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Nov 10, 1483
Martin Luther
Martin Luther was pivotal in the history of education. He established schools to teach children to read in their native language. He did this by translating the Bible into German so that more people could learn to read and learn to read something that was acceptable at that period of time. Translating the Bible was that start of the process of universal education for all. -
John Locke
John Locke coined the term tabula rasa, which means "blank tablet". Locke believed that a persons mind was a blank slate at the time of birth and that our environment and experiences formed how we think and who we are. This theory is evident in our educational system and shows why it is very important for young infants and children to recieve proper care and be in a good educational system. The future of our world depends on how we educate the next generation. -
Friedrich Froebel
Froebel was the founder of kindergarten. His two most important contributions to education are the idea that children naturally unfold and that they learn through playing, play is a child's work. It is the teachers job to watch this unfolding and provide activities that allow for growth and learning to occur so that the children may bud into flowers. -
Maria Montessori
Maria Montessori developed an educational system based on her belief that children with physical and mental dissabilities needed better educational care. She perfected her teaching method at her first school in Rome and now her method is used today in thousands of early childhood programs. She believed in a prepared environment to help improve a child's learning. -
Erik Erickson
Erickson developed the theory of psychosocial development, which means that social and cognitive development are tied together and children need to have both areas develop in order to be successful. There are many expectations that children are supposed to learn and follow at home and in school. It is the teacher and parents job to ensure that the child's psychosocial development allows for a sense of pride in the child so they can develop their personalities in a positive way. -
Brown vs. Brown
Brown vs. Brown was one of the most important Supreme Court decisions of the 20th century. It was a unanimous vote that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional and violated the equal protection clause of the 14th ammendment. Brown vs. brown paved the way for the civil rights movement of the 1960s. -
Sputnik
When the Soviet Union launched the first satellite into space, Sputnik, it created a fear in the United States that they would fall as a world power. The US created the National Defense Education Act in 1958 because they thought the best defense is an educated defense. This provided funding for STEM, which stands for science, technology, engineering, and math and also foreign language. This education allowed for many scientific discovories and better standards in educating children. -
Civil Rights Act
The Civil Rights Act allowed the federal government the ability to ensure education for every citizen. This act protected the consitutional rights of every citizen to have the use of all public facilities, educational facilities being one of them. -
The Economic Opportunity Act
The economic opportunity act (EOA) was implemented by President Johnson and was created to implement programs that helped people with a low socioeconomic status. These programs were to help with their educatoin, health and general walfare and also gave them jobs. EOA was also the beginning of head start of 1965 and later became the head start act of 1981. -
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
This act was reauthorized twice since 1990, once in 1997 and again in 2004 and is still in effect today. This act started the integration of early childhood education with early childhood special education. IDEA has made it necessary that all early educators become knowledgeable in special education.
