"Open Education" Revisited--Americans Discover English Informal Education, 1967-1974. 1988-1989 World Education Monograph Series Number One.

Overview & Synopsis

In 1967, the paths of educational reform in the United States and in England unexpectedly crossed with the publication of the Plowden Report in England and articles by Joseph Featherstone and Edward Yeoman in the United States. The years 1967-1974 marked important period in the development of American education, important in the professional lives of teachers and administrators in elementary schools. The way in which the experiments in "open education" in England influenced educational thinking in the United States is examined. The European and American tradition of progressive education is outlined with reference to Rousseau, Froebel, Addams, and Dewey, and it is shown in this context that the rise of progressive education in America was not solely due to the British influence, but had a long tradition in American educational thinking. A history of the new beginning of progressive thought in education is given, and some of the effects on American education and schools are described. Six sections are as follows: introduction; personal impressions of English open education (1972); history of progressive education in Europe; history of progressive education in America; the effects of the British experience on "open education" in America; and conclusions. Contains 16 references. (Author/SM)