Amos Bronson Alcott (1799-1888), born in Connecticut to a family of farmers, spent most of his adult life in and around Boston and Concord. His father Joseph Alcox, a direct descendent of one of the first settlers who had sailed across the Atlantic in 1630 with Gov. John Winthrop, was a man of little formal education. Besides, the family suffered of financial shortages. Thus, Bronson never enjoyed the education he later enabled for his daughters. Nevertheless, his educational mission did not sway much from the religious mission of the first settlers who had sought to found a new spiritual Garden Eden that would redeem and enlighten the world. Equally, Alcott’s pedagogy was directed toward finding a path of educational enlightenment in par with his religious zeal to cultivate and perfect the human soul.
In order to understand Alcott’s pedagogy, it is important to identify American transcendentalism as his ideological inspiration and the myriad pedagogical school of thoughts that shaped his teaching methods. In the following essay, I will begin with examining Alcott’s pedagogy and the theoretical foundations underlying it, which will be further exemplified in his Temple School (1834 – 1837), where he practiced his teachings. Finally, I will conclude with Alcott’s legacy on today’s pedagogy. To bed his teachings into the socio-historical timeframe, I will further draw upon the general education in America during his time and illustrate his relationship to famous contemporaries, including his family.
Alcott’s early life shaped his thoughts on education and learning, especially infant and child education, which will be discussed at length later. As a young boy, he did not have the opportunity to attend school regularly, as he had to help out at his father’s farm – common practice in the young Republic. Nevertheless, he managed to teach himself to write by copying letters with chalk on the floor, a method of learning writing he later took up at the Temple School. Since educational instruction in his childhood days was mainly based on memorizing, and neither the schools nor the teachers fostered the individual’s intellect, Bronson’s search for diversity went beyond school environment. In his cousin William A. Alcott Bronson had found an intellectual companion, with whom he ventured beyond the town’s borders to borrow books and further cultivate his mind. Among the most popular books in God-fearing New England besides the Bible was John Bunyan’s “The Pilgrim’s Progress,” a venerable allegory of salvation (later popularized in Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women”) that teenaged Alcott devoured in his free time. Learning passages by heart, he later claimed that this book had been his most efficient teacher and the dictionary by which he learned English. “The Pilgrim’s Progress” not only gave the contour to Alcott’s pedagogy, it was in fact his chosen way of life, echoing his struggles toward creating earthly perfection. Long after he was forced to close down Temple School, Alcott envisioned and co-founded a utopian community named Fruitlands in 1842, which existed only a few months. Summing up, Bronson Alcott was a self-taught and self-educated man deeply influenced by spiritual thoughts such as conveyed by Bunyan’s book. In a time of religious turmoil in 17th century England, Bunyan wrote one of the first Protestant books, documenting the hardships and endurance needed on one’s own journey of enlightenment, referring to the socio-historical circumstances that prevented equality and religious freedom. In this sense then, Alcott was well prepared for the objections and rejections his pedagogy was to meet with. Inspired by Bunyan, Alcott set out to develop and introduce new educational practices in a society that was neither tolerant for religious nor for educations reforms.
Like Alcott, his contemporary and fellow transcendentalist Ralph W. Emerson believed in the spiritual authority of the individual rejecting the shallowness of social religion preached at church. In him, Alcott had found a life-long supporter and friends, both in the intellectual and financial sense. In regard to the spiritual meaning of life, Bunyan presents the story of his protagonist Christian not as mere facts, but as metaphors, encouraging his readers to draw out the spiritual meaning of Christian’s journey. For Alcott, the spiritual meaning of life became the foremost aspect of the human soul that one should strive to develop to perfection, paying attention to one’s moral duties. In reflection on his pedagogy, Elizabeth Peabody’s summary of a conversation between Alcott and his pupils on the purpose of education “to feel rightly, to think rightly, and to act rightly” mirrors his religious conviction. Alcott believed that every child possessed an intuitive spiritual understand that the educator had to draw out. The awakening of the child’s inner intellect is at the core of Alcott’s pedagogy and best attained through Socratic dialogue. However, he neglected the more earthly and practical aspects of education based on his belief that spiritual knowledge is superior to practical knowledge. This turned out to be one of the shortcomings of Alcott’s pedagogy and, among many other factors, lead to the failure of Temple School.
