly; ideas and tech- Massachusetts State Board of Education. niques become available to large numbers of people; 1856 Margarethe Schurz opens the fi rst American kinder- printing is credited with bringing about the end of the garten, a German-speaking class in her home in Middle Ages and the beginning of the Renaissance. Watertown, Wisconsin. 1592–1670 Johann Amos Comenius 1804–1894 Elizabeth Peabody 1657 Orbis Pictus, by Comenius, is the fi rst children’s book 1860 Elizabeth Peabody opens the fi rst English-speaking with pictures. kindergarten in Boston. 1632–1714 John Locke 1843–1916 Susan Blow English philosopher, considered the founder of educa- 1873 First public school kindergarten, supported by tional philosophy, who postulated that children are Superintendent William Harris, is directed by Susan born with a tabula rasa, or clean slate, on which all Blow in St. Louis, Missouri, who becomes the leading experiences are written. proponent of Froebel in America. The fi rst public kin- 1712–1788 Jean Jacques Rousseau dergarten in North America opens in 1871 in Ontario, 1762 Emile, by Rousseau, proclaims the child’s natural Canada. goodness. 1856–1939 Sigmund Freud (see Chapter 4) 1746–1826 Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi 1892 Freud cites the importance of early experiences to 1801 How Gertrude Teaches Her Children, by Pestalozzi, later mental illness, ushering in the beginning of psy- emphasizes home education. choanalysis and the emphasis on the importance of © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization. 1740–1860s Sabbath Schools and Clandestine Schools are the fi rst fi ve years. established as facilities to educate African Americans 1858–1952 John Dewey in the United States. 1896 John Dewey establishes a laboratory school at the 1782–1852 Friedrich Wilhelm Froebel University of Chicago and develops a pragmatic 1826 Education of Man, by Froebel, describes the fi rst sys- approach to education, becoming the father of the tem of kindergarten education as a “child’s garden,” Progressive Movement in American education. with activities known as “gifts from God.” 1897 My Pedagogic Creed is published, detailing the opposi- 1837 Froebel opens the fi rst kindergarten in Blankenburgh, tion to rote learning and the philosophy of educating Germany. “the whole child.” 1861 Robert Owen sets up infant school in New Lanark, 1860–1931 Margaret McMillan England, as an instrument of social reform for chil- 1911 Deptford School, an open-air school in the slums of dren of parent workers in his mills. London, is opened by Margaret McMillan. The school 1873 The Butler School at Hampton Institute is opened as a emphasizes health and play, thus coining the phrase free school for black children, including kindergarten “nursery school.” curriculum for fi ve-year-olds. 1868–1946 Patty Smith Hill 1837 Horace Mann, known as the “Father of the Common 1893 Patty Smith Hill becomes director of the Louisville Schools” because of his contributions in setting up the Free Kindergarten Society, augmenting her original 30835_OnlineAppendix.indd 1 8/9/11 4:02 PM Froebelian training with her work in scientific psy- 1897–1905 Alfred Binet develops a test for the French govern- chology (G. Stanley Hall) and progressive education ment to determine feeblemindedness in children. (John Dewey). She goes on to found the National Known as the Binet-Simon test (and tested by Jean Association of Nursery Education (now known as Piaget, among others), it is now known as the NAEYC) in 1926. Stanford-Binet IQ test. 1870–1952 Maria Montessori (see Chapters 1 and 2) 1902–1994 Erik Erikson (see Chapter 4) 1907 Casa di Bambini (Children’s House) is opened by 1950 Childhood and Society, which details Erikson’s Eight Maria Montessori in a slum district in Rome, Italy. Stages of Man, is published, thus adding a psychoana- She later develops an educational philosophy and pro- lytic influence to early childhood education. gram to guide children’s growth through the senses 1903–1998 Benjamin Spock and practical life experiences. 1946 Dr. Spock’s Baby and Child Care is published. It advo- 1874–1949 Edward Thorndike, behavioral psychologist (see cates a more permissive attitude toward children’s Chapter 4) behavior and encourages exploratory behavior. 