However, Bunyan’s book does not quite fit to Alcott’s vision of a non-sectarian religion and the spiritual values that he and his fellow transcendentalists promoted. Alcott’s pedagogy embraced the transcendental philosophies in so far that he had a generalized, non- institutional, religious outlook of love, beneficence, and moral values that were not divorced from Christian idealism altogether. His chosen role model for teaching was in fact Jesus Christ, of whom he thought had lead man to truth through self-realization and not indoctrination. Similarly, Alcott sought to develop self-expression among children. After a brief interim as Yankee Peddler in the South, Alcott began his teaching career in 1823 and applying the basic principles of his pedagogy – the belief to be able to teach children and awaken their spiritual self in order to raise good human beings.
Alcott’s teaching methods did not develop until he actually began teaching at various schools. Still in close contact with his cousin William, Bronson continued to develop and perfect his pedagogy. In this context it is important to highlight that the church and family had performed the task of educating children, both in the religious and intellectual field. But as science progressed and the Republic modernized training in the practical, yet higher educational, fields like science, medicine and engineering became more relevant. The first universities and academies, which can be somewhat compared to high schools today, were established at the turn of the 19th century. Bronson himself had had the opportunity to visit such an institution, the Episcopal Academy, for a brief period. But he dropped out at his own choice, as he could not match the practical knowledge or the social upbringing of his peers. The subjects taught at these institutions ranged from languages to bookkeeping, math, algebra and similar subjects that prepared the pupils for their future vocations.
Early entrance into work was a common practice in the early Republic, as the financial circumstances of agrarian American demanded it. Furthermore, with America’s independence, the formation of a nation called for a new task in education, namely teaching the notions of nation and citizenship in a federal republic. However, the instruction methods did not revolutionize until the last part of the 19th century when more practical educational reformers like Horace Mann, James G. Carter, and Samuel Hall successfully manifested the new teaching methods and curriculum based on the pedagogy of Pestalozzi, Alcott, and other early educators. In the mid nineteenth century American parents and society held the view of beating the so-called three R’s – reading, writing, arithmetic - into the child, whereas moral upbringing was still being taken care of by society, church, and families and therefore, not part of school curriculum.
Alcott’s critique on existing educational practices can best be exemplified through his criticism on preacher, who failed to change the bad habits of the community. Alcott regarded social imparities, war and oppression, and avarice among people as a fault in the human nature of adults, who had not been properly educated. Children, on the other hand, were still pure and untouched by prejudice and other earthly transgressions. The coming generation, if educated properly, would therefore remove all the disparities in American society. Alcott found reassurance in his thinking by the writings of Swiss educator Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi, whose writings Alcott had indirectly become acquainted with. None of his biographers and historians on education seem to agree on when and to what extend Alcott’s pedagogy was influenced by Pestalozzi’s. Yet, the similarities in their pedagogy are enough evidence to claim that Alcott’s teaching methods were models on Pestalozzi’s principles.
Johann H. Pestalozzi’s career as educator resembles that of Alcott greatly. He, too, had founded a school based on his teaching methods and found even less affirmation and support from parents and society than Alcott did for his educational endeavors. The resonance he did find was among other educator’s, who were drawn to his approach on child instruction. Among his visiting observers was a philanthropist named William Maclure, who brought Pestalozzi’s teching methods to the United States. Maclure engaged Joseph Neef, Pestalozzi’s assistant, to conduct a school in Phildelphia, which opened in 1819, based on Pestalozzi’s teachings. Revolutionary to contemporary America was the inductive approach on object learning, in which the children were taught through observation of nature using demonstrative and graphic aids. Classes were often held outdoors and included physical activity.
In 1808 Neef had published “Sketch of a Plan and Method of Education” on Pestalozzi’s educational methods, which was also read by Alcott. One of the reasons why historians are undecided on Pestalozzi’s influence on Alcott is the fact that he never read any of his orginal works, instead read books about him and his pedagogy. Besides wriiten testimonies, Alcott had the privilege of a first-hand account by Rev. William Woodbridge, Pestalozzi’s former assistant, whom he had met through his cousin.
However, Neef’s school failed due to lacking parental support of his egalitarian and nonsectarian views. The social class division and sectarian disparities in antebellum America were still too broad to embrace the thought of nonsectarian and egalitarian public schools. Besides, the noble families preferred home schooling, whereas the agrarian mass regarded schooling in other than basic and practical subjects as useless. The induction of alternative schools seemed ill fated, until the success of more practical educators consolidated at the turn of the 20th century.
Having discerned John Bunyan’s “The Pilgrim’s Progress” and American transcendentalism in general as Alcott’s foundational belief and emphasis on the spirit, I would like to move to the creation and development of his own teachings. Alcott was also exposed to other school of thoughts than Pestalozzi’s and conducted experiments of his own. In 1830 he summarized his thoughts on child education in an essay titled “Observation on the Principles and Methods of Infant Instruction,” which caught the eye of Reuben Haines, a wealthy Quaker from Pennsylvania, who invited Alcott to teach in Germantown. In addition to his own spiritual thoughts the Quaker doctrine of the inner light blended with his native mysticism.
It was also in Pennsylvania, where Alcott had his first two daughters, Anna and Louisa May, whose childhood he recorded minutely. He kept separate journals documenting every event in their mental and spiritual growth by exposing them to stimuli and observing their reactions. In this sense, Alcott’s home became his own lab for his children’s mind and soul, and his children the first to be educated solely by his methods.
Alcott believed that education should commence at early infant years when the child is in an age where every impression determines its future habits, principles, and whole characters, which was another reason why he thought schools should be egalitarian. To raise American citizens of a federal republic, it was of utmost importance to train the child in self- government, as liberty of independence, and not obedience, is a primary right and inherent principle of every human. He refers to the animal nature of infants that best describes its want for enjoyment and activity. In the upbringing of his children he observes these principles strictly, letting Anna and Louisa explore their surroundings without restriction. In his essay he observes, that only by unrestrained exercise of the infant’s animal nature can the intellect of the child be addresses successfully. In other words, by encouraging physical activity the intellect is stimulated and effectually prepared for lessons of instructions. Complying with all the needs and wants of his infant daughters, Alcott believed that all choices, even those of infants, should not be coerced, instead should arise from an inner moral spirit. The triumph of the child’s inner nature must be voluntary and achieved through affection and reason, and not fear of punishment. The educator’s task lies merely in providing the best opportunities for the child to produce these ‘learnable moments’ drawing out its inner intellect. This particular aspect was one of Pestalozzi’s main principles and was further developed by Friedrich Fröbel, creator of the concept of Kindergarten, who designed the educational wooden toys known as Fröbel Gifts. Later, in the 1870s, Elizabeth Peabody even asserted that Fröbel’s infant teaching methods were better developed that Alcott’s.
After the animal nature of the infant is satisfied, it is in the perfect state to be instructed. Alcott outlined four vital consecutive stages of growth oh a child’s mind: the animal nature describes above, the affections, the conscience, and the intellect. To be successful, instruction needs to be adapted to the stages providing the child with the needed guidance to develop its mind in this order. The affections, which are addressed first, create a bond between teacher and pupil, as the child imitates what it perceives, the action and attitude of the teacher toward other for example. Intimately connected with the cultivation of the affections is the conscience that needs to be trained and elevated by frequent appeals to the laws of reason, kindness, and righteousness. Finally, through these channels, the intellectual portion is addressed, ready for the lessons of instruction and acquisition of knowledge. According to Alcott the perfect teacher adapts his curriculum to the demands of his pupils reacting to their natural interests. Therefore, early infant education is centered around the child.