1878–1958 John B. Watson, behavioral psychologist (see 1903 The Committee of Nineteen, a splinter group of the Chapter 4) International Kindergarten Union, forms to report 1878–1967 Lucy Sprague Mitchell various philosophical concepts. Members include 1916 The Bureau of Educational Experiments, which Patty Smith Hill, Lucy Wheelock, and Susan Blow. becomes Bank Street College of Education (and labo- 1904–1988 B. F. Skinner (see Chapter 4) ratory school) in 1922, is founded by L. S. Mitchell, 1938 The Behavior of Organisms, by B. F. Skinner, is pub- who is a leading proponent of progressive education lished, advocating the concepts of “radical behavior- at the early childhood level. ism” in psychology. 1879 The first psychological laboratory is established in 1906 Josephine Yates publishes an article in the Colored Germany to train psychologists in the systematic American Magazine, which advocates play in the kin- study of human beings. dergarten and helps translate Froebel’s concepts into 1880 First teacher-training program for kindergartners, Black kindergartens of the day. Oshkosh Normal School, Pennsylvania. 1908–1984 Sylvia Ashton Warner 1880–1961 Arnold Gesell (see Chapter 4) 1963 Teacher, published by this New Zealand kindergarten 1923 Gesell, originally a student of G. Stanley Hall, pub- teacher, develops the concepts of “organic vocabulary” lishes The Preschool Child, which emphasizes the and “key vocabulary.” importance of the early years. 1909 First White House Conference on Children is held by 1926 Gesell establishes the Clinic of Child Development at Theodore Roosevelt, leading to the establishment of Yale University and studies norms of child growth the Children’s Bureau in 1912. and behavior, founding the maturation theory of 1915 First U.S. Montessori school opens in New York City. development (see Chapters 1 and 4). 1916 First Cooperative Nursery School opens at the 1885–1948 Susan Isaacs University of Chicago. 1929 Susan Isaacs publishes The Nursery Years, which con- 1918 First public nursery schools are opened in England. tradicts the more scientific psychological view of 1918– T. Berry Brazelton behavior shaping and emphasizes the child’s view- 1969 Infants and Mothers, along with several other books point and the value of play. and numerous articles, is published by this pediatri- 1892–1992 Abigail Eliot cian, advocating a sensible and intimate relationship 1922 Dr. Eliot opens Ruggles Street Nursery School and between parents and children. Training Center. 1980s Dr. Brazelton is one of the founders of “Parent Action,” 1892 International Kindergarten Union founded. a federal lobby to advocate for the needs of parents 1895 G. Stanley Hall runs a child development seminar and children, particularly for a national policy grant- with kindergarten teachers, explaining the “scientific/ ing parental leave from work to care for newborns or new psychology” approach to education. While most newly adopted children. leave, Anny Bryan and Patty Smith Hill go on to incor- 1919 Harriet Johnson starts the Nursery School of the © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization. porate such techniques and to see early childhood Bureau of Educational Experiments, which later education as a more multidisciplinary effort. becomes Bank Street School. 1896–1980 Jean Jacques Piaget (see Chapter 4) 1920–1994 Loris Malaguzzi theorizes about good programs and 1926 The Language and Thought of the Child, one of a mul- relationships for children, emphasizing the child’s titude of writings on the development of children’s individual creative expression; starts school of Reggio thought, is published by Jean Piaget, who becomes Emilia, Italy, in 1946. one of the largest forces in child development in the 1921 Patty Smith Hill opens Columbia Teacher’s College twentieth century. Laboratory School. 1952 Piaget’s Origins of Intelligence in Children is published 1921 A. S. Neill founds Summerhill school in England, in English. which becomes a model for the “free school” move- 1896–1934 Lev Vygotsky (see Chapter 4). ment (the book entitled Summerhill is published in 1978 Mind in Society: The Development of Higher 1960). Psychological Processes, the seminal work of 1922 Edna Nobel White directs the Merrill-Palmer School of Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, is first published in Motherhood and Home Training, which later becomes English. the Merrill-Palmer Institute Nursery School. 30835_OnlineAppendix.indd 2 8/9/11 4:02 PM 1925–1926 The National Committee on Nursery Schools is 1960 Katherine Whiteside Taylor founds the American founded by Patty Smith Hill; it becomes NANE and Council of Parent Cooperatives, which later becomes eventually NAEYC. the Parent Cooperative Pre-schools