At Temple School, where Alcott practiced his pedagogy unrestrained from his benefactors’ guidelines, children mainly below the age of 10 were taught from September 1834 – April 1837. The curriculum at his experimental school in Boston consisted of 22 lessons per week: 2 dealt with arithmetic, 2 with geography, 1 with drawing, and 17 with lessons on word study, conversations on body and souls, and the Gospels. The absence of science is striking. Alcott strove to cultivate the inner senses – the soul – and not sharpen the outer senses of the child. Elizabeth Peabody, Alcott’s assistant and co-teacher, kept a journal on the lessons at Temple School, whichis collected in “Record of Mr. Alcott’s School, Exemplifying the Principles and Methods of Moral Culture.” In it she documents most of his classes, especially those on word study, illustration his method of conversation that engaged his pupils in an active dialogue. By asking questions and replying to the children’s questions with a counter question, Alcott draws the answers out of them. By doing so, he complies with his principles on infant instructions: firstly, he does not teach them anything that is beyond their understanding, instead lets them expand their intellectual boundary on their own terms; secondly, he encourages their self-government; and finally, he striven to awaken their inner intellect to prepare it for further instruction. More than anything, Alcott was teaching them to know themselves, which was to him the most important knowledge of all.
The class room was designed to cater to all levels of child growth, beginning from toys and space to play for its animal nature to single desks with individual slates, a bookshelf, and a journal for every child to record her mental growth. Education in class for the young began with the cultivation of eye and hand; Alcott encouraged them to draw huge letters on their slates that they copied from books. The mechanics of writing were more important to Alcott than knowing the alphabets. This approach restricts the teacher’s influence on the learning process of the child as he merely correct them when necessary and encourages them for further improvement.
Complete silence and undivided attention were the only things Alcott demanded from his pupils. During the conversation and reading classes, in which the children sat in a semi- circle around him, he insisted on their undivided attention, interrupting class if anyone misbehaved. When necessary Alcott employed corporal punishment; he instructed the children to strike his hands. By coercing them to inflict pain to others, he hoped to appeal to their inner nature, teaching them that their negative actions had consequences for others, too. It is evident that moral values were at the core of Alcott’s ‘curriculum.’ The cultivation of the children’s imagination, attention, judgment, and reason were superior to the cultivation of their memory and the elements of science. In his essays on education, which include the above mentioned “observations” (1830) and the more important essays that summarizes his theories practiced at Temple School, “The Doctrine and Discipline of the Human Culture” (1836), Alcott in fact mentions that instruction of practical knowledge, although of importance, is nor the purpose of childhood instruction. The instructor’s job can best be described as superintendent who makes sure to remove all causes of obvious danger to the child and create the perfect environment for it to develop its mind.
As the semesters at Temple School progressed, Alcott dwelled on the conversations on body and soul, that later served as records for his book “Conversations with Children on the Gospels” (1836) that led to the school’s closure and Alcott’s termination as instructor for children. Alcott applied the method of Socratic dialogue in almost all classes. He read his pupils the Gospels, The Pilgrim’s Progress, and other books that best reflected his transcendental belief system. Urging the children to share their thoughts on basic notions of love, faith, conscience, affection, aspiration, appetite, judgment, imagination, and insight, Alcott’s Conversations was created. In his essay Human Culture he draws on the teachings of Jesus Christ as the ideal teacher and the Gospels the only adequate textbook as they teach the true method of imparting instruction. Peabody, who acted as reasoning counterweight to Alcott’s unconventional teachings, especially for the Boston Brahmins, happened to be away when the conversations took place and therefore did not lend her editorial touch to Alcott’s manuscript. Her rationality, trained to the society’s sensitivities, was missing when Alcott amended his manuscript to convey a precise, predetermined tone and message, subverting the children’s opinions to his formulations. One of the scandalizing parts in his Conversations includes passages on childbirth and circumcision. Alcott’s intentions were pure: he focused on the metaphysical aspect of these physical rituals, asking if there was a spiritual meaning to them, and did not attempt to lead the children into contemplation of sexuality. Yet, as Peabody rightly assumes, the Bostonians did not consider these facts, instead dwelled upon Alcott teaching children the “naughtiness” behind the mysteries of childbirth. Although New England had the reputation of being America’s intellectual hub in the 19th century, its citizens were not tolerant to those, who questioned their belief that gave structure to their moral and social existence. Only a few years later, Emerson was banished from Harvard in 1838 for daring to suggest that ordinary people might be as divine as Jesus.
The scandal did not end quietly. Alcott and his teachings were denunciated publicly by many influential and educated people. Nevertheless, his fellow transcendentalists came to his support or wrote in defense of his book, including, of course, Elizabeth Peabody, Ralph Emerson, and Margaret Fuller. As the investors and benefactors were pulling out, Alcott had to cease teaching at Temple School, however, continued with the remaining group of 15 children at his home. The final blow to his career as teacher came when he admitted Susan Robinson, an Afro-American girl, to his school. Overnight, the remaining students were pulled out – in June 1839 Alcott dismissed his class for a final time. The effects of his failure lasted long and Alcott took refuge in his spiritual endeavors, leaving his educational strivings untouched until 1859.
The Alcott’s moved to Concord, where Bronson continued his career in the American transcendentalist movement, contributing to their journal The Dial. His legacy has best survived through his close contact to key figures of American history, like Thoreau and Emerson. His influence on them was vital; through Emerson, John Dewey was inspired and influenced by Alcott’s pedagogy. Ironically, Alcott’s pedagogy reached across the Atlantic through the hands of his early critic Harriet Martineau, who brought back a copy of Peabody’s book on the Temple School. This caught the attention of James Greaves, who conducted his school the Alcott House, based on Alcott’s pedagogy. The Conversations were a set text of his school and he invited Bronson to visit him. After his 5-month visit to England Alcott set up to create Fruitlands in 1842.
The failure of Fruitlands left a permanent mark on Alcott’s reputation. Hence, it is not surprising that his pedagogy is absent in many history books of education in America. In a journal entry of 1846 Alcott asks himself who the teachers of his age were; on his list were the names of Emerson, William Garrison, Carlyle, and finally, his own name that he scratched out again. Nevertheless, his legacy was observable during his lifetime, too. In 1848, Alcott took up his teaching career again, and began holding public lectures and conversations on philosophy and literature. He even toured beyond Massachusetts up to Ohio, paving his way to adult education, which he continued until 1881.
During one of his conversations he met Franklin B. Sanborn, an undergraduate from Harvard Divinity School, who became one of his closest associates and later offered him the position of Superintendent of the Concord Schools in 1859, which he was to remain until 1863. His job required him to pay periodical visits to the schools and write a report on his observations that were to be presented to the school board. As superintendent Alcott introduced various strategies of schooling that are used until today. He pledged for a rise in teacher salary and permanent teachers and introduced regular teachers and parent meetings. He also equipped the libraries with contemporary work, i.e. by Hawthorne, the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and of course The Pilgrim’s Progress. Furthermore, he called for a school newspaper that would include reports on entertainment, art, nature, science, amusement, sports etc. Closer to his teaching methods were the introduction of the Philbrick’s Tablets, flashcards used for learning reading and writing, physical education, music and art lessons, and conversation classes. His over 60-paged reports reveal that he took his job very seriously, documenting minutely his observations on the condition and operation of the schools, concluding with suggestions on improvement. Nevertheless, despite his capable performance, he was removed from office, evidently as a result of an obscure political deal.
All the same, Alcott’s last 20 years of life were not to remain fruitless. Although he did not pursue his teachings, he finally managed to create a lasting education institution in form of a summer school. With Emerson’s help, he opened “Concord School of Philosophy” that offered lectures and conversations on various philosophical matters. Lecturers included Emerson, Sanborn, Peabody, William T. Harris, and a cadre of Harvard professors. The school convened in 1879; despite his advanced age Alcott engaged greatly in the proceedings of the school as its dean. At times, especially during Emerson’s lecture, the lecture hall was packed with over 160 students, visitors, and reporters. Bronson Alcott, touching his eighties had become a profitable tourist attraction – sadly, it was not him who attracted the masses, rather his better remembered companions.